DurhamTeesValleyAirport happenings [Archive]

INKJET

12th Dec 2004, 09:50

Jet2 have done very well at Leeds sofar and i think they have some good routes out of Leeds, the fact remains that outside the North no one knows of them so lets not compare them with the Likes of Easy, Ryan,Flybe or indeed baby1

They still have a long way to go to get in the top league and yes they can do it, but the cost start to go off the scale when you introduce multiple bases and they need to make Leeds their own patch in the way that Ryan and Easy have else where.

People are under estimating the effect Donny will have on LBA and NEMA not in S05 but in 6,7,8 as for Humberside i am sorry to say for all you Humberside fan that not only have they missed the boat but i fear the boat ahs sunk!!

Donny might be as far as Manchester but Manchester and the M62/M60 is what really puts people of, its like going to Gatwick if you live North of London! you don't do it unless you have to and for most its the 25 that puts you off.

This last few weeks has seen a number of LoCo's go tits up, thankfully sofar in Europe, but you can not pour capacity into the UK market the way that UK based operators and expect no blood

I doubt that EuJet will see March, and baby are watching TUI group very closely Jet2 would be wise do like wise, they are the new kids on the block in this market and have yet to take a tumble but they will and like all little fellars the longer they they go the larger the fall!!

Happy Xmas and Safe flying to all Pprune'rs

Cheers

Burt

Leodis

12th Dec 2004, 10:12

Don't worry!!

Leeds has missed the boat enough times now, but it still manages to get the odd few services!

Get me some traffic

12th Dec 2004, 20:37

This morning 117 pax were on the Baby flight to Prague yet BMi are axing the route for the summer. Why oh why?

Northern Hero

12th Dec 2004, 20:42

mmeman & Graham K

Still early days for the planning of S05. All concerned are trying to keep the 335 and all flights on Saturdays. Historically bmi have reduced the flights for the summer season but the loads are very good at present with few cancellations over the Xmas period.
As with this summer, bmi built a programme and then added to it so hopefully this may be the case for next summer. As I said above it's early days.........

Expect to see some additions to the baby programme also...;)

Not wanting to steal BOH\'s crown on the subject but when is MME going to get a new cash machine ? :D

INKJET

13th Dec 2004, 05:49

A lot of the Prauge volume books only a short time before departure (3 months or so) baby crews have been told that there will be 2 aircraft next summer but they want Ryanair to show their hand first. I understand that baby is now trading profitably with both volume and yield ahead of budget, at the end of the day that is all that bmi are interested in.

They will add further routes and aircraft in due course, but they do not want a repeat of the bad press they got earlier this year.

mmeteesside

14th Dec 2004, 06:19

That's good news that we are going to get a second based baby :ok: Wonder which destinations it will open up? PRG, hopefully increases on AGP/ALC/PMI plus maybe MJV/NCE again

mmeteesside

18th Dec 2004, 09:35

The terminal was evacuated this morning after a bomb scare, bmi A319 was in the hold for about 45 mins, was ready to divert to NCL when the all clear was given. The traffic was bad (heard Police 11 (G-NESU) say) and within 20 mins bmi A319, KLM Cityhopper F70, Ryanair B732 had landed, thats really gonna help the traffic :)

mmeman

6th Jan 2005, 21:44

Really hope bmi and the airport can come to some agreement and keep the extra LHR flights, and fingers crossed for the 2nd baby!

The airtours holiday programme is certainly very reduced from last Summer, no based Spanair MD83. This is from the MyTravel website-

Sat- JKK PMI-MME-ALC-MME-PMI
Mon- AEU REU-MME-REU
Wed ZU (Helios?) from Larnaca.
Wed BY to Paphos (based BY B738)
Thu JKK ACE-MME-ACE
Fri AEU MME (0500)-IBZ-MME arrive back 11:20.
Fri JKK MME (12:15) - MAH - MME arrive back 18:20

The last 2 a bit strange as the timings suggest the aircraft start at MME, using Astraeus and Spanair????

Also next Winter brochures are out and nothing different from the couple of flights this winter. It seems people in the Tees Vally only want to go to Alicante and Tenerife in the winter!

;)

Pembo330

7th Jan 2005, 11:40

I expected this really.

Of course we all get excited with BY base an aircraft but as much as I hate to say it, I don't think a market exists for 2 based charter aircraft on Teesside.

At least we're keeping some though...

CentreFix25

7th Jan 2005, 16:50

Helios and Astraeus will be something different to look at, fingers crossed for an Airbus on the JKK's. At the end of the day it's all about pax numbers, and they'll still continue to rise.

mmeteesside

7th Jan 2005, 18:42

Would be nice to see Astraeus and Helios here, something different......if only we could get some foreign charters coming here bringing foreign people in (:O Plenty of history around the area).......anyway, enough of the dreaming :rolleyes:

Also, if JKK are to base an aircraft here, what's it going to do on it's 'off' days, I think they should do some kind of sightseeing flights maybe, about an hour long or so.

I think that for the new terminal, a transport interchange should be made, with the rail line diverted either next to, or underneath the new terminal, and with the buses there too, it could be a winner.

onion

7th Jan 2005, 21:17

Hi don't know if anyone has seen this but this is the airport plan for the future. This is on top of any development of the south side.

AIRPORT PLANS SET TO BOOST JOBS AND ECONOMY
Two and half thousand new jobs—and a multi-million pound boost to the area’s economy—are in prospect in major plans for the expansion of Durham Tees Valley Airport which have been submitted to Darlington and Stockton Councils.

Airport Managing Director Hugh Lang describes the plans—which will enable Durham Tees Valley to handle up to three million passengers a year as well as creating a new cargo and maintenance ‘village’ together with a business park and hotel—as ‘a huge opportunity not just for the airport but the entire area.’

Currently the Airport provides the equivalent of around 750 jobs and supports a further 190 to 260 within the Tees Valley. As a result of the developments now being planned the Airport could be employing almost 2,700 in ten years’ time, supporting hundreds more jobs within the area and adding £120million a year into the local economy.

The new extension for the Airport terminal will provide impressive new departure facilities, including 30 check-ins and baggage handling facilities on the ground floor and departure lounges on the first floor with four gate ‘bridges’ connecting directly to the aircraft stands.

In order to handle the increased business there will also be nine new additional aircraft stands, together with new taxiway and apron facilities, as well as a 20,000 square metre development at the north eastern end of the runway, providing facilities for maintenance and cargo handling and processing.

The new North Side Business Park will include 18,600 square metres of high quality office space and, together with the planned 100-bed ‘lodge’ style hotel and restaurant, will create an impressive new development around the main access route to the Airport from the A67.

A detailed Environmental Statement has been submitted with the planning application, examining a comprehensive range of issues including noise, air quality, surface transport access, hydrogeology, landscape, cultural heritage and the local ecology. This also considers construction impacts of the development and outlines the contents of a Construction Management Plan to control them.

Explains Hugh Lang “I believe that this is a massively important development for the Tees Valley and the surrounding areas of North Yorkshire and Durham. From the Airport’s point of view the facts are very clear—we will reach the maximum capacity of the current terminal facilities, at 1.2million passengers a year, by 2007. The plans we have now submitted will enable us to move forward over the next decade, with the prospect of hitting three million passengers a year by 2015.

“They underline the commitment of Peel Airports to maximising the potential of Durham Tees Valley by providing the quality of facilities and services demanded by both passengers and airlines and ensuring that we fully exploit the commercial opportunities of the whole airport site.

“The last year has been our busiest on record, with many of our partner airlines, including bmi, bmibaby, Ryanair and Eastern Airways all expanding their services, and prospects for 2005 are also excellent, with the introduction for example, of new services to Paris and Cork in Ireland. The proposals we are now putting forward will enable us to maintain the momentum in the years ahead and succeed in a very tough and competitive market.

Peter Nears, Strategic Planning Director for Peel Airports said, “Obviously, we expect that there will be a great deal of interest in the proposals and over the coming weeks, as the local authorities consider the applications, we will be making every effort to provide as much information as possible. For example, the full planning documentation will be available for viewing at the Information Desk in the Airport Terminal, as well as at the local authorities and we will be staging an exhibition on the proposals at the Airport.

“In all the discussions and consultations we have had so far with a wide range of interests during the course of preparing this application including the Scoping Exercise held in the Summer of 2004 we have been greatly encouraged by the widespread recognition that a successful and growing airport is vital both in terms of direct jobs and investment and the overall economic regeneration of the Tees Valley City Region.”

To download a copy of the Non Technical Summary of the submission please click here (Right click and select "save target as...")

Also has anyone heard the rumour about the Cork being done by another airline and the Paris being increased to a daily service? Can anyone shed any light. It would, if true be a more sensible option than having Paris only 4 times a week. Has anyone any news on the Prague? Will it be back in the winter or is there a possibility that another airline is going to do it this summer or the hoped for second baby to do it?

urdy gurdy

7th Jan 2005, 21:54

that BAL programme submitted earlier has mostly NCL flight numbers do you know something we dont?
does this make me a spotter?

isnt teeside always fogged out anyway?
oh that spotter thing again,
must buy a copy of asain babes

mmeteesside

7th Jan 2005, 21:56

'isnt teeside always fogged out anyway?'

No, that's Leeds ;)

PapaRomeo

8th Jan 2005, 11:10

urdy gurdy - now whos the spotter!!!

mmeman

8th Jan 2005, 22:05

Hi Onion

Air Wales are doing a Sunday rotation to Cork on behalf of bmibaby, according to the bmibaby website, WW8571/WW8572.

mmeteesside

6th Feb 2005, 19:25

Anyone got any other info to add? eg about the based AEU/JKK patterns on a friday........also BY operating a non-based IBZ flight on a monday

mmeteesside

mmeman

6th Feb 2005, 20:55

Looks like that the Thomas Cook Mahon rotation on a Friday has been cancelled. IT's have decreased by quite a bit from the early plans.

And I would have thought that if a 2nd bmibaby aircraft was being based for the summer, it would have been announced by now :confused: :confused:

Northern Hero

6th Feb 2005, 22:01

Sorry guys but no based AEU / JKK and no second based baby. The Monday REU has been scrapped.
The Air Wales is operating on a 6G flight no and is selling alongside baby but is not on behalf of baby.

stuart212

6th Feb 2005, 22:21

Guys what is happening with BY this summer at Teeside - What eqp are they basing there are what routes are they doing?

Cheers,

SC

Nakata77

7th Feb 2005, 11:04

why does bmibaby only have one based aircraft?! when most regional airports start off with two minimum?

There is certainly no real inbound potential surely... does anyone know of the success (or otherwise) of the FR Rome route? Id be interested to know.

mmeteesside

7th Feb 2005, 18:25

Shame about the TCX being canx, same with the Reus AEU flight........anyone know what type the JKK flights are gonna be, hopefully A320/1.

Any chance of DTV gaining a flight or two/upgrade with KLM, seeing as they're reducing at NCL.

mmeteesside

mmeman

9th Feb 2005, 19:18

Hi Stuart 212

The BY programme is to flown by a B738 I believe, and the timetable was posted back in Decmeber on the 1st page of this thread. I don't think it has changed from that, well I hope not anyway!

Nakata 77,

There may not be a huge inbound potential, but that is why they changed the name- to attract more inbound passengers, I guess they thought that Durham would attract more tourists than the name Teesside?? Still the bmi baby flights were very popular during the summer. Alicante even managed 96% load factor in December. (I think bmibaby made a mistake with 3 flights a week to PMI and only 2 to ALC during the winter)

Looks like bmi have slightly changed the times on the early morning LHR service, leaving MME at 07:15 arr LHR at 08:30 and first flight from LHR is 09:15, which is over 2 hours later than last summer when it was at 07:00!!

mmeman

18th Mar 2005, 21:42

According to the CAA there was a 41% increase in passengers between MME and LHR in December a total of 16740. (1500 more passengers that travelled between LBA and LHR) So what haapens for the summer, back down to 3 a day Sun-Fri and one rotation on a Sat, plus the times have changed even more, and the 1st departure from LHR is at 10:05! Doesn't look like a good time to me, apart from maybe connections from long haul flights??? Or would it have more to do with bmi advertising LBA to LCY at MME?? (leaflets at bmi check in) While we are on the subject loads of Jet 2 advertising on buses in Darlington. Where is the bmibaby advertising??

According to the Airtours website, Costa Dorada(Reus) is still bookable, and still flown by Astraeus. Has this really been cancelled?

Anymore news on what IT flights are actually going to operate?

Free (?) bus service from Darlington railway station starting in May.

And I hear that the road signs are finally going to say Durham Tees Valley after an agreement with the Highways Agency!

INKJET

19th Mar 2005, 15:47

baby should be putting another unit before W05,by then they should be up to 20 units in total

Cheers

Burt

onion

21st Mar 2005, 15:34

INKJET are you actually in the know on the second baby or not? Not that im sceptical or anything but it was promised when they started operations from Teesside but here we are now still waiting for it. When it does come (if ever) what are the expected routes for it? because at the moment alot of people in the Teesside area especially those who work at the airport feel like the whole bmi group are taking the piss. e.g. reducing the Heathrow for the summer when in December one extra rotation meant a 41% increase in passengers, the removal of the Prauge which had load factors in the 80% region and quite often the 90s, the belfast that is down to 4 times a week (if they don't want to do it properly ie twice a day 7 days a week let someone else do it or give it to Air Wales) and the fact that Paris is only 4 times a week (again do it properly twice a day 7 days a week to allow business travellers to do a full days work and get home the same day, failing that at least once a day 7 days a week). I know that one aircraft couldn't do all that I ask and the spanish routes as well but at least if they concentrated on a smaller number of routes people would take them more seriously.
Sorry for sounding like I'm having a go but it is almost as if bmi as a whole at MME are trying to shoot themselves in the foot, which if they do it may not hurt them very much but will cripple the airport itself and a lot of innocent and hard working people.

Pembo330

21st Mar 2005, 16:00

To be honest, I'd like to see Flybe or someone else try and have a go at MME.

The problem with Baby here is that they don't seem to have the commitment to the area. Yet their presence will probably deter others using here because of the limited catchment.

Baby - do us proud, or let someone else have a go!

onion

21st Mar 2005, 16:07

Pembo thought I'd be annoying and point out that MME has a bigger catchment than NCL so why can't there be more airlines flying to more destinations, although I know what you mean about others airlines being put off, the problem is that MME is percieved to have a small catchment area.

nclairportfan

21st Mar 2005, 17:00

I think one of the biggest issues around MME is lack of focus.

The name change to Durham Tees Valley was all about trying to get more inbound tourism. In my experience it is quicker to fly to Newcastle if I am going to Durham because of the speedier metro and train links.

I think there is room for both NCL and MME to expand within their catchment areas. You also need to consider the NCL's catchment area has expanded rapidly since EZY's arrival with people coming from Cumbria, Yorkshire and Scotland (it's amazing how far people will travel for a cheap flight!).

As someone said earlier a massive problem is WW's lack of commitment to MME. They don't seem to have grasped the concept that they could expand routes and base more aircraft on a similiar scale to EZY at NCL. I think WW are too focussed on their new base at BHX to worry about anywhere else.

Hopefully, we will see both NCL and MME expand. I certainly hope so given that I travel from both frequently. Competition can only be good for us passengers in finding cheap flights!!

CentreFix25

21st Mar 2005, 19:19

Onion, I don't think the catchment area is as big as you think. Half an hour up the road from MME and your nearer to NCL, half an hour down the road and your nearer to LBA. On routes served by all three airports i'm pretty sure there's not much difference in price, so thats not a factor. I think most will choose to fly from their nearest (by travelling time) airport, business type people will choose to fly by the frequency of the flight (there and back in the same day). The two reasons stated above shrink the catchment area of MME. There are a few exceptions, unavailability of seats at other airports and last minute deals but i think on the overall scale of things they are few and far between. So in my opinion the rough catchment area is Durham City to the North and prehaps Ripon/Thirsk to the South.

Pembo330

21st Mar 2005, 20:58

I agree with all the points here.

One final thought from me (as an aside); the ideal airline to move into MME isn't Flybe as I said earlier; it really has to be Thomsonfly. They have the presence, they have the commitment, they have the relationship with Peel and DSA is far enough away as not to tread too much on their own toes.

For me, this would be a great catch.

onion

21st Mar 2005, 21:12

Centrefix we ve been over this before on earlier threads and here it is

from “The future development of air transport in the UK: North of England”

Page 42, Table 2.2 ‘Population Catchment’

1 hour road catchement population

MAN 5-7 million
LPL 5-7 million
LBA 3-5 million
MME 2-3 million
NCL 2-3 million
HUY 0.6 – 1 million

2 hour road catchment population

LBA 16-18 million
MAN 15-17 million
LPL 13-15 million
HUY 10-11 million
MME 6-7 million
NCL 3-4 million

data per DLTR NAAM model.

CentreFix25

21st Mar 2005, 21:27

I don't doubt the figures at all. The thing is i'm one of the 6-7 Million that live with in 2 hours drive of MME, but I would have to drive past NCL to get there, and i'm not going to do that. Question is how many of the 6-7 Million would have to drive past NCL or LBA to get to MME and are stupid enough to do it?

ric180880

21st Mar 2005, 22:53

My money is on Thomsonfly to launch their next base at MME, especially if the Thomson Holiday flying goes well this summer then i think we could see two Thomsonfly a/c based at MMe in the near future.

nclairportfan

22nd Mar 2005, 15:48

And like most people who live nearer NCL I would be prepared to pay an extra £10 each way for a flight rather than drive and park at MME!

Thomsonfly seems the best bet with no North East base as yet. FR are also eyeing both NCL and MME for a potential further base but have not made any decision. Either way MME needs a loco who can give them commitment and a daily schedule like EZY at NCL. WW's rotations are confusing for people like me and high frequency and good times are important to business travellers.

Saying that, NCL is getting very busy - especially in the summer; will they have enough stands!

I personally would love to see Thomsonfly at MME - especially if they offer destinations slightly different to EZY. For example, the NE have no loco service to AMS so that would be popular as would a route to Bordeaux or maybe Toulouse.

It will all come with time I'm sure!!

mmeteesside

23rd Mar 2005, 06:45

Anyone know if any routes are up and coming, the airport met with 35!! airlines last autumn and we've had 1 new route out of it :confused: That was Ryanair to Rome, they might not have even met with FR :ouch:

mmeteesside

mmeman

23rd Mar 2005, 21:04

'And like most people who live nearer NCL I would be prepared to pay an extra £10 each way for a flight rather than drive and park at MME!'

'Question is how many of the 6-7 Million would have to drive past NCL or LBA to get to MME and are stupid enough to do it?'

You are both very lucky that you can get the flight you want from NCL (or LBA), and don't have to be 'stupid enough' to be forced to drive past MME to get the flight you want. :hmm:

mmeman

20th Apr 2005, 21:27

A few snippets of what has been going on-

37% increase in pax numbers in March 2005 compared to March 2004. bmi Heathrow route 26% increase in pax figures. Nearly 7,500 pax to Rome, which I think is pretty good as it is only the 2nd full month.

Libra Holidays announcing a flight to Larnaca. Does anyone have any details?

Airtours Ibiza flight now on a Friday night with Spanair, Alicante Saturday Spanair flight not starting until end of May (unless it is full all of May of course! unlikely I think) and very interesting is that the Airtours Mahon flights are with GirJet on Friday mornings. Are they Fokker 100's?? Reus flights are still bookable on AEU on Monday's.

And the big news - new free shuttle bus to Darlington railway station and town centre!;)

Anybody have anymore news?

mmeteesside

21st Apr 2005, 06:51

37% increase is very good for DurhamTeesValley! Don't forget though that Easter came in March this year :O

Libra Holidays flight is on the Helios on a Wednesday morning

The Mahon flight with GirJet sounds good, they recently painted a F100 into Spanair livery

The shuttle bus is a good idea, free too.......though only to flyers :ouch:

mmeteesside

onion

5th Jun 2005, 12:32

Any one got any ideas on how the winter is starting to look?
Is bmibaby going to expand it's operations at MME? Will they reintroduce the Prague as i'm hopefully off to Prague oct/nov and have ask both bmi and baby if it will be reinstated but have had no correspondence from either of them.
Are there any more Ryanair routes on the cards, Barcelona maybe, and will the Rome stay?
Is the Heathrow back upto four a day?
Is there going to be an extra link to London? eg London City, bmi have two 135 that are fitted for it but aren't operating them into city.
Will KLM put F100 rather than the F70 on the Amsterdam or add a four flight a day?
How many IT's does the place have this winter?
Will any new operators come into the airport?
Will Peel do something about the old part of the car park. As the machinary that came in to build the extension to the car park ripped up the existing car park and now it is full of pot holes.

mmeteesside

5th Jun 2005, 18:18

Amadeus showing (reliable?)

LHR - 3 a day, mainly 320
AMS - 3 a day, all F70 (2 Saturday)

Doesn't seem to show Eastern any more on any routes

I was under the impression that the old part of the car park was supposed to be getting re-surfaced??

Also, I got my 'traveltalk' magazine from DTV the other day, apparently the new terminal could be in use by 2007! Better get started on building it then! It's going to be another Peel glasshouse (with those silly-looking 'gate bridges')

mmeteesside

johnwalton

5th Jun 2005, 19:44

Doesn't seem to show Eastern any more on any routes

They only show if you select the "Direct flights only" box (for some reason). Still showing MME-ABZ as it is at the moment right up until year-end.

onion

7th Jun 2005, 16:39

So no one has anything else then?
All this talk of other airport doing such and such, and it looks as if mme will get left behind again. Peel needs to get a grip of the place and make things happen, certain parts of the airport are disillusioned with the way the airport is progressing. There is no great belief in what management are saying or doing, and people just don't think the future is as bright as they are led to believe.

mmeman

7th Jun 2005, 21:21

There were rumours on other threads about a second bmibaby aircraft being based at MME, and according to bmibaby website they are leasing an addtional 3 aircraft and speaking to existing bases about routes etc, so there maybe some truth in that.

Having said that the pax figures for the new services in April are not exactly brilliant-

Paris 2599 pax (50% load factor)
Cork 1340 pax (Average 39pax per flight), which is pretty poor, even if one flight a week is by an Air Wales ATR.
Rome 6173 total, split between the 2 Rome airports and Pescara, which works out about a 57% load factor.

These figues will have to improve to sustain the servces. Anyone any idea how the new Newquay service is shaping up? Hopefully it will have a few more pax than Belfast!

The flybe/HUY threads mention flights to MME, but as far as I am aware, flybe themselves have never mentioned MME, and I find it highly unlikely seen as though they have mentioned expansion from both NCL and LBA. Still we could hope.

Checking out the IT brochures for Winter 05/06, all that is planned is the same 3 or 4 flights a week that there was last winter, which is pretty poor really.

Having said all that we have to remember how far the airport has grown in a short time, hopefully some stability in the IT summer market with the Thomson 737 based, and if Peel achieve all they promise, the future looks bright. We shall see.

mmeteesside

8th Jun 2005, 06:25

Them load factors don't look too good, but then whats the NCL - Milan lf :p

The Newquay flight doesn't start until Friday, and I hope it does better than Belfast!

Flybe have been looking at a MME-BHD route for a while now, and apparently have contacted DTV a number of times :confused:

I agree, we need a lot more Charters in the winter, the present 3 a week is not good enough! :ouch:

Apparently the new terminal could be open by 2007, and the new stands they are promising will be to the west of Stand 1(L)

mmeteesside

CentreFix25

8th Jun 2005, 06:44

Them load factors don't look too good, but then whats the NCL - Milan lf
March - 6716
April - 6841

Whats your point?

mmeteesside

8th Jun 2005, 06:55

The point is that Ryanair are currently playing off MME against NCL to decide which should get it's North East base, and it looks like NCL is going to win with those numbers :(

mmeteesside

blahblahblah

8th Jun 2005, 18:59

mmeteesside / onion

Intersting views on how the airport is percieved by staff and that flybe have 'been in touch', what is the basis of this?

Also who says Ryanair are playing off MME and NCL? NCL - BGO maybe outperforming MME - CIA but then again MME - CIA is competing against EZY on NCL... BGO has a free run so hardly a like for like comparison?

CentreFix25

8th Jun 2005, 20:09

I dont think Ryanair is playing the airports off against one another, i would have thought they are getting the best possible deal already. I also dont think the pax numbers on the above routes will have much of a baring on any possible base, LBA outperforming NCL and MME on the Dublin route.

LBA

9th Jun 2005, 09:08

Not surprising LBA is outperfoming MME and NCL on the Ryanair Dublin route, LBA has 3 flights a day as opposed to Newcastles 2 and Durhams 1.

NCLRULES

9th Jun 2005, 16:21

Apparently the new terminal could be open by 2007, and the new stands they are promising will be to the west of Stand 1(L)

I never realised MME was getting a new terminal.:eek:

HH6702

9th Jun 2005, 20:09

The Journal this morning

The north east is set to expand with cheap flights thanks to ryanair.

upto 4 based aircraft in north east the same kind of operation as liverpool.

ryanair will not say which airport for the time being....

(could be 2 each.... nice thinking..)

onion

9th Jun 2005, 21:14

blahblahblah the basis of my post was from talking to staff, the view "i'll believe it when I see it" comes up alot at mme.

Regarding ryanair didn't they say last year that they saw no new expansion from Newcastle for the fore seeable future! Could be wrong though.

Northern Hero

9th Jun 2005, 21:15

HRH Prince Andrew at MME today looking at the plans for the new terminal and airport expansion.

Baby have confirmed the 2nd based 737 for next summer. FlyBe is a rumour, don't think it will happen until next year, if at all, due to fleet utilisation & pending aircraft deliveries.
Possibly see more of Air Wales from next summer also.;)

nclairportfan

9th Jun 2005, 21:39

Onion

I believe Ryanair stated last year there would be no expansion at NCL until at least Autumn 2005 as all of their aircraft was utilised.

mmeteesside

10th Jun 2005, 06:41

Bet the Air Wales expansion will be to operate all 4 Cork flights :) Heard they haven't been doing too well, but it's early days I guess. Hopefully they might start a Cardiff flight too!

Good news that baby are basing a second 737 here ;) at last!

It would be good if Ryanair based here, but I just can't see them getting the pax numbers required for 4 based aircraft, where would they all come from??

I think Flybe might start the BHD in the future, short or long, probably long :suspect:

mmeteesside

mattfalcus

10th Jun 2005, 10:35

The Ryanair passengers would come from agressive marketing, which they seem capable of. baby don't seem capable of marketing their operations too much, and thus route after route from MME (and other bases I presume) carries small loads and gets no exposure.

Just look at the number of Jet2 and EasyJet adverts around the Teesside area. People will see them, and their offers, and think "That's a good deal, and Newcastle / Leeds isn't too far to go".

They're not all experts on airlines, so will not naturally know what is available from their local airport unless it is pushed in their face.

MME has a larger catchment area within 1 hour's drive than both NCL and LBA, so the passengers ARE there. We just have to persuade them to fly from here.

Matt

blahblahblah

10th Jun 2005, 15:37

See that baby have announced Gatwick as part of their Winter schedule from MME, anyone see that coming?

NCLRULES

10th Jun 2005, 15:43

Do baby fly any routes out of LGW?

onion

Regarding ryanair didn\'t they say last year that they saw no new expansion from Newcastle for the fore seeable future! Could be wrong though.

Look at this article:

http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/0500business/0100local/page.cfm?objectid=14914670&method=full&siteid=50081

nclairportfan

10th Jun 2005, 16:25

Looks as though Newquay will be lost for the winter though.

airhumberside

10th Jun 2005, 17:39

Do baby fly any routes out of LGW?
Not any more. Used to fly to Cork and Prague but ceased recently

nclairportfan

11th Jun 2005, 08:52

WW do not treat MME as if it is a major base. Changing routes and not having good frequencies, particularly on domestic routes adds to the problem as they are unlikely to attract business travellers. When I travel EZY or BE to Belfast at least 50% are business traveller - this is even higher on the BRS route for the early morning flight.

My only concern is that despite the high catchment area, which I'm not disputing, will other airlines look at MME and think if WW couldn't make it work will we be able to?

mmeteesside

11th Jun 2005, 10:14

The Gatwick probably won't work, just look at the timings for the 'business route', leaves DurhamTeesValley at 1840 on a Sunday - Friday, and on a morning on a Saturday! This is to cover for the loss of the Newquay and Jersey routes over the winter (as far as I can see) :rolleyes:

They should announce further new routes soon, or increase frequencies on the Alicante, Palma and any other routes :confused:

C'mon baby, try and play it proper, or give someone else a go!

mmeteesside

mattfalcus

11th Jun 2005, 10:36

Is it just me, or will WW flying to LGW compete directly with parent BD's LHR service (which has been advertising low-cost fares of around £30 each way lately)?

Matt

mmeteesside

11th Jun 2005, 10:41

No way! a 1x a day, departing at 1840 (Sun-Fri) compete with LHR?? :O

mmeteesside

nclairportfan

11th Jun 2005, 10:52

Terrible timings really. You need at least 2 flights per day, at peak times to make it work as EZY did from NCL with BRS and BFS in the beginning.

onion

11th Jun 2005, 11:47

Yes the Gatwick is not ideally timed for the business travellers, but I think it is aimed more at a leisure market at the moment with the morning flight on a sat with the evening flight on a sun giving people the chance of an night in London. Also how many people will use the Heathrow to fly down and then use the later Gatwick flight to fly back from London?

NCL people remember that Stansted was originally only done once a day to start with with GO and now look at it.

Also if they do base a second aircraft at MME I think a second Gatwick will probably be on the cards.

Will the Heathrow stay at 3 flights this winter with the introduction of the Gatwick and if so the airport has actually lost 1 flight a day.

mmeteesside

11th Jun 2005, 13:58

I think the 4th daily last winter was only a slot-holder (maybe for the new Mumbai flights)

I really do hope the LGW grows into a good route, we could do with one in the morning not only for biz pax but also for long-haul connex (not that they through-check your bags), but if we had that you would need a lunchtime one as well (for returning long-haul pax)

mmeteesside

roblondon70

11th Jun 2005, 14:39

How long is left for MME-LHR? How come it has survived so long when so many other regional airports hve lost their LHR service over the years?

onion

11th Jun 2005, 15:34

roblondon are you going mad? If you are seriously asking that question why not ask the same about the LBA-LHR? This has more competion from the railways than the MME-LHR. Also bmi must be makin a fortune on the route when you consider a business class ticket is costing more return than say a flight to the USA. Ok there are probably routes out of LHR that bmi could make more money on, but with all the high profile politicians in the area bmi would face questions, these politicians include Milburn, Blair and Hague.

roblondon70

11th Jun 2005, 15:57

I would also ask it about the LBA service!! BHX, HUY, GCI, JER, INV, IOM, LPL, NQY, NWI, EMA and PLH have all gone so why not MME and LBA? Many of these have poorer surface links with London than Darlington or Leeds.

If SMB were ever to get his ambition to grow LHR long haul significantly the slots would have to come from somewhere. LBA and MME occupy some prime ones (esp am arrivals) so I would suggest they'd go pronto. By the time Mssrs Blair and Milburn realised this was happening it'd be a done deal. As for Hague, erm, who cares!!

Mark Lewis

11th Jun 2005, 16:05

Remember the bmi Business Class service has just been axed, further reducing the yields on these two "business" services.

nclairportfan

11th Jun 2005, 23:06

For your information and to add more fuel to the debate the April CAA Provisional Stats show:

NCL - CIA (EZY) 6315 pax - approx 105 pax per flight
Down from 7445 in March

NCL - BGY (FR) 6841 pax - approx 114 pax per flight
Up from 6716 in March

NCL - DUB (FR) 10746 pax - approx 89 pax per flight
Down from 11681 in March

MME - DUB (FR) 5519 pax - approx 92 pax per flight
Down from 6159 in March

MME - CIA (FR) 6025 pax - approx 100 pax per flight
Down from 6989 in March

flyerz111

11th Jun 2005, 23:19

Easter was in March so you would expect a surge and subsequent drop in April ....

RobT100

12th Jun 2005, 03:42

What about NCL - LHR too? I would look at binning that as leeds has more important connections with london than newcastle (finance).
Good train network operates from newcastle too. NCL getting a bit too big for its boots sometimes, they gotta remember they are only a small regional airport after all !

nclairportfan

12th Jun 2005, 09:28

Rob

My understanding is that NCL - LHR is very profitable. BA have 7 daily rotations. I would imagine it's mainly connecting traffic.

GrahamK

12th Jun 2005, 09:32

Good train network operates from newcastle too. NCL getting a bit too big for its boots sometimes, they gotta remember they are only a small regional airport after all !

Thats the kind of comment that I'd expect to see on that other site! So if NCL is a small regional airport, then what is Leeds/Bradford? :confused:

Leodis

12th Jun 2005, 11:08

so if NCL is a small regional airport then what is Leeds Bradford

.....which makes MME look like a tin pot grass field:}

DC10FAN

12th Jun 2005, 11:26

BA have only recently added a 7th flight on the NCL-LHR service so it is highly unlikely that the route would be dropped. Comparing the journey time with the train is not always relevant; if you are travelling point-to-point ie a day's business in London then the train is probably as quick for central London. But I suspect that >50% of passengers are connecting at LHR onto other flights hence BA gets revenue on 2 routes. Drop the route and what happens? You gain a few slots but lose alot of passengers who would move to the trains or KLM/AF feeder flights as an alternative.
I suspect that connecting passenger numbers will also increase on the BA service when LHR T5 opens; as the single terminal concept at AMS(much easier for connections) will have no advantage over BA's new single terminal operation.

Leodis

12th Jun 2005, 11:41

The top UK intercontinental

London Heathrow - Very large international/intercontinental
London Gatwick - Very large international/medium intercontinental
Manchester - Very large international/small intercontinental
Birmingham - Large international/very small intercontinental

The regionals

Newcastle - Very large domestic/international
Leeds Bradford - Medium to large domestic/international
Teeside - Small regional domestic/international
Doncaster - Very small international/intercontinental (2006)

:ok:

Andy_S

12th Jun 2005, 16:00

.....which makes MME look like a tin pot grass field

Leodis,

Thank you for that very thoughtful and constructive comment.

Perhaps you could explain why Durham Tees Valley is deserving of such a dismissal? Having looked at the recent posts on this thread, none of the regular contributors on MME matters have passed judgement on your oh so beloved LBA, so I'm not sure what provoked this reaction. Do please enlighten us.

Leodis

12th Jun 2005, 16:09

Admittedly a little childish and I apologise.... but it was that very thoughtful and constructive comment by GrahamK.

RobT100

12th Jun 2005, 16:15

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
so if NCL is a small regional airport then what is Leeds Bradford
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So what does that make DSA, a childrens toy garage.
Just for the sake of Graham K ! :p

Leodis

12th Jun 2005, 16:17

If you poke I'll bite, back to topic MME:p

GrahamK

12th Jun 2005, 17:18

Indeed, back to MME. I don't think that the WW LGW flights will harm the LHR flights in any way. Just a pity the timings aren't brilliant, but I guess that's due to slots at LGW

Jamesair

12th Jun 2005, 17:47

Another thought on the lower pax figures in April vis a vis March.. April has one day less than March. Accounting for at least 200 pax on each route.

Rome has an additional reason with the airport closed for the Pope's funeral. Bologna needs to be added to the NCL figure for a better comparison.

CentreFix25

12th Jun 2005, 20:02

What about NCL - LHR too? I would look at binning that as leeds has more important connections with london than newcastle (finance).
RobT100, think i've said this to you before on another thread couple of months ago, but you really do talk some crap.

RobT100

12th Jun 2005, 21:48

Whoooo Hooooo

Excellent, You were the fish I wanted CentreFix, well done mate. Hook like and Sinker !

Leodis

13th Jun 2005, 12:40

CentreFIX 25

Just for the record. Leeds is officially the largest FINANCIAL centre in the UK outside of London.

RobT100

13th Jun 2005, 18:38

So stick that in ya pipe and smoke it !

CentreFix25

13th Jun 2005, 18:41

I'll stick it in my pipe and smoke it if it keeps you happy, now go and do your homework.

onion

16th Jun 2005, 10:51

What the hell is bmibaby doing now?
Just last week it was announced that they would be doing a Gatwick daily, with evening flights mon-fri and sun and a morning flight on a sat. Well thats not true, they are only doing Gatwick flights mon-fri and sun, no flight on a sat. Instead they are doing a once weekly flight to Jersey on the sat.
Even a bunch of GCSE students could do better than bmibaby at the moment out of MME.
One they refuse to do services properly e.g. 4 times a week on the Paris, this route should be done at least daily if not twice a day to provide the business man/women with the oppertunity to do a days work in Paris.
The Gatwick should be done likewise.
Two they are always saying one thing one week and doing another the next e.g. saying MME would have two aircraft when they started then not actually basing one till the following summer. Saying Gatwick would be daily then only doing it 6 times a week.
I ve know GCSE students with more business sense than bmibaby, I have in the passed tried to stand up for them but this is getting stupid. They are trying to do too many destinations with a single aircraft out of MME. They would be better concentrating on 3 or 4 routes and build them up if they are going to continue with just the one aircraft.

Oh and will the fools from Newcastle and Leeds who have turned this thread into my city is better than your city slanging match take it somewhere else. If you want i'll set up a new thread for you how does " I'm a 10 year old and want to have an arguement" sound!!!!!

ATNotts

16th Jun 2005, 12:16

I absolultely promise not to go down the "my airport / city / region (delete which not applicable) is better than yours". It's childish, and rather futile.

As for WW, I suggest that to a marketing department, where truth and a good story are mutually exclusive; 6 days a week is pretty well daily, and one aircraft is not much different from two, especially if the 2nd is on it's way!

As someone outside the Northeast, with no axe to grind, I would think that the rationale for a CDG service running less than daily (or 6 x per week!!) is that in the eyes of the decision makers at Baby, the market is primarily leisure rather than business orientated. They may be wrong,

baps

16th Jun 2005, 14:02

Doubt bmi would drop LBA or MME flights to LHR as LBA in particular is a profit making route which is alot more than can be said for some others. Of course with the axing of busi class that could all change. Who knows BMI might drop LHR from MME and replace it with 3-4 times daily to LGW therefore freeing up slots in LHR for planned longhaul expansion. At the end of the day not too sure if BMI management (mainline, regional or baby) really know what they're going to do tomorrow let alone in a few months time.

nclairportfan

16th Jun 2005, 22:46

BMIbaby really aren't a low cost airline in my opinion. A quick look at some of the fares available from MME - LGW in December reveals that they are more expensive than BA on NCL - LGW and in some cases BMI on MME - LHR!!

I would have thought they would be trying to undercut BA a little, especially this far in advance!

NCLRULES

21st Jun 2005, 16:52

New route to Bodrum. Will fly every Monday from Durham Tees Valley Airport using an Airbus A320.

onion

11th Jul 2005, 20:26

Have found out that the Newquay service is underperforming. Only averaging around 35 each flight which is a shame (I think if it were daily it would fill around 20 seats). Although you will have to remember that Leeds has a twice daily service, the fact that it was a short notice substitustion for the poor performing Belfast at the begining of the summer season and hasn't had the holiday companies selling it for months in advance like the Jersey.
I think though if it were done daily it would attract more people but still would need a smaller aircraft, maybe done via somewhere like Coventry or Cardiff, a bit like the Leeds service.
Hope if bmibaby drop it next summer someone like air southwest pick it up, even if it is only done four times a week.

blahblahblah

11th Jul 2005, 21:12

35 pax per flight where did you get that from, counted over a hundred getting of it on Sunday night!

Certainly doing better than the BFS (not that that says much)

onion

11th Jul 2005, 21:26

Blah thanks for the update, I can assure you that from what I have been told and know 35 is the average for each flight, although these figure only correspond to last month. Maybe from what you say the route is picking up, hopefully we'll see more people using it as the summer holidays approach. If it does pick up over the summer could we see air wales baby sitting over the winter? Personally I don't think so but stranger things have happend at bmibaby.

mmeteesside

22nd Jul 2005, 08:56

Any chance of any new routes soon?? Possibly Air Southwest to start up NQY-MME in the winter when baby halt it?

And I really don't think the new Goldtrail route to Bodrum will start, the announcement has already vanished off the airport website! :p

mmeteesside

blahblahblah

22nd Jul 2005, 12:29

"And I really don't think the new Goldtrail route to Bodrum will start, the announcement has already vanished off the airport website!"

Funny that a friend and his family flew out on it this Monday!

mmeteesside

22nd Jul 2005, 15:44

It didn't run this week (18/07/05) and starts next week (25/07/05) as far as I know......:confused:

mmeteesside

mmeman

9th Aug 2005, 20:07

According to the 2nd edition Thomson brochure, there is a flight to Kos on a Thursday afternoon, although it hasn't been formally announced by the airport, and isn't on the Thomson website, so it maybe a mistake.

Passenger figures to Rome certainly getting better, but seems not good enough as Ryanair have cut it back to 3 a week for winter, Tue, Thurs and Sat, so that will probably kill the route off, as no Fri/Sun flights for a weekend away.

May 6395pax (FCO and CIA combined)
June -7463pax

Heathrow pax figures up 15% in May 2005, compared to 2004, to 11514.

Cork still not exactly doing that well

May- 1559pax
June- 1981pax

Paris

May- 2277pax
June 2547pax

and to show why bmibaby dropped Belfast only 1172 passengers in May!!

It doesn't look like the airport is going to make the 1 million passengers this year.

onion

10th Aug 2005, 10:15

Some good news.

DURHAM AND TEES VALLEY TO GET NEW SOUTH WEST LINK

For the first time a brand new air service linking County Durham and the Tees Valley region with South West England and South Wales will be launched by Eastern Airways.

The airline, which is one of the UK’s fastest growing regional operators, will provide regional business travellers with an excellent business led schedule with three flights each week day from Durham Tees Valley Airport to Bristol International Airport. A Sunday service will also operate.

Services start from 24 October and will take 70 minutes. Weekday flights will depart from Durham Tees Valley Airport at 6.45am, 1.30pm and 5.15pm, arriving at Bristol at 7.55am, 2.40pm and 6.25pm respectively. Return services will leave Bristol at 8.25am, 3.10pm and 6.55pm, landing in Durham Tees Valley Airport at 9.35am, 4.20pm and 8.05pm respectively.

Sunday services will take off from Bristol at 3.50pm arriving in Durham Tees Valley at 5pm with return flights departing at 5.30pm and landing in Bristol at 6.40pm.

Both regions have strong business links, particularly in the telecommunications industry. Bristol Airport is located eight miles south of the city centre and is close to Bath, as well as being a gateway to the South West, Gloucestershire, Somerset and South Wales.

Keith Watson, Eastern Airways’ head of sales and marketing said: “This fast new air link is great news for Tees Valley and County Durham business travellers as they can arrive in Bristol city centre by 9am without the stress of driving an arduous 300 miles. Our schedules provide a perfect opportunity for conducting a day’s business without the need for an overnight stay. The major developments in the South West region and at the airport are indicative of the economic climate and we are excited at what we believe will be a very welcome addition to our network”.

Mark Clarkson, Durham Tees Valley Airport’s business development manager, said: “We have been working closely with both the business community and Eastern Airways to deliver a service to Bristol and we are delighted with today’s news. The North East Chamber of Commerce and a number of key employers in both regions have been of great assistance and we look forward to the establishment of another important route from Durham Tees Valley.

“With fast, efficient and reliable services now in place, we are convinced that the route will be well supported by both business and leisure passengers”.

Return fares start from £99 including taxes.

Eastern Airways also operates four flights each weekday to Aberdeen from Durham Tees Valley Airport.

The Rome in june averaged 124 pax each flight.
The Dublin only carried 5466 which is only an average of 91 per flight. When this changes to a 737-800 Ryanair may decide to pull it altogether unless they are going to add a second flight a day to try and stimulate business growth and take the business travellers that currently use Newcastle and Leeds rather than MME due to MME only having one flight a day.

onion

16th Aug 2005, 21:49

This winter may not seem as good in terms of passenger numbers as it might appear on the surface. The reason I say this is although the airport will have an extra 3 ryanair flights a week (untill the end of jan and then they actually lose 4 flights a week) and the new Bristol service the airport is actually losing 1 flight a day from the bmi group. This is the 4th LHR rotation a day that is usually done in the winter. Come Feb that will make a reduction of 11 rotaions by a 130-189 seater aircraft a week.

Also does anyone know when and where bmibaby's 3 extra 737 will be based or have the current winter timetables taken them into account?
Why does the airport reckon bmibaby will be doing Jersey 3 times a week, yet bmibaby say they are only doing it once a week?
Are there any IT flights this winter as there are none on the DTV website?

Anything else happening?

GrahamK

16th Aug 2005, 22:29

With regards to the3 new WW a/c, I thought I read that one of them was going to MME, one to EMA and one to CWL?

terrywilcox

19th Aug 2005, 16:32

I am from DSA,(doncaster finningley),owned by Peel. We have recently formed a group call "friends of doncaster sheffield airport" or FODSA. There is a similar groupr at Liverpool called FOLA. both have web sites. Can anyone local to your airport tell me if you have a similar group. We were formed froim the group who campaigned for many years for the airport,but are quit4e independent of the owners.

Jamesair

19th Aug 2005, 19:35

There is a group called Air North which has a great monthly magazine for enthusiasts and covers NCL, MME and Carlisle. Also has a good website. www.airnorth.demon.co.uk

mmeman

19th Aug 2005, 22:32

Hi Onion,

IT flights this winter I believe is one flight to Tenerife on a Friday and one flight to Alicante on a Tuesday, nothing else from the last brochures I saw, which is pretty poor really. Don't think Lyon was in the Thomson ski brochure neither. I maybe wrong, so someone maybe could confirm. Still lack of IT flights should keep the bmibaby flights busy! (and the NCL IT flights busy too!) From the brochures for next summer, I don't think there are actually any increase in flights, just Thomson changing 1 or 2 destinations, no flight to Gran Canaria next summer. (maybe Kos is new but still not on Thomson website)

Fingers crossed for a 2nd bmibaby aircraft, and re instatement of flights to Prague and increase of flights to Alicante, Palma and Malaga which are doing very well if you look at the CAA pax figues website.

anybody know how the Gatwick flights are selling. all flights appear to be £1.99, which may suggest that they are not selling that well!

CentreFix25

20th Aug 2005, 07:19

MME will have its own Wings Bar soon - http://www.wingsbar.co.uk/

airhumberside

20th Aug 2005, 17:30

Ive seen Lyon in a Thomson Ski brochure (preview edition) for next winter

mmeteesside

22nd Aug 2005, 13:56

The ski flight is running this winter, don't know who it'll be yet though.....my brother is going on it with school (just like I did last winter)

Good news about the wings bar, we've been in at Newcastle, nice views! Lets hope the DTV one will be as good as, if not better than, the Newcastle one!

The Bristol flight is a nice addition....you can trust Eastern to make a good job of it too.

I heard that the airport have started knocking down the old air force buildings on the south side of the airport to make way for the new business centre/cargo/maintenance! About time something got done, at last!

mmeteesside

INKJET

22nd Aug 2005, 15:58

Have baby confirmed a second unit yet? i heard they wouldn't run it with only one unit past start of Winter time table?

Cheers

Burt

alterego

22nd Aug 2005, 20:29

Current plan for Baby's 3 new A/C is (as told by a management pilot to me): one more at CWL, one more at NEMA and one more at Teeside.

This is not (as I understand it) cast in stone but has been the case for sometime and not changed. The A/C are due in the Autumn but will not be scheduled in to service as Baby have had delays getting the arriving A/C onto line

mmeman

23rd Aug 2005, 17:03

98342 passengers at MME in July, nearly breaking the 100,000 passengers a month barrier! Does anyone know if they have had 100,000 passengers a month before???

Looking at Thomsons Ski and Crystal ski website, it isn't them going to Lyon this winter, is it another tour operator? No flight to Geneva either with bmibaby, unless we do get another aircraft for winter?:confused:

does anyone know where the wings bar is going to be?

NCLRULES

5th Sep 2005, 11:45

http://www.wingsbarmme.co.uk/

mmeteesside

5th Sep 2005, 16:59

At last!! past the 100k mark a month!

Well done DurhamTeesValley, 105000 pax in August

mmeteesside

AndyHUY

5th Sep 2005, 18:27

I hope i see the day when we see this number of pax at HUY in a month!

Great news for MME!

CentreFix25

5th Sep 2005, 20:36

Never mind the pax numbers, just looking forward to the bar opening!

onion

8th Sep 2005, 21:25

All this talk of a great August is all well and good but can some one please tell me why Ryanair is cutting the Rome to 3 flights a week when it carried almost 10,000 in August. Ok it's the hieght of the summer but you have to compare this to their other route to dublin, that hs never carried that number in a month with the same number of flights and often struggles to to reach the 7000 mark. Also the Newquay seems to have picked up and is out performing even the Malaga, Cork, Alicante and the Palma.

skyman771

9th Sep 2005, 13:41

Newquay seems to have picked up and is out performing even the Malaga, Cork, Alicante and the Palma.
Is this not another way of stating that the Malaga, Cork, Alicante and Palma are underperforming?
If indeed this were the case then it may go someway to explain RYR's actions on reducing frequency on the Rome flight.
Personally, I would have thought that the decision to reduce must have been given considerable deliberation as I feel that when any route reduces to less than daily, or at least 6 x weekly, then it creates it's own problems as regards marketing placing additional pressure on loads.

GrahamK

9th Sep 2005, 13:53

I wonder what the fees that Ryanair are getting at MME. Perhaps they have recently risen, and FR have reduced frequency in protest?

onion

9th Sep 2005, 14:54

Skyman Malaga,Palma and Alicante are not underperforming at all you could argue that the Cork is. My point was that Newquay is doing very well.
Also Ryanair have nothing to do with these routes, these are operated by bmibaby.
GrahamK if fees are the reasoning behind the cutback, which I doubt they are, wouldn't it of been more sensible to cut back the route that has less people travelling on it?
When you consider that the Rome is only one flight a day yet is only 1200 behind the Heathrow and Amsterdam which both have three it seem strange.
Maybe they did this before the route began to pick up but Ryanair are fairly good at spotting oportunties when they come and I think cutting back to three is missing one.
It would be interesting to see Newcastle's Rome figures for August to see if these are completley new travellers or people who use to use the Newcastle service. Might give an idea to how many people from the MME catchment area use NCL because MME doesn't have the route.

GrahamK

9th Sep 2005, 14:57

onion, the DUB figures are probably less because they use the 737-200 to DUB and the -800 to CIA? A difference of 60 seats each flight

onion

9th Sep 2005, 15:09

GrahamK that is true and the load factors are very similar mid 80%s, but with the competion at NCL and LBA which provide better fequencies than MME I honestly can't see MME actually picking up many more passengers on the Dublin when it goes over to an 800. Yes there may be a small increase due to more seats being available at lower prices but if they don't provide a second flight a day to cater for people on business I can't see them keeping the load factors in the mid 80%s.

mmeteesside

9th Sep 2005, 20:48

Newquay may well be out-performing Malaga, Palma and Alicante.....that's because Newquay has 4 flights a week, with Palma and Alicante on 2 each, Malaga has 3......

I think the Rome flight has done well, either equaling, or being not too far behind, the NCL-BGY numbers, however the MME-CIA has competition (EZY NCL-CIA) whereas NCL-BGY has not. Therefore surely when it equals the numbers, that means the MME performs better than NCL :confused: (Hope I didn't confuse you all there! :) )

mmeteesside

skyman771

14th Sep 2005, 12:30

It appears in reading the various posts on this topic, that there is some focus on available routes, timings & load factors. There was some media promotion in that MME had (annualised) reached the 1 Million pax p.a. However this was always historically a benchmarking threshold set presumably when pax. numbers were substatntially less.
The point is that now that this target has been reached it has been done so with the substantial assistance of LoCo at much reduced margins for the airport as well as the airlines, so how much better off is the airport "year to year" than say 4 years ago? Or looking forwards is it not that the critical number of passengers required to break even is rising faster than the actual increase in numbers using the airport & if so to address this then where are these additional pax. to come from ?
Peel who also operates DSA has done with an exmilitary field in 18 months in terms of airlines & pax. numbers, more than the other various operators of MME have achieved over the last 40 years on taking over Midleton St George with similar facilities.
Peel came on board some years ago now with all sorts of hype about prospects, but clearly very little has happened as the "big boys" and critical mass in terms of pax. numbers are ever increasing.
DSA is clearly their "new baby" & many of those residing on the southern boundaries of MME's catchment area must be seen as targets for DSA, a conflict in itself.
So where does the airport go from here?, as real progress to date would be reflected if current pax numbers were approaching 2 Million........is this ever likely this decade & even if achieved, then will the goal posts themselves simply have moved on by then ?

Pembo330

15th Sep 2005, 07:52

I agree completely skyman.

I don't think Peel has done as much as what I had expected or hoped for.

Sure things have improved but not to where they need to be.

mmeteesside

17th Sep 2005, 20:40

Just found out that First Choice have added a flight to Lanzarote on a Thursday, op by Spanair ;) So next summer looks like this.... [see below!]

mmeteesside

Astraeus (op by Eirjet?)
Reus 0840 2110 1------ AEU

Balkan Holidays
Bourgas 1810 1710 1------ BGH

Helios
Larnaca 1100 1000 --3---- HCY405/404

Iberworld
Arrecife 1510 1400 ---4--- IWD
Palma 1710 1610 -----6- IWD

Pegasus
Dalaman 2125 2020 1------ PGT

Spanair
Arrecife 1325 1215 ---4--- JKK
Ibiza 2255 2155 ----5-- JKK
Palma 2020 1155 -----6- JKK3192/3191
Alicante 1250 1925 -----6- JKK

Thomsonfly.com
Palma 0705 1320 1------ BY4135/4136
Dalaman 1450 0030+1 1------ BY4103/4104
Alicante 0700 1335 -2----- BY4043/4044
Tenerife South 1500 0050+1 -2----- BY4021/4022
Paphos 0900 1930 --3---- BY4233/4234
Monastir 2055 0435+1 --3---- BY4275/4276
Palma 0700 2105 ---4--- BY4429/4430
Corfu 0845 1630 ----5-- BY4579/4580
Bourgas 1800 0200+1 ----5-- BY4585/4586
Mahon 0700 1325 -----6- BY4383/4384
Reus 1455 2040 -----6- BY4005/4006
Palma 2215 0430+1 -----6- BY4537/4538
Malaga 0745 1440 ------7 BY4139/4140
Bodrum 1615 0145+1 ------7 BY4101/4102

Ibiza 1540 1425 1------ BY4175/4176

TBA
Mahon 1215 1820 ----5-- TBA

02/12/05 Lapland Daytrip/2 nights
04/12/05 Vienna Daytrip
04/12/05 Lapland Daytrip

NCLRULES

20th Sep 2005, 18:49

Rumoured that MME will see 2 aircraft from TOM next summer.

This topic may be of interest:
http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=48412

mmeteesside

4th Oct 2005, 15:54

To meet the new requirements the thread has been renamed.......

Anyway, on with the news, July pax numbers have been officially released.

DTV managed 97847 in July 2005, up from 86831 in July 2004, a percentage rise of 13% (lucky for some :p). This puts us above Isle Of Man (71413), Exeter (92401) and Bournemouth (90662), those being the closest behind us :ok:. Our next target is the 171956 set by London City! Might take a while to reach that :ooh:

bmi's LHR route was up 9%, Eastern's Aberdeen was up 19% (mainly due to the introduction of J41's twice a day) with the only other domestic routes both being way up! Newquay 100% (due to no service last July) and Jersey +32%

The internationals also did well....
Alicante was down (mixed in with charter)
Amsterdam -6%
Cork +100% (new service)
Dublin -4%
Malaga was down (mixed in with charter)
Nice -100% (no service this summer :()
Palma was down (mixed in with charter)
Paris CDG +100% (new service)
Rome Ciampino +100% (8527 pax, avg 137 per flight, 72.5% load factor)

Newcastle's Milan Bergamo (FR) isn't shown for some reason

Shame to see that Baby's Spanish routes were down, but I believe this is due to a reduction in frequency........come on Baby, do it properly or don't do it at all!

mmeteesside