HUMBERSIDE - 2

[airhumberside]

Lanzarote has been restored for Summer 2009 though not in the Scottish School Holidays.

Also Airtours have added a few FUE charters next winter in early November, Christmas, March and April with the "based" TCX aircraft. New winter charter destination for HUY

[niknak]

Helen,
complete nonsense:rolleyes:.

Pre MAG, the joint owners could easily have afforded to make any investment required, they were offered a car salesman's deal and didn't spot the implications.
It is well established that at the same time, MAG were seeking Mr Prescott's approval for runway 2 at MAN and, by complete coincidence, MAG made an offer to the four owners of HUY to buy the airport for a nominal fee in return for around 89% of the shares.
Shortly afterwards, MAG got approval at MAN for runway 2.

MAG took on the massive debt at HUY, most of which still exists today, in return for that shareholding and NE Linc's council remain the other shareholder.
Pre MAG, HUY was not developing pax wise, it was halfway between static and stagnent with the airport management offering ludicrous deals to airlines to come and have a go at hopeless schedule destinations which proved beyond doubt to be utterly worthless.
Post MAG, the charter figures did OK on the IT flights, but not suprisingly and despite having three years notice of Robin Hood opening, HUY management did nothing to make terms more attractive to operators and HUY is going down the plughole very fast.

Overall, MAG have done very well out of HUY, they've got rwy 2 at MAN which is worth far more than the small amount they've spent at HUY and now they'll be able to walk away, perhaps not making a profit, but in real terms, they've not made a bad decision.

[Higher Archie]

A quick correction. HUY's purchase had nothing to do with Runway 2 at MAN.

MAN R2 was approved by a Tory Government in January 1997. MAG bought HUY in 1999 when R2 was being built.

[LTNman]

Infratil or TBI decent bets. Why would Peel buy, they own RHADS and need to spend money on DTV.

Didn't Peel own Sheffield airport and make a nice little earner flogging off the land?

[pug]

Although not impossible, find it highly unlikely Peel will get their hands on it. MAG may not want to sell to the competition, its fodder against EMA... Then cnsider the councils minority share and where the airport lies. Would they not require planning permission for the site to be anything else? Its not exactly in the best position for a multi million pound business park. Surely there would be some competition laws preventing this anyway?

[7006 fan]

HUY was destroyed by a MAG-centric philosophy.
The whole ethos of HUY was that it should function in the same way as MAN, something that was pie-in-the-sky nonsense. HUY could never match the returns achieved at MAN for land deals and rents, it struggled to get the business park off the ground and despite interested parties willing to stump their own cash and build, these were not considered the 'right businesses' or capable of producing the 'right return' or 'not blue chip enough'.
It would seem MAG did not understand regional-local airport economics and worked a one style fits all strategy.
MAG invested in HUY, they paid for a terminal extension and new belt in arrivals, new fire kit, upgrading ILS, a larger long-stay car park, crane weights to stop terrorists (sorry, flippant!), but no doubt they also took back because of the vast amount of money they paid for purchasing in the first place.
I feel sorry for the staff at HUY, they are dedicated people who love 'their' airport. If only the Airport was in EMDA area rather than Yorkshire Forward's things might have been very different!
Richard Lake would no doubt love to get his hands on it (think he owns most of the hangars now anyway!), don't think he and his business partner ever got over selling off some of the land in the first place to enable the airport to become 'regional' rather than a flying club.
As to whom may buy, I think BAA is a no-no, TBI maybe, could be a mainland Europe operator looking for a toe-hold in UK, it could also be a developer who sees the land opportunity and connectivity to the heavy rail line and motorway junction intersecting within 2 miles of the airport. Not many places in the country with that type of format!

[airhumberside]

I feel sorry for the staff at HUY, they are dedicated people who love 'their' airport. If only the Airport was in EMDA area rather than Yorkshire Forward's things might have been very different!
I dont think someone in an office in Nottingham or Derby or Norwich or wherever the EMDA are based would be any different to the current person sitting in a Leeds office. Be it EMA, or DSA/LBA, HUY will always be at the bottom of the pecking order due to it's small size.

Besides, North Bank support is needed (far more than Lincolnshire support, not that it isn't important) and HUY being in the same region is vital to acheive that since RDA's will always support and advertise their local airports

[pug]

I know ive done this to death but i still believe a major rebranding is needed, perhaps if someone does come in with a big wision and bullish beliefs this is one thing that would be looked into. Humberside is no longer a region and the name is drab. There is no city of Humberside and Hull Lincolnshire International would sound so much better. Much north bank attention is needed and giving Hull a proper share in this would be valuable i believe in the long run.

Does anyone think maybe a regeneration company in Hull should be looking at the sale? They should not overlook its importance if they realy want to do something with the city...

[7006 fan]

There was an article in the Lincolnshire Mail (I think) a couple of years ago suggesting an airport at Lincoln or close by, because Doncaster was in Yorkshire and they did not rate HUY particularly (I think they thought HUY was on the way out even then). A dualling of the A15 would have a great effect to the good on HUY.
As to EMDA, they have spent a lot on EMA, Yorkshire 'Backwards', were having a love affair with Doncaster because of the (in my view) dubious Objective 1 status. HUY was not high on the radar as it did not hit the spots that Doncaster was promising...10,000 jobs, training, air schools etc.
Peel are developers and risk takers, MAG is risk averse (as a mainly Local Authority orientated business would be), Risk is not in its vocabulary.
They bought HUY to stop DCA, it failed, therefore they held it for a couple of years then, quietly knock it out after all the fuss has died down! :D

[pug]

A dualling of the A15 would have a great effect to the good on HUY

An east coast motorway would do best for everywhere Norfolk upwards, then the Humber bridge (if im right in thinking) would have its debt written off as it would be part of the motorway network.

The above will never happen though :=

I agree, MAG have tried running HUY as a major, little thinking has gone into the diversity of operations though tight as the business is. We have to hope that some big group somewhere will be interested in turning it around. Lets face it, i doubt it will ever see more than one million pax p/a, it can serve a wide variety of niche operations such as the import of perishables, the support of the major shipping industry and so on. This in turn could create a potential market for new routes and leisure services.

It takes time, needs someone who will invest big and has big vision to see reasonable results in the long term. It is possible just will it be recognised?

[roverman]

Doh!.. Tut tut! Nik Nak - MAN did not buy Humberside as sop to Mr Prescott in return for permission to build Runway 2. Permission for R2 was given in January 1997 by the John Major government, HUY was bought in 1999Memories fade, it seems.

[7006 fan]

What do we reckon HUY is worth, currently?
£8-10m or more?

[pug]

I am told £10 million, i know there was a debt of some £6 million when they took it on, dont know if that has been considered or not. Good investment though, one hopes a big player comes in.

[Helen49]

Niknak must check the facts before accusing others of nonsense!!

The Council owners of HUY, pre-MAN, could doubtless have afforded to finance developments at HUY. The fact is that they chose not to do so, prefering to find a purchaser who would. Check the local council records and newspapers at the time.

DSA was the driving factor behind the MAN purchase, not runway 2 at MAN. Check the dates as stated by Higher Archie.

Apart from a brief attempt at Glasgow by Eastern, the only sceduled route attempted between 1996 and 1999 was the Paris operated by Gill Airways as an Air France franchise.

The fact is that there is inadequate catchment for scheduled services. Aberdeen is a niche market and Amsterdam meets the limited needs for schedules via its interlining facilities. The holiday market succeeds because leisure travellers are prepared to drive further to the airport [it being only an occasional journey] and because many people will use the local airport because of the simplicity and ease of transit.

HUY's best chance might have been to get on the low cost bandwaggon back in the mid 90's, however that option was not attempted and in the early days of MAN ownership , MAN did not want low cost! The penny only dropped after they bought EMA and realised that low cost was flavour of the day!

Only those with the facts at hand will know exactly why and why not the various decisions have been made. Some of the decisons will have been the right decisions and some, with the benefit of hindsight and the boundary viewpoint will have been wrong!

Sadly, particularly for the employees at HUY, the MAN relationship has done little for the simple reason that they only had one reason for purchasing it. They never thought as far as developing it!

H49

[Wellington Bomber]

Helen49

Esbjerg?

[7006 fan]

Was there not supposed to have been a freight building or something being built to process fish deliveries, that seemed to be on the cards and talked about for ages but sweet FA seems to have happened.
£10m seems OK on the outside, but what about the inside, it makes one think what has MAG been spending any money on, if they used HUY to stop DSA. I would imagine that there is a considerable amount of money to be spent on the infrastructure.
As to routes (the usual non-subject of HUY)
THe big problem it faces is not the 'demand' but slots. No way are they able to get something into LHR, LCY or LGW at the correct time to provide an alternative to the 'Hull-London Express' A 6.30am HUY London service would have been a winner but with the three airports maxed out on slots, it leaves the more 'regional' airports as a drop-off point. LTN would be the only real alternative, no chance of any interlining but regular rail service into London (get to the City within 30 minutes) [there is however the bus ride to Parkway station to add on] This means three changes of transport, doubt your average commuter would stomach that! [That having been said, most Londoners have to use the train and tube and sometimes change lines, so it is not that bad] Overall the journey time would be about 3 hours including check-in and dwell times.
Lo-co is a strong possibility, as people travel to the fares. If the flight costs £10, it does not matter where it is from 'the flight is a tenner'. I think HUY attempted to levy charges to lo-co operators - it is not surprising they did not flock to HUY! One does not make money out of lo-co, the money is made from the travelling public who use the airport facilities. HUY is perfectly placed infrastructure-wise to be a lo-co airport as it fits the bill perfectly ;)
Seriously though, it has a motorway junction within 2 miles and a rail station within 2 miles. At the moment it has a restaurant, money exchange and book shop, with lo-co the retail offer would no doubt expand so producing more income to the airport by way of rent.
The airport has tracts of land for aviation and non-aviation development, a great opportunity for someone who is prepared to take a risk and not expect mega-returns

Shame I did not win the Euro-millions on Friday :)

[Code 100]

I seem to remember that Man Runway 2 was passed very shortly after the new national stadium site was given to Wembley, annoying Manchester and Birmingham and leaving the then Govt. open to accusations of southern favouritism. Hence R2 was seen as a 'gesture' of recognition that there is something north of Watford.

[pug]

The holiday market succeeds because leisure travellers are prepared to drive further to the airport [it being only an occasional journey] and because many people will use the local airport because of the simplicity and ease of transit.


Was there not a ticket origin trace which suggested otherwise? Less than 1% travelled from outside of the region to HUY?

The DUB flight had negligable effects on DSA and though didnt warrant interest from FR did manage 4-5000 per month.

There is scope there.

[7006 fan]

And the DUB flight was a 900 operating an inside leg at a pretty lousy time of the day, so something at a keener time would certainly have been positive.
In simple terms 7,000 pax per month and say 3 lo-co flights Dublin/Brussels/Cologne or Dusseldorf would mean 21,000 or 250,000 a year -just under 50% of their peak traffic a few years ago. :ugh:

[airhumberside]

Esbjerg?
AFAIK not since Cimber Air in the late 80's. Though there is now a weekly charter flight there with the Lithuanian subsidary of Danish Air Transport

7006 fan Was there not supposed to have been a freight building or something being built to process fish deliveries, that seemed to be on the cards and talked about for ages but sweet FA seems to have happened.
Yes, was talked about, went quite and recently resurfaced as part of a Humber seafood strategy. But as mentioned earlier in the thread sadly most flights apart from Sunday have gone to EMA. Icelandair now have a DHL contract doing EMA-Leipzig, probably why the service has gone to EMA so the plane can do that contract

I think HUY attempted to levy charges to lo-co operators - it is not surprising they did not flock to HUY! One does not make money out of lo-co, the money is made from the travelling public who use the airport facilities.
This has been an issue. HUY has kept profitable becasue it adopted a very short term view (or MAG did) to focus on profit maximisation. And that has meant charters which the airport must have tried to protect from competition. So no LoCo'S until FR. Long term this strategy is harming HUY

As for DUB, FR at DSA could easily kill off any new HUY service such is their pricing power. Suddenly they would probably stick a load of 1p fares on DSA-DUB and trash the HUY's operators yields. Shame because would be perfect for Aer Arann

[Higher Archie]

Some further thoughts on the history behind the sale and purchase of HUY.

As I said before, there was no connection between MAG's purchase of HUY and MAN R2, however there was nothing to suggest MAG bought HUY to stop DSA. The Peel purchase of Finningley was made after the purchase of HUY, and MAG and others opposed the subsequent planning application for the development of DFA. The Yorkshire and Humber region has too many airports, but not enough pax.

Sadly for HUY, it's an airfield with a limited catchment area, and no real market penetration to the North Bank. Brilliant surface access with the M180, and a railway line close mean nothing if there's not many passengers.

Loco might have given HUY an early market advantage in 2000 - 2002, but they chose not to chase it, and with hindsight, the airline market we have today, the airport is still where it is today. It seems not to now fit in the MAG strategic airport business, whereas BOH with a growing loco market does.

[7006 fan]

A quick SWOT analysis by MAG would have identified the potential of DSA to damage its business (length of runway etc), so by buying HUY they hoped to show that with EMA, LBA and HUY there was no need for a new airport at DSA, however they did not bargain upon the aggressive marketing by Doncaster...I think they possibly relied upon the 'Government Green Agenda' that any new airport would be kicked into touch. But Economics overcame any objections and the '20,000 jobs' in an Objective 1 area won the day!
This then left MAG with, in their view, a lame duck airport. They held on to it for a couple of years...just in case DSA fell on its rear end, but that did not happen, did it.
Not sure about the 20,000 jobs though? :hmm:

[Wellington Bomber]

Talking about chasing low cost airlines at HUY, they did but not for very long remember Excel did one season of low cost from HUY and then changed business plans.

Huy do very well with the loads on charter flights, the schedules are 4 a day to AMS and ABZ and do not forget the off shore helicopter flights. One way to generate business from the north bank would be to scrap the Humber Bridge TOLL fees at £5.40 return, that is criminal in such a low income area

[7006 fan]

That is one big hot potato WB.
The Gvt only permitted its development because of the toll, and as we see from Dartford and the Severn, tolls -once in place on major roads, do not disappear-.
It would be about the one sensible thing Yorkshire Backward could do! I mean if HMG can blow billions on overspend for the Scottish parliament building, Wembley and 'the Games', I am sure a few million for a piddley little bridge (OK, the second largest single span bridge in the world!) is not beyond the whit of man? It would also reduce the pressure on the A62/M62, and make dualling of the A15 far more realistic.

[airhumberside]

This article is taken from an airport news website. Rather intersting but not excatly good news. Tax Credits appear to be proping up HUY

Crain's, the business newspaper, speculates that Manchester Airports Group (MAG) could lose money on the planned sale of its majority stake in Humberside Airport. It says that the Lincolnshire hub has generated a total of £640,000 of retained profit for MAG in nine years but paid no dividends, and describes it as ‘the airport that failed to take off’.

MAG announced last week that it is considering selling its majority stake in Humberside Airport, but it is far from clear whether it will emerge with much, if any, profit on the investment, the newspaper reports.

MAG paid £10m for an 87.2 percent stake in 1999, and a further £7m has been spent on infrastructure improvements. However, although Humberside's turnover has increased from £6.5m in 1999 to £12m in 2007, operating profit has slumped in the last four years. In 2004 operating profit was £1.6m but in the year ending March 31, 2007, that fell to £476,000.

Retained profits have fluctuated during MAG's ownership from a high of £3.1m to losses of £1.7m. In 2007, the last year for which accounts are available, the airport made a pre-tax loss of £622,000 but thanks to a £938,000 tax credit this was turned into a retained profit of £316,000. The previous year a pre-tax loss of £673,000 was reported while the retained loss was £705,000.

Humberside's accounts show a negative net asset value of £1.2m, and experts who have spoken to Crain's find it difficult to estimate what the business might be worth. They say finding a buyer may not be easy given the poor financial performance, stagnant passenger numbers and competitive threats.

In addition, the airport is isolated in a sparsely populated area, and faces huge competition from Peel Holdings-owned Robin Hood Airport, near Doncaster - just 28 miles away - and MAG's own East Midlands Airport, 70 miles away.

In the last six years annual passenger numbers have fluctuated at around 500,000 while in 2007 passengers dropped by 10 per cent. Robin Hood by contrast has grown to 1m passengers, according to CAA figures.

MAG insists the airport is a ‘solid business’ and said it is considering a sale because it wants to concentrate on its other bigger airports, Manchester, East Midlands and Bournemouth. It said Humberside Airport had maintained passenger volumes of 500,000 passengers annually during a ‘period of intense competition’ and had broadened its aviation activities to include scheduled and charter passenger services, freight, North Sea gas rig services, air maintenance, pilot training and a variety of other specialised niches.

[cuban missile]

:)Any thing in the rumours about Omniport UK being interested in getting HUY:confused:

[airhumberside]

Wouldnt surprise me but I havent been too impressed with their performance at NWI and Maastricht

[7006 fan]

So it beggars the question, if MAG consider it a fully functioning airport, why sell it...apart from the concentrating on bigger airports, the rest is BS IMHO. I reckon they have their eyes on LGW and HUY is the lamb! MAG owns 4 airports BAA owns 5 Airports in UK, OK a greater magnitude of business, but still equitable in dominance. So if MAG offloads 1 airport it can say, 'we are only a small airport business Mr Competition Commission!'

[pug]

They are an operator of large airports gaining much bigger numbers than HUY can ever get. It makes sense to offload it and i hope it will be for the better. To be honest, Omniport can come in for me, they seem ruthless enough not to be pushed around by the airlines. You need a strong and focused team geared at expansion, theyve put BE off NWI but they soon arranged a deal with LTU (something unexpected) if they can find a niche at HUY im sure people would pay... Afterall they havent annoyed KL have they?

[Richard Taylor]

Any of the HUY chaps know what Lake & Huxton think of the position?

[pug]

No but with a tight regional operation defying the odds in a low cost generation im sure they would do something with HUY. Problem is would they just run it as an operating base and not talk with other operators?

Hope a more informed poster will enlighten us...

[tangoecho]

7006 Fan...
BAA own 7 airports in the uk.:confused:
Heathrow
Gatwick
Stanstead
Glasgow
Edinburgh
Aberdeen
Southampton
:}

[airhumberside]

It has been posted on my forum that Icelandair using EMA is temporary while DHL are short of planes. The fish is being trucked up to HUY. And the perishables hub is under construction

[7006 fan]

ooops forgot about the baby ones!!! :}

[7006 fan]

Lake and Huxford would turn the airport into Eastern's playground, they would have a sports complex and a big office and empire all for their own pleasure. Until they got bored with it all and decided they no longer wanted to play with planes!
Imagine Lake doing gentle PR when things went wrong with the baggage rail etc, he loves to blame, but hates blame...bit like Mad Mick!

[tonto68]

Have a guess who made their presence known today at HUY?

Well it depends on who you believe!

Firstly do you believe the 'truth' from the :mad: high and mighties :mad: who said it was some people from MAN.

Or do you believe the obvious 'rumour' that it was the big bosses of OMNIPORT being shown around. Considering they had to show their ID at the Security Gatehouse, clearly stating who they were....i think i will believe the latter!

I thought it was quite funny seeing them being slowly driven round the airfield in a crappy bus used by Fire Section. Im sure they could have used something more becoming, but then again it sums up HUY.....useful but not at its best!!

[pug]

Could this be a good thing or a bad thing? I know the development fee's they charge can annoy at NWI.

I wonder who else will be interested...

[tonto68]

HUY - buyer in place already.

No names mentioned.....unless you want to bribe me!

Keep your ears to the ground on this one!

[no slots]

'Theres light at the end of the tunnel'
If its Omniport expect a very long tunnel!!!

[Expressflight]

Shouldn't this be moved to the Humberside thread??

[tezzer]

And the choice for SLF will still be AMS or AMS !

As my nearest "international" airport, if hacks me off that I have a choice of 1 airline to get me where I need to be, or face the 2 hour run to MAN.

In the "good old days" there were a couple of flights to Paris, although the the KLM/AF merger, that would hardly help. What it need is LH or similar to offer access to another European hub, and give us punters some choice. I expressed similar views when surveyed there a few weeks back.

[pug]

Perhaps, whoever they are, they might like to reinstate DUB somehow? Also LTE ;) to operate scheduled services to the med and get those destinations back in line like they were a couple of years ago....

Lets hope they (Omniport?) can bring fresh ideas here though

[niknak]

Pug,

I don't want to be rude, but the services which have been tried in the past from HUY have failed because they weren't financially vialble for the airline or the airport, or both.
Remember that HUY has suffered from competition from Robin Hood and others and HUY will continue to be uncompetitive because they simply cannot afford to offer the deals others can.

It's extremely unlikely that Omniport, or whoever is buying the place, will be able to offer anything new for any significant period of time without the deal significantly impinging upon HUYs own profits (more likely losses).

KLM offer services via AMS worldwide, Eastern go to ABZ, other than the extremely competitive summer IT market, there's no hope of long term scheduled services to anywhere else unless HUY pay the operator to do it.

[aeulad]

I would agree that in the current economic climate, it wouldn't be easy to make money from HUY. However, there is undoubtedly demand for more routes but with more appropriate aircraft.

The 738 was too big for Dublin with a daily frequency. Something smaller with a reduced frequency could and would work. Brussels is another route that has been proven in the past, as has Paris, both of which were stopped because of reasons unconnected with Humberside itself. Alicante, Malaga and Palma for sure hold some potential, but no-one has the right aircraft for the job at the moment with Jet2's 733s being the only realistic possibility.

A Scandinavian connection also has potential maybe SAS to Copenhagen or Eastern to Stavanger.

It remains to be seen if the new owners can achieve anything more than has already been tried, but we live in hope.

Regards

Mike

[cuban missile]

:=It`s not Omniport:mad:

[airhumberside]

The 738 was too big for Dublin with a daily frequency. Something smaller with a reduced frequency could and would work.
Though sadly FR could just reduce DSA-DUB fares to stupid levels such as 1p (plus taxes and charges) and trash any HUY-DUB operators yields to make it unviable for them.

[niknak]

If it's not Omniport, then it must be Eastern/LakeHuxford Enterprises..:p

[airhumberside]

TCX have added LPA on the first three Saturdays in November with the outbased aircraft

[pug]

Ah well as long as its not Peel...?

Whether new services could be added remains to be seen. Cant see CDG returning, some niche routes with small point to point services like Denmark could be tried. Hopefuly such operator will not be afraid of adding T3 some competition say BE to ABZ daily for the workers not fortunate for paid expenses and who currently use land based transport...

Main priority is an operator with long term vision.

[maverick.86]

if it`s not Omniport then who is it please?

[pug]

If there is a 'light at the end of the tunnel' i would have thought it will be something good. We will have to wait and see i suppose..

[niknak]

Pug,

I doubt BE could afford to operate an ABZ service head to head with Eastern, it's not a "low cost" airline destination as such.
I know Easyjet do Luton to ABZ but it's with a much bigger aircraft and much higher passenger loads, even then it's not particularly cheap.

One can only hope that the new owners can afford to ride out the next couple of years without shedding too many jobs, competition from Donny will be hard to overcome and some hard nosed business decisions are going to have to be made.

[pug]

One can only hope that the new owners can afford to ride out the next couple of years without shedding too many jobs, competition from Donny will be hard to overcome and some hard nosed business decisions are going to have to be made.

I do agree though i do believe DSA will reach saturation point itself within the next couple of years and a forward thinking management of HUY might find some stability in niche business which Peel neither want or could attract to DSA. I too hope there will be minimal job losses and i do believe there cannot be too much else to lose at HUY. The market is still there despite increased competition and TCX seem to be trying to increase its commitment. Hopefuly it will be realised.

[circseam]

Ocasional reader of the thread but have not replied to this thread for an age, maybe some wont like my input.........

In an age of risk limitation, credit crunchs, rising raw material prices and natural resources and add that to the many facts that alot of people, including myself have written in the past about the airports locality and lack of catchment area, who would buy HUY?

The low cost airline mode has been tried and failed from HUY, any smaller a/c and it would'nt be low cost, even Jet2, the "Norths" airline with smaller seating capacity of Ryanair have not even approched the airport, why?

The scheduled flights by mainline airlines other then to Amsterdam and Aberdeen are just not viable, if it was the case why arnt airlines flocking to utilise the airport, Aer Arran, Flybe etc, why?

The simple answer, not enough pax for said airlines to make a profit to make the routes a viable option.

HUY relies on its charter flights, helicopter movements and the small niche market served by Eastern and KLM, KLM use the airport as a feeder into its AMS hub and Eastern charge fares that are high but make the route viable but dont attract the economy pax.

As said previously by others, the airport sale is Manchester offloading a regional UK airport to gain a a major airport as BAA is broken up and their monopoly diluted.

For HUY to attract a progressive and forward thinking owner ready to pay millions for a regional UK airport on the decline is wishful thinking by the Manchester owners, an airport that as other UK regional airports have grown has simply stood still. The opportunity for HUY was prior to Doncaster being bought and turned in to a gate way for the Yorkshire region has now passed, the future doesnt look bright and certainly no orange aircraft will grace HUY.

The Manchester mob and local council shareholders have missed the boat, HUY will not attract low cost or regional airlines that would bring connections to UK and European cities that other regional airports offer and will probably become yet another Sunderland or Sheffield, its runway concreted over and yet another business park built on what could of been a thriving airport.

Bad management, locality, small catchment area and poor intrastructure (no rail connection, high tolls over the bridge etc) will only lead to the airport becomming a financial drain on the shareholders to the point they just walk away.

Eastern may decide that owning their own home is an opportunity but not at the figures commented on this thread, Eastern will bide their time but expect even less investment than what the Manchester mob has invested, why buy an airport to attract competitors!!

RIP HUY

Circseam

[pug]

Circseam, if what some posters have said is correct and a buyer is already in place then there is no need to worry, as long as its not Peel. I can see why people have written it off but some of the same people believed it would hit the wall long before now with what some believed as a mass exodous to DSA. It never happened. The loss of some numbers is down to TOM pulling out of the rehions to its main bases, DSA being one of them. DSA is proving to be not much more than a third rate airport and to think it will be a threat in the future is worrying as the potential for it to attract significant growth there is slim now.

Experts believe HUY will recoup all money for MAG's investment. It will not be made into a business park and any buyer it is hoped will invest more unlike MAG have done.

We still have to wait ands see who the new owner is before making judgements about the future, rest assured though any new owner will have vision and hopefuly cash to invest. It is less likely to hit the wall than DSA that is for sure.

LS have approached the airport, i believe they were made an offer but have never got back. Cannot expect a based lo-co but as Omniport have done at NWI LTE offer seat only and block options for tour operators and have reduced the risk significantly with the aircraft flying in from spanish bases...

[circseam]

Pug

DSA a third rate airport..............!

I think not and if that was the case then HUY would be what a 5th or 6th rate airport??

The deal is not done, ok offers may be on the table but until their is annoucement no deal is done.........

As a previous user of HUY for commuting to my work I truly belive that HUY has had its day, an airport that is still called a region that is no longer valid, a catchment area that is very small, unable to attract mainline and low cost services like other regional airports (Does not DSA have more scheduled flights than HUY?) have to the UK and European cities.

As a taxpayer for the region the airport offers me little and yet has no doubt cost me in my pocket previously and possibly in the future.... time for serious discussion into what HUY offers the local population and if 2 airports within a 50 mile radius is the ideal way forward.

And before anyone jumps in Im not a DSA supporter just merely someone whom belives that change has to happen, for the good and maybe at the cost of HUY

[pug]

Circseam, you have been saying the same doom and gloom comments for the past four years and yet very little has changed, if HUY is holding DSA back like you seem to point out then it has a lot more to worry about than i thought.

DSA is third rate, its sole business route to BHD is bringing low loads and yet consistantly low fares also which suggests low yields. I believe Peel will be paying through the teeth for it. Why do you think routes to CDG and AMS have not been restarted from there? The question needs to be asked if DSA is viable long term, please dont quote pax numbers or the size of the catchment area as these have very little to do with gaining important flights for the region.

As i say, we have to wait and see who will buy HUY but be assured there will be a buyer who will be able to put the private investment into the airport which it so needs to gain the flights it has lost in the last few years. CAT III springs to mind. MAG dont invest heavily until past the point of demand requiring it due to the fact its public money being spent. HUY cannot be another BOH or EMA and to get LGW they have to sell HUY to do so.

[niknak]

Cat 3:eek::eek:
I assume that you're referring to a Cat 3 ILS, the additional improvements required to lighting and infrastructure would entail vast expense which simply couldn't be justified given current and projected income over the next year or so.

Back to reality;

If the new owners are existing airport operators with cash to invest (an extremely rare beast at the moment) and they have the marketing and management team to match, there's a good chance that by 2010, HUY may make a go of it.

If they're not (ie Eastern or the like), the place will continue to do what it does now, probably not less and almost certainly not more. There's every likelyhood it will tick along but not provide any serious competition and over time investment in the infrastructure will be the absolute minimum with the ineviatable consequences.

Either way, DSA has a vastly better infrastructure and better equipped management and marketing team in place, they will always be a couple of steps ahead and once the we come out of the economic downturn, I can see DSA providing real competition to both HUY and LBA.

The new owners of HUY should concentrate on having a top to bottom review every single aspect of the airport, whether it moves or is nailed to the floor. Once they've done that, they'll know who and what to dispense with and who or what is going to part of the future.

[tonto68]

I can guarantee that the 'buyer' is DEFINATELY NOT Peel!!!

Thats all im going to say!

[pug]

I think the marketing team may be largely new faces as all of MAG's is done at EMA now...

This CAT III will go on but IF a new owner wants to grow the airport then this is a must due to the position of the airport as its prone crap weather (Ill get my PPL eventually!!!)

It is widely thought XL pulled out for two reasons one being a change in direction due to finances and another due to too many bad weather diversions.

Though FR failed it did prove there is clear defining demand for HUY DUB flights, the service was almost mirrored to DSA's and though it managed 2000 less per month it had negligable effects on DSA's numbers.

DSA is in a bad position, had it come along 10 years earlier then EZY would have certainly made it a base and it would be doing well. The problem for it is not LBA/HUY but EMA and MAN. It has a lot of work to do but i very much doubt it will grow much more in the next 10 years or so...

[dbertman]

DSA may not grow a great deal, but I think it is almost a guarantee that it will grow more than HUY, especially with the current Wizzair interest, and steady interest from FR.

[cuban missile]

:ok:Thats right its not Peel:mad:

[circseam]

Why would people come on here and post that its not Peel and therefore imply that they know the actual prospective owners but dont actually name them, amazed!

C'mon if your in the know, put us all out of our misery and add something to the mix

[pug]

Im converted to thinking Balfour Beatty, could fit in with some strategy and provided they can prove their worth more focus could be on its core strengths and not on high loading revenue making low cost services?

[tonto68]

"Why would people come on here and post that its not Peel and therefore imply that they know the actual prospective owners but dont actually name them, amazed!

C'mon if your in the know, put us all out of our misery and add something to the mix"

The reason why people come on here and 'imply' that they know the actual prospective owners is because......we can!

You have to realise that this is a RUMOUR network :8 and not a fact network.

I was asked personally about the buyer and asked to confirm that it was NOT peel...which is exactly what i did.

At the moment, the name of the buyers is being kept 'in-house' with very good reason.

[temptage]

If its being kept 'in-house' they are doing a very good job of it, as it seems the majority of staff members are non-the-wiser about who is buying HUY..... nothing new there then !!!! :ugh: Plenty of rumours are flying around (scuse the pun), but they always will anyway!

We are normally the last people who get to know about anything happening at the Airport :oh: so unless tonto68 is pally with someone 'upstairs' i would bide your time, and wait for an official notification.

[niknak]

If the place has been sold, the information could easily be obtained via Companies House, the sellers and owners have a legal obligation to pass all details to them.
The only problem is that fee is payable and it's definately not top of my list to pay up to find out who now owns the place.
The other possibility is that perhaps HUY has not actuall been sold, after all, this is a RUMOUR network....:E:E

[airhumberside]

A 'flagship' more than a money spinner for the airport, but there will be another cruise flight on 14th January 2010 for Fred Olsen to Barbados. Return will be from Nicuragua. This year's flight must have sold well for them to be returning :ok:

[circseam]

Niknak

If the owners (current and new) are traded on the LSE then they have an obligation to inform the LSE of any purchases that may have an impact upon the share prive of said company.

Save your pounds and keep an eye on possible suitors on the LSE or stock exchange they are based on.

tonto68

The point I was trying to make is that rumours, good or bad can have apossible impact upon the value of a company, also if you were working for said company and they read a "rumour" that has no substance and yet they take as gospel then this could have serious consequences for the company.

Rumours without substance that can be validated by the poster or checked as fact by others can be misleading and in certain cases very harmful to the companies upon which rumours are stated about.

[pug]

It has been anounced in an article that PriceWaterhouseCoopers have been appointed by MAG to advise in the sale. Same article also says MAG are going for BHD now also...

[tonto68]

I only noticed this week when i was at HUY that there is a Dakota sat out on the grass. Where did that come from? Why is it at HUY?:confused:

[temptage]

It has been at HUY for a few weeks now. I believe it is 'based' here for the summer season. It will be flown at air shows et al, and will hopefully be flying in and out on a regular basis.

I had the privilege of going on-board when it first came to HUY and it is in amazing condition for its age, complete with original bullet holes all over the fuselage. Impressive stuff!

I think it is owned by Air Atlantique who own a lot of classic aircraft.:8

[BYALPHAINDIA]

A 'flagship' more than a money spinner for the airport, but there will be another cruise flight on 14th January 2010 for Fred Olsen to Barbados. Return will be from Nicuragua. This year's flight must have sold well for them to be returning :ok:

Not meaning to be 'uptight' but will HUY have a future up to 2010???

The way things are going they may not be many flights operating by 2010???

I sincerely hope so.:confused:

[pug]

Why do you say that AI? The biggest loss of flights has been from TOM relocating to DSA. New owner on the cards could be the best thing to happen here.

May catch a close up of the machine tomorrow weather permitting.

[airhumberside]

I think it is owned by Air Atlantique who own a lot of classic aircraft
Its owned by Dakota Heritage Inc and registered in the US

Once upon a time Dakotas were regular at HUY of course - with the original Eastern flying to Heathrow in the early 80's

[temptage]

my apologies AH, maybe i should have looked on the net first.:ugh:

[harrogate]

There was a solitary Red Arrow parked next to the DC3 this morning.

Anyone know why he's there?

[Richard Taylor]

Is he lost? :E

[pumuckl]

Diverted into Humberside due to bad weather in Scampton/further south.

[tonto68]

Maybe the Red Arrows arent going to be moving to Waddington!!!


Maybe they are moving to HUY one by one!!!

Now thats another RUMOUR!!!:eek:

[circseam]

Totally off the wall but would the Hawk have to pay landing fees?

Supose thats upped the value of the airport for the potential sale of HUY, still no news, maybe the potential visitors had a look at the books or are counting their beans before making a "substantial" offer.

Time will tell

[Higher Archie]

I do hope that HUY, in the last few days, hasn't seen it's future. A clapped out DC3 and a lost Hawk. Any prospective buyers will be looking for the potential of lots of shiny A319's and 738's. I'm not sure that in these difficult times that any major investor will be able to convince any operators that they should place its cash on MAG's table.

I hope that I'm wrong. But I sense that it's the right airport, in the wrong place (because of the competition), and for sale at the wrong time.

[airhumberside]

Circseam - Im not so sure we will hear anything official soon. PriceWaterhouseCoopers have ben apponted advisors so doubtless will have some reviews to do, prospectus to prepare maybe. All behind the scenes stuff. And the timetable MAG have is the end of the year, so no really urgent rush

[pug]

I hope that I'm wrong. But I sense that it's the right airport, in the wrong place (because of the competition), and for sale at the wrong time.

By the end of the year, who knows what the situation with fuel will be? I think along with the experts who seem convinced MAG will get what they want for it. Airports are still good investments no matter big or small. I do believe (had MAG seemed to court lo-co before DSA) FR would be operating a few succesful routes here right now.

The airport needs investment and a more outgoing marketing strategy, along with around 1 million within 45 minutes drive of the airport it is certainly well underperforming compared to other airports.

I dont think DSA is as much of a potent competitor as most would have us believe, it has EMA, MAN and LBA surrounding it.

[airhumberside]

Goldtrail have axed Antalya about a month before it is due to begin. Would have been new for this year. Sun Express flight remains

[niknak]

Goldtrail are notorious for pulling flights at the last moment, in fact I'm sure they did the same at HUY in the not too distant past.
For the last few years they've negotiated deals with a number of UK regional airports and each year they've pulled out of the majority to concentrate on the one or two airports they see as the most profitable, usually Luton or Stansted, not terribly ethical, but that's business I suppose.

No consolation to HUY and it appears that a bleak Summer is on the cards.

Hopefully it won't take too long for PWC to get things in order for the sale, but I'm not sure that the books will make attractive reading to prospective buyers.

[RobT100]

Pug said:

I dont think DSA is as much of a potent competitor as most would have us believe, it has EMA, MAN and LBA surrounding it.

I think you're spot on there, to be honest a quick look at the HUY arrivals board versus the DSA one on some days during the week would have you beleive HUY has more going for it.

DSA has done very little after all the 'biggin it up' when it kicked off. I personally think it has VERY LITTLE going for it. TOM pulled a blinder by basing there and pulling out of the LBA base - handed the business to Jet2 on a plate. I bet PM was rubbing his hands when he saw the back of their base.
Lost of customers lok at me stupid whenever you suggest DSA as a starting point and to be honest I tend to encourage them away from the place. Why endure a longer drive to what really is a "tin pot" airport, when you can goto MAN and play with the big boys. The cutomers of W.Yorks (and prob much of E.Yorks) dont want HUY (or LBA) moved down to DSA, theyd rather go full hog and get their butts to MAN.

I've a feeling the managers at DSA hve probably cottoned onto this :)

[Wellington Bomber]

RobT100

Stop talking out of your arse, I am from East Yorkshire and would go from HUY every time if I could.

2 mins walk from car park into the terminal, very short journey through security straight into departures, hardly any delays straight onto plane.

Compared to BIG BOYS at Manchester 2hrs of driving, parked miles from anywhere, airport falling to bits, massive queues at security and duty free and when you get onto plane taxi ways falling to bits, queuing to cross 1 runway to get to the other, join the queue at the takeoff runway

By this time I would already be on the beach.

Take your pick folks

[airhumberside]

Goldtrail are notorious for pulling flights at the last moment, in fact I'm sure they did the same at HUY in the not too distant past.
DLM and Bodrum were ment to start in March but actualy began last month. Other than that think it is the first time HUY has faced the Goldtrail 'axe'. While this is a very frequent occurance - NWI, DSA and LBA have all experienced it this for example - what surprised me was how late the axe was. Most other flights axed were done a couple of months ago

It should also be said that the summer doom and gloom is being offset in part by winter growth. Should be back to passenger number increases in November ... will be the first for a couple of years

[BYALPHAINDIA]

Think companies like Goldtrail should be penalised or made to run either part or the full summer course.

I think HUY needs to be a bit on the mean side at times, As an example the FR & XLA episodes, They came in all smiles then walked out when they felt like it, And HUY said or did nothing.:*

A month's notice is no good to anyone.

Wheras on the other hand is LBIA who have traditionally been over keen on dictating to the Airlines.

Think the new owners need to play ball and have a hardsell no-nonsense approach.:D

And have an Airport MD who gets paid to look nice in the Airport magazine ie RG, Instead of bringing in pax.:ugh:

[niknak]

By Alpha,

unfortunately, HUY are in position to play "hardball" with their own balls, never mind anyone else's and Goldtrail's decision, whilst unpopular, was perfectly legal.
Until the place is sold and a more dynamic MD and Marketing team are in place, they'll be at the mercy of whoever comes along with a reasonably sound offer.
Once they're back on their feet they can negotiate sound contracts with operators after which, the Goldtrail scenario shouldn't happen again without HUY being compensated for it, (unless the operator goes tits up).

As a general point to all the detractors of DSA:

It's true that they're having a rough time of it, but in commercial terms, they're still doing marginally better than HUY ever did at it's best.
They have a significantly better airport infrastructure, marketing team at the moment and better facilities to cope with larger and more aircraft at any one time then HUY ever will have.

It's up to the new owners at HUY to turn the place around, concentrate on the deficiencies wherever they lie & they could make the place profitable, but the effect upon DSA won't be significant.

[RobT100]

Wellington Bomber

Stop talking out of your arse, I am from East Yorkshire and would go from HUY every time if I could.


There is no need for using words like that, time to grow up me thinks !

If you read my post carefully I was not having a go at HUY, I was sticking up for it. But DSA, don't get me started :mad:

[pug]

DSA should never have been, ive been saying that for the past 8 years and still have not been put wrong by good evidence backing up its viability.....

HUY has more going for it than most think, if a new investor comes in expect more cash going to assets within the SLF and freight market! We have to watch this space, DSA is ahead on infrastructure but it comes doen to location and DSA is well and truly piggy in the middle with little possability of changing that.

[airhumberside]

As known the midweek fish flights are currently operating from EMA since Icelandair have a DHL contract there to cover a DHL aircraft shortage. The fish is then being trucked back to HUY

Now a post on my forum indicated this was temporary and that the flight would return to HUY when the contract ended. However a post by cuban misile on the BOH thread (reply 659) says the fish flights are staying at EMA. So are the midweek flights coming back to HUY anytime soon? Sunday flight still seems to be routing through HUY and perishables hub still under construction ...

[temptage]

I believe that once the perishables hub is up and running then HUY will have the ability to handle more freight once more. The chances of getting more cargo flights in was negligible without the hub, but having the hub in place shows that HUY is 'open for business' and may attract more cargo carriers in.

Lets all hope that it doesnt turn into a huge white elephant!!!

After the initial flourish of large jets flying in for the Maintenance Hangar after its take over, has there been anymore since? The skies seem quiet on that front.

:sad:

[cuban missile]

:confused:looks like the final death nail for HUY fish freight might be coming to a end, icelandair to make cut backs on jobs and flights:ugh::ugh:

[pug]

Are Icelandair not just contracted in to do such flights through the exporters. I think if it really does pay we could see another operator on it.

[circseam]

Any news on the take over of HUY?

Are the bidder (s) now known?

Eastern Duo intrested?

Strange time to sell assets ?

Circseam (Bullet Vest On, Tin Hat On, Waiting For A Volley From GuP):ugh:

[airhumberside]

No News. I suspect PriceWaterhouseCoopers and MAG will be preparing a prospectus, trying to drum up interest and interested bidders will be starting to prepare their bid. All behind the scenes stuff therefore news may be in short supply for a while

[pug]

I know there are a number of interested parties though it is early days and i cannot even speculate as to who they are. One pointed out to be as possible (by a third party not airport related) is Infratil as they are looking to add more airports to their portfolio. Not sure what theyre like though.

[no slots]

Infratil! Big NZ utilities company. Own Prestwick, Lubek(Hamburg) and Kent (no planes) International. In my experience they will talk the talk but won't walk the walk unless they really have to.They are building a portfolio of european airports on the cheap and appear to be linked to any struggling airport.They appear to be well in with Ryanair although even they don't seem to be interested in no planes int.Dont get too excited!:suspect:

[airhumberside]

Infratil seem to be profit takers based on PIK. No long term investment going in there and past reports of un-cooperative management. Not what HUY needs

[pug]

Hopefuly not them then... BB would be good i think, probably the most likely, though it would be nice to see Bridgepoint or the Macquerie bank (neither spell checked) :ok: Not that it would happen that way!

[airhumberside]

Two more flights dropped next summer

Fuerteventura
1 of the 2 weekly Bourgas

The winter revival continues though. Gran Canaria will now operate from February to April as well as in early November. Sadly we are loosing far more in summer than we are gaining in winter

[airhumberside]

Lanzarote not operating next summer after all

A tiny bit off good news though a 4th Dalaman flight will operate next summer for 2 months or so for Holidays4u and Aegean Flights, both new to Humberside. Airline is Onur Air

[cuban missile]

:)any news on the buy out front, seems to have gone very quiet with no rumours or gossip, :confused::confused:

[temptage]

Nope. Nothing floating round rumour-wise.

[pug]

I reckon the rumours could start spilling out in the next couple of months or so....

[RobT100]

Let's start a rumour.......:)

....I mean it would probably be the most interesting thing that came out of HUY for a long few years I'm sure :):):)

It's all happening at HUY, wow Ive lost count of all those big time flights to Aberdeen and Amsterdam :p

[goatface]

I think Price Waterhouse Cooper, (appointed by MAG to handle the sale) stated that the formal sale process wouldn't begin until the end of this year.

I assume it will take them that long to find anyone with limitless funds and no business accumen to buy it.:p

[turbroprop]

Rumour has it they are trying to sell it as an airport.

Would they not get done under the trade description act! :)

[airhumberside]

Some good news, Bristows are to base a S61N heli at HUY from Monday according to posts on my forum

[Richard Taylor]

Aah you can't beat the Grand Old Lady! Keep yer EC225s! :ok:

Oil-related presumably Humberside?

Keep the place busy...:E

[temptage]

There are actually 2 Bristows choppers based at HUY. I was told that they have been purchased by Richard Lake of Eastern Airways fame (and fortune), but have since heard that they are only using one of Eastern Airways hangars. Bristows also have a separate area for the riggers to prepare for their flights. Maybe this will be permanent! (Since heard it will be a 7 month contract!!!) Plenty of time to get more contracts.

At least 1 person has faith in the Airport.

[airhumberside]

A Bristow Coastguard S-76 was at HUY yesterday apparently. Could be the 2nd chopper. Also Eastern are meant to be handling the new operation (info from my forum)

[BYALPHAINDIA]

I honestly don't know how such a 'Small' Airport is surviving on just 6 or so Schedules per day ABZ & AMS, And a few Charters??

The maths = Emp Wages, Power, Water, Taxes, Operating Costs...

Surely all this payout outweighs their income??

It would be interesting to see last years FY results.:confused:

I hope HUY does attract more investment, And has a 'Secure' Future.;)

[BKS Air Transport]

I realise that it is comparing two different places in different financial situations, but I noticed that the BBC were running an article the other day claiming that DSA was running at a loss of around £1m a month.

[airhumberside]

It would be interesting to see last years FY results.
They're in this
http://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/manweb.nsf/alldocs/BF3EEF3422FA8E3280257497004ACCEE/$File/Annual+Report+0708.pdf

[tonto68]

Personnel have been repeatedly informed (when RG was no1) that IF HUY lost every single holiday flight (it seems to be going that way) it would still make a profit due to all the on-site companies and current contracts covering any outgoings.

Would love to see it proved because we all know how cheap talk is!!!!!!!!!!

Its down to Tony Lavan to prove it now.:ugh:

[Wellington Bomber]

BYALPHA INDIA

Have you seen the number of heli movements by Scotia, which have a seperate terminal to fixed wing.

Also to note Eastern are handling the Bristows heliocopters movements, but RL does not own them

[niknak]

Its a short term contract (4 months with a possible extension subject to where the customer sends their rig next) servicing a mobile rig which happens to be nearer to HUY than NWI or Teesside at the moment.

Eastern have got the handling contract as Bristows would never give work to Scotia.

Bristows, nor any other UK operator, don't have a Coastguard S76. The S76 isn't designed for or capable of that kind of work, whereas the S61 is and is utilised for that purpose.
The confusion may arise as the Coastguard S61 is painted in the same colours as the rest of the fleet (even though it's twice the size:rolleyes:).

Richard Lake buying into the offshore industry? He might be a clever airline blokey, but be eaten alive by the competition at the first mention of such a thing.:=

If MAG did make that statement about making a profit with no operators and just tenants, clearly they are desperate to offload HUY and I can't understand why they haven't hastened the process, even if it means dumping all the shares back on the Local Authority and walking away (a provision which I understand exists in the contract).

The sooner someone comes in, with sensible ideas and the accumen to ensure that the airport concentrates on what will make it money, even if it is the Lake/Huxford partnership, all the better for everyone there.

[maverick.86]

nik nak, bristows had the coastguard contract down south and they used the s-61 that is in costguard colours now at humberside, using it as spare now,then work will pick up and that will be used aswell

[airhumberside]

Shame Bristows is short term but got to take whatever new stuff comes

And the S76 was my mistake. It was S61 in coastguard colours

[niknak]

Notes to self:

1) Clean glasses.
2) Get colour blindness check organised.....:uhoh:

[tonto68]

Prospective buyers will be coming to see what they are interested in from late September. S'pose management would like it to be on a 'BUSY' day.......so they had better start deciding between a Tuesday and Thursday then.......they are about as busy as it gets!!!:}

[airhumberside]

Fridays aren't bad either with 5 charters. Thursdays are only 3

[tonto68]

Yeh but they are all within a 2 hour-ish period.........it has been known to look like a real 'grown up' airport on thursdays, especially when the KLM and eastern are milling around too! :ok:

[Richard Taylor]

I can't get my head around the idea of Jetstream 41s "milling around" :}

[Whoooooop Whoooooop]

Does anyone know what the score is with Futura departures ?

I'm travelling (was) from HUY soon to MAH & read today that Futura have effectively gone bust :ooh:

Any news about whether Direct Holidays (Thomas Cook) are likely to set on an alternative carrier from HUY or do you think it will be a coach ride to Stansted :eek:

[john2408]

It is being said on the Manchester page that Iberworld are taking over the Futura flights.

[BYALPHAINDIA]

Quote
Does anyone know what the score is with Futura departures ?

I'm travelling (was) from HUY soon to MAH & read today that Futura have effectively gone bust http://static.pprune.org/images/smilies/icon25.gif

Any news about whether Direct Holidays (Thomas Cook) are likely to set on an alternative carrier from HUY or do you think it will be a coach ride to Stansted http://static.pprune.org/images/smilies/eek.gif

Reply

No one has gone 'Bust' - operations have been Temp Susp that's all.

Read the other thread.

[Whoooooop Whoooooop]

I did say "effectively gone bust" !

Not sure how you'd describe their financial situation but there you go.

Having now spoken to the Tour Operator, they were in denial saying that it was only Futura Gael that were affected and I do quote "were having a few financial changes"

I shall be interested to see who actually arrives to collect the MAH passengers this Friday.

Which Thread does "the other thread" mean ?

There are a few & most are wishing Air Crew all the best in their search for another job !

[maverick.86]

thomsonfly doing the futura run on friday with a 767 via edi

[airhumberside]

Futura and Futura Gael are both affected

AEA doing tomorrows ACE flight

Which FUA flight are TOM doing on Friday, Menorca or TFS?

[Whoooooop Whoooooop]

thomsonfly doing the futura run on friday with a 767 via edi

I sincerely hope you mean that the 767 is going via EDI & not that the passengers are being coached up to EDI to join their flight ?

Does HUY have the space for a 767 ?
:(

Breaking "NEWS"
Look North have just reported that due to the failure of Futura , passengers travelling From / To HUY "will be stranded unless their Holiday Companies make alternative travel arrangements".

Come on Guys, whats the truth ?:eek:

[airhumberside]

HUY can handle B767's, BY have sent them in the past when they hadtheir LBA base and based a B767-200 there for the early summer season. TOM will send a B767-300ER for the cruise flight in November

However post on an EDI forum states the flight is going to DSA insteda, despite the following comment in the Scunthorpe Telegraph
They added passengers from the region would not be redirected to other airports in the country to catch their flights.

As for the BBC, it was breaking news on Look North last night - Futura stopped flights on Sunday night. Hardly breaking ...

[airhumberside]

Tonight's Look North says TFS/LPA will operate with slight delays. As for MAH, Thomas Cook passengers sent to MME, Thomson passengers have holiday cancelled.

[mmeteesside]

As for MAH, Thomas Cook passengers sent to MME

Seems Flyglobespan are flying this as an extra - departs MME 1900 tomorrow evening. They also have an extra on Saturday night to Palma to replace the Futura into MME. :ok:

[airhumberside]

There is a TOM MAH-HUY-GLA in the early hours of tomorrow morning, I presume to bring passengers home

Excel doing Saturday's LPA, and LTE tomorrow's TFS

[mmeteesside]

That'll be to bring their passengers home I guess - the TCX pax will arrive back into MME in the early hours I presume.

[maverick.86]

rumour has it that XL.COM have gone under aswell, seen on tonights news24

BBC Tom Symonds reporting that it has filed for administration.

Another travel interviewer suggested that the flight arriving at 08:15 in the morning may be their last.

[Whoooooop Whoooooop]

As for MAH, Thomas Cook passengers sent to MME

Just to let everyone know.

Thomas Cook are expecting HUY Passengers to make their own way to Teesside Airport, pay for their own car parking & Fuel and to top it all they are turning good flight times into poor flight times.

Why Thomas Cook cannot lay on transfer coaches or fly their replacement flights into HUY or DSA is somewhat of a mystery.

Oh and when you ask, No they don't have manager you can speak to !

Where did customer service go ?

£100 additional travel costs + the original Package makes for an expensive week away... :=

[mmeteesside]

It's either that or no holiday I guess. Though replacement coaches would have been nice. Can't blame them for the flight times as the Globespan 733 is busy during the day on scheduled flights.

[Whoooooop Whoooooop]

Hardly a like for like replacement service at no additional cost to the client though.

None of us would happily accept a takeaway meal in exchange for a paid up 4 course meal at an aditional cost of £100 so why should they be allowed to get away with it on a flight ?

They will of course see the effect in due course on their poor sales results next year I guess. And I'm a shareholder !!

I think they should perhaps rename Thomas Cook "Tough Luck" or "cheapskates" has a certain ring to it.... wa:mad:ers "

[mmeteesside]

Don't forget they've probably paid a lot more to charter the 733 to replace the Futura - that won't be cheap at such short notice like this! They could have easily charged people for that too but they haven't.

[NJTCF]

Whooop Whooop

Yes i can understand your frustration at having to go MME. Just remember All those people Booked with XL Have No Holiday to go on:( There Flights/Holidays Are Cancelled and No replacement flights or holiday for them they have to Now go threw the process of getting there money back threw Atol/Abta.

Least you Have a Holiday to go on. Just think for a second of all those 1000s of people who Have No Holiday Now:(.

[tonto68]

Heard today.......well yesterday actually........Peel are the main bidders!!!

RIP HUY!

Its been good working on site all these years. S'pose we will have to find another field to fly from in future.

[airhumberside]

And are North Lincolnshire Council really going to sell their stake to Peel and see the airport shut down and jobs lost. Don't they own the perishables hub, only just built? And no doubt public outcry.

Then no doubt Eastern would be wanting millions to relocate, as would the likes of Roissy International, Soloflight etc. And what about the heli's. The police helcopter wouldn't want to be based in another county, and DSA is further away from the North Sea rigs than HUY. Peel would be paying a lot more than the purchase price at a time when they are loosing millions at DSA - they tell Doncaster council they can't afford partnerships with airports in the likes of China then they find a few million to spend on HUY ...

And also potentially the competition authorities could block such a deal. While it only be a very local market that competition would be reduced in, it's not out of the question they could get involved.

Buying HUY would cause Peel a lot of financial and PR headaches short term, and could also be politically damaging for the ruling Labour group on North Lincolnshire Council.

And while I could hardly say i'm impartial these are all very real hurdles that would have to be faced

[pug]

Heard today.......well yesterday actually........Peel are the main bidders

Could this not be refering to the sale of LGW? I read they are going to make a go for that.

[N707ZS]

If its PEEL they will ignore the council and do what they like!

They could keep the helicopter operations and offer Eastern a hanger at Doncaster or DTVA. They are not that much intrested in general aviation.

I presume the fish flights could be moved to Doncaster.

So in the long run I hope its not Peel.

[pug]

What would be the benefits for Peel? An extra service to AMS? I cannot see why they would buy the place for that. Would MAG realy sell to its competitor? Dont forget DSA competes with EMA and MAN too... As i say could the rumour be chinese whispers and Peel are actualy bidding for LGW?

[Higher Archie]

Don't forget Peel Airports bought Sheffield to remove competion to Finningley. If they are bidding for HUY, it'll be to close it down too. I hope not, there's too many good people at HUY who don't deserve the 'Peel treatment'.

[airhumberside]

If its PEEL they will ignore the council and do what they like!
Not that easy when North Lincolnshire Council are a minority shareholder

They could keep the helicopter operations and offer Eastern a hanger at Doncaster or DTVA.
That would still leave them with the cost retaining infrastructure for the heli's. A heliport using airport infrastyructure would be very costly to run I imagine

I presume the fish flights could be moved to Doncaster.
Or EMA. All but one weekly flight is at EMA currently since Icelandair have a DHL contract from there

[airhumberside]

Looking on My Travel, Thomas Cook, Thomson, ThomsonFly and Humberside Airport Travel websites I cannot find any summer HUY-TFS holidays or flights for next year. There were meant to be two - one on Tuesdays and one on Fridays.

Its got to the point were Im not surprised now, but loosing two flights to the same destination, and it being such a big destination as TFS is a big blow. Gran Canaria will be the only Canary Island served next summer

[wawkrk]

Thank John Prescott.
He was convinced we needed another airport down the road.
In the same way the moron needed 2 Jags.

[pug]

Thank John Prescott.
He was convinced we needed another airport down the road.
In the same way the moron needed 2 Jags.


Was there a dwindling seat in South Yorkshire at the time of granting permission?

[niknak]

It would actually be quite a sensible investment for Peel and there'd be no competition confliction as the same would apply to MAN owning EMA, which is on the HUY catchment area periphery).

They wouldn't have to pay more than a minmal sum as all they'd have to do was promise to take on and service the debt.
They would retain the likes of Eastern/Scotia/KLM and charter operators and probably not increase rents/service charges so long as what those clients didn't conflict with proftable op's at Donny. The flying clubs don't matter, whether they stay or go is of no commercial consequence.
Comparatively HUY doesn't cost a lot to run, Peel would have a close look at all areas and almost certainly be able to make economies in areas which are overstaffed for the services they provide i.e ATC (there are a similar no. of ATCOs at Liverpool and Durham TV - both of which operate a H24 radar service, and the fire service - similar no's at LIV and DTV) and also reduce the cost of running the terminal operations quite considerably.

Although times are tight, Peel could make an economic case for taking on HUY now on the same share ownership as presently exists with the council (81/19%), hang on to it for five years and then ditch it or continue to take a small profit each year.

[airhumberside]

Putting it like that makes HUY attractive for any established airport operator with finance

With regards to competition though surely there is a case for there being ultra-local competition between HUY and DSA. We've seen DSA take a couple of HUY charters when it opened, and Peel told the BAA inquiry that they tried to get KLM but failed so there is clear evidence that DSA and HUY compete and that any meger would obviosuly eliminate such competition. The arguement of wider competition with LBA/MAN/EMA may be stronger but wouldn't there be a case for at least the Offive of Fair Trading to investigate?

[MME4eva]

Surely Peel would look into closing HUY and moving the helicopter operation, KLM and Eastern over to DSA. Then it would consolidate operations there and strengthen it as the region's main airport rather than running two airports so close to one another.

[pug]

Cant see it happening, still dont even think bidders are in place to be honest.

DSA is less than ideal for helicopter operations as its more distance from the coast.

As far as i know there would be no further uses for the land. If Peel bought it theyd look at what makes the money, keep easterns main base and other associated companies and transfer the AMS over to DSA.

Will have to see if MAG would consider selling to them, i believe there would be a lot of political red tape localy, particularly as the Humber region is trying hard to regenerate at the moment. Such an asset would be damaging to lose.

[airhumberside]

Surely Peel would look into closing HUY and moving the helicopter operation, KLM and Eastern over to DSA. Then it would consolidate operations there and strengthen it as the region's main airport rather than running two airports so close to one another.
As I explained in reply 402 thats a lot easier said than done

[MME4eva]

Why would AMS move to DSA of they would keep HUY open? Surely losing its main route would seal the nail in its coffin and cause it to cease being commercially viable as ABZ and the odd charter couldn't keep the airport going?

[pug]

I was suggesting they would move the conflicting services i.e charter and scheduled flights over to DSA.

Still i cant see it happening, i believe it is yet too early to find out the bidder as i dont think the whole bids will be in yet.

As an aside, DSA did try to attract KLM and they stayed put.... Must say something must it not?

Surely losing its main route would seal the nail in its coffin and cause it to cease being commercially viable as ABZ and the odd charter couldn't keep the airport going?

Then why would it be commercially viable for them to buy HUY in the first place?

Im not ruling it out as at the moment anything is possible though with no further uses for the site would it be in the best interests of who are, fundamentaly a property tycoon, to buy the site to let it rot?

It does not have the potential (unless maybe an eco town) as SZD for redevelopment.

[MME4eva]

Still not convinced the region can sustain both HUY and DSA-already seems the latter is being 'asset stripped' of charter routes and surely couldn't survive on Eastern and KLM alone! Don't get me wrong-i like HUY alot and KLM are far more my cup of tea than TOM and DSA but just can't see Peel keeping both HUY and DSA running so close to one another!

On another note, where are Air Europa flying to next summer and on what days?

[pug]

can't see Peel keeping both HUY and DSA running so close to one another!


Which is why i cannot see Peel aquiring the site. The place needs investment, something MAG are averse to hence the loss of some services.

If what i have been told is to believed then all expenses in staff etc is covered by the other revenue such as on site business. Hence the place still being in profit. I believe HUY could still rely on just KL and T3 (remember before the runway could handle IT flights?) The management have done a relatively good job of maximising potential on the whole site and this should continue.

Peel have bigger problems at the moment with DSA to be thinking about aquiring its competitor and all the associated trouble that would bring.

Im taking it with a pinch of salt until i hear more.

[airhumberside]

On another note, where are Air Europa flying to next summer and on what days?
They're not. All their charters have been cancelled

[pug]

A certain person who works on the airport site believes it would be more viable as an industrial estate :(

Make of it what you will. I hope not.

[niknak]

Pug,
perhaps it's just whimsical thinking on a certain person's behalf.
Anyone seriously wanting to develop an industrial estate in the area has a plethora of much cheaper choices nearer to the major towns and road junction.

[circseam]

Pug

It will never happen, too much invested previously by the council for it to see its investment turned into yet another industrial estate and as Niknak has said there are much better alternatives in the area.

The current credit and share price uphevals will I think also slow down the sale of the airport, who at the moment is able to raise the capital, especially when HUY is potentially not a good investment compared to the sell off of airports like Gatwick.

Maybe your "certain person" should stick to what he knows best and join the rest of us in hoping that any prospective buyer has the very best intrests of the future of the airport.

Circseam

[pug]

Quite probably true, said persons quite well known around the airport but is not involoved in the commercial side in any wa. They would probably find it funny to happen.
I would assume we may hear more next month, i reckon Peel and Branson will be going in for a consortium at LGW? Unless plans have changed since? So we may see some small operator interested.

[tonto68]

Having been in doing business over the weekend, a company has been mentioned numerous times, whose credentials fit the criteria.

Take a look at Bowmark Capital (http://www.bowmark.com/default.aspx) and see what you think.:ok:

[temptage]

Why Bowmark? Surely there are hundreds of private equity companies who invest in 'small' businesses around the globe.

From looking at their 'business' over the years there looks like there have been no dealings in the travel industry, so why would they start now when you consider the big upheavals in the avaition business per se?

Seems a touch suspect to me.:=

[john2408]

Re 'Bowmark' they do have an intrest in travel,they have just aquired Kuoni student and school travel,this is the 4th similar travel company they have aquired.see their website/headlines.

[temptage]

My apologies, i meant more specifically Airport ventures

[temptage]

Anyone got any idea what happened this afternoon.....everyone readying for an emergency at about 3.30pm just as i was leaving.:sad:

[Wellington Bomber]

I think it was for one of the Bristows S61's

[pug]

According to Radio Humberside MAG are sifting through the bids and an announcement is expected in the next four weeks.

[temptage]

THE future ownership of Humberside Airport could be decided in the coming weeks.
It is believed that several parties have expressed an interest in taking over the majority shareholding of the Kirmington base.
Six months ago, Manchester Airport Group (MAG) announced it was reviewing its 82 per cent stake in the airport.
On Friday, the deadline for potential bidders to submit expressions of interest passed.
A spokesperson for Manchester International Airport Group said: "We are now in the process of looking at submissions and that will take two weeks. If suitable, we will then declare a preferred bidder and begin a process of due diligence."

More than half a million passengers use Humberside annually. It offers 30 destinations and is home to the UK's second largest heliport, serving the North Sea oil and gas industry. It is also home to expanding Lincolnshire airline Eastern Airways.
MAG purchased Humberside Airport for £10-million in 1999 and has invested £7-million to develop the infrastructure in the past nine years.
North Lincolnshire Council holds the remaining shares.

[jamesp]

how come humberside has 30 destinations and only has approx 500000 pax... what is the most popular aircraft that flies from humberside..

[pug]

Its fallen to almost 400,000 in the last couple of years. For charter work usually see the 737, A320 and 757 types. Some flights have operated with 767's regularly. Plus the KLM fokkers 100/70's.

You must also remember that these are seasonal only, there is maybe 4 regular charters a week in the winter and as of next summer not many more than that. Coventry had a year round based operation hence more pax, same with BLK.

[Wellington Bomber]

The most common aircraft by far is the Jetstream 41 that flies to Aberdeen with Eastern Airways, plus it is where all the heavy work is done on this aircraft type as it is Eastern Airways home base

[pug]

How could i forget the J41's? Though their contribution to annual pax numbers is around 25,000? They are used on the ABZ run but Eastern have been reluctant to try new routes from HUY for some time, last being EDI i believe.

[temptage]

This came thru this morning on the HUY newsletter!!

Make capital gains with Eastern Airways' Norwegian link!
Does a city break at the foot of a Norwegian fjord take your fancy? Why not try the Norwegian capital of Oslo!

From 12 January 2009, Eastern Airways is offering a new daily weekday service from Humberside Airport via Aberdeen to appeal to business travellers, tourists and winter sports enthusiasts. In keeping with the jet set lifestyle, Eastern Airways also offers a friendly, personalised service on board with a complimentary bar, drinks and snacks offered.

[airhumberside]

Though Eastern havent got any connections on sale for Oslo yet

[pug]

It will be great if they market it well as a through flight HUY-ABZ-OSL, perhaps they could use ABZ as a connection point for a few others?

[Punditgreen]

Humberside is to stay in the Manchester Airport Group. The business prospects are too good to allow it to go.
Wait for the cut n pastes from the Grimsby Telegraph for the full statement..

[pwalhx]

Here is what the Manchester Evening news reports:

MANCHESTER Airport Group today announced it has scrapped plans to sell Humberside Airport.

The group put Humberside on the market in April after a strategic review and said it had held talks with several potential buyers.

But in a statement this afternoon MAG said it had decided that, given several positive developments at Humberside and the current economic climate, it would retain its 82.7 per cent majority stake.

Geoff Muirhead, chief executive of MAG, said: “When we began our strategic review, we recognised that Humberside Airport was a solid business and that everyone had done a fantastic job in retaining and attracting airlines as well as maintaining stable passenger numbers, particularly during recent times of significantly increased competition.

“In the last few months, Humberside Airport has attracted an increase in its heliport business, its KLM services continue to perform well, a new state-of-the-art perishables hub has opened and discussions are currently underway about further developments.

“Coupled with the backdrop of an economic downturn and the beginnings of a recession in the UK, we have decided not to sell Humberside Airport and will retain it as part of the group.”

Humberside Airport handles more than 500,000 passengers a year and serves 30 destinations.

It employs around 730 people.

MAG is the second largest airports operator in the UK. It owns Bournemouth and East Midlands Airports as well as Manchester and Humberside.

[Andy_S]

The business prospects are too good to allow it to go.


In other words, they couldn't get the price they wanted in the current economic climate, so they're putting a brave face on it.

[davidjohnson6]

Is the Flybe Jersey route news-worthy, or just a seasonal route repeated from last year ?

[Richard Taylor]

Exactly Andy S. They couldn't flog it in the current climate, so all of a sudden it's a good business asset. Spin that the Labour Party would be proud of. :hmm:

[temptage]

Nearly a month and no news or rumours? :ugh:

Its a long proven fact its what the staff live for!!!

Come on HUY ....... do something newsworthy please..........IM :mad: BORED

[airhumberside]

The airport has started issuing press releases again :eek: and the annual trafvel show was yesterday

[pug]

Just got to hope they can keep the existing, albeit smaller, number of charters. KLM still seem to be doing well as always.

I always wondered what happened to that promise to reaffirm KLM's commitment to HUY. Wernt they even looking at a CDG service a couple of times a day?

[Andy_S]

Wernt they even looking at a CDG service a couple of times a day?

One of the local fanboys used to bang on about this a few years ago. I think in reality it was nothing more than the product of his own overactive imagination.

I can't, for the life of me, see why AF/KLM would dilute the load factors and earnings of a successful service by linking to another hub which they already control.

[pug]

They did infact say they were 'looking into it' at a number of staff meetings at the airport some time ago. It was a capacity thing i think, rather than offering an extra daily service or two, try to an alternative destination and maximise the potential. As you say though, it could probably cannibalise the AMS route.

[globetrotter79]

Correct me if wrong...but didn't Gill Airways do HUY-CDG for a while with an ATR for Air France? If that isn't just a figment of my imagination...does anyone have any load factor figures etc?

[aeulad]

I have to say that I disagree. When Gill operated the Paris, they experienced good load factors on the Humberside route. Amsterdam does indeed rely on a considerable amount of connecting traffic, but there is undoubtedly room for an AF Paris aswell. DSA, EMA and LBA offer no full service Paris flights, HUY dould benefit from this.

Regards

Mike

[Andy_S]

Globetrotter,

You are quite right. I recall the flight was shared with MME.

This was, however, a) in pre AF/KLM days, and b) in better economic circumstances.

I don't know what the loads or yields were like, but Gill Air, of course, folded. And no one rushed in to fill the gap in the marketplace.

The world has moved on since then, and now that AF & KLM are one and the same organisation I can see no appetite on their part in 'robbing Peter to pay Paul'. They're probably quite happy with things as they are.

[pug]

The loads wernt particularly amazing on the CDG Gill flights, ut they certainly attracted interest. Id have to say yields were supposidly quite high, if you look at the crudest evidence of good yields, most pax were the laptop brigade, the route had little effect on the KLM service (which at the time increased to 6xdaily) so there was demand. It lasted 18 months, i think initialy shared with MME, the MME leg was dropped and was solely HUY to CDG.

BE were at the time a big franchise operator for A/F but as far as i could see they didnt have the capacity employ routes from HUY. There is, afterall, always somewhere more significant...

[john2408]

Now that we have had the 'Holiday Show' there may be a Press release,with some good news.!!!

[airhumberside]

To be honest I was slightly concerned by how much KLM cut capacity over Christmas/New Year. Now I know demand falls off, even more so at the moment, and if the 4th daily was axed I wouldn't have been too worried. But some days there was only one flight. In previous years IIRC all that was cancelled was the Christmas Eve nightstopper, Christmas Day and 1st Boxing Day departure.

I would think the 4th daily needs to become 7 days a week, 50 weeks a year rather than the current one/off arrangement before any CDG service is looked at. Any CDG service would obviously lead to AMS capacity being cut, and frequency wise anything less than 3xDaily would seriously reduce the number of connecting opportunities.

I would love to see CDG but with the 4th AMS flight not operating all the time, and the current economic climate, I think its far better, short term at least, to focus on the AMS service and getting that 4th daily operating all year

[pug]

Im not suggesting the CDG will ever happen... I dont think it will, best hope for expansion would be a based charter/lo-co sun routes when things get better...

I dont see why the KLM reduction is too concerning considering the economy, it must be abit thin for business pax a this time of year?

[airhumberside]

To me the concerning thing was that the reduction was so big (just one flight some days), and the fact the reduction is not normally so severe. The loads seem good generally going by the CAA stats so I wouldnt say its a major worry but I wouldn't call it just the normal seasonal reductions

[mmeteesside]

Don't worry they did the same thing at Durham Tees over the Christmas period, bmi and Eastern also cut flights, Eastern cut from 4 to 2 a day most of the time, upto 3 after New Year until last week when they went back to 4.

[johnnychips]

How much of KLM's traffic do you experts think is actually generated by the obvious oil/petrochemical link? Or is it just a good alliance airport for West/South/East Yorkshire which DSA can't match at all (except via Belfast) and LBA struggles outside a London connection. I have a friend in Doncaster who flies KLM through HUY to China for no particular reason apart from its convenience. So I wondered if a hub connection through CDG rather than Amsterdam would make much difference.

[pug]

How much of KLM's traffic do you experts think is actually generated by the obvious oil/petrochemical link? Or is it just a good alliance airport for West/South/East Yorkshire which DSA can't match at all

I will try and find the written evidence that shows 97% of KL's pax are from well withing the HUY catchment... I dont understand how you can say LBA struggles outside a London connection?

I think the reasons should be clear why DSA cant match it by now :ugh:

[airhumberside]

Tony Lavan, the airport Managing Director, has given a very long interview to the Grimsby Telegraph. Not much new, but the key points are:

Growth not likely again until 2010
Further passenger figure falls expected
24 extra CHC Scotia helicopter flights a week have started recently
The airport, with partners, is looking to get the Icelandair flights that moved to East Midlands back, but they need a backload to Iceland
The airport hotel plan is being mentioned again
And maybe another maintenance hangar

[pug]

I liked reading the article, was good to see that he doesnt mention the good old 'we are constantly in talks with...'

A fair and trustworthy and realistic yet optimistic view on the future. I like the mention that they need to advertise the KLM importance more, i totaly agree.

[NorthSouth]

they need a backload to IcelandPound notes?

[harrogate]

looking to get the Icelandair flights that moved to East Midlands back, but they need a backload to Iceland

National debt?

[pug]

National debt?

Good plan :ok:

[wawkrk]

Frozen Fish?

[temptage]

I thought it was a good item. Interesting reading.

I think the Icelandair flight, after dropping the half a dozen haddock fillets off at HUY, flies off to Belgium. I think the idea is to find some 'return' cargo that can be sent ANYWHERE, as im sure the plane would go where the money is, rather than flying out empty and not making any money on an empty fuselage.

[pug]

Travel company swaps destinations

HUMBERSIDE Airport’s largest tour operator has dropped six Lucida Grande from its summer flight programme in favour of more popular holiday hotspots.

Thomas Cook, who fly the majority of the airport’s 450,000 holidaymakers abroad, will not be operating Lucida Grande flights to Tenerife, Lanzarote, Lucida Grande, Gran Cararia, Menorca, Ibiza and Portugal this summer.

However, it has increased the capacity on its flights to Cyprus, Turkey and Majorca as demand for those destinations increases.

A spokeswoman said: “Thomas Cook is the largest operator working out of Humberside Airport and we remain committed to Humberside Airport.

“However, from time to time, it is necessary to make adjustments to our flight programmes in accordance with demand.”

Holidaymakers who wish to fly to the Canary and Balearic islands will now have to fly from other airports in the region.

Sunseekers Keith Parker and his wife Monica, of Grimsby’s Weelsby Road, were told last week they would now have to depart from Leeds Bradford airport for the two-week Tenerife break they booked in December.
Keith (62) said: “It would have meant about £150 extra in a taxi fare for a round trip.

“I spoke to a couple of travel agents and they said no one is flying to Tenerife any more, so it’s not just because of the credit crunch.

“Personally, I think if Thomas Cook are pulling their flights, it sounds like a death knell for the airport.”
However, both Thomas Cook and Humberside Airport have refuted this, saying destinations outside the Eurozone, such as Turkey, offer better value for money for customers in the current financial climate.
In addition, the tour operator will also be using its own Thomas Cook Airlines this summer, following the success of the winter flight programme operating at Humberside.

The Thomas Cook spokeswoman added: “We think this really does reiterate to customers our commitment to the airport.”

A spokeswoman for the airport said it was continually working with tour operators to find a greater choice of destinations and flights for customers, and added: “Routes do change over time, and programmes do alter.
“But both Thomas Cook and Humberside Airport are committed to making sure we have flights for our customers where there is demand.

“For example, a new operator called Holidays4U will also be running flights to Turkey from Humberside and Flybe has increased its capacity on flights to Jersey.”


From thisisgrimsby

[airhumberside]

In what can only be described as an absolute disaster, Thomas Cook have pulled their winter 09/10 programme

[pug]

Certainly not good and will do nothing for local pax confidence now. If they are not careful the quite faithful users will move on to DSA. :ugh:

[goatface]

****!

That's dreadful news, one can only wonder if similar sized regional airports with serious competition in the periphery of the catchment area are going to recieve similar treatment!

[Keyvon]

So, it appears the only Spanish destination left is Majorca.

Pretty shameful.

On the other hand, it would be nice to see some new flights to holiday spots such as Sharm el Sheikh during the winter season.
I guess they could prove very well, due to increased popularity of Egypt, where it can easily replace the lost capacity to Canary Islands.

I think the Summer '10 programme will be even more Eastern-Med oriented, with a rise in frequencies to Turkey and hopefully a stable number of connections to Greece, Bulgaria and Cyprus.

[pug]

I can only see more losses for next summer. I cannot think of any major operator left at the airport now with sufficient flights.

The airport needs a based aircraft of some sort to operate the Western Med routes which have been lost and to try and continue growing the Eastern Med but they will need more commitment from at least one big operator to do so.

[tonto68]

has anyone heard about the imminent announcement about jet2 at huy next summer?
if its true, lets hope they have struck a deal for winter too.......surviving on AMS and Aberdeen cant go on for long, can it ?:ugh:

[aeulad]

All just a rumour at the moment, supposedly between DSA and HUY for the next LS base. I would expect DSA to undercut any deal HUY can offer, but Jet2's recent entry into the MAG owned EMA market, and expansion at MAN, could have HUY in with a decent chance of bagging this one.

I suppose a charter/scheduled base could work even. One 757 for scheduled routes where the tour operators take a seat allocation, the likes of Dalaman, Heraklion, Larnaca etc, and one 737 for shorter sun routes, the likes of Alicante, Malaga and Palma etc.

Regards

Mike

[OliWW]

I highly doubt that LS would base a B757 at HUY, let alone a full time based B733, EMA only got 1 B757 and they have stated that their is potential in this area for expansion. HUY has never really seen a lot of heavy growth and for this I doubt that they will see a B757 LS at all, with the odd glimse of a B733 every week or so...

[aeulad]

EMA and HUY are two different cases, and Jet2's operations at both cannot be compared. HUY has in the past experienced considerable growth. when the runway extension opened for example, the airport went from having no IT flights to over 30 a week in the space of 5 years. The same could be said of many UK airports pre-low cost. Growth was slow for the majority of UK airports before the advent of low cost, just look at Liverpool. A weekly 737 is unlikely, and I still think HUY will get a 737 based next summer.

Regards

Mike

[temptage]

would be good if it happens

[pug]

I hope they can pull this one off, HUY could do with some balanced year round traffic and i fully believe LS are the right outfit for the job!

[tonto68]

Amsterdam, Barcelona, Faro, Palma and Prague all bookable on Easyjet's website with flights starting 19th/20th April 2010

Maybe this will kickstart Jet2 into moving in.........fingers crossed!:ok:


sorry i neglected to name the airport as DSA. apologies for any confusion!:ugh:

[NorthSouth]

Yes, from Doncaster, not Humberside!
NS

[rpmac]

Jet2 from HUY, unlikely now and even more unlikely from DSA, in fact I would not be surprised to see Ryanair pull out of DSA as they have all year round services to ALC and GRO from LBA. TOM may even consider using LBA a bit more as they used to in the past.

[pug]

I dont know how EZY at DSA would make LS not want to operate from HUY (assuming they did) as it would be supplied heavily by tour operators and not seat only, something which has a proven record of working from HUY.

Jet2 are highly unlikely to ever use DSA, they have said so themselves.

Perhaps if FR were to pull out the rest from DSA (unlikely) they may look at a couple of seasonal sun routes from HUY instead :ok:

[airhumberside]

I think it would be incredibly unlikely they would ever do HUY-AMS/BCN/PRG. Yes todays news makes HUY-PMI/FAO less attractive for them should they want to start HUY operations, but there are other routes that could consider should they wish to avoid competing with Easyjet

[pug]

HUY-PMI/FAO less attractive for them should they want to start HUY operations

I dont see why it would be less attractive to offer those routes, HUY is a more specialised market yet it managed to grow comfortably next to DSA when they were both offering more than they currently do.

Im not suggesting LS will ever come to HUY but if they did they would most likely have support from tour operators, namely TCX, who have a good track record of getting bums on seats.

Whichever way im sure all of the routes lost at HUY will be taken back again when things get better, todays announcement could even spur them on to be more open to the concept of offering deals like they did with XL and FR a couple of years ago.

[airhumberside]

A Summer Saturday Malaga service showing on the Flybe website

[danielmellor]

This Is Great News :8

[tonto68]

The men from Flybe...........they say YES!

:D

[pug]

Interestin development. I hope we can expect more too though i suspect it may have been arranged via a local tour operator.

I eagerly await the official statement.

[niknak]

Good news, I hope it's the start of better times up there.

Beware of the wonderful Flybe, all the crews and groundstaff are a great bunch, but any sniff of competition and large management teddy bears get thrown out of the Exeter cot...:}

[shaftr1]

Its good to see the Fire Section doing a good job keeping HUY open.:D

[tonto68]

Allegedly it is Humberside Airport Travel who are chartering the plane and selling the seats.

They will be chartering a Flybe Embraer 195 with 118 seats....so personally i think they will sell like hotcakes. Good luck to HAT in their venture and hope it goes from strength to strength.

:D:ok:

[Cloud1]

I would suggest the charterer is not selling all 118 seats as Flybe are offering on a scheduled basis as well. What will probably happen is the charterer will take 90 seats or so and Flybe will sell the rest.......probably at a fairly high cost? Maybe if successful HUY and BE will offer other routes to PMI which in the summer must surely have a reasonable demand even from Humberside??

[pug]

Im not so sure on this one. Humberside Travel are not strictly a tour operator, more agent. I would have thought that they have played a big part in attracting them but i doubt that they will have block seat allocations.

Cloud1, judging by previous routes (since DSA opened) then there are far more routes than just PMI which would work. The problem is that BE aircraft can not reach them (far as im aware). Tenerife and Gran Canaria are strong year round routes. Along with Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, Alicante has worked well year round too. Its all quite frustrating to have to travel to the other airports to get to these places and whilst this new route is a small addition it is a step in the right direction.

Im hoping for Jet2 in 2011, fingers crossed.... :ok:

[tonto68]

I know its not strictly to do with flights etc but HUY are getting a new hotel. By the sounds of it, they reckon it could be up and running as soon as April/May.

[pug]

Is te long awaited (15 years) petrol station to be part of this scheme?

Do you know who will be the tennant? The MD seems to believe that the Eastern J41 sim alone could generate enough custom!

April seems a bit optimistic though.

[john2408]

When the Airport runway was extended in 1992, a 133 bed Hotel was propsed to be built by the Quality Hotel Group, so no hurry!!.

[aeulad]

Apparently, Thomas Cook are going to be using a 767-300 on their Monday Dalaman rotation this summer.

Regards

Mike

[Chitty]

well i was told by a friend who works for thomas cook saying that thay mite send a 767-300 or a 757-300 on the palma route in august 2011 but he cant be sure

[Fernanjet]

HUY will see the 767 every monday evening at 16.25hrs between May and end of September from/to Dalaman

The 757 will be every Sunday at around 12.20hrs from/to Antalya

The A320 will be every Tuesday at 09.45hrs from/to Palma


From the thomas cook thread!

[Keyvon]

I believe Thomas Cook should consider to serve also Bodrum/Izmir or Sharm el Sheikh from HUY, next summer, as bookings to Turkey and Egypt are rocketing.

[aeulad]

At the end of the day, Thomas Cook could base an A320 at HUY for the summer and winter season, and there would be plenty of work. They recently pulled their winter programme from HUY, and this summer upgrade, with mention of next summer too, would all seem to contradict Thomas Cook's commitment to HUY. They are already offering Antalya, Dalaman, Heraklion, Larnaca and Palma, on which they have the majority of the allocation, and there is definitely scope for the likes of Bodrum, Bulgaria, Corfu and Tenerife during the summer. It has been discussed to death in the past, it would appear that it will just never happen, despite HUY apparently being a good seller for Thomson amd Thomas Cook alike.

Regards

Mike

[pug]

I agree with most of what you say aeulad, the problem is that TCX will surely not want the risk on their shoulders.

It is understandable that TOM want to fill their aircraft from DSA and EMA and so seat sharing is not an option.... The winter TCX fights were pulled due to costs of outstationing aircraft and crews, this is made worse by a lack of other major operator support.

Ive said it time and time again, i believe that as things stand Jet2 would be the only saving grace. Whether the airline or the management want that to happen is another matter entirely however.

[Keyvon]

A TCX's A320 based in HUY would be definitely work fine, during the whole summer season, May to October.

They should aim to offer flexible stays and departures to the best-seller destinations, such as Dalaman, Larnaca, Tenerife, Heraklion and Palma, offering at least 2 weekly flights and, in the meantime, flight-only tickets to the increasing public made by second-home owners, DIY travellers and so on.. and I guess filling almost all the available seats would be an easy game to sustain, maybe also sharing this capacity with rival firm Thomson, as they are frequently swapping their own seats each other, from other UK airports.
Next to these flights, they should consider to include some others that are registering an increasing popularity like Paphos, Monastir (Tunisia) or Sharm el Sheikh, to name few. Plus operating also some Ws to other smaller UK airports.

But first of all, what they need is a full support of local travel agencies and also from the Board of the airport. Holidaymakers have to be addressed firstly to HUY if they want to travel to the offered sun spots and these could be reached only with an intensive work of promotion throughout Internet travel sites and holiday agents, alongside with a very reliable schedule of flights.

As for Costa Blanca (Alicante) or Costa del Sol (Malaga), as well as Algarve (Faro), the best way to regain this traffic and give a boost to the airport, is to attract back again Ryanair.
A 738 with a low-cost pattern is more suitable for these destinations, rather than Dublin was.