I've heard rumours that they're in favour up at the airport at the minute, following a few debacles with Menzies.
Rumour has it today around the airport that the airport's management have served a month's warning notice to Menzies to improve things or risk having their presence at the airport terminated. I'm confident that Menzies will be able to turn it around as they've typically been highly-regarded up at EMA, but they've apparently been having a very poor start to the season with frosty relationships between Menzies & NEMA staff.
Nice for the heat to be taken off us anyway, and rumours are we're getting BA at Servisair - only 3 flights a week but a bit classier than some of the other carriers we handle!
Menzies have gone down hill a bit since the start of the season. Not quite sure why, but most of the incidents, (5 in about 2 or 3 weeks of what I know) point to poor or lack of training of staff, and not being aware of the situation the member of staff is in. Some if not all could have been genuine accidents and they would have to be very unlucky if that was the case.
From what I understand its not the airport, but both BMI and TCX that have given Menzies a 60 or 90 day 'trial period' as such to improve their act or face having consequences. Not quite sure what they would be as I don't think Servisair would be able to take on BMI at the moment, especially when their overstretched as it is! The airport is involved when Menzies leave equipment on stand once their aircraft has left, this is happening a lot lately, steps or GPU and other equipment being left on stand, so having to be called out to move it for incoming aircraft.
I guess we'll just see what happens with time, and hope they improve to keep the contracts and get new ones
Not quite sure what they would be as I don't think Servisair would be able to take on BMI at the moment, especially when their overstretched as it is!
Question to those in the know, but if Menzies were asked to leave the airport, and I've never actually witnessed a handling agent being asked to leave before but if it did happen, then how quickly could another be established to take over said contracts? I doubt the airport authority would be keen for Servisair to have 100% control of the airport, so it will lie on Menzies bucking up in the next month or liasing with other major handling agents to swiftly set up shop at EMA. As I said, how quickly can quickly be?
Thanks Almost Prof - I was hoping you would see the post - you are our "Man in the Sky", a title which makes you sound like god, I know. But sat up there you are a lot closer to him than most of us sat at desks most of the day
with the new apron extension, does that give the airport opportunity to handle aircraft up to A330 size instead of having to send them down to the cargo east apron?????? it looks like there is quite a large clearance apart from the parked up Challenger
EK39 from Dubai is due at 1300 its 772, Turkmenistan Airlines has been in today that was a 752 and there has been about 10 BA diversions from GLA, EDI, MXP, ABZ and departures have gone to MAD, BCN and a few others.
Whilst there are no signs of new routes yet, remember that this is only the first round of seats going on sale, similar to how Ryanair's winter seats have now been rolled out, yet no new routes have been launched yet for the winter. After the initial hype of the winter rollout, some new routes are usually launched, obviously watching how well the existing routes are selling.
Not quite sure where bmibaby would expand to, as with the exception of the French routes, all of WW's destinations are served from EMA - I'm guessing they'd either make a move into bmi territory, relaunch some routes that were dropped when bmibaby began their massive expansion into other bases, or might go for something completely new.
Ryanair seems the safest bet for new routes this winter. Whilst all routes are doing well, the Polish ones seem to be doing incredibly, so it wouldn't surprise me if further Eastern European expansion was on the cards.