CAMBRIDGE
Join Date: Jul 2005
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Still no bookings after March :-( Dropping Amsterdam (if that's what's happening) is a shame; I think they could have made that work with a proper frequency and marketing.
Marketing that, ironically, is starting to appear...
Marketing that, ironically, is starting to appear...
Last edited by 01475; 24th Feb 2014 at 21:27.
A good idea at the time, but ...
Well, we took a chance and booked to go to Japan from Cambridge via CDG in March. Good, competitive price.
We made a through booking with Opodo - not separate bookings.
First thing that happened was that the return flight CDG-CBG was put back one day = one unwanted overnight in Paris with no offer of accommodation.
Now the outbound CBG-CDG has been brought forward one day = another unwanted overnight in Paris (of course the flights to Japan haven't changed!) and again no offer of accommodation.
AND of course both CBG-CDG and CDG-CBG flights have now become dog-legs, so outward is now CBG-AMS-CDG and return is now CDG-AMS-CBG.
If I had wanted to do a tour of Europe, then I would have said so at the outset!
I don't think that Darwin (now Etihad Regional) have really advertised the CBG flights and they seem to have let them wither on the vine. Well, lesson learned!
PBW
We made a through booking with Opodo - not separate bookings.
First thing that happened was that the return flight CDG-CBG was put back one day = one unwanted overnight in Paris with no offer of accommodation.
Now the outbound CBG-CDG has been brought forward one day = another unwanted overnight in Paris (of course the flights to Japan haven't changed!) and again no offer of accommodation.
AND of course both CBG-CDG and CDG-CBG flights have now become dog-legs, so outward is now CBG-AMS-CDG and return is now CDG-AMS-CBG.
If I had wanted to do a tour of Europe, then I would have said so at the outset!
I don't think that Darwin (now Etihad Regional) have really advertised the CBG flights and they seem to have let them wither on the vine. Well, lesson learned!
PBW
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Flights appear to have disappeared from the timetable as well now :-(
I see that the Dusseldorf services are shown on the route map as from Stansted.
This is a shame; I really believe that the flights to Amsterdam (but not any of the other ones) could have worked if ticketing arrangements had been available from the beginning. I have wanted to fly with them three times this year, and I know other people that have wanted to fly with them as well.
I see that the Dusseldorf services are shown on the route map as from Stansted.
This is a shame; I really believe that the flights to Amsterdam (but not any of the other ones) could have worked if ticketing arrangements had been available from the beginning. I have wanted to fly with them three times this year, and I know other people that have wanted to fly with them as well.
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The fact that it's been done in a slow and mysterious way has created a slew of bad publicity that I can't see them recovering from; I think the problems would even carry over to a new airline if someone else tried to operate AMS :-(
Bye Bye, Etihad Regional
We flew back into CBG today, on what was apparently the last-but-one AMS-CBG flight. The in-flight magazine now does not show CBG on the route network map at all. I don't know about the "bad publicity" due to the slow withdrawal of services mentioned above, but ANY publicity AT ALL for those that it was running might have made a difference. The poor loads (there were three of us on the outward flight a couple of weeks ago, six on the return today) made the pull-out inevitable, and the "death by a thousand cuts" was not going to help either - if the service was supposed to be aimed at business-people then really the minimum needed to be a schedule to get people out and back in a day. Neighbours and others that we have spoken to didn't know about the flights. I have been told that some of the ground handling staff are being made redundant, so it's not good news for them either.
PBW
PBW
Etihad Regional not entirely withdrawn from CBG?
Bagso wrote:
Well, you have to remember that the CBG-based operation was set up by Darwin prior to the involvement of Etihad. And if you look at the new route network, it's now primarily based around Zurich and Geneva. There appear to be bookable flights on Saturdays from 17th May to 20th September from CBG to Verona with Etihad Regional. Are they going to bother advertising them? Or are they going to take bookings and then scrap the flights because of lack of demand? People won't even THINK of putting CBG into flight searches if they don't know the flights exist.
PBW
Surely Etihad Regional should be operating feeder services into Manchester ?
PBW
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The indifference shown towards advertising and marketing by airlines starting services from regional airports never ceases to surprise me. It's a version of the "build it and they will come" philosophy. Airlines are prepared to pour tens of thousands of pounds down the drain running services that nobody knows about rather than spend a few more thousand on publicity in the local media, on hoardings etc. Why do they think Richard Branson dresses up as an air hostess, or flies into a new airport in a blaze of photographs...... he may be a bit of a pain, but people are aware of his and his arline's existence.
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O'Leary and Stelios were masters of the free advert as well.
Their airlines make a lot of money!
As a CBG resident, I concur that the marketing has been non-existent. This is a SERIOUSLY wealthy place. With the right routes and marketing, the market is here for high yield, small aircraft airlines.
Their airlines make a lot of money!
As a CBG resident, I concur that the marketing has been non-existent. This is a SERIOUSLY wealthy place. With the right routes and marketing, the market is here for high yield, small aircraft airlines.
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There is definitely a good, wealthy catchment for a little regional airport like Cambridge but the task of registering in the minds of every citizen in that catchment that they should check out their local airport first before say Stansted requires a heck of a lot of good old basic blanket advertising and a few publicity stunts thrown in for good measure. You can spend thousands each month on local papers, local radio, billboards, bus adverts, train station posters, post code mailshot letterbox drops, website banners, e-mail broadcasts and telesales campaigns to the corporate markets but still you'll find your next door neighbour ten miles away from the airport didn't know you could fly anywhere from there. It's a process of time, it takes a new airport flying new scheduled routes a good few years to get the recognition and familiarity going. It's a long, hard slog and it costs stupid amounts of money. But, five years down the road after steady routes to the usual suspects and your on the radar of all the locals and before they book that Stansted flight, they'll just check out the local alternative by default. If they get the concept of the hassle-free terminal experience, the easy parking, the quick in and out processing that means when you turn up you can be down the runway in 30 minutes of out of the airport in 10 minutes from touch down, then they'll get it and will pay a small premium for that benefit.
Just takes a lot of pain and a few years to get the ball rolling.
It's a great benefit for the likes of Southend to have that new rail station walking distance from the terminal but they still will have sunk crazy sums of money into that place for the last five years and the return on that investment will be a long hard slog. Places like Cambridge have a 45 minute train run from Kings Cross but that isn't going to feed the routes, it's the locals living within 30 mins drive time who can dump their cars next to the terminal and just go.
It would help if to kick start the whole thing they waived parking fees for the first year or so though.
The amount of inward investment and growth in the Cambridge area is staggering! it's the most dynamic and exciting economic growth zone in the UK right now. It can work and should work, it's just time and a steady commitment to spreading the word via many different channels.
Of course, you still need the right routes to the right destinations with the right code-share opportunities too to make it stack up.
Just takes a lot of pain and a few years to get the ball rolling.
It's a great benefit for the likes of Southend to have that new rail station walking distance from the terminal but they still will have sunk crazy sums of money into that place for the last five years and the return on that investment will be a long hard slog. Places like Cambridge have a 45 minute train run from Kings Cross but that isn't going to feed the routes, it's the locals living within 30 mins drive time who can dump their cars next to the terminal and just go.
It would help if to kick start the whole thing they waived parking fees for the first year or so though.
The amount of inward investment and growth in the Cambridge area is staggering! it's the most dynamic and exciting economic growth zone in the UK right now. It can work and should work, it's just time and a steady commitment to spreading the word via many different channels.
Of course, you still need the right routes to the right destinations with the right code-share opportunities too to make it stack up.
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Papabravowhisky - The Verona flights are operating on behalf of Inghams and have been on sale well before the actual launch of the CBG operation by Darwin, so should be safe.
Whether they return next year (not necessarily on Etihad) remains to be seen
Whether they return next year (not necessarily on Etihad) remains to be seen
Sxflyer wrote
Aha! That explains it. I have also seen mention of ski specials that have run, also on behalf of Inghams. Thanks for pointing it out.
PBW
Papabravowhisky - The Verona flights are operating on behalf of Inghams and have been on sale well before the actual launch of the CBG operation by Darwin, so should be safe.
Whether they return next year (not necessarily on Etihad) remains to be seen
Whether they return next year (not necessarily on Etihad) remains to be seen
PBW
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CityJet to Dublin and Amsterdam from May :-)
Cambridge International Airport announces flights to Amsterdam and Dublin with CityJet airline | Cambridge News | Latest News Headlines From Cambridge City & Cambridgeshire | National News | Cambridge News
Exciting! I hope they, you know... do some marketing this time.
Cambridge International Airport announces flights to Amsterdam and Dublin with CityJet airline | Cambridge News | Latest News Headlines From Cambridge City & Cambridgeshire | National News | Cambridge News
Exciting! I hope they, you know... do some marketing this time.
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Possibly.
Hope they do at least get ticketing arrangements in place. For this to work they have to be taking people that are going to further than just AMS right from the beginning.
Hope they do at least get ticketing arrangements in place. For this to work they have to be taking people that are going to further than just AMS right from the beginning.
Join Date: May 2006
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Timings on routes are as follows
Monday - Friday
Cambridge - Amsterdam
06:00 - 08:05
Amsterdam - Cambridge
08:35 - 08:40
Cambridge - Dublin
09:10 - 10:35
Dublin - Cambridge
11:05 - 12:30
Cambridge - Amsterdam
13:55 - 16:00
Amsterdam - Cambridge
16:40 - 16:45
Cambridge - Dublin
17:15 - 18:40
Dublin - Cambridge
19:10 - 20:30
Weekend 1 x flight daily - DUB and AMS
Monday - Friday
Cambridge - Amsterdam
06:00 - 08:05
Amsterdam - Cambridge
08:35 - 08:40
Cambridge - Dublin
09:10 - 10:35
Dublin - Cambridge
11:05 - 12:30
Cambridge - Amsterdam
13:55 - 16:00
Amsterdam - Cambridge
16:40 - 16:45
Cambridge - Dublin
17:15 - 18:40
Dublin - Cambridge
19:10 - 20:30
Weekend 1 x flight daily - DUB and AMS
