Dresden to London

[s2art1e]

Over the past few years the likes of BA, BMI/LH, OLT Express and Cityjet have tried and failed to establish a route between these two cities.

I am wondering what potential these airlines see in this route, to initially launch it, and why they have all been unsuccessful - any thoughts? Do you think another airline would take the challenge on in the future?

[turbroprop]

Cost of flights

Good rail connections. Easy to get to Berlin etc. Leipzig nearby has low cost Ryanair to STN plus options to many UK Destinations via MUC or FRA using Lufthansa.

[wallp]

I visited Dresden earlier this year. I was staying in Berlin and travelled in from there which was easy to do in a day. I guess, at least in part, therein lies the problem. With good connections from nearby cities like Berlin it's hard to make flights work.

[virginblue]

Difficult catchment area. To the south is the Czech Republic and the Czech will rather travel from Prague (which is not too far away even from Dresden). To the east is Poland and for the folks there, the alternative is Wroclaw. To the north is mainly rural area, to the north-west Leipzig with its own airport and London link. So other than the immediate surroundings, Dresden can only rely on areas to the west of the city which are, however, often easily accessible from Leipzig as well.

[wetlanding]

OLT tried from SEN but with only 2weeks notice of the route starting there was also no time given for the route to settle as they called in the receiver shortly after, given time this route may work?

[AirportPlanner1]

It isn't a huge market, and there is limited business demand. The problem with a limited market is that you really need smaller aircraft to make it work which means higher ticket prices, which is a disincentive to leisure travellers. It also means you often end up with carriers with limited marketing clout, so awareness is an issue.

OLT was probably as good a fit for the route as any but as noted above the start was a bit bodged and they went out of business soon after anyway. Flybe are probably the only other carrier that could have a stab, but their London presence isn't enormous and few of those routes go outside the UK. I doubt Dresden is particularly high on their list of potential future routes.

[zoomboy]

We travelled to Dresden when it was a Cityjet route. A lovely city break, fanastic hotel right in the city centre. Our only useage of London City and very impressed. Dresden airport was brilliant and very close to the city. Cityjet was efficient, on time and really good value for money, we booked months in advance; but in both directions the plane was only about half full.
We went then because I know that we lucky to have any service and quiet happy to travel from Reading via BR, Jubille line and DLR. I share the disappointment at lack of a Dresden-London link; the city is well worth a leisure break.

[s2art1e]

Thanks all - some interesting views.


I have a slight interest in this route as my wife's family are from this region of Germany, so we travel there 3 or 4 times a year and her family come over to the UK to visit us.


Since I have been travelling to Dresden there have been about 4 different operators:


BMI operated a daily A319 LHR to DRS, this was way too big a aircraft for this route, and was downgraded after about 6 months to a Eurowings CRJ900ER. The CRJ was probably the perfect size of aircraft for this route. The route did reasonably well because they had transiting passengers connecting to Star Alliance flights at Heathrow. Apparently the lack of Premium sales brought this operation to an end, plus the fact LH sold BMI and probably wanted the slot for a more lucrative higher density route. (I think they added another Dusseldorf flight)


OLT than operated route from Southend using a Fokker 100 - This did not last long due to the aforementioned issues resulting in the collapse of the company.


Cityjet had a good stab at things from LCY, but as someone else mentioned, flights were typically half full or less. Also I was never convinced that LCY was the correct London Airport for this flight. The Avro 85 as not a bad size aircraft fro the route.


Personally I would like to see someone like Flybe or another airline with a regional fleet operate a 3 or 4 days a week schedule. I am convinced it would work.

[EMB-145LR]

BA operated to DRS a few years ago from LGW for about 18 months using a 737, but it ended up being dropped.

I think it would be a perfect route for BA CityFlyer out of LCY using an E170 three or four times a week. There is definitely a market, but CityJet didn't really advertise and the flight was very expensive.

[turbroprop]

If this is a "perfect route" I am sure some airline would be operating it.

[s2art1e]

Cityjet tried there best, and I know they actually worked closely with the Dresden tourism board and the owner of Dresden Airport to try and market the flight.

Personally I think a low cost option to one of London's 'less premium', airports is what this route needs to make it succeed, but I guess you don't get low cost carriers that operate regional aircrafts, so can't see it happening anytime soon.