EXETER

[Dash-7 lover]

I see no commercial movements today at all so far....

Time Date Flight To Status
0650 16AUG10 BE211 EDINBURGH DELAY : NEXT INFO 1200
0700 16AUG10 BE371 MANCHESTER DELAY : NEXT INFO 1200
0710 16AUG10 BE301 GUERNSEY / JERSEY DELAY : NEXT INFO 1200
0720 16AUG10 BE705 NEWCASTLE / HANNOVER DELAY : NEXT INFO 1200
1005 16AUG10 BE1425 MALAGA DELAY : NEXT INFO 1200
1020 16AUG10 BE303 DUBLIN DELAY : NEXT INFO 1200
1040 16AUG10 BE1525 RENNES DELAY : NEXT INFO 1200
1130 16AUG10 BE1503 PARIS DELAY : NEXT INFO 1200
1225 16AUG10 BE532 GLASGOW DELAY : NEXT INFO 1200

NOTAM'd CAT 3 fire cover since first thing and until 1700z at the moment apparently due to a u/s fire appliance? Happens to the best but surely a loan machine off the council would suffice or is it down to training and different SOP's for the fire service....must be chaos?

[cornishsimon]

i cant see why some of these BE services cant operate ex NQY until the vehicle or vehicles are fixed?

obviously no point with the domestics but surely with the:
GUERNSEY / JERSEY, HANNOVER, MALAGA,DUBLIN ,RENNES & PARIS

couldnt aircraft be positioned into NQY or BRS from somewhere else in the network if they arent able to lift at all from EXT, would save the customers lots of hassle!
cs

[MerchantVenturer]

TOM late afternoon flight to Bodrum operated from Bristol according to the Exeter Airport web departures page. BRS arrivals also show a mid afternoon TOM inbound from Funchal, presumably diverted from EXT and the aircraft for Bodrum.

Local ITV teatime news carried a short account of Exeter's woes and interviewed some passengers who had been brought from Exeter to Bristol by coach but it broke down en route, adding considerable time to the journey north along the M5/A38 - hope they didn't buy a lottery ticket today.

Their intended flight wasn't mentioned so far as I recall but no doubt it was the Bodrum.

[Boeing 77W]

Why couldn't the aircraft have gone to BRS and NQY and then pax sent via road to meet the aircraft there. The 195 went out crew only, as did some of the Dash's. The bus to BRS which broke down was for the BE AGP pax. BE wise only the AGP and RNS were operated from other airports, the TOM Bodrum went from BRS and everything else was cancelled.

As WingoWango says the airport is a joke, I'll be interested to see if this makes any difference to the managements attitude...doubt it.

[Serenity]

Only the proper regional airports like Exeter have to put international in the title so people know!!
Ever heard of heathrow/gatwick international ???

[FL370 Officeboy]

Why couldn't the aircraft have gone to BRS and NQY and then pax sent via road to meet the aircraft there.

How do you propose the aircraft themselves get from EXT to BRS/NQY to operate the flight if no movements are allowed out of Exeter International?

[Boeing 77W]

It was only downgraded to Fire Cat 3, as I said the 195 and several of the Q400's did get out of Exeter, flight crew only though. Not sure where they went as I'd left by that time...

[learjet50]

FL370 Officeboy

I see the logic in your name

You are obvioulsy not a Pilot and cannot read other threads

Any A/C can depart from an un licensed Airport under the Private Catergory i e No Pax Crew only as long as the company has insurance cover to operate from an un licensed Airport


Fly Be did as was stated postioned A/c out to other Airports to operate certain flights However Crews do have Duty Hour Regulations to comply with.


If all the crews for the first departures 0700 onwards reported on time which I am sure they did they propably did not have sufficent time to fly to say Bristol wait for the pax and fly to ???? andthen return to Bristol

CAP 360 tells all but I am sure you dont have or have knowledge of this document

Airlines dont cancel flight willy nilly they have a reputaion to live u to

Stop Knocking everthing that goes wrong its Life

:D:sad::oh:

[Coffin Corner]

learjet50

Leave the lad alone, if you knew anything about aviation you'd know CAP360 doesn't exist any more.

The documents you want are CAP 768 and JAR-OPS Subp P (Where the old CAP360 is covered) :ok:

[gilbertmchris]

Thanks Coffin, just to defend a friend also...

Even CAP 768 has now been superseded by CAP 789 and the FTL limits found in CAP 371 are as follows:

Table A Two or more flight crew - Acclimatised
Local time of start Sectors
__________1 __2___ 3___ 4__ 5_ 6___ 7__ 8 or more
0600-0759 13_ 12¼ 11½ 10¾ 10 9½ _9 __9
0800-1259 14 _13¼ 12½ 11¾ 11 10½ 10_ 9½
1300-1759 13 _12¼ 11½ 10¾ 10_ 9½_ 9 __9
1800-2159 12 _11¼ 10½ _9¾_9 __9___9 __9
2200-0559 11 _10¼_ 9½_ 9__ 9__ 9___ 9 __9

Just to counter the above argument; for example the Exeter-Edinburgh-Exeter-Rennes-Exeter flights could have be covered by a single crew 0550-0720/0745-0915/0940-1040/1105-1200

I am assuming a local report of 0605 (45 mins being the minimum and avoiding the issues with consecutive earlies and following days off etc.) so what would be a 4 sector day would have a max flight duty of 10¾. Extending this by one sector (the taxi back from Bristol would not count) only reduces this by 45 mins.
Therefore theoretically it would have been possible to do a positioning sector and rely on bus transport to either BRS/NQY (not a stupid suggestion). The transfer times are roughly 1.5 hours from check in to ramp and once the flight had left with the original delay the pax would then be bussed at close of check in each time and arrive at approximately the same time.

This relies on communication from the airport to the operator that the airport is going to be closed all day for the appropriate plans to be put in place. I know ASW did very well during the closure of NQY but this took months of planning. There are many reasons why Flybe could not have arranged the above and I am not arguing that they should have, with 3 hours spare on the above duty (including the extra sector)(excluding commander's discretion)(excluding the possibility of splitting multi-sector duties and using STBY crews) my comments are towards anyone being Fu**ing patronising on here.

I am sure it was a very frustrating experience for everyone involved and lessons will have been learned by all.

C

[virginblue]

Can any of the locals give me an idea how much a taxi/cab from Exeter St. Davids railway station to the airport is? Was surprised to find out that the bus operates rather infrequently on weekday afternoons.....

[niknak]

The shortest route is around 6 miles, he quickest route is 12 miles.
This may sound a bit odd but the quickest route is all via A roads and part of the motorway, the shortest is in a straight line via the city roads, there's about two minutes difference.

Either way at current rates it would cost you about £25 one way (as quoted by a major Exeter taxi firm).

[Cloud1]

Working in Exeter I find £25 excessive - I think the taxi's would be cheaper as the journey takes about 20-25 minutes in good traffic when going through the city. Unless this is about average price for a journey of this length it has been a while since I used the taxi myself so I may be out of touch!!!

Failing that you could always get the bus to either the Holiday Inn or Park & Ride and taxi it from there. I am certain that would save a few quid as it is only a few minutes from the airport!

[virginblue]

20-25 GBP is what "limo"-services tend to quote you, so my belief was that a regular taxi from the taxi rank would be somewhat cheaper.

[cuthere]

Capital Cars (cheapest operators I've found in Exeter) will do it for about £18. They've an office near St David's, but AREN'T the cars parked immediately outside the station.

The excuse I've been given for it being so expensive is "we have to drive all the way to the airport, then all the way back into town again". Crazy.

[niknak]

The excuse I've been given for it being so expensive is "we have to drive all the way to the airport, then all the way back into town again". Crazy.

No, it isn't crazy and it's no different from asking any other transport operator of any sort to make a one way journey, if they have no guarantee of a return fare they have to charge you for the round trip otherwise it wouldn't be economically viable.

[cuthere]

Niknak, we'll agree to disagree.

No, it isn't crazy and it's no different from asking any other transport operator of any sort to make a one way journey

Surely the VAST majority of taxi journeys are one way? Furthermore, many are not allowed to randomly pick people up off the street.

I can get a taxi from the centre of Derry in Northern Ireland to Derry Airport, about the same distance as St David's to Exeter airport, 7 miles or so, for about £13. Fuel costs in Northern Ireland are MUCH higher than in England, as is insurance, so the excuse given by the fine taxi drivers of Exeter doesn't rub I'm afraid, and nowhere else have I heard such an excuse.

For comparison, a taxi from Bristol airport to Temple Meads recently cost me £28, only a few quid more than the trip to Exeter airport. Despite the driver not ending up in the middle of nowhere (as is argued by Exeter taxi drivers), he was not allowed to pick-up a fare at the train station.

[MerchantVenturer]

There was a piece in the main Exeter newspaper today concerning EXT's improved charter performance in recent months.

However, what struck me was the assertion by the airport MD that the airport could return to 1 mppa by 2012 and reach 1.5 to 1.9 mppa by 2015.

Bearing in mind that that the airport has seen a significant fall in passenger numbers over the past three years from just above 1 mppa (its best ever) to the current sub 750,000, to achieve the MD's projections would involve some truly spectacular growth.

Passenger numbers would have to increase by over 30% in two years to reach 1 mppa and between 100 and 150-plus% to rise to 1.5-1.9 mppa in something over four years.

Either Flybe is planning a huge expansion from EXT or another substantial player or players is/are coming OR of course it might an airport manager trying to get some local positive publicity for his airport after a disappointing period.

Any rumours or thoughts from anyone?

[Cloud1]

Does anyone have a list of the S11 charter movements (a/c, day, destination etc)?

With the exception of the weekly DUS I cannot see any more new routes from Flybe so will be down to the tour ops and IT flights. With ECA out the picture what will happen with the Sunday LCA and could we see it actually operate on time this year?? ;)

[Devonair]

I spotted this (http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Airport-evolve-hub-executive-jet-charters-capital/article-3177855-detail/article.html) in the Plymouth Evening Herald. A contributor is suggesting Exeter could rebrand to be more inclusive of Plymouth (as it's airport sadly seems to be sliding into oblivion). Could we see Exeter Plymouth Airport or Devon International?

[Cloud1]

If anyone does agree to either of those names they need to reconsider their position in marketing :ok: I think if anything the airport should retain its simple Exeter name but its slogan could be changed.

At the moment I believe its "Flying you further from closer to home". This could be tweeked slightly to simply "flying you further from the heart of Devon" or "Southwest".

IMHO I dont think a name change will make much difference to the airports status. I think traffic in and out of the Westcountry is good in the summer but not excellent and it dies off terribly in the winter - Flybe cut back their operation a lot last winter 2010/11. How the airport will get more passengers flying out I dont know but I guess a lot of it is to do with the airlines as well and the timings they offer for flights.

[TSR2]

IMHO I dont think a name change will make much difference to the airports status.

And neither will a slogan.


I think traffic in and out of the Westcountry is good in the summer but not excellent and it dies off terribly in the winter

Like all regional airports.

[Cloud1]

TSR, if you cant add something useful or constructive rather than pick apart other posts please do not bother at all.

[MerchantVenturer]

There is a post in the BOH forum that suggests easyJet is to create a 3-aircraft base at EXT.

On the face of things it seems highly unlikely and we've been there before - see link.

http://www.pprune.org/airlines-airports-routes/123111-easyjet-create-base-ext.html

However, my post in this forum of 10 December 2010 (#21) pointed out that the EXT MD was forecasting 1 mppa by 2012 and up to 1.9 mppa by 2015 so is there more to this than an unsubstantiated rumour?

[Whispering Giant]

I very much doubt that Easy jet will create a base at EXT, for a start there's NO stand space available to park an additional 3 aircraft on nightstop's as all the stand's are taken with either Flybe a/c, Thompson(Air2000), plus 2 737's that operate on behalf of the Royal Mail.

[Cloud1]

Hmm that is interesting, I wouldn't rule it out especially considering some of their other moves. It could be a little hit at BE again as they did on the IOM and JER routes.

How many stands are there at Exeter? Currently there is 1 mail a/c that to my knowledge is flying at night so parked up during the day. There are between 3 and 4 nightstoppers from BE and the 1 TOM. I am sure that the airport would find space for a potential new carrier, maybe by moving the mail a/c over to where engine testing takes place (sometimes it is parked there anyway)

There was a time when not only did we have the TOM, but 3 Q400s and 2 Embraers so there must be some room?

[Helen49]

TSR 2.....agreed!

Nothing so painful as the truth!

[MARKEYD]

Exeter Airport has joined the growing ranks of regional airports that charge for dropping off passengers at the terminal , from today it will cost 1 pound or walk from car park 4 where you have 10 min grace

Thomson have cancelled the Antalya programme for next summer and replaced it with a another Palma series instead

[benjiman1994]

I dont understand why airports have started to charge drop-off/pick up fees. They are a disgrace to customer service, as if the customer hasn't paid enough to fly in the first place. Cardiff has done the same, also now charging a non-returnable £1 for trolleys !

[adfly]

Just to put it into perspective lets take BOH, where they charge a frankly ridicules £2.50 for drop offs. If you look on Skytrax before the charge was introduced the reviews were typically averaging 3-4 stars with a few at either extreme. However EVERY review after the charge is introduced is either 1 or 2 stars, and they all mention the charge as being stupid, unnecessary and a deterrent to passengers. All these charges do is put off and anger passengers, resulting in fewer of them choosing to travel from the airports which charge for drop off fees even if they are nearest to them. This reduces the revenue further, making the whole idea of the extra charge pointless.

[devon_guy]

Thomson have also cancelled Madeira and Enfihda with effect from W11

[MARKEYD]

Looks like Thomas Cook have cancelled there Turkey programme for next summer as bookings been on hold for a little while now and according to local agents at Thomas Cook they are having a major cull of smaller airports that duplicate there flights ie . Bournemouth , Doncaster and Humberside have all had flights cut

Palma remains bookable on a Saturday

[Cloud1]

These cancellations are not good, and I hope they are replaced by something else.

Exeter becomes a ghost town in the winter so its important that the summer programme remains reasonably busy. It is interesting that these routes/operators are reasonably new with the exception of madeira which has operated for years. I would be interested to know why the sudden stop, passenger numbers cannot be that low can they??

Exeter charges seem to be rather high and a passenger can save in the region of £200 by flying from Bristol or further afield. Maybe this is the problem

[Cloud1]

Does anyone know what the Ryan International Airways flights are later today (Sun) 0900 Gander and 1200 Reykjavik Iceland?

Also, who are OAI? Is it Tor Air - I notice whoever it is they are operating some special charters this week

Noticed an A330 on approach the other day, assume a Military flight?

[Daysleeper]

OAI may be Omni Air International, along with Ryan International Airways are often seen on the US Army troop rotation flights. They probably do other charter work as well.

From wiki

In September of 2011, Ryan International announced that they would be acquiring two A330-300s from Virgin Atlantic, and these aircraft should be in service with the carrier by the end of the year.

[tubby linton]

A monarch A300 was there recently,and to the ops guy who was taking photos as it taxied in can he please pm me.
OAI I believe is Torair but I have heard it used by a Balkan holidays A320.

[trunkera1]

OAI is Small World Airlines,being operated by TOR Air into BOH,........chris

[Cloud1]

So it seems Tor Air are still operating some one off charters using a leased Balkan A320.

Today there are three flights from Las Vegas showing on the arrival boards - any idea as to what these are for as I have never known any troop flights coming in from this part of the world.

0600 5K672 Las Vegas Landed 0648
1430 NAO038 Las Vegas Expected 1615
1530 XLF901M Las Vegas Estimated 1730

[yeo valley]

the paras are out in mojave training. might have something to do with it.

[OltonPete]

flyBe to Start 3 New French Routes from Exeter in S12 | Airline Route (http://airlineroute.net/2011/11/10/be-ext-s12/)


The airport has them as new routes and they are March April starts so
not bad really.

Airport News – Exeter International Airport (http://www.exeter-airport.co.uk/airport-news?item=518)

Pete

[MARKEYD]

Rumour on the Newcastle page is that the long running Exeter Newcastle Toronto route is stopping next summer , they were to use the larger Air Transat A330 next year as oppose to the A310 which has been in use in previous years

[Cloud1]

I was of the understanding the EXT leg was still operating on the A330. Maybe it is the NCL bit that has been cut and the EXT will go back to either operating via BHX or EDI (both of which has been done in the past) - I hope that they have not lost it completely

[CabinCrewe]

link says NCL/EXT

[Rivet Joint]

Anyone know who the 2 Olympic Atr's down in Exeter are going to?

[Cloud1]

link says NCL/EXT

Yeah I know, I read the link. But it is referring to GDS. If the NCL was being cancelled on its own, they would still have to show EXT-NCL as being cancelled but I am hoping it will still be replaced by something else maintaining the link via EXT. Will have to keep an eye in GDS to see if anything is offered for example YYZ-EXT-LGW or YYZ-EXT-EDI

[PlymouthPixie]

RivetJoint - there are 5 there at the moment, 4 AT42's and 1 AT72. There are more to follow if space permits. I'm not aware they're going to anyone, just open storage...

[CabinCrewe]

Looking at pax carried in previous years if any part of the TS split load was going to go it would be EXT rather than NCL

[Rivet Joint]

Thanks Plymouthpixie. They have been in storage in Greece for a number of years already so thought they finally had a taker!

[Cloud1]

A friend of mine contacted EXT and as far as they are concerned the route to YYZ is going ahead. They said the only change was they were trying to get it extended in to winter as loads from EXT were high last season. Not sure who or what to believe now....

[MARKEYD]

The Toronto service is still on sale with Canadian Affair via Newcastle so i would imagine its not going to pulled this late in the day unless anyone knows anything different ?

Freebird are operating this years Thomas Cook holidays to Dalaman on a Wednesday probably using an A320 , a shorts season this year of May / June / Sept / Oct

Thomas Cook continue to operate the Sat Palma flights using an A320

[LukeA346]

I've read that Menzies Aviation are taking over handling in April, Could anyone confirm this?

Any help appreciated I'm job hunting ;)

[Cloud1]

Menzies are taking over Flybe's handling at Birmingham and Gatwick but I didnt realise that Menzies were even at Exeter. I thought EDAL (Exeter & Devon Airport Limited) were the only ones there and had some what of a monopoly

[Whispering Giant]

EDAL are the ONLY handling agent's at Exeter.

[LukeA346]

Thanks for your responses Cloud1 and Whispering Giant!
I just read that they were starting handling at Flybe and wasn't really too sure if would include EGTE or not. Cheers!

[jabird]

BGI?

According to TOMs website, there is just one flight to BGI this year, on 1st April. Not sure how people would get home, but it isn't bookable either - glitch in the system?

[learjet50]

Is the date not a clue ????:rolleyes::rolleyes:

[jabird]

LJ - far to early for that! Also, they seem to do a similar thing from other airports - just 2-3 flights per year, I don't see the point, as that must mean a lot of empty sectors.

[SWBKCB]

Usually cruise related - Fred Olsen from memory - and I think normally whole plane charters (so not bookable) with passengers returning from another port (so appears one way but pax actually return from another airport).

Again, from memory so not 100%, I think one lot of pax board at port A and disembark from port B, while another lot go from B to A. Might be some empty sectors positioning into regional airports in the UK, but the empty long haul sectors will be at the start and end of the season.

[merchant sailors]

These regional charter flights to the Caribbean are most often for Carnival Cruise Corp. For the UK market they tend to charter flights for their P&O and Princess Cruise ships that station into the Caribbean for the Winter seasons and P&O often bring the ships back to Southampton for the summer season.

Smaller airports do well with these flights as pax often are high commercial spenders with dwell times in the terminals in excess of 2 hours.

Well done for EXT for ensuring they have this. It is good traffic to get in the current economic times

[Robert-Ryan]

Balfour Beatty own Exeter don't they? Just curious as to what they're like because they just became red-hot favourites to take-over my local airport, Durham Tees Valley, and I want to know if things just got better or worse for us...

[jabird]

Balfour Beatty own Exeter don't they? Just curious as to what they're like because they just became red-hot favourites to take-over my local airport, Durham Tees Valley, and I want to know if things just got better or worse for us...

I didn't know they were in to airports (owning rather than building), but they are a large construction firm with various interests, including LHR T2, publicly quoted so plenty of info out there.

However, there is a big difference between EXT & MME afaik - the former is a thriving regional airport with the right airline offering good range of routes, using the ideal aircraft for the regional market. MME is struggling, and if there were deals to be done to bring someone in, wouldn't Peel, who already have plenty of loco activity at LPL have done them?

I know exactly what BB would be interested in here at CVT, and it is under the runway not on it. As for MME, how much is the airport worth as development land?

[MerchantVenturer]

Exeter Airport's situation is different to Durham Tees Valley, if only because of its strong links with Flybe which is headquartered at EXT and has a training academy and engineering base there too.

Flybe is the dominant airline at the airport and operates nearly all the scheduled services.

Exeter's fortunes in terms of passenger numbers are therefore inextricably linked with Flybe and, mainly because the airline has been cutting back on frequencies and some routes from the airport in recent years, especially in winter, the overall annual passenger throughput has dropped from just over one million in 2007 to 710,000 in 2011, a reduction of around 30%.

[robin]

I think its general knowledge that BB caught a cold with EXT. They expected to be there for a couple of years and sell on but the recession hit them hard.

The plans they announced on purchase have failed to materialise and they are praying for an uptick in business.

[MARKEYD]

Looks like Balkan holidays have quietly dropped Bourgas for the summer season as nothing showing on there web site to book

[Cloud1]

Flybe will be introducing twice weekly to Barcelona (which I am very pleased to see!) and the return of Nice.

[MARKEYD]

Looks like Air Transat / Canadian Affairs are dropping Exeter to Toronto next summer after many years of operating from this airport
They are offering a connection via Manchester or Glasgow with Flybe instead to Toronto

Flybe are upgrading it looks like to a second based EMB190 for next summer during the week , with one aircraft pretty much working the Manchester 3 weekday flights and moving else where at the weekends

[Ernest Lanc's]

I think its general knowledge that BB caught a cold with EXT. They expected
to be there for a couple of years and sell on but the recession hit them
hard.

Heard all this before at the other BB airport at BLK.If it's general knowledge that this is FACT and not gossip, can you post a link as to why they would buy EXT to sell, and to who, and why?..Let me guess, to build houses on?.

[Air Hop]

I have just seen A380 F-WWDD fly through the Exeter overhead. What a fantastic sight:D. Does anyone know the reason behind?

[Suzeman]

I have just seen A380 F-WWDD fly through the Exeter overhead. What a fantastic sight. Does anyone know the reason behind?

Think it was en route Filton.

[MerchantVenturer]

The A 380 paid its last visit to Filton today prior to the runway there closing at the end of the month - though the various aviation industries on and around the site will continue.

To mark the occasion the 380 took a number of Filton employees on a short flight around the West Country/South West. That's probably what you saw.

I'm told the 380 also did a low flypast at Bristol Airport today as well. It's done that sort of thing before and must have put the wind up the local nimbys again.

380s have been regular visitors at Filton in recent years in connection with testing etc.

VIDEO: Airbus A380 lands at Filton Airfield for the last time | This is Bristol (http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/VIDEO-Airbus-A380-arrives-Filton-Airfield-time/story-17619670-detail/story.html)

[MichaelBuckle]

It was indeed from Filton today, a sad day, here's a few pictures...

http://www.michaelbuckle.co.uk/images/aviation/1620653404.jpg
View on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelbuckle/8283802369/)

http://www.michaelbuckle.co.uk/images/aviation/704816298.jpg
View on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelbuckle/8284861536/)

[Air Hop]

Thanks MV. Also found photos here Flickr: Exeter International - EGTE (http://www.flickr.com/groups/1457558@N24/) think it will be along time before one visits EXT again.

[rog747]

can anyone please give me the around 30 year history of flights from Exeter to Toronto.

I know it started i think back in the 80's with DC8's of crownair and worldways and their tristars ( saw a crownair DC8 once there) and air transat has of course operated for many years into the airport until recently.

IIRC Wardair did not use EXT despite going to almost all of the other UK airports.

who else please?
thanks indeed :)

nice photo here in 1989 https://www.flickr.com/photos/easyflyer9/4975265942

[MARKEYD]

Not much reported here about Exeter but a few things noted

Thomson Summer 2017

Dalaman dropped down to 1 flight operated by Freebird A320 , the Thomson based aircraft now operating to LPA and an extra flight to ACE using the 2 Dalaman slots previously flown by Thomson

Malta dropped completely

Flybe look to be keeping there 195 at Exeter operating the winter sun flights to ALC and AGP on a W pattern with Norwich
Chambery at the weekend but not to Norwich , and 1 Faro service a week
Geneva back to a Sat only flight on a Dash

Thomson Summer 2018

Looks to be the same as this year with no new routes but a full programme operated by the based 738

Thomas Cook not bookable to Palma at the moment on a Sat , this is usually operated by a Bristol based A321 , could go on sale later though

[MARKEYD]

Looks like after many years of the Thomas Cook A321 / 757 visiting on the Saturday morning Palma service , this is stopping in 2018

Palma is now operated by Flybe on a Sunday throughout the summer on what looks like to be a Dash 8 judging by the flight time

[rog747]

Looks like after many years of the Thomas Cook A321 / 757 visiting on the Saturday morning Palma service , this is stopping in 2018

Palma is now operated by Flybe on a Sunday throughout the summer on what looks like to be a Dash 8 judging by the flight time


propellers to Palma??? - are we in the 1960's!

at least it was Vanguard Britannia or a Viscount back then :hmm:

[canberra97]

Flybe have been using Dash 8's from Southampton to Palma for a few seasons as well as the odd flight to Alicante so it's nothing new although personally I would prefer not to.

[rog747]

Flybe have been using Dash 8's from Southampton to Palma for a few seasons as well as the odd flight to Alicante so it's nothing new although personally I would prefer not to.


no nor me, cannot bear the Dash 8-
the Dash 7 though was nice though - we handled Brymons when brand new at LHR to replace their old Herald on the NQY EXT and PLH

however my last big prop sojourn of any length was when i worked for BMA at LHR and we still had Prop night charters from LPL-PMI and also BHX-MAH on Viscounts
this was very late 70's early 80's and I often jumped on for a free ride down to start my hols -
took almost 5 hours plodding through the night - hot dinner, plenty of drinks - Capt came back and sat in the cabin (it was not full) to eat his dinner!
those were the days

[Wycombe]

Really don't know why so many people have problems with the Dash!

It cruises fast (only a couple of minutes behind a jet on most UK/close Europe sectors), climbs quickly, is economical, is not too noisy (when the NVS is working) and is reasonably comfortable (I prefer the 2+2 layout dictated by the narrow fuselage).

Fair to say that there are a lot of regional/hub feed and point-to-point sectors around the world that wouldn't be operating if it didn't exist.

[Reversethrustset]

But the simple fact of the matter is the Q400 was not designed to fly 900 mile sectors. EXT-PMI is not a close European sector, it doesn't cruise fast and isn't a couple of minutes behind the jet on a 900 mile sector, it only climbs fast in the lower levels and most certainly doesn't climb fast at max weight and in high ISA temperatures.

[Wycombe]

Reversethrustset, I assume you fly (or have flown) the beast so bow to your superior knowledge....I've heard it's a bugger to land smoothly aswell ;-)

What does annoy me is people who automatically assume it's not modern/advanced because it has props!

Stand by what I said around it's capability on shorter sectors though.

[Reversethrustset]

Wycome, not anymore but I've got 5,500hrs on the thing in both seats.
I agree with everything you've said entirely, apart from its suitability to fly to Alicante & Palma on a regular basis.

[rog747]

Wycome, not anymore but I've got 5,500hrs on the thing in both seats.
I agree with everything you've said entirely, apart from its suitability to fly to Alicante & Palma on a regular basis.


i read it also goes to Dubrovnik from somewhere! SOU? (the Dash 8 Q)

many years ago Tyrolean then Austrian Arrows operated from INN and VIE Austria to Paros OLD and Naxos airports (next islands down from Mykonos) and I think also operated to Milos Island too with their Dash 7's 48 seats, then their Dash 8-300 50 seats

A handy way to get to a nice little Greek island with a very short strip and with no long ferry journey
as both island airports were Domestic Only the formalities were handled at Lemnos - just over 700 miles from VIE
A BAE 146 has also operated direct from VIE

this photo at Paros shot in 2007 Dash 8-300 - back then still just 800m of runway - the NEW airport just opened in 2016 has 1400m
https://www.flickr.com/photos/32580031@N06/10342839625/in/album-72157636681545796/


London City Express Dash 7 operator were approached by Kosmar Holidays to offer a short summer high season series of flights LCY to Paros back in summer 1988
the quote was £10000 per round trip sector versus 50 seats to sell - it did not go ahead
it was to be a Friday night flight - I think the planned tech stop was VIE.
I never knew how they would crew this being a 4 sector night flight versus flight crew hours limitations. Nor the customs/Imm issue. (none at Paros Old airport, although the ferry port had port police/Customs)
one issue that cropped up was the early morning arrival at Paros of around 0600L could be affected by the summer sea mist that can occur

the enhanced Dash 7 full with a 15 kgs Baggage allowance could do around 800 miles
the longest Brymon did with theirs was NQY-ABZ but all male oil workers with big bags (just under 500 miles) and MAN-JER at weekends with holidays makers - about the same mileage

[jensdad]

I'm sure Brymon also did NCL-JER (or might have been GCI - somewhere in the Channel Islands anyway) on summer Sundays back in the eighties?

[canberra97]

Rog747

There are no flights from Southampton to Dubrovnik these stopped after only two seasons during 2003/2004 and the 195's were used on the route along with Southampton to Split, Dash 8's were never used on either of these routes and I find it very unlikely that they were used on any other of Flybe routes to Dubrovnik.

[rog747]

Rog747

There are no flights from Southampton to Dubrovnik these stopped after only two seasons during 2003/2004 and the 195's were used on the route along with Southampton to Split, Dash 8's were never used on either of these routes and I find it very unlikely that they were used on any other of Flybe routes to Dubrovnik.

i gather they were used on a charter series to DBV and possible occasional stand in for the jets - thats all i heard - thanks for the updates

[LGWAlan]

Austrian still use the DH8-4 on some long old sectors - Karpathos-Linz being one (1106 miles and a block time of 3h35)

[rog747]

Austrian still use the DH8-4 on some long old sectors - Karpathos-Linz being one (1106 miles and a block time of 3h35)

that is a long one - also they still go to Paros (new airport 1400m runway)

[LGWAlan]

Off topic I know - so apologies - but it appears the GRZ-PAS service this summer is actually operated by Astra on a 146-300 - which will be the biggest a/c to use Paros!