Humberside on the up?

[MD11FAN]

Living within 30 mins drive of the airport, I regularly visit and the Summer holiday traffic has definitely increased again on last year...with more flights and bigger a/c. MYT757s have replaced the A320s and BY767s replaced the 757s(until end of June?). These are w rotations using LBA based a/c so demand/capacity must be up there too. Also new flights to Heraklion, Paphos and Bourgas.

[Nice Jam]

It certainly is busier this year, then again, it's been getting busier year on year for a while now.
Friday afternoons are interesting, the apron is chocka with charter flights (Tupolevs starting soon) and the KLM Fokker 70's. Throw in the fact that it is currently overflowing with Jetstreams, and the usual GA mixture, and it's getting a bit crowded - so there is a new apron under construction.
It'll be interesting to see the passenger numbers at the end of the year, there should be a fair increase.

[Pie Man]

What will happen when Finningley opens up? ;)

[Tom the Tenor]

Anyone have passenger numbers for Humberside for year 2002? Tks.

[Buster the Bear]

UK Airports Passenger Figures February 2003

Comparing 2003 to 2002

Humberside 27,561 25,719 +7.16%

[Go-arounder]

CAA Statistics give year ending Feb 03

494,000 pax’s, rise of 13.8% on last year

:)

[Nice Jam]

What will happen when Finningley opens up?

Who knows? Perhaps not much.

Go-arounders pax figures are the accurate ones, btw.


(edited to add that I have just realised that Buster's figures are accurate too, only being for the single month of February. D'oh! :O )

[notice]

Pleased that there has been increased spotting in Swampside.
Unfortunately, it isn't and never will be a serious airport simply because there isn't enough business in the immediate area and more distant pax will always be pulled by vastly superior services of MAN and, even, LBA (which isn't wonderful but still way ahead of anything else in the region).

[MD11FAN]

One good thing at Humberside(for spotters/photographers)..since there are no based charter a/c those that do visit are a good variety..how about Viking MD83 from Heraklion??

[Ringwayman]

What do the locals think of MAN owing it? Do they think this will be good for them long-term or are they afraid that development will be stifled?

[Chillwinston]

Having been a tax payer subsidising the airport when owned by the local councils (believe North Lincolnshire council still have a pert share in the ownership with Manchester Airport??) I'm glad, its about time that a single body can make desicions on how to improve services at the airport without it costing the local taxpayers whom dont use the airport because of the limited services. I do fly the Aberdeen route and used to use the Heathrow route through Norwich all those years ago but as usual this route was used and abused by Air UK till they pulled it.

[niknak]

CW - I agree that the airport should be run independantly of the local taxpayers, as it has been since MAN PLC bought a controlling interest in it.
Its my personal opinion that once Finningly is up and running with all passenger facilities available, Humberside will suffer badly.

I know that there's a new apron being built at HUY to accomodate the charter traffic etc, but the base line for all tour operators is airport costs, and with Finningly encompassing the whole of the Humberside passenger catchment area and beyond, being able to provide facilities for ANY aircraft you'd care to think of, I think they'll go balls out to take every aircraft they can, and once Finningly have them, it's very unlikely that Humberside will get them back.

Incidently, the HUY - NWI - LHR service was withdrawn because it didnt pay.
Although flights were well subscribed, the vast majority of passengers using the service were interlining onto other flights at Heathrow, and consequently Air UK only got a very small percentage of the ticket price.

[Chillwinston]

The history of the hethrow route has as many twists as the airport itself, Air Uk flew the route, then droppped it, Eastern Aw (Mark 1) picked up the route after protracted arguments with Air Uk prior to award of the route licence whom flew the annaugural flight with a DC-3. I know when the recievers were called in to Eastern in 84 the route was viable (Like the HUY to Esbjerg route)
as I have the route breakdown details from the recievers that was prepared by Eastern a month before its demise. Upon Easterns demise, Air UK again took up the route and with very poor marketing the route was dropped yet the Heathrow slot was taken up for another route.

Humberside to Heathrow was always popular till Air Yuck got its hands on it, the route was a vital link to the capital prior to the electrification / upgrades to the East Coat Rail Line.

Other attempts to resurrect a capital link have failed miserably, through no fault of the paying public who want such a route, the last I believe to try was CitiBus (Humberside to London City Airport) but failed due to the backers pulling out.

My point to all this, unless the likes of Eastern (Mark II) prosper the airport will always be a backwater just mainly catering for the charters in the summer and offshore helicopter movements. I just hope the owners can bring back some life into a regional airport that deserves better than when the council ran the airport.

[MD11FAN]

I could never understand why BA did not launch a feeder service to LHR...they could poach alot of passengers off the KLM service to AMS. I assume that slots at LHR are the problem??

[niknak]

I really don't think that it matters who runs the place, it will never be able to provide significant scheduled services.

Eastern are successfull, but they'll always make ther money by running services from other airports not HUY, because the train services to major business destinations from the Humberside area are within a couple of hours or so travelling time, frequent and reasonably priced.
A schedule service to London will never be commercially viable simply because any airline operator would have to charge significantly more than the 1st class rail fare - the benchmark for most inter - UK schedule service operations, combined with the high cost of operating a relatively small aircraft into very expensive airports.

Holiday charters will do well until Finningly opens, after which, I suspect HUY is going to suffer badly for the reasons I've previously explained.

The "allegation" that MAN only bought HUY as a sop to Prescott to get runway 2 at MAN, is no secret, and it wouldn't suprise me if MAN decided to walk away from the place within 18 months, giving the local authority back their shares.

[Chillwinston]

I believe Humberside MUST have a future but wether that be solely as a GA base or as a regional airport time will tell.

Even if Finningley comes on stream the catchment area for Humberside still remains the city of Hull and the town of Grimsby, Grimsby is now the UK's leading centre for prepared foods and still is a main centre for the import of fresh / frozen fish together with the whole of North Lincolnshire that encompasses Lincoln, S****horpe and such like.

Humberside in the past has been plagued by indesicion (Runway extension / new terminal etc) and I for one hope that Humberside can attract new routes and new airlines. The market potential maybe not be as huge as Manchester / East Midlands or even Finningley but as a niche regional airport that does have good road connections (shame about the railways!) but just needs more routes and the potential of those routes to be realised.

Would be encouraged to know that should the BA routes not of been took on board by Eastern just what their plans for routes from Humberside would of been??