Originally Posted by
Ph1l1pncl
BA aren’t certainly going to pay more for a handling contract, not sure what other lucrative carriers would be willing to pay more for a service either. They are all trying to save pennies and BA are particularly ruthless when it comes to these sort of things. Plus NCL doesn’t appear to be on the favourite list with them either at the moment with the such erratic schedule for the winter. I appreciate that handling is not a lucrative business, same as aircraft cleaning (which can be atrocious not just at Newcastle but at all domestic stations including Heathrow) I appreciate they don’t get a long time to complete this, but they manage it a lot better on the continent with the same amount of time. Maybe the RFP process will result in another provider coming to the airport. But I can never see the North East public shelling out more money for tickets. Nor going anywhere more than two weeks on a beach due to the cancellations of Berlin, Madrid and Warsaw.
Ive not had any issues with the PRM handling when I come into Newcastle, for BA, NCL and LBA are the only airports which provide prm assistance in house and they are usually pretty high up with the customer satisfaction. Bussing is obvious it will have its shortfalls due to the amount of busses the airport seem to own. Is it 3 or 4?
Will be interstung to see see how it pans out in the future.
Airlines have been commoditised and people are more savvy than ever. If the NCL market demands low fare flights to bucket and spade routes then that's what the commodity providers (airlines) will provide. They're not there to make NCL's route map look overly impressive. They're there to turn a profit and provide shareholder return. For such a small and relatively poor area with half of its catchment area being the North Sea, NCL has an impressive range of holiday routes and one stop connections to the globe via DUB, LHR, DXB, CDG, AMS, BRU and the odd connection or two possible on the Eurowings service. Choice and freedom are some of the best features of our modern western world. If you want to spend two weeks in Benidorm drunk you can. If you want a bit more culture, you can. There's no point serving a market that can't support your product.
Airlines are providing lower prices whilst making great margins as a whole and Swissport's half year results suggest they don't have a problem making money. Same with the airport. This also comes with amazing safety. Ryanair and easyJet have carried more passengers than any other airline by far without losing a single passenger. The model of low cost airlines is a sustainable one for the suppliers, airports and the airlines and it's here to stay.