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Old 12th Mar 2019, 08:18
  #3461 (permalink)  
ATNotts
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: UK
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Originally Posted by Crusher1
As much as I'd like to see long haul from EMA I can't see it happening any time soon. I feel that maintaining some of our existing routes/frequency may be a problem in itself. For a variety of reasons ABZ/BRU/GLA/EDI have all been hit recently. GR694 had a total of eleven pax yesterday and you have to wonder how viable the route is out of season. A hub service is required so that people like me could use the airport again but there's no sign of that happening at the moment. Cargo has been, and may well continue to be, the main growth area - having the worldwide freight connections on our doorstep has helped our business no end and I would guess it has encouraged many others to locate in the vicinity - so I don't think it's all doom and gloom!
The problem is that hub services have been tried, and failed. DUB (for North America), AMS with KLM, FRA and BRU with BMI / Star Alliance, for a variety of reasons, mostly the proximity of BHX and to a lesser extent LBA that makes multi-daily connections to serve these hubs properly unviable. If EMA / GCI can only muster 11 PAX out of the holiday season is dire, and frankly surprising. It make you wonder who is bank rolling the service. That might just have been a bad day.

Long haul passenger schedules are pie in the sky, won't happen - ever, not least because the airport's owners want to attract that traffic to MAN first, and then STN. Again BHX with it's limited long haul is one hour down the road from Nottingham, Derby and Leicester so where is the business case for Emirates, Qatar, Air India or PIA - who serve the VFR traffic opportunities that undoubtedly exist from those three East Midlands cities?

Cargo is the business for EMA, along with bucket and spade traffic to European destinations. Sadly, it looks as though some new business in the way of Cargo Logic may have gone to DSA; surely one that EMA would have wanted to capture. However against that the parcels integrators continue to grow and prosper.

So far as road infrastructure is concerned, once again the Department for Transport has spent millions not improving the access to the MI from the A453 westbound, with traffic still queuing over a mile towards the J24 island at peak times because they have done half a job (no different to what they to across the UK road network by the way) by not putting in proper sliproad directly on to the M1 and flying the A453 over the M1. They'll be doing it all again in 5 years time! Then there is Donnington Park, and whenever there a big events getting to the airport is difficult and stressful. Dualing the A453 past the airport was obvious, but hasn't been done, I don't know if it has even been considered. The local authorities need to sort out whether they want a worldclass regional airport or a racing circuit / entertainment venue. Presently the two don't work together
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