Originally Posted by
roverman
If main deck cargo made decent money for MAG at Manchester then it would be happening. It doesn't. Building the required apron space on a site with very little real estate would be an opportunity cost as compared with selling it off or leasing it to the likes of Amazon for non-aviation use. That's why all those warehouse have sprung up over on the west side on land once identified for core operational use. MAG has sold off that land for good. .
Thank you roverman for a very articulate post. While I've some sympathy with those critical of MAN turning its back on pure freight business, I'm more concerned if, by disposing of land, the airport has boxed itself further into a corner regarding potential expansion of its core business, which I regard as flying passengers on behalf of the airlines into and out of Manchester. (not forgetting cargo in the belly of aircraft!).
For those of us that may not be totally clear, can you define which land has been sold or leased? Is it all to the east of the A538 Altincham-Wilmslow Rd, or partly to the west where warehouses have already been built?
I appreciate that while work continues on the TP, certain parking stands and taxiways will be closed, but there has always been a degree of confusion as to whether, when the project is complete, MAN will be able to accommodate more aircraft (especially overnight) than it did previously. The TP was promoted to emphasise modernisation, upgrade etc rather than expansion, probably to allay the fears of some of the local community.
MAN relies heavily, since it saw the light on the impact of lo-cost airlines, on the business provided by easyjet, ryaniar and Jet 2, (whilst not ignoring the contribution of TUI, legacy carriers and a decent array of long haul routes). There have been reports in the past that ryanair has not been able to increase its based fleet at MAN to the extent it wanted, although it's pleasing to read that each of those 3 airlines are basing an extra unit this summer. In the case of ryanair, I imagine capacity constraints at T3 is also a factor. Ryanair has reacted by using a decent proportion of flights with away based aircraft, and I understand easyjet is also increasing such flights this summer. Slightly larger narrow-bodied a/c will also help.
So, is MAN really hemmed in by its limited space which MAG in its wisdom has reduced further, or could ingenuity create additional parking stands necessary at peak periods?