Originally Posted by
Irishshamrock
Scenario planning----Winter seasonality
Currently there are only two ‘winter only’ destinations and those are Barbados and Geneva. Plenty of scope for significant expansion in the winter. This would aid the year-round expansion of based aircraft.
Long-haul & transitioning from minor to major regional airport
Barbados grew by 95% year in year, 2023 vs 2022, which is a route that could easily support a more regular weekly service. Mexico and Florida is also a possibility.
When BOH gets to a critical mass similar to that of Newcastle, then there is no reason why the airport can’t go after the likes of Emirates to Dubai, especially if London slots are scarce and the third runway at Heathrow doesn’t get built. BOH anticipated 4mppa should Heathrow’s 3rd runway not get built or 3mppa if it does.
I admire your enthusiastic candor
but BOH is not Gatwick...nor NCL.
Winter holidays flights that do sell well from BOH are Canaries, Cyprus, and in the past Madeira and Egypt, (but only if TUI decide to start up Egypt again because security
is so volatile). Jet2 are starting FNC.
Cape Verde would do well from BOH, TUI flies there from many UK airports, and TUI have that destination sewn up, Jet2 do not go there,
nor do Jet2 go to Egypt nor Tunisia.
Banjul and Dakar, TUI sells only from LGW and MAN.
Jet2 could offer ALC and AGP during the winter as these are popular and have not been served by TUI for years.
Ski flights - sell very well at both BOH and SOU with strong demand, hence Easyjet flying
from both airports, and from BRS and LGW too, plus British Airways Cityflyer from SOU.
TUI Holidays (Crystal Ski) and Inghams have both yet to expand SKI flights from BOH
using TUI Airways BOH based aircraft, but I can see Jet2 expanding with winter SKI holidays from BOH.
SKI flights though, are mainly weekend departures.
As for
Barbados,
it is 'Cruise ship alley' and both P&O and Hays Travel offer a few selected BOH departures during the winter that are always a sell-out, but would a weekly winter BGI schedule work?
I doubt it, although maybe some high season Xmas departures but there are simply no planes around to do these as we have a shortage of wide body long haul aircraft in the UK, and BOH has no such based aircraft there.
All such BGI flights either position empty into BOH to operate the flight, or are flown on a W pattern.
Re other long haul destinations from BOH;
Orlando is no longer
de rigueur and the USA is so expensive nowadays for family holidays.
So in the near to mid term, BOH will not see long haul charter holidays, let alone see long haul scheduled flights.
Bristol BRS no longer now has any long haul holiday charter or scheduled flights.