I’ll have a few pennyworth from the viewpoint of the pax, as opposed to you boys ‘in the trade’.
1. About 18 months ago I remember seeing the BBC West trade and industry correspondent standing outside the airport confidently predicting an increase in Ryanair routes from BRS. Hasn’t happened yet, although perhaps he had a long-range crystal ball.
Won’t all of FR’s Boeing 732s be phased out either this year or next and replaced by 738s, giving around 45% capacity on the DUB route with the current rotations? So, presumably, if FR is talking to the airport, it might be about new destinations. Obviously airlines chat to airports all the time but isn’t FR ‘committed’ to opening a given number of new bases in a set time (I forget how many or the period)?
I heard that FR were talking to CWL some time ago as were ThomsonFly. Whether these rumours are/were true or whether it was mere supposition because of the poor hand baby has dealt CWL I don’t know. I guess CWL would be in an excellent position to offer MOL the sort of deal he looks for with the route development fund apparently being made available by the Assembly to try to push the airport along a bit.
2. I see from its website that BRS is really stepping up the momentum for the EWR service. They have just commenced a “massive regional advertising and events campaign” as part of the route’s promotion.
The campaign is being rolled out for the next four weeks across the Southwest and South Wales, including radio, bus and poster advertising. They are also visiting shopping centres and travel agents in the main cities and towns giving out goodies and publicising the route in other ways.
They don’t mention local television. This medium was certainly used when Flybe first started their French routes.
I have seen a number of large posters around the central area of the city advertising BRS-EWR but little else as yet, except for airport-based publicity.
3. Also on the BRS website is an announcement confirming the Taba flights, to be flown weekly on Saturdays commencing 8 October this year by Peltours, Egyptian holiday specialists. The website article says the only other UK airports operating to Taba are LGW and MAN. The carrier is not given.
4. There was a travel show on telly today that asserted that Dubai will be the biggest tourist destination in the world by 2015. If so, we might expect flights there from the majority of UK regional airports of any size by then.
terrier,
re the Geordies late arrival, it was never like that in 1922 when a certain team from Yorkshire won the cup - all charras and steam trains then.