Continental may be wanting to throw Bournemouth into the Bristol leg in order to boost pax numbers. Can anyone vouch for the latter. BRS-JFK has gone down to 5 weekly for the winter.
I wonder where these rumours come from. A few weeks ago someone suggested that CO were to switch their BRS-EWR (not JFK) service to CWL-EWR, and back in the summer there was a concerted campaign against the route on another well-known aviation forum.
In August the load factor on BRS-EWR was 83% and in September it was 80% (CAA Stats). In fact, in both those months more pax were carried than on the CO BFS-EWR, a route that started around the same time as BRS-EWR last May.
I posted on the Bristol thread earlier this week that I had spoken to the BRS managing director at an airport roadshow and asked him how the EWR route was performing. He was candid in that he said initially they failed to attract the US market but that he thought the fares had been too high at the beginning. They have been revised with the resulting higher take-up of seats and he feels that on occasions the fares may now be even too low.
The route was always intended to go to five a week in winter. BFS has gone to five as well, and the EDI route that started in summer 2004 and had exceptionally high loads form the outset still went down to five a week in its first winter.
CO were looking to carry 75,000 pax in their first year on the BRS-EWR and thus far are well on course to achieve that, if not better it.
I know that yields are more important than loads but the Bristol MD seemed very confident about the route and very pleased with its performance and, perhaps more importantly, he said Continental are too.
Sorry to have strayed a bit into BRS territory but a question was asked and all I can do is supply the 'evidence' so that people can make up their own minds as to the likelihood of the BRS-EWR being extended to include BOH.