No extra capacity on MAN - New York?
Perhaps overlooked in all the "noise" of the discussion on footie flights - or should that be no footie flights - was this piece in UK Airport News.
Anyone got any good news about MAN?
Suzeman
28.04.08
The three US airlines flying between Manchester Airport and New York - Continental, American Airlines and Delta - have no plans to increase capacity when BA ends its daily service in October, Crain’s reports.
BA announced ten days ago that a lack of premium passengers and poor yields made the route unprofitable. However, aviation analyst Richard Leigh from RDC aviation blamed a price war for the demise of the service.
He said: ‘In the last couple of years, Continental added an extra daily flight to New York from Manchester and Delta arrived with a daily JFK service using a reasonably large B767-400 aircraft. Airlines had to lower prices to stimulate demand and steal market share. The route became pretty competitive.’
Manchester Airport says it is in negotiations with unnamed airlines to fill BA's slots on the transatlantic route but United Airlines, bmi and Virgin Atlantic all told Crain's that they had no plans to launch flights on a route BA could not make work.