Brussels
I wonder if the ARJ will be too large for 3 x daily. This pattern was tried before (some years ago it was 4 x daily with ARJs on weekdays) but gradually reduced to 2 x daily before being replaced by bmiRegional 145s at 3 x daily which has shown significantly increased passenger numbers over the past two years with approximately the same number of seats on offer as the 2 x daily ARJs.
easyJet
An article in the local paper today reported that easyJet is looking at adding more routes from BRS following the announcement a few days ago of Copenhagen from the autumn.
Ali Gayward, easyJet UK commercial manager said the airline has been 'looking at increasing our footprint within the business market' and cited Copenhagen as part of that strategy. She described Bristol as one of her airline's most important centres and said they are looking at 'building on that'.
The BRS management has been working hard lately to try to build its business market.
Now I'm not so naïve as to believe every word uttered by airline spokespeople as sometimes an element of puffery can enter the equation, especially when local airports are being discussed with the local press. Nevertheless, the tenor of the remarks is encouraging and is in line with previous easyJet statements re BRS, and the CPH announcement has given mere words some meaning. Copenhagen of course is also an attractive tourism destination as is the West Country for travellers from Denmark.
BRS currently has scheduled routes to eleven European capital cities with two more to come in the autumn:
Amsterdam (KLM and easyJet)
Berlin (easyJet)
Bratislava (Ryanair)
Brussels (Brussels Airlines, currently operated by bmiRegional)
Budapest (Ryanair)
Copenhagen (easyJet) - from October
Dublin (Aer Lingus Regional and Ryanair)
Lisbon (easyJet) - seasonal
Madrid (easyJet)
Paris (Air France and easyJet)
Prague (easyJet)
Rome (easyJet)
Warsaw (Ryanair) - from October