mart901 wrote
I use BHX-WAT myself, I've never paid more than about £70 return, granted I don't fly over at peak, comparing that to BHX-ORK the fares are almost always cheaper, and BHX-DUB has only come down in price since FR went into fares war mode and periodically dabbled with a fourth daily rotation. I'm pleased BHX-WAT is doing well, I'm brummie/Irish through and through! However there is clear proven demand for LON-WAT, LON has been the one route than has consistently ran over the years, predominantly LTN which was triple daily at one point. RE under stobart tried to drive SEN and really ramped up fares and cut capacity at LTN to the point starting fares were over £100 return, and they were flying full most days. SEN was just starting to catch on when EIR pulled it to concentrate on feeding transatlantic, I loved RE but their latter offering at WAT became very unreliable, on numerous occasions I have flown on an ATR with duct tape round seats and leaks from overhead, the lovely cabin crew having to explain not even having coffee available for sale in flight because literally everything had ran out - they were very lucky to keep the customers they did, but I stick to my guns there is definitely demand for LON service, LTN-WAT was RE's most profitable route until it changed its business model and became EIR, regional airports just aren't part of EI's strategy. The London area, in particular north London has the highest Irish population in the UK, and I don't buy the story everyone wants to fly via DUB, I certainly don't want to land in north Dublin to get to Waterford or Kilkenny.
Much of the issue lies in the fact that there are few airlines that can serve WAT as it can't take anything over regional jet size currently, hence the reason BE's name keeps coming up!
If all this were true there would be flights from LUT or SEN or other London airports. Airlines want to operate routes that are profitable (not prop up a service to an alternative airport and expect passengers to get on the train) if there was such a huge demand for London, flights would be operated.
When flights from Birmingham don't do well individuals on here say there is no demand, when flights prosper its because of A,B and C. How about the fact that people from Waterford and South-East Ireland want to travel to Birmingham and the Midlands? What a shock
As someone who's sister married and Irishman, Birmingham and its surrounds also have a huge Irish ex-pat population (hence the frequency of flights from the Midlands to Ireland).
My brother-in-law, his family and our family regularly pay 120 Euros+ for flights to Birmingham and travel 10 or more times a year. I chose three random dates in September and all were £98+ ex Birmingham.
Daza