Baby expands with Air Wales
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Baby expands with Air Wales
From the Cardiff Airport website
bmibaby and Air Wales extend agreement to Belfast and Jersey
bmibaby, the award winning airline with tiny fares, is pleased to announce an extension to its agreement with Wales’ national airline, Air Wales, which will add more routes and more capacity for the forthcoming winter season.
Air Wales will continue to operate services throughout the winter to Glasgow (Prestwick) and Cork, with an increase in weekend services to Glasgow. The airline will now also operate three flights a week to Jersey and eight flights a week to Belfast (International) to complement bmibaby’s existing services and bringing the total number of Cardiff-Belfast flights a week to 14. All Air Wales flights will operate using their 48 seat ATR aircraft.
In a new agreement between the two airlines, Air Wales flights from Cardiff to Belfast will depart at 0700, arriving at 0820 Monday to Saturday. Two flights will operate on Sundays, departing at from Cardiff at 1035 and 2050. bmibaby will continue to operate daily flights to Belfast throughout the week, departing Cardiff at 2025 and a Sunday service departing at 1600. All services will be marketed and sold by bmibaby, offering the same level of service and same great low cost fares currently enjoyed by passengers on this route.
Air Wales will continue to offer the same convenient service to Cork that was operated throughout the summer season with daily lunchtime flights on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays departing at 1205 with daily Saturday flights depart Cardiff at 0900. Twice daily services on Mondays, Fridays and Sundays offer 1205 and 2035 departures.
Jersey will be operated this winter by Air Wales under the bmibaby marketing agreement. Three times weekly departures at 1730 on Tuesdays and Thursdays and 0800 on Saturdays, will commence in November.
Additional flights complement bmibaby’s current Cardiff timetable, offering flights to Alicante, Belfast (International), Cork, Edinburgh, Geneva, Malaga, Palma, Paris (CDG) and Prague.
Tony Davis, managing director, bmibaby, said:
“We’ve been working with Air Wales to extend the flights available from Cardiff Airport for six months. The services that they operate under the bmibaby marketing agreement are performing very well and the fact that we are now able to extend the offering to the benefit of passengers in Wales is fantastic news. The co-operation allows us to be more flexible with our timetable and Belfast is an example of how we can work together on the same route particularly for the benefit of business travellers. We look forward to continuing to build on the successful relationship that we have and to offering even more services in the future.
Roy Thomas, Chairman of Air Wales, said:
“We’re delighted to be extending our relationship with bmibaby which, to date, has proved to be extremely successful. This is an excellent opportunity for us to further expand our portfolio of flights to and from Wales, and offer the Welsh travelling public an even greater choice of convenient and cost-effective flights”.
Flights to Glasgow Prestwick, Cork and Jersey are on sale now at bmibaby.com from £25.49 one way, including taxes and charges. Whilst services to Belfast International are on sale at bmibaby.com from just £17.49 one way, including taxes and charges.
bmibaby and Air Wales extend agreement to Belfast and Jersey
bmibaby, the award winning airline with tiny fares, is pleased to announce an extension to its agreement with Wales’ national airline, Air Wales, which will add more routes and more capacity for the forthcoming winter season.
Air Wales will continue to operate services throughout the winter to Glasgow (Prestwick) and Cork, with an increase in weekend services to Glasgow. The airline will now also operate three flights a week to Jersey and eight flights a week to Belfast (International) to complement bmibaby’s existing services and bringing the total number of Cardiff-Belfast flights a week to 14. All Air Wales flights will operate using their 48 seat ATR aircraft.
In a new agreement between the two airlines, Air Wales flights from Cardiff to Belfast will depart at 0700, arriving at 0820 Monday to Saturday. Two flights will operate on Sundays, departing at from Cardiff at 1035 and 2050. bmibaby will continue to operate daily flights to Belfast throughout the week, departing Cardiff at 2025 and a Sunday service departing at 1600. All services will be marketed and sold by bmibaby, offering the same level of service and same great low cost fares currently enjoyed by passengers on this route.
Air Wales will continue to offer the same convenient service to Cork that was operated throughout the summer season with daily lunchtime flights on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays departing at 1205 with daily Saturday flights depart Cardiff at 0900. Twice daily services on Mondays, Fridays and Sundays offer 1205 and 2035 departures.
Jersey will be operated this winter by Air Wales under the bmibaby marketing agreement. Three times weekly departures at 1730 on Tuesdays and Thursdays and 0800 on Saturdays, will commence in November.
Additional flights complement bmibaby’s current Cardiff timetable, offering flights to Alicante, Belfast (International), Cork, Edinburgh, Geneva, Malaga, Palma, Paris (CDG) and Prague.
Tony Davis, managing director, bmibaby, said:
“We’ve been working with Air Wales to extend the flights available from Cardiff Airport for six months. The services that they operate under the bmibaby marketing agreement are performing very well and the fact that we are now able to extend the offering to the benefit of passengers in Wales is fantastic news. The co-operation allows us to be more flexible with our timetable and Belfast is an example of how we can work together on the same route particularly for the benefit of business travellers. We look forward to continuing to build on the successful relationship that we have and to offering even more services in the future.
Roy Thomas, Chairman of Air Wales, said:
“We’re delighted to be extending our relationship with bmibaby which, to date, has proved to be extremely successful. This is an excellent opportunity for us to further expand our portfolio of flights to and from Wales, and offer the Welsh travelling public an even greater choice of convenient and cost-effective flights”.
Flights to Glasgow Prestwick, Cork and Jersey are on sale now at bmibaby.com from £25.49 one way, including taxes and charges. Whilst services to Belfast International are on sale at bmibaby.com from just £17.49 one way, including taxes and charges.
...... not quite so catchy !
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What makes you think that they would want to withdraw from a profitable base
Brunel to Concorde
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speedbird
Have I misread this because I thought the new Air Wales (on behalf of baby) flights to BFS were in addition to the current daily rotation flown by baby?
This will now give punters the chance to go to Belfast or Cardiff for the day, something obviously not possible with the single baby daily rotation.
The last CAA stats I can find relate to June this year when 3810 pax flew the CWL-BFS-CWL route with baby (down from 5342 the previous June). This gives an average load of around 73 for June 2004 (perhaps the yields are good) so it might be that there is a substantial amount of business pax and others who would take advantage of a day trip and thus help to build up the route again.
It's got to be worth a stab, hasn't it?
Have I misread this because I thought the new Air Wales (on behalf of baby) flights to BFS were in addition to the current daily rotation flown by baby?
This will now give punters the chance to go to Belfast or Cardiff for the day, something obviously not possible with the single baby daily rotation.
The last CAA stats I can find relate to June this year when 3810 pax flew the CWL-BFS-CWL route with baby (down from 5342 the previous June). This gives an average load of around 73 for June 2004 (perhaps the yields are good) so it might be that there is a substantial amount of business pax and others who would take advantage of a day trip and thus help to build up the route again.
It's got to be worth a stab, hasn't it?
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It's got to be worth a stab, hasn't it?
There are signs of desparation in this move at Cardiff.
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'There are signs of.......'
What twaddle! Baby is Profitable at CWL on the present operation ( that comes from management). Baby is doing very well with its 2 Aircraft and the A W ATRs.
The company priority at the moment is opening BHX, so the third 737 will not be returning in the near future.
This announcement is good news for Baby @ CWL. There are plenty of routes that Baby could look at for growth at CWL but the management aren't. Just look at Easy @ BRS.
What twaddle! Baby is Profitable at CWL on the present operation ( that comes from management). Baby is doing very well with its 2 Aircraft and the A W ATRs.
The company priority at the moment is opening BHX, so the third 737 will not be returning in the near future.
This announcement is good news for Baby @ CWL. There are plenty of routes that Baby could look at for growth at CWL but the management aren't. Just look at Easy @ BRS.
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Will BMIBaby be sold to Air Wales?. Personally I don't think so, it's something that Air Wales couldn't afford right now. If they did it could be the death of them.
However Flybe's attraction to Baby is yet to be determined in my view. A number of things seem to be fitting into place with these two carriers and the next few months could be somewhat interesting.
Flybe want to renew their 146 fleet with either A319 or B737. I would anticipate that Flybe, although doing very well at the moment and planning to record an 'operating' profit this year, are unable to purchase replacement aircraft brand new. I can see any fleet replacement coming either from Easy as they get rid of their 733's (although look at the delays that happened to NOW), or via the purchase of an airline just like BMIBaby.
Baby's move into BHX could appear to be a move on Flybe territory however they compete on only 2 routes EDI/BFS and I think this will have a negligible affect on Flybe. All the other routes are those that Flybe would probably like to operate from BHX, but are unable to do so due to a lack of suitable equipment.
Flybe have also started to move in on MAN with the start of their SOU services, They would also dearly love to kick BA out of BHD and take over the BHDMAN route (BA's last and only route from BHD). A takeover/merger with Baby could enable them to do so with no competition into BFS.
BMI mainline have also recently taken a number of routes in MAN back from Baby. Does this indicate a shift of routes for 'Baby' for any particular reason??
Maybe someone in Baby knows otherwise, but Flybe have indicated that a replacement for the 146 will be made by the end of next March with aircraft likely to be in the fleet for the summer.
One thing is for sure, the Q400 has saved Flybe from extinction and has drastically reduced the airlines costs. Expect more orders soon for this one, as well as an announcement on the 146!
I may be wide of the mark but hey, this is a rumours site!!
However Flybe's attraction to Baby is yet to be determined in my view. A number of things seem to be fitting into place with these two carriers and the next few months could be somewhat interesting.
Flybe want to renew their 146 fleet with either A319 or B737. I would anticipate that Flybe, although doing very well at the moment and planning to record an 'operating' profit this year, are unable to purchase replacement aircraft brand new. I can see any fleet replacement coming either from Easy as they get rid of their 733's (although look at the delays that happened to NOW), or via the purchase of an airline just like BMIBaby.
Baby's move into BHX could appear to be a move on Flybe territory however they compete on only 2 routes EDI/BFS and I think this will have a negligible affect on Flybe. All the other routes are those that Flybe would probably like to operate from BHX, but are unable to do so due to a lack of suitable equipment.
Flybe have also started to move in on MAN with the start of their SOU services, They would also dearly love to kick BA out of BHD and take over the BHDMAN route (BA's last and only route from BHD). A takeover/merger with Baby could enable them to do so with no competition into BFS.
BMI mainline have also recently taken a number of routes in MAN back from Baby. Does this indicate a shift of routes for 'Baby' for any particular reason??
Maybe someone in Baby knows otherwise, but Flybe have indicated that a replacement for the 146 will be made by the end of next March with aircraft likely to be in the fleet for the summer.
One thing is for sure, the Q400 has saved Flybe from extinction and has drastically reduced the airlines costs. Expect more orders soon for this one, as well as an announcement on the 146!
I may be wide of the mark but hey, this is a rumours site!!
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Jobsagoodun
I hadn't even considered Air Wales taking over bmiBaby! I DID think the opposite was a possibility. It would give Baby a lot more options on new routes if they had smaller aircraft.
This would be moving into Flybe's domain however,and it could well be a better idea to eliminate the competition by talking to them with regard to a collaboration/merger/takeover.
This would be moving into Flybe's domain however,and it could well be a better idea to eliminate the competition by talking to them with regard to a collaboration/merger/takeover.
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There are three airlines based in South West England and South Wales - Flybe, Air Wales and Air South West.
I wonder if there is scope for any collaboration or even take over/merger of any of them. I note that Air Wales's ATR 42s have stood in for South West's DH-8-300s on occasions when the latter have been 'off the road' for scheduled maintenance, although this is doubtless a straight commercial transaction.
It is good to have these airlines in this part of the world. I get great pleasure seeing the Flybe 400s and South West 300s lining up for final approach to BRS above my head, and the sight of the red-tailed dragons on a summer's evening glinting in the sun on their way back home from London City is a special delight.
But then I am just an old romantic when it comes to aircraft and airlines, and not a hard-pressed airline exec. From a personal point of view I hope these airlines can prosper under their own steam - sorry about the various transport metaphors.
I wonder if there is scope for any collaboration or even take over/merger of any of them. I note that Air Wales's ATR 42s have stood in for South West's DH-8-300s on occasions when the latter have been 'off the road' for scheduled maintenance, although this is doubtless a straight commercial transaction.
It is good to have these airlines in this part of the world. I get great pleasure seeing the Flybe 400s and South West 300s lining up for final approach to BRS above my head, and the sight of the red-tailed dragons on a summer's evening glinting in the sun on their way back home from London City is a special delight.
But then I am just an old romantic when it comes to aircraft and airlines, and not a hard-pressed airline exec. From a personal point of view I hope these airlines can prosper under their own steam - sorry about the various transport metaphors.
