BIRMINGHAM
Join Date: Jan 2006
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May 2005 Pax
CAA provisional stats out: -
BHX a woeful 827664 down 2.4% (some transit pax to add I think)
Luton.......... 826152
I was expecting 2% up and then down for June, July, August & September.
I am just analysing the individual routes and it seems that Flybe French Routes have been hammered by I assume FR at NEMA.
The BACON loads were they are the sole operator seem little different
from May 2005 (Lyon, Hanover, Hamburg down).
5000 lost on the Newark due to the reduced frequency and even
Emirates only averaged 159 a flight (approx).
Tough times!
OltonPete
BHX a woeful 827664 down 2.4% (some transit pax to add I think)
Luton.......... 826152
I was expecting 2% up and then down for June, July, August & September.
I am just analysing the individual routes and it seems that Flybe French Routes have been hammered by I assume FR at NEMA.
The BACON loads were they are the sole operator seem little different
from May 2005 (Lyon, Hanover, Hamburg down).
5000 lost on the Newark due to the reduced frequency and even
Emirates only averaged 159 a flight (approx).
Tough times!
OltonPete
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: UK
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Dred
I am sure if you looked a little closer at what was going on you would be aware that it isn't the Ops department that has the problem it is their IT. They have no way of knowing if messages are being sent until they start getting phone calls or clues start to pop up as everything appears normal. Everyone blames everyone else for the faults and little progress is made. If you have any doubts about the amount of work that they put in I would suggest you make an effort to go and see for yourself what actually happens. I am certain they would make you feel most welcome and you would have a much better understanding of the pressure they are under, last I heard it was 5 different check in systems, a seperate load control system, find for mvt's and messages, faxes over the email system as well as monitoring the airport fids system for flights that either don't call or have come from a station that doesn't send mvt's. On top of that there are four phones going most of the day and non stop radio traffic to monitor on the air/ground and base system. All this is run by two people, and an assistant if there is actually one rostered or not out despatching a/c or bridging flybe's. I am told that the noise in there can easily hit 85db+, I don't think you would survive too long on the flight deck if you had to work under those conditions day in and day out.
Two rants in two days, I must be turning into Victor Meldrew
time to lie down in a dark room to recover
I am sure if you looked a little closer at what was going on you would be aware that it isn't the Ops department that has the problem it is their IT. They have no way of knowing if messages are being sent until they start getting phone calls or clues start to pop up as everything appears normal. Everyone blames everyone else for the faults and little progress is made. If you have any doubts about the amount of work that they put in I would suggest you make an effort to go and see for yourself what actually happens. I am certain they would make you feel most welcome and you would have a much better understanding of the pressure they are under, last I heard it was 5 different check in systems, a seperate load control system, find for mvt's and messages, faxes over the email system as well as monitoring the airport fids system for flights that either don't call or have come from a station that doesn't send mvt's. On top of that there are four phones going most of the day and non stop radio traffic to monitor on the air/ground and base system. All this is run by two people, and an assistant if there is actually one rostered or not out despatching a/c or bridging flybe's. I am told that the noise in there can easily hit 85db+, I don't think you would survive too long on the flight deck if you had to work under those conditions day in and day out.
Two rants in two days, I must be turning into Victor Meldrew
time to lie down in a dark room to recover
Join Date: Feb 2005
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CAA Prov Stats
A worrying but not suprising set of figures.
This is the first month that Mytravellite figures are mssing from the stats.
No matter what your opinion of Lite they had a very strong Midlands brand and advertised aggresivly and they will be missed.
BHX seems to be in a catch 22. It is in my opinion the weekest of the major/full service carriers stations behind London and Manchester and is often the first to go in hard times.
It has a mix of so called lo cost carriers but with the absence of Lite nothing with a strong local or national image.
If I speak to non aviation related people about their holiday or booking a flight it is mostly Easy or Ryanair that they mention first, both with bases 40 odd miles up the road. These are the carriers experiancing groth.
It seems that BHX are anxious to hang on to the full service carriers they have. The attraction of more lo cost carriers may jepodise this.
The wish list is more longhaul which would be fine if the exisitng departures were not weight limited ( cargo ) by the length of the runway.
BA Connect are a major operator and their future must be considered uncertain following reviews and comments by the MD.
The IT market via tour operators where BHX was strong is declining, relaced by lo cost.
It would be interesting to know if NEMA and Ryanair struck a deal for the flights and how this will impact of the profits on NEMA compared to the financail results of BHX.
It is true that passenger numbers are not everything but they do generate other revenue in retail outlets, car parks etc.
Most airports have the occsaional blip to their passenger numbers and bussines and it is how they respond that counts. NEMA have responded by attracting Ryanair after their dissapointing results last year and they have introduced new flights that on the whole do not attack the existing carriers.
BHX had a large passenger reduction in 2004, recovered in 2005 by attracting Baby and Monrach BUT mostly on routes that were already catered for, RESULT the routes had over capacity and an airline withdrew. A short term gain only not sustainable.
When airports around are developing their route structures and passenger numbers a reduction in 2004 was unfortunate, a reduction in 2006 means 2 out of 3 years and that is rather more than unfortunate.
Some full service airlines will survive at BHX on connecting traffic, others wont. CSA sucumbed to Baby. Lo cost routes at Coventry or NEMA could account for others by making the passenger numbers not viable.
Time will tell who is correct but with runway restrictions BHX is working at a disadvantage on long haul.
Enough talk has been made of a second runway etc, the priority should be to get some length on the existing one otherwise the airport will loose out ( as it has done with First Choice already ) on the long haul charter market as better economics are offered else wher
Time will tell who is correct.
Centre cities
This is the first month that Mytravellite figures are mssing from the stats.
No matter what your opinion of Lite they had a very strong Midlands brand and advertised aggresivly and they will be missed.
BHX seems to be in a catch 22. It is in my opinion the weekest of the major/full service carriers stations behind London and Manchester and is often the first to go in hard times.
It has a mix of so called lo cost carriers but with the absence of Lite nothing with a strong local or national image.
If I speak to non aviation related people about their holiday or booking a flight it is mostly Easy or Ryanair that they mention first, both with bases 40 odd miles up the road. These are the carriers experiancing groth.
It seems that BHX are anxious to hang on to the full service carriers they have. The attraction of more lo cost carriers may jepodise this.
The wish list is more longhaul which would be fine if the exisitng departures were not weight limited ( cargo ) by the length of the runway.
BA Connect are a major operator and their future must be considered uncertain following reviews and comments by the MD.
The IT market via tour operators where BHX was strong is declining, relaced by lo cost.
It would be interesting to know if NEMA and Ryanair struck a deal for the flights and how this will impact of the profits on NEMA compared to the financail results of BHX.
It is true that passenger numbers are not everything but they do generate other revenue in retail outlets, car parks etc.
Most airports have the occsaional blip to their passenger numbers and bussines and it is how they respond that counts. NEMA have responded by attracting Ryanair after their dissapointing results last year and they have introduced new flights that on the whole do not attack the existing carriers.
BHX had a large passenger reduction in 2004, recovered in 2005 by attracting Baby and Monrach BUT mostly on routes that were already catered for, RESULT the routes had over capacity and an airline withdrew. A short term gain only not sustainable.
When airports around are developing their route structures and passenger numbers a reduction in 2004 was unfortunate, a reduction in 2006 means 2 out of 3 years and that is rather more than unfortunate.
Some full service airlines will survive at BHX on connecting traffic, others wont. CSA sucumbed to Baby. Lo cost routes at Coventry or NEMA could account for others by making the passenger numbers not viable.
Time will tell who is correct but with runway restrictions BHX is working at a disadvantage on long haul.
Enough talk has been made of a second runway etc, the priority should be to get some length on the existing one otherwise the airport will loose out ( as it has done with First Choice already ) on the long haul charter market as better economics are offered else wher
Time will tell who is correct.
Centre cities
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Think CC has hit the nail on the head there, add to that the extortionate landing fees (4th in the WORLD after Toronto, Osaka and Tokyo based on landing a 747) and attracting airlines, especially long haul where the A/C will be larger and therefore more expensive to land, will be very difficult to do.
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May 2006 pax
Apologies for posting the wrong title first time round, should be 2006.
Just had a look at the individual routes and all Flybe's French routes
have virtually shrunk by half (except TLS) and the Baby BOD only averaged 72.
BA Con Lyon was down but Paris was flat and Nice well up (Baby did
not start until 10/6/05).
The only difficulty analysing all the BA Connect loads is that there are quite a few shared routes but going by Geneva, Berlin, Lyon, Hamburg and Hanover one tends to think the worse.
If BA Connect do cease then BHX needs to do something drastic but
will they?
It has been said often on pprune that Easy have no interest in BHX but
it is a business and if the right offer is made surely they would listen.
OltonPete
Just had a look at the individual routes and all Flybe's French routes
have virtually shrunk by half (except TLS) and the Baby BOD only averaged 72.
BA Con Lyon was down but Paris was flat and Nice well up (Baby did
not start until 10/6/05).
The only difficulty analysing all the BA Connect loads is that there are quite a few shared routes but going by Geneva, Berlin, Lyon, Hamburg and Hanover one tends to think the worse.
If BA Connect do cease then BHX needs to do something drastic but
will they?
It has been said often on pprune that Easy have no interest in BHX but
it is a business and if the right offer is made surely they would listen.
OltonPete
Shabby Eurohub
After having worked for many years at the Eurohub in its heyday, I had cause to use it again recently to fly to AMS. What has happened to the old place? At what used to be a peak time checkin (0600)it was deserted apart from KL&AF!! The BA desks were empty and only 1 open for use. There were hardly any passenegers there. The place looked shabby and in need of a refurbish - indeed the old Caledonian signs were hanging down on 1 vacated check in desk.
The departure lounge was vertually deserted with coffee shops charging a fortune. Shopping facilities very limited. The apron was a disgrace with ground equipment/vehicles parked erratically, and it looked like a building site.
Why doesnt the airport authority spend some money on the interior with a lick of paint, provide more opportunity for other carriers to use it with bigger aircraft. I think the largest aircraft in use there is a barby jet?
Oh sorry - they moved the esclator and steps round to the front and changed the door in the arrivals area!!! Wonder how much that cost and for what purpose???
On the other hand Terminal 1 looks like a really professional Terminal with good facilites.
The departure lounge was vertually deserted with coffee shops charging a fortune. Shopping facilities very limited. The apron was a disgrace with ground equipment/vehicles parked erratically, and it looked like a building site.
Why doesnt the airport authority spend some money on the interior with a lick of paint, provide more opportunity for other carriers to use it with bigger aircraft. I think the largest aircraft in use there is a barby jet?
Oh sorry - they moved the esclator and steps round to the front and changed the door in the arrivals area!!! Wonder how much that cost and for what purpose???
On the other hand Terminal 1 looks like a really professional Terminal with good facilites.
Join Date: Dec 2004
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An interesting day today for the airport (to say the least). There's already a thread running in Rumours & News about the TNT B733 landing incident but is there any truth in the rumour that the Airport company gave NATS (ATC) permission to use R06/24 for the smaller arrivals/departures (which can be used in good viz) but, then found out that no ATCO's were validated for approaches to 06/24!!
Presumably if the shorter runway was used, Brum wouldn't have lost the DAT & EZE flights to Coventry as these would have been able to use 06/24
FC
Presumably if the shorter runway was used, Brum wouldn't have lost the DAT & EZE flights to Coventry as these would have been able to use 06/24
FC
MGP
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Birmingham
Airport management can be more than a little short-sighted at times. I can remember seeing BA One-Eelevens using 24 at BHX when the crosswind was too great for 15/33 and yet they imagine that such a situation cannot happen again. Norwich closed their north-east/southwest runway and after building a new terminal on the end found they couldn't really do without the runway.
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Originally Posted by crewmeal
After having worked for many years at the Eurohub in its heyday, I had cause to use it again recently to fly to AMS. What has happened to the old place? The BA desks were empty and only 1 open for use.
The apron was a disgrace with ground equipment/vehicles parked erratically, and it looked like a building site.
I think the largest aircraft in use there is a barby jet?
On the other hand Terminal 1 looks like a really professional Terminal with good facilites.
The apron was a disgrace with ground equipment/vehicles parked erratically, and it looked like a building site.
I think the largest aircraft in use there is a barby jet?
On the other hand Terminal 1 looks like a really professional Terminal with good facilites.
Cheers
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Flap15Geardown
These wouldn't go to T2 where no stand could accommodate them. The odd Air Atlanta Europe, Saudia or Corsair 747s use stands 41, 42R or 85C instead.
Cheers
These wouldn't go to T2 where no stand could accommodate them. The odd Air Atlanta Europe, Saudia or Corsair 747s use stands 41, 42R or 85C instead.
Cheers
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That's mighty strange as stand 8C is perfectly capable of accepting 744's. If I remeber correctly there was one on there in 2004 doing a flight for a childrens charity to Florida. not much room to spare but it most certainly fits.
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Yup, Stand 8C at Brum can & has been used by a B744 in the past.
I notice tonights VSG flight is heavily delayed, presumably the perils of only having a single aircraft in your fleet as its hard to get the schedule back on track once delays do occur.
FC
I notice tonights VSG flight is heavily delayed, presumably the perils of only having a single aircraft in your fleet as its hard to get the schedule back on track once delays do occur.
FC
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WOWBOY
Add
BHX - ABZ
BE841/2 DEP ??? 10.10 Mo-Sa
BE845/6 DEP 1755 2110 Su-FRi
BHX - HAJ or Hannover per the timetable
BE1951 1045 1455 Daily
ABZ shows 8th March Start and Galway but Hanover is 30/10
OltonPete
Add
BHX - ABZ
BE841/2 DEP ??? 10.10 Mo-Sa
BE845/6 DEP 1755 2110 Su-FRi
BHX - HAJ or Hannover per the timetable
BE1951 1045 1455 Daily
ABZ shows 8th March Start and Galway but Hanover is 30/10
OltonPete
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CC, You mentioned a little while ago on BHX's needing extra runway length to stop it loosing out on long haul as it already has done with First Choice, Obviously going back a few years that was the given reason for FCA swapping to EMA, but nowadays it doesnt seem to be an issue for them as they have just recently announced BRS - SFB/VRA/POP, these 3 are all going via MAN for fuel and cargo to go on, in the same way i believe they used to when they operated long haul from BHX, maybe its the BHX pax being fussy and not wanting to go via anywhere(understandable given the size of the airport) but the pax from the BRS area are booking it up like theres no tomorrow, already the SFB looks like it may be coming back to Feb 07 instead of May 07 and rumour of twice a week, and POP service possibly coming back to Feb and operating weekly instead of fortnightly, I guess where FCA is concerned BHX loss has been EMA and BRS's gain, 
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Nice to see that the "BIRMINGHAM" sign on the Glass house has been fully working in recent weeks, shame because I heard rumours its to be torn down and replaced with "STANSTED 2" very soon
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Birmingham will never be stansted 2
In response to tickerdboo Birmingham will never be stansted 2 for the following reasons
1. WE are above the watford gap so we wont be reconized by anyone down south
2. We have proper airlines and proper aircraft not just low cost and small aircraft.
enough said we are birmingham and proud of it......
1. WE are above the watford gap so we wont be reconized by anyone down south
2. We have proper airlines and proper aircraft not just low cost and small aircraft.
enough said we are birmingham and proud of it......