BIRMINGHAM
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Flybe Contract
Originally Posted by Lite
Did flybe move handling agents for a specific problem they had with aviance or was this simply a pricing issue with Swissport being cheaper?
Don't get me wrong I am quite glad that we no longer handle Flybe as they were turning into a Royal pain in the
, but the way it was handled was iffy.The rumour about menzies has been floating around for a few moths now, have heard within the company that 2 bids have been rejected by go-ahead, however you know what they say third time lucky!!!
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The new BEA
Still slogging away on the finance front, I'm afraid.
Potential investor earlier in the year fizzelled out (that's where the SF340 idea came from) so back to the drawing board with the J31's.
Lot's of interest still from potential investors but turning that into somebody putting their hand in their pocket..................we live in hope!!
Potential investor earlier in the year fizzelled out (that's where the SF340 idea came from) so back to the drawing board with the J31's.
Lot's of interest still from potential investors but turning that into somebody putting their hand in their pocket..................we live in hope!!
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Jet update
Yet another article this time mainly about Jet's proposed cargo operation but the last paragraph mentions BHX - ATQ and LHR - ATQ hopefully by
July 2006. Source www.business-standard.com.
With Air India going 6 a week to Amritsar from today it had been rumoured
that Jet were considering BHX - Ahmadabad to tap in to the East Midlands
market.
It seems that there is an article every other week re Jet and they all say
different things. One of the claims is that the BHX service is awaiting
Indian Government approval.
OltonPete
July 2006. Source www.business-standard.com.
With Air India going 6 a week to Amritsar from today it had been rumoured
that Jet were considering BHX - Ahmadabad to tap in to the East Midlands
market.
It seems that there is an article every other week re Jet and they all say
different things. One of the claims is that the BHX service is awaiting
Indian Government approval.
OltonPete
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It seems that Swissport are a force to be reckoned with at BHX, keeping into consideration the points mentioned by bruppy, do people think it has been a smooth transition from aviance to swissport? How are flybe doing? I've noticed they have decreased the frequencies of their Spanish flights, perhaps due to the increased presence of ZB.
How also is BA Connect doing? They seem to have come along pitching just the right product with their existing & new routes.
How also is BA Connect doing? They seem to have come along pitching just the right product with their existing & new routes.
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Lite
It is believed that Flybe's decision was nothing to do with Monarch
increasing. On another forum it was said they got a decent handling
rate for the 733 at Norwich and I was shouted down when I suggested
that they might have received or been eligible for subsidies.
Load factors on most of their "holiday" routes last summer were 80%+
so it has to be assumed that yields were not up to scratch. They were
competing with Baby, Monarch & MyTravellite on some routes last
summer and when the latter closed I thought an increase was more
likely than a decrease. Monarch have since taken up some of the loss
with a late PM Malaga on some nights, Almeria, Faro Murcia & Alicante.
Generally Flybe loads are okay with one or two EDI, GLA & BHD's
performing poorly at certain times of the day but without access
to yields it is all pretty worthless stats.
I have a friend who is a Duty Officer at Swissport but I have not
asked him if I can repeat some his comments so all I will say is that
it has been an interesting time and his feet have hardly touched
the ground
I dropped a work colleague at T2 this afternoon for a Connect flight
to SYY via GLA. All very quiet, the self-service machine ate her
credit card
and the baggage belt did not work but she got away
on time (with her credit card). As for Connect loads, I have no
idea of yields but more pax seem to be travelling. I think has been
said on other threads that Berlin & Geneva are doing okay but the
Belfast City especially the morning RJ100 is a bit light on pax.
The busiest area today was actually Monarch check-in for MJV & TFS
(I believe they posted increased figures for April 06 but it did
contain Easter whereas it was in March last year)
OltonPete
It is believed that Flybe's decision was nothing to do with Monarch
increasing. On another forum it was said they got a decent handling
rate for the 733 at Norwich and I was shouted down when I suggested
that they might have received or been eligible for subsidies.
Load factors on most of their "holiday" routes last summer were 80%+
so it has to be assumed that yields were not up to scratch. They were
competing with Baby, Monarch & MyTravellite on some routes last
summer and when the latter closed I thought an increase was more
likely than a decrease. Monarch have since taken up some of the loss
with a late PM Malaga on some nights, Almeria, Faro Murcia & Alicante.
Generally Flybe loads are okay with one or two EDI, GLA & BHD's
performing poorly at certain times of the day but without access
to yields it is all pretty worthless stats.
I have a friend who is a Duty Officer at Swissport but I have not
asked him if I can repeat some his comments so all I will say is that
it has been an interesting time
and his feet have hardly touchedthe ground
I dropped a work colleague at T2 this afternoon for a Connect flight
to SYY via GLA. All very quiet, the self-service machine ate her
credit card
and the baggage belt did not work but she got awayon time (with her credit card). As for Connect loads, I have no
idea of yields but more pax seem to be travelling. I think has been
said on other threads that Berlin & Geneva are doing okay but the
Belfast City especially the morning RJ100 is a bit light on pax.
The busiest area today was actually Monarch check-in for MJV & TFS
(I believe they posted increased figures for April 06 but it did
contain Easter whereas it was in March last year)
OltonPete
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A fare few subbed flights at BHX yesterday/today/tomorrow:
Wed
AF5137 CDG Op by ??? MD82
BE1637 ALC Op by FlyGlobespan B733 G-OTDA
BE1781 FAO Op by UKJet MD83 SX-BSW
Thu
BE1637 ALC Op by UKJet MD83 SX-BSW
BE1965 AGP Op by Astraeus B752 G-OJIB
AF5133 CDG Op by JetX MD83 TF-JXB
AF5137 CDG Op by JetX MD83 TF-JXB
AF5141 CDG Op by JetX MD83 TF-JXB
MON034P LTN Op by First Choice Airways B752 G-OOBC
Fri
WW1011 AMS Op by JetX MD83 TF-JXB
Also BA Connect flights BA1820 EDI, BA7621 BHD, BA1778 DUS, BA1824 EDI,
BA1828 EDI, BA1830 EDI are showing as op by B73K!
Wed
AF5137 CDG Op by ??? MD82
BE1637 ALC Op by FlyGlobespan B733 G-OTDA
BE1781 FAO Op by UKJet MD83 SX-BSW
Thu
BE1637 ALC Op by UKJet MD83 SX-BSW
BE1965 AGP Op by Astraeus B752 G-OJIB
AF5133 CDG Op by JetX MD83 TF-JXB
AF5137 CDG Op by JetX MD83 TF-JXB
AF5141 CDG Op by JetX MD83 TF-JXB
MON034P LTN Op by First Choice Airways B752 G-OOBC
Fri
WW1011 AMS Op by JetX MD83 TF-JXB
Also BA Connect flights BA1820 EDI, BA7621 BHD, BA1778 DUS, BA1824 EDI,
BA1828 EDI, BA1830 EDI are showing as op by B73K!
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Thanks for everyone's comments regarding the handling agent scene at BHX. It's all very much appreciated, and am looking forward to hearing more as things progress, particularly the growth of Swissport, but also this new company "Aviation Support" who I can't seem to find any information on.
As a bizarre aside, how are announcements made at BHX? On my last trip from T1 I seem to remember a very robotic voice making what seemed like pre-recorded announcements as opposed to the PSAs doing them themselves. Having just lost our PA system (albeit apparently temporarily) at EMA, I'm interested to know what goes on & why.
As a bizarre aside, how are announcements made at BHX? On my last trip from T1 I seem to remember a very robotic voice making what seemed like pre-recorded announcements as opposed to the PSAs doing them themselves. Having just lost our PA system (albeit apparently temporarily) at EMA, I'm interested to know what goes on & why.
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Lite
Nearly all announcements are made by an automated system. All flights/airlines/destinations are pre-programmed into it, and its all fairly automated. However, I wouldn't say it sounds robotic, its a females voice and is one of the best I've heard for an automated system.
There is also the facility for "manual" announcements by humans, for example "Could passenger XYZ who has failed to join flight....".
Nearly all announcements are made by an automated system. All flights/airlines/destinations are pre-programmed into it, and its all fairly automated. However, I wouldn't say it sounds robotic, its a females voice and is one of the best I've heard for an automated system.
There is also the facility for "manual" announcements by humans, for example "Could passenger XYZ who has failed to join flight....".
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I have to say that flying out of BHX as a passenger, and yes I am aviation personel, is an absolute pleasure in comparison to somewhere like Heathrow, and I'm slightly nearer to BHX than LHR.
I can prebook Multi Storey 3 via ncp.co.uk at a knock down price and casually stroll across the road without fear of getting knocked down, indeed when I came back from CDG in February from the time I left the aircraft to the time I got in my car must have been all of 5 minutes.
Just one complaint though, the grill in the Eurohub. Either they change their supplier or cooking method of their breakfast sausages or they supply metal cutlery, indeed a chainsaw, rather than plastic cutlery.
I would, lightheartedly, consider it a health & safety hazard to attempt to cut in to one of their sausages with a plastic knife, trust me, the sausage wins, sort it please
I can prebook Multi Storey 3 via ncp.co.uk at a knock down price and casually stroll across the road without fear of getting knocked down, indeed when I came back from CDG in February from the time I left the aircraft to the time I got in my car must have been all of 5 minutes.
Just one complaint though, the grill in the Eurohub. Either they change their supplier or cooking method of their breakfast sausages or they supply metal cutlery, indeed a chainsaw, rather than plastic cutlery.
I would, lightheartedly, consider it a health & safety hazard to attempt to cut in to one of their sausages with a plastic knife, trust me, the sausage wins, sort it please
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Aviation Support
Aviation Support were the handling agent that used to handle Skyways until they pulled out of BHX, they also handled Air Slovakia. Both just check in. They now offer full ground handling for SkyEurope, HLX and United European Airways. Handling agent for AirClass Airways is still currently TBA as they haven't as yet got their own a/c.
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BHX has an automated announcement system which is very similar to what you might find in Spanish airports, whereby all of the flight details are pre-programmed into a computer and are then clearly announced. In Spain these are announced in Spanish/English/Language of Destination although at BHX they are only done in English. On top of that, each gate has there own tannoy system for additional announcements. Presumably this makes the lives of the gate agents much easier.
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Originally Posted by flyBHXuk
Aviation Support were the handling agent that used to handle Skyways until they pulled out of BHX, they also handled Air Slovakia. Both just check in. They now offer full ground handling for SkyEurope, HLX and United European Airways. Handling agent for AirClass Airways is still currently TBA as they haven't as yet got their own a/c.
PPRuNe Knight in Shining Armour
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An observation from someone who is at the business end wrt Swissport at BHX. Yes there are issues that need to be ironed out (will someone answer the bloody radio for example!) but to be honest they try 100%, but their understanding of the job is less than minimal, which suggests that their training is non existent.... teach them what is required and they'll do it just as well as anyone else.... but PLEASE train them.
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Swissport
Snigs
Ah yes answering the radio!
An often explanation or rumour depending on your who you believe is
that it is often due to a certain airline regularly changing aircraft due to tech, maintenance weather delays (Channel Isles) etc, which requires a certain amount of time to re-config the seating plans etc.
A problem noticed since 1st April in particular - only repeating what
I have heard and is only a rumour .
OltonPete
Ah yes answering the radio!
An often explanation or rumour depending on your who you believe is
that it is often due to a certain airline regularly changing aircraft due to tech, maintenance weather delays (Channel Isles) etc, which requires a certain amount of time to re-config the seating plans etc.
A problem noticed since 1st April in particular - only repeating what
I have heard and is only a rumour
. OltonPete
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April 2006 Pax
Just part of the press release from bhx - a tad
disappointing but up at least.
Passenger Figures Continue To Rise At BIA
April proved to be another busy month at Birmingham International Airport (BIA) with 696,952 passengers travelling through, an increase of 4% on the same month last year and the busiest April on record. The late Easter this year and some major events at the adjacent NEC helped make it the busiest April on record at BIA.
Scheduled traffic grew by 3.4% overall. Growth was experienced on services to the Indian sub-continent which rose by 63.1%, on non-EU services which grew by 60% and on domestic routes which also increased by 3.9%.
Scheduled routes that experienced growth include, Geneva (+232.6%), Gothenburg (+88.9%), Zurich (+68.0%), , Paphos (+30.5%), Copenhagen (+22.3%), Amsterdam (+21.0%), Madrid (+20.8%), Frankfurt (+19.8%), Toulouse (+16.4%), Inverness (+12.5%), Dusseldorf (+11.1%), Paris (+10.8%), Munich (+9.5%), Perpignan (+9.3%), Malta (+9.3%), Brest (+8.9%), Edinburgh (+7.5%) and Aberdeen (+5.9%).
OltonPete
disappointing but up at least.
Passenger Figures Continue To Rise At BIA
April proved to be another busy month at Birmingham International Airport (BIA) with 696,952 passengers travelling through, an increase of 4% on the same month last year and the busiest April on record. The late Easter this year and some major events at the adjacent NEC helped make it the busiest April on record at BIA.
Scheduled traffic grew by 3.4% overall. Growth was experienced on services to the Indian sub-continent which rose by 63.1%, on non-EU services which grew by 60% and on domestic routes which also increased by 3.9%.
Scheduled routes that experienced growth include, Geneva (+232.6%), Gothenburg (+88.9%), Zurich (+68.0%), , Paphos (+30.5%), Copenhagen (+22.3%), Amsterdam (+21.0%), Madrid (+20.8%), Frankfurt (+19.8%), Toulouse (+16.4%), Inverness (+12.5%), Dusseldorf (+11.1%), Paris (+10.8%), Munich (+9.5%), Perpignan (+9.3%), Malta (+9.3%), Brest (+8.9%), Edinburgh (+7.5%) and Aberdeen (+5.9%).
OltonPete
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Quite a few interesting movements coming up over the rest of the month, anyone know what any of them are for?
Fri 19th Channel Express / Jet2 733 LS21P/6024 Arr 07:50 - Dep 09:20 from Newcastle/ to Malaga
Fri 19th Channel Express / Jet2 733 LS24P/6021 Arr 08:15 - Dep 09:45 from Leeds-Bradford/ to Malaga
Fri 19th Luxair 735 LG7587/7587 Arr 08:25 - Dep 09:10 from/to Luxembourg
Fri 19th Excel Airways 762 XLA158P/7159 Arr 09:00 - Dep 10:30 from Gatwick/ to Malaga
Sat 20th Corsair 743 CRL809/810 Arr 10:15 - Dep 21:15 from/to Shannon
Sat 20th Corsair 743 CRL841/842 Arr 10:35 - Dep 22:30 from/to Cork
Sun 21st Monarch AB6 MON8027/27P Arr 15:25 - Dep 17:00 from Malaga/ to Gatwick
Sun 21st Air Europa 738 AEA201/202 Arr 15:55 - Dep 16:55 from Malaga/ to Madrid
Wed 24th Croatia Airlines 320 OU1508/1509 Arr 15:30 - Dep 16:20 from/to Split
Sat 27th Jetair 734 TUB9783F/9784 Arr 09:00 - Dep 10:00 from Brussels/ to Tarbes-Osson
Sat 27th Jetair 734 TUB9721F/9722 Arr 13:25 - Dep 14:20 from Ostend/ to Tarbes-Osson
Sat 27th Aigle Azur 320 ZI945F/946 Arr 14:20 - Dep 15:20 from Paris CDG/ to Tarbes-Osson
Sun 28th Pulkovo TU5 FV6701/6702 Arr 09:40 - Dep 10:45 from/to St.Petersburg **
Sun 28th Futura 734 FUA771P/1772 Arr 11:20 - Dep 12:10 from Las Palmas/ to Arrecife
Mon 29th Futura 734 FUA1735/1736 Arr 01:15 - Dep 02:15 from/to Ibiza
Cheers Mark
Fri 19th Channel Express / Jet2 733 LS21P/6024 Arr 07:50 - Dep 09:20 from Newcastle/ to Malaga
Fri 19th Channel Express / Jet2 733 LS24P/6021 Arr 08:15 - Dep 09:45 from Leeds-Bradford/ to Malaga
Fri 19th Luxair 735 LG7587/7587 Arr 08:25 - Dep 09:10 from/to Luxembourg
Fri 19th Excel Airways 762 XLA158P/7159 Arr 09:00 - Dep 10:30 from Gatwick/ to Malaga
Sat 20th Corsair 743 CRL809/810 Arr 10:15 - Dep 21:15 from/to Shannon
Sat 20th Corsair 743 CRL841/842 Arr 10:35 - Dep 22:30 from/to Cork
Sun 21st Monarch AB6 MON8027/27P Arr 15:25 - Dep 17:00 from Malaga/ to Gatwick
Sun 21st Air Europa 738 AEA201/202 Arr 15:55 - Dep 16:55 from Malaga/ to Madrid
Wed 24th Croatia Airlines 320 OU1508/1509 Arr 15:30 - Dep 16:20 from/to Split
Sat 27th Jetair 734 TUB9783F/9784 Arr 09:00 - Dep 10:00 from Brussels/ to Tarbes-Osson
Sat 27th Jetair 734 TUB9721F/9722 Arr 13:25 - Dep 14:20 from Ostend/ to Tarbes-Osson
Sat 27th Aigle Azur 320 ZI945F/946 Arr 14:20 - Dep 15:20 from Paris CDG/ to Tarbes-Osson
Sun 28th Pulkovo TU5 FV6701/6702 Arr 09:40 - Dep 10:45 from/to St.Petersburg **
Sun 28th Futura 734 FUA771P/1772 Arr 11:20 - Dep 12:10 from Las Palmas/ to Arrecife
Mon 29th Futura 734 FUA1735/1736 Arr 01:15 - Dep 02:15 from/to Ibiza
Cheers Mark
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MarkBHX
Malaga flights (LS/XLA/AEA/MON) - don't know
Luxair - don't know
Corsair Cork - Rugby final in Cardiff but arriving in BHX rather than CWL
Tarbes - Yearly pilgrimage flights to Lourdes
Croatia - short-term IT flights, usually a couple in May and a couple in
September or October
Pulkovo - Was told it was for an end of tour flight for the Bolshoi or
something similar but not so sure if the dates tie up - the
Birmingham Bolshoi performances were late March, early April
Futura - Las Palmas.This might be an extra IT due to the May Bank
Holiday but could be wrong on this one.
Futura - Ibiza. This is the first flight for Mytravel should run to at least
September.
With the Malaga flights it is tempting to guess that it might be to do with
the automotive industry but as we barely have one anymore in the West Midlands
I suspect that I am probably wrong.
OltonPete
Luxair - don't know
Corsair Cork - Rugby final in Cardiff but arriving in BHX rather than CWL
Tarbes - Yearly pilgrimage flights to Lourdes
Croatia - short-term IT flights, usually a couple in May and a couple in
September or October
Pulkovo - Was told it was for an end of tour flight for the Bolshoi or
something similar but not so sure if the dates tie up - the
Birmingham Bolshoi performances were late March, early April
Futura - Las Palmas.This might be an extra IT due to the May Bank
Holiday but could be wrong on this one.
Futura - Ibiza. This is the first flight for Mytravel should run to at least
September.
With the Malaga flights it is tempting to guess that it might be to do with
the automotive industry but as we barely have one anymore in the West Midlands
I suspect that I am probably wrong.OltonPete