PRESTWICK

[CabinCrewe]

"Any deal could also have non-cannibalisation clauses in it"
Could this be the reason why some long haul routes (Middle east direct)
operated from GLA are absent from EDI?

Middle East, GLA, EDI all in one post...I could have guessed who the author would have been without even looking

[billyg]

Quote/ 'FR have certainly spoken to BAA recently about a base at GLA: see para 25 of this ("Ryanair had talked to BAA at Glasgow about introducing a base there, but had been told that BAA’s head office would not allow Glasgow to engage in discount arrangements.") and page 51 of this ("essentially BAA offered us [FR] the same deal at Glasgow International that we have negotiated in Edinburgh, which we would not regard as successful at all").'


The above would suggest that, should Glasgow be sold off, then FR are virtually certain to move there as any new owners will be trying to attract new business.

[Skipness One Echo]

billyg does Glasgow have overnight parking and morning capacity on the old international for up to five B737-800s?

Actually as I type this I guess it has the parking space but the gate rooms would be busy. Mind you they used to have a BA TriStar, NW DC10, AA B767, and an AC TriStar of a morning once upon a time....

[codpiece face]

This in the scheme of things is terrific news for Prestwick, and it is what the people of Ayrshire and South west Scotland need, holiday flights to destinations in the sun. Edinburgh will always pull more visitors than Prestwick and so it makes sense to adjust the flights in the way they have.

PIK know that families going on holiday spend money, this should create extra revenue for the outlets at the airport and would explain why they have gone ahead with the departure lounge extension whilst simulatneously laying people off. The frontage and road area at the front needs some thought now as it all confuses many people with a maze of doors and roadways, and as mentioned before the rail station needs some tlc as it is a big asset to the airport.

What they need to do now is concentrate on is giving the entire place a good lick of paint as it looks run down in quite a few areas, and improve customer care for this all costs virtually nothing to the airport but it is what people remember and would hopefully encourage repeat business.

[james170969]

"codpiece face" I totally agree with what you are saying. I haven't been to Prestwick Airport since March so I don't know what things are like now. The train station badly needs work done on it as does the bridge which has been leaking rain from the roof for about two years at least. And I wonder how long the purple decor and THAT slogan will stay. Some people are so determined that Ryanair is going to move to Glasgow and that Prestwick will close. Hopefully both Glasgow and Prestwick Airports will both emerge from the current recession and prosper.
btw - Why are you called "codpiece face"?

[bigjames]

nostalgia

my very first flight as a wee lad was YUL-PIK (Montreal to Prestwick) in jan 1973 on a BOAC 707. My family was embarking on a 9 month stay in Edinburgh.

Who knows, maybe PPRuNer BOAC was in command or on the FD. i have never been back to PIK since. and of course i have no memory of the airport that cold morning. but i hope the place thrives. it has an important place in my life long affair with aviation!

i'll send a nice bottle of champagne to anyone who can (with proof) let me know the flight number BOAC used in 73 for YUL - PIK!

people who look it up on the internet need not apply!

[allanmack]

I remember watching the BOAC VC-10s and 707s in the early 70s but the only flight callsigns/numbers I can remember were the Speedbird 538/539 which I am sure was JFK and the 648/649 which was I think Toronto?

[Musket90]

I think possibly all the BOAC flights through Prestwick in early '70s originated from Manchester. The JFK was Super VC10 BA537/538 and Toronto or Montreal ? was B707 BA607/608.

[aldamc]

Airbus A380 at Prestwick

AIRBUS is to showcase the A380 in a spectacular overfly of British airports and production factories next Saturday (5 September). Coming out of Toulouse the aircraft, MSN001 (F-WWOW), the original Rolls-Royce powered prototype, is scheduled to first perform an approach and flythrough at Edinburgh (13:40) and Prestwick (14:00); followed by a flying display at the Northern Ireland International Airshow at Portrush (14:20), and an overfly at Belfast City Airport (14:40). It will also be seen over the Airbus facility in Broughton, North Wales (15:08), where Airbus employees will be celebrating the company’s founding 40 years ago. The final appearance of the day will be over Birmingham International Airport (15:40) where another A380 is due to land for the first time the following Wednesday week (9 September).

[honest man]

Story in this weeks local press that CEO Mr Rodwell will leave Prestwick end of November returning to Australia but is remaining with infratil.
FR weekly ski flight to Turin from 19th dec

[smith]

PIK-BVA cut from two to one rotation a day as of October

[scrivenger]

Can somebody help me with two questions?

1 Do Cargolux still operate from PIK and if so with what frequency, and
2 Who is the present owner of PIK and is it, as I heard recently, up for sale ?

Any replies would be appreciated.

[Jes]

Did you read the thread before asking these questions?

[Runway 31]

scrivenger

There are 6 or 7 Cargolux flights per week with 4 scheduled today alone. 3 eastbound and 1 westbound

As far as I know the airport is not up for sale but I would expect that if you wanted to buy it and put the right offer forward it would be yours.

[Skipness One Echo]

scrivenger
A simple google search takes you to the home page. They are owned by Infratil.
The Cargolux home page can give you a link to the timetable that will tell you the rest.

[david.craig]

Disappointed to see BVA cut to one per day. We frequently took the early morning flight out, late night back for a day trip. Not a bad day out when the £1 offers were running

[scrivenger]

Jes - no I'm sorry I didn't. Having been in commercial aviation for 30 years sometimes you need pertinent information FAST. I didn't read the whole thread because I couldn't be ar*sed. I'm so sorry.

Skip - thanks for the info, but I have yet to find a web page that reflects the up to date information that I needed! particularly CVs , and in any event they wouldn't indicate unscheduled stops etc

Jeez lighten up guys, this is only a recession.

Rwy 31 - tks mate

[tartan 201]

Is Prestwick for sale? Good question, but it's hard to find a definitive answer. As 'Runway 31' points out, Infratil don't seem to have gone on the record as saying it's officially for sale, but they've dropped plenty of hints. The pointers suggesting that they do want to sell it include:

• this article, which states that they are "likely to realise $64 million for the sale of Lubeck Airport through an agreement with the local authority in the German city", which would reduce Infratil Airports Europe's portfolio to just Prestwick and Manston, thus raising a question over IAE's longevity.
  
• Information presented at their AGM (see here), which says "Improving capital allocation is a key focus for 2009/10 and is progressing. Capital spending has been tightened and capital is being extracted from low growth or low yield situations. To date that has meant the sale of Fullers and some bus depots and progress at the European Airports and Energy Developments". Although 'progress' could of course refer to just the potential sale of Lubeck.
  
• In their September update (here) they say "The European Airports have under achieved and capital is being extracted from those investments." Again, though, this could refer to just the $64m mentioned above in relation to Lubeck.
  
• and, continuing the theme, this says "Infratil faces a difficult financial market, and while the firm doesn't need to panic, it does have problems - underperforming European airports and some underperforming smaller investments, he says. Bogoievski will make some big decisions about what constitutes the core assets for Infratil over the next six months, Curley says. For one, Infratil is expected to sell its majority stake in Lubeck, an underperforming airport in northern Germany."

On the other hand though, browsing through some Prestwick photos on Flickr I noticed this set of photos of what appears to be a pretty extensive (and presumably expensive) upgrade to the ATC systems in the tower. Similarly, this article states that some of Manston's equipment is being upgraded at a cost of £2 million. Why make these investments if the airports are going to be sold shortly?

We might get a clearer indication of Infratil's plans for Prestwick over the next few months, as the boss there, Mark Rodwell, is returning to his native Australia next month (source). (Interestingly, there's no mention of this on either the Infratil or Prestwick websites). His replacement could be interpreted as the litmus test of Infratil's intentions, as if they recruit a high-calibre candidate from outside then presumably they intend owning the airport for some time and the successful candidate has convinced his or herself that he or she isn't going to be suddenly working for a new employer a few months after starting. If, however, they don't then that could be interpreted as meaning that they don't intend much in the way of development of the airport and are happy to keep it 'ticking over' until someone takes it off their hands, although in fairness there could be plenty of other reasons why they would be content not to recruit a new manager (as opposed to promoting one from within).

I don't know who would purchase it in the current economic situation, with things compounded by Ryanair's stranglehold on the airport and the possibility of invigorated competition from Glasgow (depending on the outcome of BAA's appeal).

So is it for sale? I don't know, but it seems as if the next few months could be quite interesting.

[runaway28]

The £2 million investment is not something that has actually happened. This news piece seems to be about what they plan to do over the next two years as opposed to any actual investment thats taking place. Infratil have already said that any capital investment will need to be justified. Traffic at Manston does not justify any investment.

Lubeck, although talked about as "under performing", it happens to be the only IAE airport that is actually growing in size. As Infratil have an option to sell this month and they want to raise capital, its an easy fix.

If they had an option to sell either Manston or Prestwick as they do with Lubeck, there is no doubt either or both would be sold.

[tartan 201]

"Disappointed to see BVA cut to one per day. We frequently took the early morning flight out, late night back for a day trip. Not a bad day out when the £1 offers were running"

'David' it looks like these flights are restored to twice-daily from the start of the summer schedule. Interestingly enough, the reinstated morning rotation is a straight PIK - BVA - PIK, rather than the current PIK - BVA - OPO (I think) - BVA - PIK. BUD is also restored for summer 2010, although CIA, PSA, HHN and NYO aren't as I type.

Edit: the above was the case when I typed it, but PIK - BVA is now showing as only daily for summer 2010 (no morning rotation), although PSA and CIA are now bookable for summer 2010.