ABERDEEN

[Joe Curry]

Better the Devil you know than the Devil you don't?

[ANYWHERE BUT ABZ]

Aye perhaps but I reckon Scotland be a much better place without English rule

[Joe Curry]

The last time I was in the Aberdeen area English accents seemed rife in the
organiser classes. Dare I say be careful of what you wish for? As for aviation
I think ABZ would be a quiter place than it is now. IMHO

[Skipness One Echo]

been able to lower apd which puts so many airlines off but also because 90% of oil revenue will be streaming thru Aberdeen and holywood instead of via London with a trickle returning north. Perhaps with an independent Scotland, and not the huge benefits bill of England which is a disgrace anyways, more money can be invested properly in Scotland, especially the north east!!

MASSIVE "perhaps" as you won't be getting 90% of oil revenues, that's an SNP fantasy. Perhaps you'd like 90% of RBS and HBOS debt in return? Thought not.
APD is killing the industry but with a deficit still stubbornly in existence, removing that income stream just makes the deficit bigger or causes the axe to fall elsewhere. Given the North East is the most affluent part of the country, there's a host of much needier cases elsewhere believe me.

Aye perhaps but I reckon Scotland be a much better place without English rule

Much better place without casual anti-English sentiment IMHO, I say that as a Scot who was brought up to blame the English for....well everything come to think of it. *flashbacks* Mr Salmond isn't English, nor was Mr Brown and Mr Blair and even Mr Cameron is of Scottish descent. Scotland has control of most domestic affairs at Holyrood already.

How's Little Red doing? Surely that must be dragging down fares?

[CaptainDoony]

Virgin

Just flew down on Virgin Little Red this morning and although I'm aware no service starts with 100% loads there was only 20 passengers onboard the A320 which is a bit concerning when the comparable BA service looked 100% full. There was even a post in another thread saying there was 2 pax on one of the rotations.

Early days yet though and I'm sure bookings will pick up once people get to know about the service. I don't think there was much advertising until a few days before the inaugural which probably explains the very low loads.

Time will tell...

[ANYWHERE BUT ABZ]

British airways will be laughing all the way to the bank, virgin are paying aer lingus 1 million a week to operate the domestic service and ba will still carry the same amount of passengers just with less flights than before thus increasing their profit, I for one hope that the virgin domestic service works and perhaps is the start of perhaps future routes out of Aberdeen although I doubt anything will change. I can see in 12 months Virgin finding away to finish the domestic experiment an trading the domestic slots for international flts, guess we will wait and see

[Aksai Oiler]

I concur, and certainly won't be switching from more frequent and better connecting BA flights just to fly on the Little Red thingy

[Richard Taylor]

Aberdeen to host Routes Europe 2015 (from Route News)

Aberdeen in Scotland will provide the backdrop for Routes Europe on April 12-14, 2015, when the route development forum holds its first regional event in the UK.

Aberdeen International Airport (ABZ) led a successful bid involving key stakeholders in the region, making it only the second time Routes has taken place in the UK, after Edinburgh held the World Routes event in 2003.

Scotland’s Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said hosting Routes Europe would help Scotland attract more air routes.

"The Scottish Government is working to secure more direct international flights from Scotland and hosting events such Routes Europe supports this ambition," she said.

"This event is a great opportunity to showcase the continuing strength of the economy of the North-East and the dynamic nature of Aberdeen International Airport as one of the fastest growing airports in the UK."

Routes Europe will also showcase Scotland’s appeal to airline operators as "an ambitious, forward-looking country keen to do business with our international neighbours", she added.

Steve Harris, chief executive of VisitAberdeen, described Aberdeen as "one of the very few cities in Europe showing sustained year-on-year growth".

"To have 1000 of the European aviation industry’s most senior decision makers coming here, to see not only our vibrant economy but our historic city and fabulous countryside, is a wonderful opportunity," he said.

Aberdeen Council leader Barney Crockett described Aberdeen as "the beating heart of Europe's oil and gas economy" and said it is taking a big step forward onto the travel and tourism industry stage by attracting Routes Europe.

Aberdeen International Airport operates over 80 daily scheduled routes and recently extended its runway for new international and national flights.

More than 60% of its passenger traffic is business traffic, mainly driven by the energy industry. The airport also has one of the biggest commercial helicopter operations in the world, carrying over 500,000 passengers per year.

Aberdeen Airport claims to provide the highest level of hub connectivity of any UK regional airport, with daily services to regional destinations such as London Heathrow, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam Schiphol, Copenhagen and Frankfurt.

[VickersVicount]

Doesn't EDI offer all those hub connections ?

[johnnychips]

Depends what you define as a 'regional' airport.

[c2lass]

We came back from LCY on Monday night. Arrived back at ABZ just before 5 so rather than sit in traffic (last time at that time it took us 55 minutes to get from airport car park to Haudagain) we decided to have supper in the Witherspoons bar.

We could not believe the lack of taxis for the amount of people queuing. There must have been about 50-60 people in that queue. The queue was not moving at all so those poor people must have been stood there for nearly an hour as we left at 6.00 and the queue was the same.

If Aberdeen wants to be an "International" airport it really needs to look at public transport. Every other airport has fantastic public transport links. Arriving at LCY last Friday, a queue of taxis all readily available, a rail network that takes you right into the City. It is the same every other City we have travelled to.

I honestly wonder what our visitors think upon arrival and see the lack of public transport. Certainly not an "International" airport.

[liam4393]

I just hope that Aberdeen 'International' Airport get their act together before 2015. I flew from Aberdeen a few weeks ago and have never seen nothing like it in an airport. The EZY LGW pax were made to stand at the same side as the pax waiting to board the flybe MAN flight, meaning that there were around 200 pax in total crammed into an almost single line in a space only about 10m long, with other pax asking you "are you queuing for the LGW or MAN flight?" It did not help matters when World Duty Free used one of their promo stands to block the staircase from the gate to domestic arrivals, meaning that the 156 passengers arriving on the EZY LGW flight had to battle through the passengers waiting to board for the return LGW flight as well as the flybe MAN passengers to get to the staircase next to the BA lounge. From the doors of the EZY LGW opening to the last passenger getting through to arrivals took 15 minutes! Then having to wait 25 minutes for bags to arrive at the conveyer belt just makes ABZ a joke. This will certainly not look good when world airlines and airport representatives come for the conference and experience first hand the disorganisation that takes place, especially the likes of easyJet with short turn-around times where delays caused by the airport will delay flights.

Sorry, that is my rant over

[TRY2FLY]

That staircase that world of duty free blocks off most of the time is a designated emergency exit route. Obviously no health and safety rep at ABZ!!!!

[Inverurie Lane]

I quite agree about the ridiculous situation of queuing beyond the gate, in the 'corridor', but is it an airline issue? not necessarily the airport. I've not experienced it when flying with BA or KLM - just the 'low-cost' operators. That said, with passenger numbers, on the whole, rising and their 'commitment' to establishing new routes, AIA really need to look into adding a second floor to the terminal to be used soley for departing passengers - like the vast majority of International Airports. We could have air bridges then, too!

As for Virgin; early days. I imagine they're in the domestic market mainly to connect with their long haul network, and most people (especially non-business flyers) book those kinds of flights months in advance - before the little red service had even been mooted. So lets give it some time

[Heathrow Harry]

C2Class - taxi provision at ABZ has always been a joke - at least these days there is a longer shelter to wait in - the old one held 10 people

Every other airport I go to has a long line of taxis waiting for customers - at ABZ it's the other way round

Public transport is unlikely to work - there aren't enough passengers to justify either a dedicated tram/train and the current train runs rarely on the other side of the airport...... Plus most people don't actually want to go the town centre - they are heading for one of the business parks or housing estates

[5711N0205W]

Aberdeen -

Foresight
Investment
Infrastructure

No, no and no

No bypass
No decent transport links to the airport
No planning for airport arrival capacity

The money that has been spent inside the terminal has improved check in and the security processes, boarding and arrivals are still laughable. Lipstick on the pig.

[Richard Taylor]

Yes, yes but do we have any GOOD points???

[throw a dyce]

Here's a question.
Can Dyce International take a 787 parking on the apron.I think it's too big as it's larger than a 767-300,but I'm sure someone in the know will know.
So will the aircraft that is the future,(once it gets rid of the Lipo batteries),be able to fly to Dyce without parking on 23.
Forget the terminal,baggage,taxis,traffic problems.Nothing happened for 30 years so what's new.

[CaptainDoony]

Is ABZ not certified for the 767-400 as well? If so a 787 should manage no bother I'd have thought.

Mind you I don't think we need to worry about that

[throw a dyce]

I don't think a 767-400 can fit on the stands.A 767-300 can, so unless something has altered I reckon the 787 won't fit.It doesn't mention anything in the AIP.
TUI have ordered them,so I guess it will be a matter of time before one turns up,or diverts in for some reason.Wonder if AIA have even considered it.
Anyway carry on moaning about the terminal etc.