HUMBERSIDE - 2

[panda-k-bear]

So no news at all since January? Is it really this quiet? It seems to point to that fact that the doom-mongers are right and that Humberside really does have nothing going for it... Sad, truly sad. What of the a.m. Tyrolean route?

[airhumberside]

Affraid the only news in bad news - Monastir dropped

The Tyrolean (now Austrian Arrows) service is the new Innsbruck aski charter next summer

KLM have gone 4xDaily at weekends now with the start of the summer timetable

[airhumberside]

The final masterplan has been released - little has chamged from the draft version

[pug]

Have avoided the forums for sometime now, things seem to be winding down at HUY....

How sad

[niknak]

Pug,

if what you say is true, it is indeed very sad, but please shed light upon winding down.....

[airhumberside]

I dont think winding down, more like stagnant with little prospect of growth. AMS has gained an exra daily flight recently, theres new flights for Goldtrail Holidays and Inghams. But of course there has been other charter reductions (notably from XL pulling out), and FR pulling out.

The airport website news page tells the story quite well - nothing to report

[pug]

I am of course making assumptions realy but it is plain to see the airport is in a steady decline as far as commercial operations go.

A-H AMS is a great service but if what appears to be happening continues the viability of maintaining passanger handling facilities with staffing etc would be seriously under question.

I am not too downbeat as DSA is not realy that far away and if they can make it a great success then the region as a whole, including the former Humberside, will feel the rewards.

Charter operations are in decline across the board, with added pressure now on aviation due climate change airports such as HUY will feel the brunt of the declines due to increased costs. HUY has next to no chance of attracting a lo-co also.

[airhumberside]

Im not going to comment on costs as I have no experiene or knowledge of those but:

HUY has been profitable in the past with about the same number of flights as now

There is no decline in charters next year, compared with this summer, so far. Now things could change, or next summer could be a blip in a trend of decline, but on the charter front things are looking stagnant for next year, and not like a decline

Politically closing an airport is not going to be easy, especially when it has a loyal passenger base. Difficult decisions have to be made sometimes but what politican on Noth Lincolnshire Council would agree to closing the popular local airport? And it only takes for the press to publicise that MAN is the main shareholder and many passengers wont be going across the M62 instead but to DSA and LBA

And finally how many people are really prepared to stop having a holiday because of climate change? - this is curently unclear so I would be reluctant to factor this in to future predictions. Recycling is one thing, but giving up the annual holiday something different

[niknak]

I don't think that closure will take place in the near future, but as the owners, (MAN PLC), treat each of their airports as a separate business enterprise, there's no doubt that HUY is truely at the bottom of their pile.

MAN bought HUY for next to nothing plus a commitment to take on the debt at the time of purchase (in other words a sop to get RWY 2 at MAN), they've invested a minimal amount and probably earned enough on a daily basis to service operating costs and ongoing financial obligations.

In other words, IF MAN PLC could find a buyer for perhaps £3M to £5M, they'd make a few quid out of it and probably off load it tommorrow.

Likely interest would be from a private equity group who would look to do much the same over a 5 year period.
Aside from the tatty but functional terminal building, very little investment is required at HUY to provide for ongoing and future op's, the political will is there to keep it open and consequently it would be a good prospect for anyone with the will to sit on their money for a while - which is what equity geezers do.

[airhumberside]

There was an article that MAN would sell all their regional airports last year, think in 'The Business' magazine, but nothing ever came of it

With the current appetite for infrastructure assets, I guess it would be a good time to sell if MAN really wanted too

[pug]

I dont think the airport will close entirely, i cant see Eastern airways moving or the GA activity declining.

I know we have all pointed the finger at the management in the past, maybe they have gone wrong somewhere, im starting to think now that it realy is the catchment area afterall. Perhaps i didnt want to think this way before but surely the management have done all they can to attract lo-co and charter ops and it just isnt happening. DSA is here now, a serious contender for the regions major airport. Had it not been built i have no doubt one of the low costs will have come to HUY but they would have been severely restricted with destinations to offer. We would have still had the trek to MAN or NEMA... DSA has chance of offering more than HUY ever could.

FR gave HUY a go, the pax numbers were dire, i had confidence in them picking up but after hearing of people still going from this region to DSA for the exact same service i lost all hope. People just dont want to use HUY for some reason....

[johnnychips]

You can kick this straight out of court if you think I'm talking rubbish, but is there still an East Riding v North Lincolnshire mentality that subconsciously puts Hull residents off using it? After all, Humberside Council was abolished, evidently with the approval of parties on either side of the river.

The success of the AMS flights seems to depend on the petrochemical industry, which is largely situated on the south bank.

It would be interesting to see any available figures for the origin of passengers.

But also, public transport is dire, and there seems to be little publicity.

[airhumberside]

Dont think those from the North Bank are put off using HUY because of the name

There is plenty of publicity, mainly on buses - every other bus is Hull it seems has a HUY advert on. Theres also the airport magazine mailed to customers. Dare I say it, but way more advertising than DSA

[pug]

I do think there is an element of people from Hull thinking DSA is their local airport, particularly from the media coverage theyve had over the last couple of years. The sub consious mentality is that its over the cbridge and therefore far away.

Although the site is located well in theory, between the main population centers, it is far too isolated to attract a decent based operator. It should have been built in or near Hull.

A-H i read on your site there may be a loss of winter flights?

[airhumberside]

First Choice have pulled all winter flights - although they only served Tenerife, and I suspect that flight will continue and Airtours will take over First Choice's allocation. First Choice will still do their Lapland day trip

Gran Canaria does look like it is axed though. Not on sale with ThomsonFly or Airtours any more, only Thomas Cook, and I suspect they wont take all the seats themselves

[airhumberside]

Mentioned in the MME thread is that Servisair had lost the KLM contract to Aviance at MME and this could mean pulling out of 5 other airports. Does that include HUY - I cant see Servisair staying if they have lost the KLM HUY contract because in winter on some days they would have no flights to handle? (T3 handle themselves) And if it does include HUY, are Aviance going to step in?

Some news. The Summer ALC has been axed, and it looks like the Air Europa IBZ for Thomson has been too (Iberworld flight for Airtours remains). However Onur Air are using A300's to Bodrum, and filling them, for Goldtrail Holidays. Both Dalaman and Bodrum for Goldtrail Holidays start in March next year

[Hotel Uniform Yankee]

I cannot see it changing anything at HUY. Because SERVISAIR are the only handing agent (forgeting T3) at HUY, therefore KLM will continue to be handled by them. The difference at MME is that there was more than 1 handling agent. Aviance would not be starting up at HUY as there is just not enough work for 1, never mind 2 handling agents. I believe there is only 2 charter flights per week this winter at HUY, their worst for some years.

[airhumberside]

Theres 4 charters that run all winter (2xTFS, 1xACE, 1xALC), 2 that run in the ski season only (1xINN, 1xPlovdiv) and 2 extra in March and April (1xDLM, 1XBodrum)

[airhumberside]

Theres 4 charters that run all winter (2xTFS, 1xACE, 1xALC),

Make that 3 - The Tuesday TFS has been dropped

[dumdumbrain]

I wonder if Ryanairs EMA-TFS had anythiing to do with it? Since Humberside isn't that far really, I often have people from Hull on my flight from EMA

Lee