BELFAST - 2

[controller friendly]

Bloody Hell...Have I woken up in August 2001....? Haven't we ALL been here before...?

[eastern wiseguy]

bloody hell thought you had retired!!

[cessnarocket]

bfs took delivery today off two nearly new clumbus 3000s for remote parking busing im told they are keeping there existing buses as well so thats 4 in total (2 with 70 pax each) and 2 with 150 pax each now make up your own mind what they spent 250,000 est on buses for

[ESCNI]

For transferring rerouted Flybe passengers to/from BHD?

[gate 22]

I just wonder if EI would maybe announce 2 bases, splitting the aircraft 2 at one, one in the other depending on how many aircraft they have for this expansion. I have heard 2,3 & 4 aircraft rumoured. Last week it was between BFS & BHX, now its between GLA & MAN. I have never understood why GLA has not so many scheduled flights to continental europe, however with Ryanair at Prestwick, we all know what would happen if EI was to announce GLA. I would say Belfast is certainly still in the running. Anybody heard anything (cessnarocket-still playing your cards close to your chest - what do you know?)

[SKY's4ME]

Gate 22 and others.

Lets be very realistic there is no hope of Lingus moving to BFS or BHD in the short term anyway at the most possibly a LHR-BFS Link but nothing else. EI do not want to compete direcly against another Loco like EZY. They have enough problems with Ryanair at Dublin.

I agree the future development opportunities at BFS are great but those developments will come from current operators most likely Easyjet! Aswell as new transatlantic opportunities from elsewhere.

[chec tunset]

You can be assured that BFS expansion will not be fuelled by Easyjet. Their domestic yields are under pressure and all roads point to bases in Europe. Currently last on the list for the bus and with a commercial team that have little interest in the regions they more likely to open a base in Basra (great potential catchment area!) than develop any further in BFS anytime soon. BFS expansion in future will be unlocked by others, probably Jet2 and i'll wager EI will at the very least be on a LHR fairly soon. What BFS needs is it's own airline...any takers? Thought not

[gate 22]

EI do not want to compete direcly against another Loco like EZY

EI cannot run and hide from competition, the matter which airport they choose they will be up against some other loco, if not at that airport, then one nearby. If what you are saying is true then we are talking Inverness or Aberdeen. GLA (EZY, - PWK RYR) MAN (JET2, WW, BE, MON - LPL EZY, RYR) BHX (WW, BE - EMA RYR, EZY - Coventry , Thompson) BFS (EZY, JET2) so where are we talking about. However I would agree that EI may only do LHR initially, thats why I was suggesting that they may go for a base at say MAN/BHX/GLA and then operate 1 aircraft from BFS/BHD to LHR.

[en2r]

If EI were to only operate LHR-BFS, I'd say they wouldn't open a BFS base but would base the aircraft at LHR, and operate flights using Dublin crews similiar to the way they operate LHR-Shannon. I don't know would it be economically viable to open a 1 aircraft base.

[gate 22]

would it be economically viable to open a 1 aircraft base.

I wouldn't know the economics of it but plenty of airlines station aircraft at airports that are not bases eg Bmi at the city, I know they normally have 1 aircraft based there although they do have 2 this summer. However the low cost airlines seem to night stop only at their dedicated bases. If EI operate Belfast-LHR then they should definately night stop at Belfast.

[hushkit77]

actually I'm sure BMI do have a base at BHD....
They have their own ground staff, flight/cabin crew and aircraft at BHD. If that doesn't make it a base what the hell does???

[gate 22]

actually I'm sure BMI do have a base at BHD....
They have their own ground staff, flight/cabin crew and aircraft at BHD. If that doesn't make it a base what the hell does???

I was trying to justify that there are bases/stations, whatever you want to call them, were only 1 aircraft is based. Now obviously if an aircraft is parked over night (or 2 during the summer at BHD this year) then the crew would also have to be based there. (I don't actually think the crewless aircraft is in mainstream yet, if it was then that would be Ryanairs fleet by now). Another example would be when KLM/Sabena night stopped at BFS, I don't think BFS was classified as a base for them (I could be wrong). Now I don't know if they would have had a back-up crew in those days but they could well have done. A base to me would imply several aircraft parked over night, with full back-up services, several routes etc.

[SKY's4ME]

Chec Tunset,
There is nothing behind the fact BFS is last to get the bus in the EZY network. Infact if they could accelerate orders from Airbus they would base the bus at BFS. Just not enough A/C to go around.
The 737's last of which only delivered at the end of '04' have alot of life in them (less can be said for the likes of Jet2's steam driven types some of which unlike ezy's new models look abit scruffy aswell) and they will to be around at BFS for another 2 years.
There will be opportunities as LTN phases in the bus for 737's to be transfered to BFS and expansion will happen. A company expanding at the rate of EZY needs A/C and that is what is slowing expansion nothing else.

[chec tunset]

There is plenty behind the fact BFS is last on the bus list. It spells out where their priorities lie. The extra seats on the bus could be used to good effect in BFS but more importantly, as BFS is an extra 45 mins up the road from most European destinations and the bus is cheaper to operate it should've been a no-brainer. Base coversion is also 3 years away, not 2. As for expansion, Easy have allowed Jet2 to tread on their patch unchecked after some initial bravado from the boss about seeing them off. There was also much talk about route expansion late last year which never materialised despite the fact it was announced in the press. Easy had plenty of aircraft to play with this year...they just put them in other places. Have a look at the mess that was made in LPL, GLA, EDI and EMA..all bases where the competition has eclipsed the orange machine and then see if you think it won't happen here.

[gate 22]

I see there are to MYT flights today for Sanford 1015 and 1315, I suppose the second one will only run for a couple of weeks over the holiday period say to mid July or will it run right through to late August/September.




Continued on: http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthr...10#post3361710