IRELAND WEST AIRPORT KNOCK
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Liverpool
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Knock airport turns 30 today - hard to believe its 30 years - great story behind it and great to see they expecting 2016 to be busiest ever year - seen this on youtube earlier from their gala concert - some nice words from key aviation figures https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qF1EvmD74Nw
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Glasgow
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I've used it quite a few times (as I always do with any Scottish service to Knock!). From my experience the loads have varied from similar to the last time the service ran (40-50% of seats filled) to a major improvement (over 75% of seats filled).
The route definitely benefitted from the exploits of Connacht Rugby this year - Glasgow Warriors visited twice in successive weeks for important games in May, then Connacht played in the Pro 12 final in Edinburgh at the end of the month. This resulted in a lot of flights on the route being sold out by supporters around that time. I think the Glasgow team and coaching setup also used it for at least one of those trips.
The last time I flew the route (about three weeks ago) there were 67 on board heading for Edinburgh on a Monday evening. I doubt that is representative of an average load though, it was probably just a particularly busy day.
The main difference between this time and last time is that the route is now operating six days a week. I haven't had a reason to fly it on a Tuesday or Wednesday yet, but I suspect the improved weekend loads may be cancelled out by weaker midweek numbers. Of course the Brexit vote will not help inbound tourism this summer either.
It's a pity we don't have the CAA stats this year to get a better idea of how it is doing, although the CSO stats will eventually start to cover the months the service has operated.
The route definitely benefitted from the exploits of Connacht Rugby this year - Glasgow Warriors visited twice in successive weeks for important games in May, then Connacht played in the Pro 12 final in Edinburgh at the end of the month. This resulted in a lot of flights on the route being sold out by supporters around that time. I think the Glasgow team and coaching setup also used it for at least one of those trips.
The last time I flew the route (about three weeks ago) there were 67 on board heading for Edinburgh on a Monday evening. I doubt that is representative of an average load though, it was probably just a particularly busy day.
The main difference between this time and last time is that the route is now operating six days a week. I haven't had a reason to fly it on a Tuesday or Wednesday yet, but I suspect the improved weekend loads may be cancelled out by weaker midweek numbers. Of course the Brexit vote will not help inbound tourism this summer either.
It's a pity we don't have the CAA stats this year to get a better idea of how it is doing, although the CSO stats will eventually start to cover the months the service has operated.
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Liverpool
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Definitely agree - too much capacity on it at six per week four per week during summer is plenty - interesting to see if it can be sustained during winter
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Dublin
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Yeah I think if Aer lingus regional hadn't reinstated Shannon Edi ,6 per week would have been fine ! I think 4 per week is the right frequency so we will see how winter works out.
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Glasgow
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Very quiet on the Knock thread this summer but it looks like the airport is having another decent year with 2016 numbers up by about 14000 to the end of July compared to 2015. That would put the airport on course for about 700,000 passengers for the year and give it a chance of surpassing 2014, which was the busiest year to date (703,000 passengers).
Join Date: Jul 2011
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EMA and STN changes over winter will likely balance whatever Flybe bring to the table.
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Assuming the freq posted on NOC website for BHX/EDI the loads for and based on all Dash 8 ops:
BHX (Daily ex Sat)
April - 58.9
May - 58.9
Yes the same LF, not a mistake....
EDI (Daily ex Sat)
April - 40.5
May - 56.0
Not New but:
MAN (Daily ex Wed/Sat)
April - 72.9
May - 69.6
________
Assuming the freq posted on NOC website for BHX/EDI the loads for and based on all Dash 8 ops:
BHX (Daily ex Sat)
April - 58.9
May - 58.9
Yes the same LF, not a mistake....
EDI (Daily ex Sat)
April - 40.5
May - 56.0
Not New but:
MAN (Daily ex Wed/Sat)
April - 72.9
May - 69.6
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Liverpool
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Looking at the deep cuts coming at Shannon for next summer with the expected loss of Paris and Munich - knock looks to have got off rather lightly with just one rotation cut on the stansted service for summer 2017 - they do very well to keep their schedule intact I'd say
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Dublin
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I'd be surprised to see bgy go it's been operating for 4/5 years now and loads are good.Ryanair did state that they would be reducing uk services and deploying capacity to Europe .In the case of Shannon I presume it's non performance of Paris and Munich that have resulted in the withdrawal
Join Date: Oct 2015
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Knocks schedule is remaining intact for summer 2017 which is great news considering the massive cuts in Shannon for next year and the reduction in services from Dublin also
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Glasgow
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Anecdotally (i.e. based purely on my own semi-frequent use of the route and others I know that have used it) there has been a big upswing in loads on the Edinburgh route this summer compared to the last time it ran. So much so that they have been leaving bags behind for weight reasons on quite a few occasions. The only caveat on that is that it is based almost entirely on Friday, Sunday and Monday flights, so the increase to six flights per week might bring down the overall load factor if midweek flights had low loads.
The route has now gone to five weekly for October and then four weekly from November onwards for the winter season. I would expect the route to struggle a bit in the quiet months after Christmas.
The route has now gone to five weekly for October and then four weekly from November onwards for the winter season. I would expect the route to struggle a bit in the quiet months after Christmas.