IRELAND WEST AIRPORT KNOCK
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That's a pity, would have expected a surplus of charter aircraft given the market. It would have been an attractive connection to northern Italy, Verona and many attractive tourist packages around Lake Garda & Como region.
NOC could do with a new charter offering, sure the local market would like an alternative to ACE, FAO, DBV which have been served for years.
NOC could do with a new charter offering, sure the local market would like an alternative to ACE, FAO, DBV which have been served for years.
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From Jamie2k9
Topflight have canceled flights between Knock - Verona as they can't get an aircraft big enough to operate the route.
Hi Just wondering what forwards bookings were like as getting a aircarft big enough seem a bit light?
Topflight have canceled flights between Knock - Verona as they can't get an aircraft big enough to operate the route.
Hi Just wondering what forwards bookings were like as getting a aircarft big enough seem a bit light?
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Not sure about bookings but there was problems getting aircraft for the Cork flights as well.
Mistral Air were due to operate Cork and Knock but for what ever reason they are not now.
Europe Airpost will now operate Dublin - Verona - Cork - Verona - Dublin.
Mistral Air were due to operate Cork and Knock but for what ever reason they are not now.
Europe Airpost will now operate Dublin - Verona - Cork - Verona - Dublin.
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All gone very quiet on the noc front lately!I see Aer Lingus are back daily to LGW following the reduction to 4 weekly over the winter. Very interested to know how bookings are going with flybe for edi route if anybody is privy to this info.
Pity that the verona route didnt work out however there is plenty of choice to the sun this year from knock.
It will be sad to see aer arann go but during the ellection campaigns one of the partys I think fine gael said they would be willing to review the pso decision and maybe look at doing it a different way.It wont be a big blow to knock but I used the Dublin route several times and always handy to be there in 30 mins from Dub.
Pity that the verona route didnt work out however there is plenty of choice to the sun this year from knock.
It will be sad to see aer arann go but during the ellection campaigns one of the partys I think fine gael said they would be willing to review the pso decision and maybe look at doing it a different way.It wont be a big blow to knock but I used the Dublin route several times and always handy to be there in 30 mins from Dub.
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Some good news at Knock in terms of 2011 passenger numbers.
31,168 passengers used Knock in January, that's a 17.4% increase on 2010. Now the weather disruption last year will have explained some of that, but its still a big increase.
37,623 passengers used the airport in February, a 12.4% increase on last year. Don't remember there being too much disruption in February so that's probably a genuine year on year increase.
Also the new routes only started to kick in during February with two runs to Tenerife and one to Gran Canaria. The full effects of the addition of those two routes will only be seen in the March figures and then theres Lanzarote and Edinburgh still to come in April.
Knock looks to be massively outperforming the three state run airports in percentage terms with Shannon and Cork showing severe drops and Dublin just about holding steady. If Knock could keep that 12% increase going across the whole year they would easily break all previous passenger records at the airport which, in the current economic climate, would be some going.
31,168 passengers used Knock in January, that's a 17.4% increase on 2010. Now the weather disruption last year will have explained some of that, but its still a big increase.
37,623 passengers used the airport in February, a 12.4% increase on last year. Don't remember there being too much disruption in February so that's probably a genuine year on year increase.
Also the new routes only started to kick in during February with two runs to Tenerife and one to Gran Canaria. The full effects of the addition of those two routes will only be seen in the March figures and then theres Lanzarote and Edinburgh still to come in April.
Knock looks to be massively outperforming the three state run airports in percentage terms with Shannon and Cork showing severe drops and Dublin just about holding steady. If Knock could keep that 12% increase going across the whole year they would easily break all previous passenger records at the airport which, in the current economic climate, would be some going.
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Great news to see Knock doing so well lets hope it keeps up.
As a matter of insterst which routes done the best for jan/feb and which are not as well apart from the pso?
As a matter of insterst which routes done the best for jan/feb and which are not as well apart from the pso?
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WW to Birmingham looks to be the biggest improver so far, up 47% in January and 34% in February. Luton has seen big gains as well, up 17% in January and up 11% in February with a bigger passenger base than Birmingham. Liverpool (up 13% in January and 3% in February) also seems to be doing quite well.
On the negative side Bristol continues to struggle, down 12% in January and 19% in February. It has such a big catchment area that is otherwise unserved from Knock, I am surprised that it isn't more successful. WW at Manchester are still getting squeezed a bit by Ryanair at LPL & LBA, it is down slightly for the year so far and Stansted was down 11% in February as well, but the load factor there was still fairly decent.
On the subject of load factors the average load on UK routes to and from Knock in February was around 61%. The three London routes were the best performers in February here - Stansted at 72%, Luton at 71% and Gatwick at 66%. Birmingham next on 65% with Liverpool on 62%.
At the other end of the scale Bristol only managed to fill 42% of seats in February and Leeds/Bradford a shocking 33%. I know that the route is there primarily to squeeze out WW but you'd wonder how long MOL will bother with those kind of returns. He appears to have given up trying to chase Aer Lingus off the Gatwick route so LBA mightn't stick around too long either. You'd have to have concerns about the Bristol route as well.
Overall though the UK numbers are up which is good news, the commencement of the Edinburgh route in April should help as well since it doesn't really compete with any other route from the airport.
On the negative side Bristol continues to struggle, down 12% in January and 19% in February. It has such a big catchment area that is otherwise unserved from Knock, I am surprised that it isn't more successful. WW at Manchester are still getting squeezed a bit by Ryanair at LPL & LBA, it is down slightly for the year so far and Stansted was down 11% in February as well, but the load factor there was still fairly decent.
On the subject of load factors the average load on UK routes to and from Knock in February was around 61%. The three London routes were the best performers in February here - Stansted at 72%, Luton at 71% and Gatwick at 66%. Birmingham next on 65% with Liverpool on 62%.
At the other end of the scale Bristol only managed to fill 42% of seats in February and Leeds/Bradford a shocking 33%. I know that the route is there primarily to squeeze out WW but you'd wonder how long MOL will bother with those kind of returns. He appears to have given up trying to chase Aer Lingus off the Gatwick route so LBA mightn't stick around too long either. You'd have to have concerns about the Bristol route as well.
Overall though the UK numbers are up which is good news, the commencement of the Edinburgh route in April should help as well since it doesn't really compete with any other route from the airport.
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The precedence for Glasgow doesn't bode well for Edinburgh, although with a Q400 it might be the right airline with the right aircraft for the route. I hope its a success.
EI-BUD
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Yes would agree with your analysis, still cant understand the logic as to why Aer Arann would canabalise their own Galway EDI service by agreeing to start a EI one from Shannon.....now that both airports are less than one hour from each other, unless they are expecting to pull back the Galway service altogether....
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cant understand the logic as to why Aer Arann would canabalise their own Galway EDI service by agreeing to start a EI one from Shannon.....now that both airports are less than one hour from each other, unless they are expecting to pull back the Galway service altogether....
Had a fairly non-scientific flick through the three airlines summer schedules to Edinburgh there, Galway - Edinburgh seems to be hopelessly uncompetitively priced compared to the other two, I think it will really struggle this summer - the two new routes should hopefully be OK. If it is true that flybe can make a profit from a half full Dash 8 then they should be easily able to get the numbers they need to make NOC-EDI work.
NOC-DUB seems to be cancelled a lot again lately, it is amazing that anyone uses it given that there is an early train service and Aer Arann are so unreliable these days. Even though it is a daily route more people took charter flights from Knock to Lanzarote alone last summer than used the Dublin service for the whole year - I believe the total pax figures were under 7000 for the year. At this stage its departure will have next to no impact really.
Last edited by Kinocker; 19th Mar 2011 at 22:55.
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Kinocker
Read your last post with interest. I dont feel that Aer Lingus management are calling the shots on where Aer Arann will fly under the regional banner. Aer Arann are doing well on many routes and I feel Aer Lingus have given them a fairly good deal in terms of routes, eg EDI the busiest flight of the week always seemed to be the late on back EDI DUB on Sun night but Aer Arann do this and Aer Lingus dont seem to dive in and take the prime slots on a route like this where they effectively compete.
Galway's future as a regional airport is very in doubt and it is sensible on the part of Aer Arann (ALR) to look at Shannon and I bet it is more SAA attracting Aer Arann rather then AerLingus insisting on it.
EI-BUD
Read your last post with interest. I dont feel that Aer Lingus management are calling the shots on where Aer Arann will fly under the regional banner. Aer Arann are doing well on many routes and I feel Aer Lingus have given them a fairly good deal in terms of routes, eg EDI the busiest flight of the week always seemed to be the late on back EDI DUB on Sun night but Aer Arann do this and Aer Lingus dont seem to dive in and take the prime slots on a route like this where they effectively compete.
Galway's future as a regional airport is very in doubt and it is sensible on the part of Aer Arann (ALR) to look at Shannon and I bet it is more SAA attracting Aer Arann rather then AerLingus insisting on it.
EI-BUD
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You could well be right EI-BUD, I'm purely speculating as until now Padraig O Ceididh and RE have always been massively loyal to Galway and when there have been opportunities to expand at compting airports (NOC and SNN) they have steered clear to protect their own base.
But perhaps with the Stobart money coming in now the Galway element of the airline will take a back seat and SNN will become their western base as EIR. With the Dublin route likely to go in July and the Edinburgh route under serious pressure Galway may revert to just serving London airports and Manchester, the only routes that are likely to be able to co-exist with competing services from NOC and SNN.
Back to Knock, I see that Mayo TD Michael Ring has earned himself a job in the transport and tourism department as Minister of State for Tourism and Sport. I'm neither a fan of the man himself or the type of local politics he specialises in (he sometimes gets to 10 or more funerals a day!) but he is in the right department to have a say on airport funding and tourism incentives - between himself and the Taoiseach the airport should be (and I'm sure will be) getting in touch with them as our local representatives to encourage development of the facility. The senior minister, Leo Varadkar, has already been to his ancestral homeland of India to promote his local airport (Dublin) which shows that having people in the right positions in politics is an advantage that should be used where possible to stimulate growth.
Hopefully Knock can take advantage of this.
But perhaps with the Stobart money coming in now the Galway element of the airline will take a back seat and SNN will become their western base as EIR. With the Dublin route likely to go in July and the Edinburgh route under serious pressure Galway may revert to just serving London airports and Manchester, the only routes that are likely to be able to co-exist with competing services from NOC and SNN.
Back to Knock, I see that Mayo TD Michael Ring has earned himself a job in the transport and tourism department as Minister of State for Tourism and Sport. I'm neither a fan of the man himself or the type of local politics he specialises in (he sometimes gets to 10 or more funerals a day!) but he is in the right department to have a say on airport funding and tourism incentives - between himself and the Taoiseach the airport should be (and I'm sure will be) getting in touch with them as our local representatives to encourage development of the facility. The senior minister, Leo Varadkar, has already been to his ancestral homeland of India to promote his local airport (Dublin) which shows that having people in the right positions in politics is an advantage that should be used where possible to stimulate growth.
Hopefully Knock can take advantage of this.
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Micheal Ring was talking about getting more tourist to west of Ireland. Seem to me he wants airforce one to land in knock as there will the world media following obama to see what he has to offer
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Flybe have the edi route on sale till early jan 2012 now.This to me would suggest the route has sold well even before its started.Anybody any ideas on how its selling.
Fares on the canary routes seem very low maybe three together was overkill.
Anyhow hope summer 2011 is a great success from noc.If the edi route does work out flybe would be a good airline brand with the right size aircraft to develop further with.
Fares on the canary routes seem very low maybe three together was overkill.
Anyhow hope summer 2011 is a great success from noc.If the edi route does work out flybe would be a good airline brand with the right size aircraft to develop further with.
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Fares on the canary routes seem very low maybe three together was overkill.
The 3 new routes will affect numbers on ALC, REU and FAO. Ryanair have already reduced Faro this summer. Last year it operated 4 weekly in July and August. This year it will stay at 3 weekly which is just over 3,400 seats lost on one route.
Although good news about EDI.
Last edited by Jamie2k9; 27th Mar 2011 at 10:51.
LPS = Lopez Island
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Shot interview with Ireland West Airport Knock Chairman Liam Scollan in Fridays Irish Times.
Numbers should be back to 2007 levels this year due to route growth, but pax spend down 30%:
Passengers set to flock via Knock - The Irish Times - Fri, Mar 25, 2011
Numbers should be back to 2007 levels this year due to route growth, but pax spend down 30%:
...Passenger numbers at the Mayo facility are likely to rise by 9 per cent this year to about 640,000.
This is largely down to the launch of three sun routes to the Canary Islands by Ryanair and regional carrier Flybe starting a service to Edinburgh from April 19th. “We are getting growth from new routes but average spend by passengers is still in decline,” Scollan said.
Passenger spend down a third from peak, airport has cut cost base by 30%.
Passenger spending is still going down . . . due to the recession. ... Has Knock turned a corner? “It would be too optimistic to say that,” said Scollan. Knock’s passenger traffic fell by 3 per cent last year to 589,000.
Scollan was critical of how the country is marketed aboard. “I wouldn’t be sufficiently happy at this stage at how Tourism Ireland is promoting the regions and the country as a whole,” he said.
“I don’t see the focus from where I’m standing.”
Scollan is keen for Knock to have flights to one of the major European airport hubs – Heathrow or Charles de Gaulle in Paris are his preferences – and believes that support should be available to help the airport achieve this goal.
This is largely down to the launch of three sun routes to the Canary Islands by Ryanair and regional carrier Flybe starting a service to Edinburgh from April 19th. “We are getting growth from new routes but average spend by passengers is still in decline,” Scollan said.
Passenger spend down a third from peak, airport has cut cost base by 30%.
Passenger spending is still going down . . . due to the recession. ... Has Knock turned a corner? “It would be too optimistic to say that,” said Scollan. Knock’s passenger traffic fell by 3 per cent last year to 589,000.
Scollan was critical of how the country is marketed aboard. “I wouldn’t be sufficiently happy at this stage at how Tourism Ireland is promoting the regions and the country as a whole,” he said.
“I don’t see the focus from where I’m standing.”
Scollan is keen for Knock to have flights to one of the major European airport hubs – Heathrow or Charles de Gaulle in Paris are his preferences – and believes that support should be available to help the airport achieve this goal.
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New Canarys routes
I udnerstand the Canaries routes are performing well with loads in line with expectations. Prices on Gran Canaria seem to be good value but are still mroe expensive than Dublin which is a sign in itself. i think what you will see this year is the airport widening its catachment area signficantly and pulling in a lot of first time users looking for value for money fares and a good choice of destinations...looks like they going to have their busiest year on record (according to Mr Scollans article) which is good achievement given the state of the economy