BIRMINGHAM - 4

[pabely]

If BAA are forced to sell STN then London will become more competitive, I think only MAN will be able to compete, BHX will suffer as the incentives will be much better in London to expand, if slots are available.

[nigel osborne]

Re CO rumour about possible 767 upgrade..the United 767-300s have far to many business class seats and premium economy I think for BHX, double the amount and some more compared with the B757s.

So would be very surprised to see an upgrade..live in hope though !

Nigel

[nigel osborne]

"Any plans for airlines to expand at BHX will be on hold while the oil price is over $100/barrel."

It hasn't stopped airlines cutting back on ambitions from Manchester, airlines queuing up to go in their ??

Nigel

[OltonPete]

United

befree

The article states that they intend to increase international flying not cut it! It is domestic that faces the chop, no doubt where they double on existing Continental services.

Only today Continental have announced Newark - Stuttgart on a 75W!!!!!
Sounds a bit of a way on a 757?

Having said that, these revised schedules start in September and there is no way I would have thought that BHX-EWR would increase at that time of year. I assume it would be 2012, if at all.

Pete

[Ian Brooks]

Yes it is a long route perhaps 75W stands for 75weeze lol!


Ian B

[chinapattern]

Did the Armavia flight turn up today?

[wanna_be_there]

I have had a look at the arrival logs for today, and it appears not.
(are we surprised though?)

[OltonPete]

Armavia

I have been monitoring their website, it was bookable at 5pm Tuesday but
not at 8pm.

Now bookable for next Thursday however Amritsar was not on sale
still on Tuesday but the flights were still in the timetable at twice weekly
linking with the BHX flight.

I assume that the clearance to fly to ATQ came a bit late to get things
organised.

Pete

[wanna_be_there]

with all these late clearances, it leaves very very little time to sell seats. Can this service last if they only open seats for booking a week in advance?

Seems very disorganised to me?

[chinapattern]

I really do wonder what kind of message this sends out to other potential carriers. It really is an embarrassment - if they can't get a carrier like Armavia sorted how on earth do they hope to attract the likes of Qatar or AA?

[wanna_be_there]

It really is an embarrassment - if they can't get a carrier like Armavia sorted how on earth do they hope to attract the likes of Qatar or AA?

In all fairness to BHX, its not their fault when the its the airline themselves that are disorganised.

However, I cant help think BHX keeps attracting the wrong sort of carriers. If they spent half the energy they used on getting Hellenic, Whoosh, Air Syhlet as they did on getting someone like QR, they would be on easy street.

Realistically, they would get twice as many pax on a QR flight, even if it was an A319LR, than they would on this once weekly Armavia flight.

[Phileas Fogg]

wanna be there,

Excuse me but, as an aviation professional of some 30+ years, I was very satisfied with the right sort of carriers that I regularly flew with out of BHX, these being such carriers as KLM, Lufthansa, Air France, Swiss, SAS and maybe other(s) that I have forgotten about.

The beauty of BHX is that it isn't a mega airport, one can still feel relaxed whilst clearing the formalities (except security efficiently and quickly, if the concrete blocks remain outside the terminal (put in place after the GLA incident) these are great for sitting on whilst smoking a cigarette, I lived an hour (ish) from BHX, all these posters that would like to see BHX as a mega airport, well this is as likely to drive travellers away to LHR, MAN etc. as it is likely to attract them.

What they don't realise is that BHX is a, good old fashioned, local convenience store offering international travel at supermarket prices, if one wants to go to a supermarket then one may as well go to LHR or MAN.

BHX, your product is beautiful ..... "If it ain't broke then why fix it?"

[wanna_be_there]

Excuse me but, as an aviation professional of some 30+ years

Whilst I dont doubt you have 30 years experience, lets not bring this into the mix shall we. In the last post, you are expressing your opinion, and, even if you have 100 years experience in avaiation, it doesnt make your opinion more valid than anyone elses, its just that, an opinion.

Also, I never questioned BHX's established carriers such as the ones you mentioned, I was more basing my thoughts on the carriers BHX has attracted lately, like the ones I mentioned.

When it comes to airports, everyone wants different things out of it. Some do like the quiet, relaxed approach, some like it to be robust and secure (it gives them security knowing it is so tight), some like having hardly any flights checking in around them to prevent stress, whereas some like to get to where they are going without having to travel here there and everywhere. Some like having all the choice on their doorstep, some dont want a major international clogging up their roads/rails.

So, just because you like BHX being 'small and quiet', doesnt mean everyone shares the same opinion.

[Phileas Fogg]

WBT,

Recently BHX has had a 13 year old kid posting here, there, and everywhere his nonsense whereas he wants circa 5 (direct) transatlantic routes daily from BHX etc. I was merely making the point that I am an aviation professional and not merely SLF or a 13 year old spotter.

You make a valid point or few in your post, what 13 year old kids and many SLF's don't appreciate is that one can already travel the world from BHX, I'd rather buy/fly from my local convenience store with an hour or two or three connection in AMS, CDG, DUS, FRA, MUC, ZRH etc. than have the stress of enduring a metropolis the size of LHR and all the inconvenience and expense of surface travel, car parking etc.

[crewmeal]

I suppose there is a point to be made with flying into Europe before flying longhaul and that's you would be paying less tax (ADT).

[wanna_be_there]

I suppose there is a point to be made with flying into Europe before flying longhaul and that's you would be paying less tax (ADT).

I thought flying say, BHX-DXB-BOM made no difference as opposed to flying BHX-AMS-BOM, as you are paying for BHX-BOM regardless, or has that changed now?

[Boeing Junkie]

crewmeal

You would only pay reduced APD if you were on separate tickets though, e.g. BHX-FRA and then FRA-SFO.

I know many people who did this in December and missed some very nice long haul holidays as a result because they were not reprotected by being on the same ticket.

A BHX-FRA-SFO ticket will incur the same APD as a LHR-SFO direct flight.

[Phileas Fogg]

crewmeal,

If one is flying outside of EU (ish) then unless one is occupying 24 hours in EU transit, or doing it as two seperate bookings, one still pays UK rip-off tax.

Here's a booking I travelled on over (busy thus expensive) Xmas 2009, £415.60 (less £5.00 cashback) was a bargain, particularly, to fly from my local convenience store:

Outbound flight: Birmingham - Hong Kong via Zurich
Mon. 14.12.2009 18:50 BHX - 21:40 ZRH LX 425
Mon. 14.12.2009 22:40 ZRH - 17:25 +1 HKG LX 138

Return flight: Hong Kong - Birmingham via Zurich
Wed. 30.12.2009 23:59 HKG - 06:10 +1 ZRH LX 139
Thu. 31.12.2009 07:15 ZRH - 08:05 BHX LX 420

Total amount to be paid: GBP 415.60

[Giddy]

SLF don't appreciate is that one can already travel the world from BHX, I'd rather buy/fly from my local convenience store with an hour or two or three connection in AMS, CDG, DUS, FRA, MUC, ZRH etc.

Phileas, you're correct of course, but that has been the case for many, many years now. The fact that most travellers in BIA's catchment area still choose to use LHR, MAN, (for heaven's sake I've heard some are starting to use BRS instead of BHX!) etc may be a reflection on their awareness, but the main issue is that BIA has failed and continues to fail to get the message across to its target customer base.

In addition, those of us 'in the know' may well be comfortable using connecting flights and thinking outside the box when booking - the vast majority of people aren't. Like it or not, BHX has a reputation for

a) having a limited route offering;
b) being expensive;
c) an attitude of exploiting pax through car parking and trolley charges amongst other things.

a) and b) have been there for years. a) is getting worse, and c) is a more recent addition but not doing much to help

[Phileas Fogg]

Giddy,

You make a lot of sense, take the 13 year old kiddie (that was around here) as an example ... To fly to USA he was expecting US airlines, to Pakistan then Pakistan Airlines, Philippines then Philippines Airlines etc.

All these discussions/complaints regarding BA strikes, for gawds sake people you do not need to fly with a British airline to escape these UK shores, if a UK airline can't get it's act together then book with an alternative.

The 13 year old kid was petitioning for Delta Airlines to serve BHX, Delta already sell tickets to/from BHX, check it out on Delta's website, and when I checked they were cheaper than the direct flights BHX/NYC/BHX!

But in fairness is it the airport's responsibility to advertise and foot the bill for doing so or the airline's responsibility?

But the biggest problem is the naivity of the British public, indeed the British mentality ..... why would 'we' even think about flying with a Dutch, German, French, Swiss etc. airline to get to our destination in The Americas or Asia etc?

Car Parking, in the BHX 'C' car park (just across the road from the terminals) was reasonably priced, there's a discount if booked online, but I subsequently chose to park (free) at Hampton-in-Arden rail station and occupy 4 minutes on the train in/out of BHX at £1.20 each way .... that's a better price for car parking.