BELFAST (BHD) - 3

[eastconsbrook]

CO at BHD and other thoughts

Gate 22 ,I dont want to step on toes here but a few points and wisdom from a person under the flight path!
I have a feeling thet the EI spat at BHD was due to the fact they wanted to leave BFS and set up at the city, Mr A said no, Or Molly - then the old cot toys airborne happened, Or maybe Mr D up the road wanted to stoke the fire of slagging of his former position as they have a better out look.Dont forget it was not that long ago Mr D was telling Mr Harrison the city should grow more.
CO wont go in to the city for obvious reasons so it will be EI (UK), LS out in the countryside
Easyjet will move its domestic flights only to BHD and wait to see if FR stay then take over the if / when they pull out and keep a foot in the Barn door
As for FLYBE well they will do what they always do, Keep going and let others make mistakes and then copy the good things!!
As for WW? who knows they will do, probaly gp er um can we do Spain from the city
EI (UK) will then say sorry to BHD and point out it was EI ( Eire) that made them say bad things
BFS will be a true international only airport
To put it all in a nut shell all the domestic airlines are waiting to get in to BHD once the runway gets its refurbishment, BFS will try to head hunt all BHD managers ( Again) Once with mr Harrison was a raised eybrow , second time with Mr Doran was not a shock, a third time with MR A will be a laugh. ( but I think MR A will stay a while and get a nice job looking after the Titanic quarter after all he does a great job running a real airport)
Seats for sale will go and 5m pax will flock to the city
And finaly Belfast city airport watch will be totaly outraged and go to the high court in london to complain that the city airport is doing well and everyone will laugh that they flew from BHD to get there unless they fly from Dublin
Not to betaken seroiusly but just a thought.

[mysecretsmile]

Travelled through BHD today and was very impressed with the new departure lounge set up that they have just opened.

Although it's clearly not finished (new shop unit still to open and alot of work men still on site) it certainly gives a more roomy environment for passengers, better cafe and food options as well as great views of the runway.

Once they sort of their terrible queue system (before Christmas I believe?) to get into departures, BHD will be back to having the feeling it first had when it opened in 2001.

I look forward to seeing BFS work completed to enhance initial impression to visitors coming into NI plc.

[EI-BUD]

I fly each week to and from BFS and have done for a long time as it suits me far better than the city airport. However, I do really like the athmosphere about the city airport especially around 6pm on a busy evening there is a real nice feel to the place. It is a real hive of activity and feel far more modern and homely than BFS.

Until recently I never saw BHD as being a big threat but since the start of this season, I cant help but feel that a big change of heart is happening by the general public and most would fly from or prefer BHD if they had the real choice with all routes. That coupled with the easyjet launch of 1 route spells doom for BFS.

The only saving grace that BFS will have is to see off the posibility of a runway extention or a successful enforcement of the passenger cap, and given the planning authorities loose approach to this I cant see that happening.

EI-BUD

[tigger2k8]

That coupled with the easyjet launch of 1 route spells doom for BFS.

there are no more routes heading to BHD.. and the number of flights from BFS will balance out when LTN moves as EDI and STN frequencies will increase (still 5 base aircraft)

unless EZY bases an aircraft at BHD then its routes will NEVER be convenient for business PAX which it says its trying to attract with moving LTN, when the truth is that they only move flights to hurt/warn Abertis... the arguement between EZY and Abertis has cost jobs at EZY (Cabin Crew, and soon 4 BFS pilots, and i assume Menzies staff?)

EZY will have 2 check-in desks, apparently the other airlines are not happy about it... have they lost 2 check-in desks because of it or?

BHD is only conveniant for those in Belfast, Bangor, Newtownards, Downpatrick etc etc... anyone to the West of Belfast then its not (which is a large portion of the country)

[EI-BUD]

tigger2k8- i take on board your points re only 1 route moving that seems clear at this stage. However, Easyjet until now had a clear focus on BFS and LTN is a very very long established route from BFS that will now be lost at least from January until whenever. In my view Easyjet moving a route to the City is an experiment as LTN has been doing just as well as any of the other BFS routes, so dependent on the result (we can all debate whether due to timings ETC whether this will do well) Easyjet will consider the business case for moving its routes.

I dont take anything positive from the fact that Easyjet will transfer its longest standing route from BFS to BHD.

Again being as pro BFS as I can its my local airport, I would like to see it prosper but on days like Sunday there seems to be alot more happening at BHD and I think this is where its all happening at the moment, again my opinion.

[tigger2k8]

Again being as pro BFS as I can its my local airport, I would like to see it prosper but on days like Sunday there seems to be alot more happening at BHD and I think this is where its all happening at the moment, again my opinion.

oh your totally right about BFS being quiet compared to the city at times, the way the EZY + WW schedule is in the winter the busy periods are 0600-1045 and 1400-2100 (for EZY) and WW is basically morning and evening.. due to the city being a more (dare i say it) regional airport, it has so many different domestic routes and along with smaller aircraft it seems busier, but as far as im aware PAX numbers at both airports in the last month are embarassing (which is normal for this time of year)

BFS needs to attract more airlines or do something drastic, i really am concerned about the "20 retail units" ability to survive in winter once this extension is finished

[ara01jbb]

Saw BHD lounge for the first time today; very swanky, although a few extra banks of seating closer to doors B & C wouldn't go amiss. Was also directed through door / staircase B for gate 7; presuming the at busier times the staff will be more switched on about using door / stair B for gates 1-5 and door C for gates 6-10, could get a bit clogged if more than one flight boards at once.

[ILS25]

Refurbishment work at BFS

As regards to the above, the new extension will open by the end of this week. Just a big white empty space with a money exchange in it then 2 lifts, 2 escalators and a very steep set of stairs (which will prove really popular with passangers) leading up to a big white empty corridor which then leads to the main passanger search area. And from a very reliable source I heard that there are no toilet facilities anywhere in sight. Big white elephant in my opinion and a total waste of money. BHD will once again be laughing at BFS, what a joke. What on earth are Abertis doing ?

[BFS101]

Meeting at BHD this morning. Servis Air taking over all the ground staff and ramp work currently done by Aviance. Will take effect from the end of January.

Saw the extension at BFS on Tuesday flying back from Munich. Wondering why they had Christmas decorations up, though if its opening this week, that would explain why.

To be honest I thought it looked well, obviously not been inside, but really anything is an improvement on the dark corridor currently from check-in. Bright, modern, open, clean. If its a piece-meal development, perhaps hold judgement until the whole thing is complete, and then we can scrutinise. Any development at BFS has to be welcomed.

As far as BHD goes, looking much better than the current BFS. Can't wait to get a good at new lounge when flying out. City airport really is the more user friendly out of the two, a much more pleasant experience.

[tigger2k8]

As regards to the above, the new extension will open by the end of this week. Just a big white empty space with a money exchange in it then 2 lifts, 2 escalators and a very steep set of stairs (which will prove really popular with passangers) leading up to a big white empty corridor which then leads to the main passanger search area. And from a very reliable source I heard that there are no toilet facilities anywhere in sight. Big white elephant in my opinion and a total waste of money. BHD will once again be laughing at BFS, what a joke. What on earth are Abertis doing ?

cant comment on the toilets as i dont know about that, apparently it opens on the 3/12/09 which is today (no doubt it will be open as a way to send passengers while another area is renovated), and it will be airside.. so passengers will go through security before entering the complex.. this info comes directly from the airport operations.. not a friend or word of mouth

if servisair is taking over BHD, i wonder if Avianace will take over BFS passenger operations? thought aviance was doing well at the city... I guess that means EZY will be handled by Servisair as well at BHD

[ALLMCC]

Does this mean Aviance will no longer have a presence at BHD? This recent news report would seem to suggest otherwise.

Flybe and Aviance renew handling contract - Business News, Business - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk

[ALLMCC]

Just found this report which explains things.

Servisair acquires Aviance's regional UK ground handling business - International Freighting Weekly

[tigger2k8]

flip, i knew there was talk of servisair buying UK operations but thought it was only a rumor.. makes sense at BFS anyway... good luck to all staff involved

[big d1]

Seems a bit odd considering Aviance have only just signed new 3 year deals with Flybe at CWL, SOU and BHD in the last month or so.

As a side note, does anyone know what the plan is for the area where the old terminal used to stand? The only part that is left now is the bit used by the engineers and Menzies Cargo.

[tigger2k8]

Well EZY's first A319 base aircraft arrived at BFS today, few days earlier than scheduled.. however it was delayed inbound due to technical problems.. currently parked on stand 10 (G-EZFR)

press release for the opening of new development

News - Belfast International Airport

apparently up the staircase/escalator after checking in, then straight into central search then your airside

[SKY's4ME]

EZY's very new looking Bird FR just out of the hangar from HAM! Shows an increasing comitment to there NI operation. I understand a press day will be organised before its first operation on Thursday.

[ards_boy]

Good to see Servisair have bought Aviance, surely a good move for all staff in Belfast as now instead of two struggling handling agents we now have a company able to give the Menzies monster a run for its money! Does this make Servisair the biggest handling agent in NI?

[tigger2k8]

Good to see Servisair have bought Aviance, surely a good move for all staff in Belfast as now instead of two struggling handling agents we now have a company able to give the Menzies monster a run for its money! Does this make Servisair the biggest handling agent in NI?

depends in what way you see it... unfortunately with Aviance and Servisair both at BFS when they do merge into one there probably will be job losses (not so sure about PAX services and Ramp, but id imagine theres no need to keep the aviance managers? but i guess they could offer non-manager jobs to them)... unless they decide to hang on until after Summer, but the world of ground handling always has something up its sleeves

Menzies at BFS isn't a monster, i would describe it as a cuddly teddy bear, but elsewhere yes, to be honest i dont see them even attempting to get anymore contracts.. they seem happy with having EZY and EI and EZY and EI seem happy with them and unless another handling firm enters BFS the EZY contract will no doubt always be handed to Menzies unless theres a big f**k up

i think the press day is today (7th Dec) for the A319 could be wrong... as far as im aware its still on Stand 10... will be interesting to see if EZY want it towed to a more local stand for its first flight

[Tower Ranger]

Will the Aviance staff transfer to Servisair be under a TUPE agreement or are they just being thrown to the wolves?

[BFS101]

Breaking news on the local radio at 1, that BHD is to get their runway extension granted. No confirmed reports as yet on any of the local news websites. Keep an ear out this afternoon.