BELFAST (BHD) - 3

[Husky One]

When you say 2010 you really mean autumn 2011. The repainted 737's have no orange under the wings. All the remaining airframes are EZJ or EZK not Y. The odd one may look ok on the exterior but they are seriously tired inside (like their crews).

[super737]

my last flight with easy was BFS-AMS-BFS on the 73G and found it to be quite nice service but on the way home couldn't have told you my name! Thank god for OLCI.

Also BE had a few delays with a dash 8 doing the 973/974 run to LGW and a E195 routing BHD/MAN/DSA/MAN/BHD.

The EDI was running two hours late as well, with the RYR being late (unusual)

The midland's were well quite frankly f@uked!!!

[gate 22]

BFS domestic routes are performing really poorly according to CAA stats, even where FR are not competing like MAN/BHX. But EZY not to hot on GLA. IOM up. Cannot see BFS hitting anywhere near 6 million this year. However substantially more pax carried than Liverpool/Newcastle during July even although these airports carry more over the year. On the plus side Newark performing really well 10306 during July, more than GLA, BRS, BHX. Canada down-which is surprising bearing in mind the number of flights. Paris over 90% rise so EI must be putting bums on seats. AMS is not performing well for 2 carriers.

[ek_a340]

bfs

So it will be a while yet before we see A319's based at BFS. Have my first trip on Ei this week to barcelona, will be interesting to see what loads are like. I still get the impression that many people just dont even consider EI when travelling to Europe, theres still alot more room to promote their routes. The stats dont see great but spending is down everywhere, so its a matter of weathering the storm, however lower passenger spending and higher fuel costs are a fairly leathal combination.

[EI-BUD]

Bmi Heathrow route

Does anyone know what the winter plan for Bmi services from the city airport is?

Ie Aircraft types. I read on there that bmi is going to use alot more smaller aircraft on Heathrow services, so I think more Embraers coming in?

If anyone knows where this information is available on an ongoing basis that would be great, the website and timetable does not give any details on aircraft types.

EI-BUD

[eastern wiseguy]

Heathrow services, so I think more Embraers coming in?

If thats true ...how are the mighty fallen?

[Torque2]

Is BFS going to be open on Xmas day this year to accommodate charter flights?

[gate 22]

Have FR cut the early morning 'red eye' STN/BHD flight on some mornings during the week.

[super737]

I can't see BD reducing the BHD rotations to jungle jets, they seem to have placed more baby buses on the route but remember some flights are very business intensive and also the cargo which they through in the boot is quite good.

Im just wondering when EI will have to stop running the LHR route at the dirt cheap fares at the minute and realise that at some point they need to put them up!

[gate 22]

Can EI not 'rent' a few slots off BA or somebody to improve their Belfast timetable as its not the best. You need an early flight into Heathrow for connections. Also there last one back is not taking full advantage of late evening returns to Belfast. However despite this they are doing well with regards to traffic with 40% of the market.

[super737]

Gate 22 have you got figures to prove this? Also they could have 80% of the traffic and still lose money. There is no real way I can see, how their timetables fit to that of businessmen nor of people wishing to make connections. For example if you go out on the BD81 you can be in London for 9am but with EI currently you dont leave belfast until after 8.30 or thereabouts on their first sortee of the day to london

So this is no good for connections really, and there early morning inbound has to compete with the BD80 which leaves london quite early on.

Remember, we don't see that much advertisement of EI to LHR, but bmi does seem to stick in peoples heads bout going to london. By the time you touch down in heathrow the aircraft that operated the 81 to LHR has already returned to BHD.

[gate 22]

super 737

CAA - stats for July 2008
BELFAST CITY (GEORGE BES) 44402

BELFAST INTERNATIONAL 29962
Total = 74364
Therefore 29962/74364x100=40.29% - EI

Also they could have 80% of the traffic and still lose money
I only suggested they had 40% of traffic-they may well be losing money-I don't know

There is no real way I can see, how their timetables fit to that of businessmen nor of people wishing to make connections. For example if you go out on the BD81 you can be in London for 9am but with EI currently you dont leave belfast until after 8.30 or thereabouts on their first sortee of the day to london

If EI want a larger more business market they need a better timetable, which is what I was trying to say in my last post

[belfastmark]

unless im missing something does that not mean that they are doing much better than bmi. Taking into consideration aer lingus only offer half the flights that bmi do, in theory then if aer lingus offered the same amount of flights theyd be carrying just shy of 60000 people????? which is quite alot more passangers than bmi carried.

mark

[Husky One]

I suggest you do a crash course in a commercial department. You could have a 100% load factor and go bust if you aren't covering the cost of your flights. EI having been giving LHR flights away practically gift wrapped. I have seen no real reduction in BMI fares. No prizes for guessing who's making the money then. I've yet to pay more than £60 rtn for an EI flight to LHR. Temporarily great for the punter but a large headache for the accountant.

[belfastmark]

if you look at a typical fare from belfast to london

bmi's cheapest is 29 pounds

aer lingus's cheapest is 25.99 + baggage @ £8.00 so £33.99

however when you break that down the bmi actuall fare is £14 + £15 in tax

ei's fare is £2 + £19.99 tax and then a £4.00 " handling fee" which lets face it most of that £4.00 is pure profit. If you want to check in a bag theres another 8 pounds. So if you add that to the £2.00 fare and the £4.00 handling fee that gives you £14.00 the same fare as bmi minus taxes. So are Aer Lingus really giving their seats away for that cheap when you factor all of the above in????

and if you look at their fares from Dublin there pretty much on par with what they are charging from Belfast so why is everyone not making a fuss about that???????????

[True Blue]

Because there are people in ireland, both parts, who for some reason want Aer Lingus to fail at belfast and they want it badly. Ei have been under attack since they made a decision to come to bfs. How much discussion is there on the Ryanair set up at Bhd? Discussion on their load factor on the routes, level of fares etc? Fr are giving away seats down there, load factor is poor, but never a word. I have used Ei several times to Lhr, found them very good and I hope they do very well here.

True blue

[Hial Flyer]

Flew LHR-BFS rtn last week with EI and the service was excellent. Flight was about 3/4 full from LHR-BFS and full on way back to Heathrow.

Would use EI for future travel over BD anyday.

[BFS101]

This is a very rough guide, but had a look at Aer Lingus timetable for summer 09. Simply by selecting destination from Belfast and seeing what flight days that route operates.

As mentioned before AMS has been reduced from daily to 4 per week, Lanzarote reduced but at least still bookable, now 2 per week.
Milan and Munch also back for summer 09, still 3 per week,
Paris remains daily, can we assume doing slightly better than AMS??
Rome reduced from 4 to 3 per week.
LHR at 3 per day.
Faro at 4 per week, departures on 26 and 28 june already £187 with taxes and charges one way!!
Malaga at 5 per week,
BCN at 4 per week.

So it seems some if not all the flights are on sale, maybe some more surprises to come, HOWEVER appears Nice is not coming back after 23 Sept 08.
All in all seems like a decent operation, good to see Milan and Munich still on sale so must not be a disaster (Budapest). With EI and no doubt EZY doing bucket and spade routes, wonder will Jet2 pull Malaga, as currently not on sale for summer 09...

[NWSRG]

Flew again with EI over the weekend to and from LHR...load factors seemed strong (80%+ at a guess), and I paid £200 for my wife and I...

Have to say that both EZY and FR were cheaper, but not by much...add in the fact that the tube to central London was £4 compared to £20 from STN or LGW, and that EI give you a proper seat, and it becomes a simple choice.

BMI were more expensive (although again there wasn't much in it)...but when both BMI and EI flights home were cancelled on Sunday night (weather delays) it was EI who were putting people up in a hotel...BMI passengers were apparently being left to fend for themselves...

I've always been happy to fly EZY, utterly determined not to fly with FR, and now keen to choose EI first!

[BFS101]

I've always been happy to fly EZY, utterly determined not to fly with FR, and now keen to choose EI first!

Amen to that lol...