BRISTOL - 4
Join Date: Jan 2005
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Shame to lose LH, but I guess there will be some casualties at BRS before things get better, I find it strange how BA made FRA work and LH can't, I would have thought using a smaller aircraft could of been worth a try as BA used a EMB 145 on the route.
However I wont miss the crew, in one word....Arrogant! But thats just my opinion.
However I wont miss the crew, in one word....Arrogant! But thats just my opinion.
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Somerset
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LH
I have to agree with MV that I can't help but think that possibly a smaller aircraft should have been used, a la BACON...Something along the lines of a 50 seater.
Does anyone else also think that the way the local news promoted the demise of the route, due to the fact it was aimed at the 'business traveller' was not too helpful? I can't help but think that if that was the way they saw it, how did joe public see it?
Only a few weeks ago, I was made aware that LF was getting better and on some occasions a larger A319/737 was used, not sure when though. Certainly from a leisure traveller perspective, there was a big push going to be made in the SW area to promote the route even more.
It is shame they only gave it a year...I would have thought they may have tried to stick it out a bit longer even if it mean't a smaller a/craft. If BACON were able to operate the route without the benefit of connections, why did it not work with LH?
May be BMI posting a massive loss, just after LH made a purchase, could have been one of the reasons why the route could also have been chopped?...
I wonder if they are still thinking of operating the DUS-NYQ service this summer..
Does anyone else also think that the way the local news promoted the demise of the route, due to the fact it was aimed at the 'business traveller' was not too helpful? I can't help but think that if that was the way they saw it, how did joe public see it?
Only a few weeks ago, I was made aware that LF was getting better and on some occasions a larger A319/737 was used, not sure when though. Certainly from a leisure traveller perspective, there was a big push going to be made in the SW area to promote the route even more.
It is shame they only gave it a year...I would have thought they may have tried to stick it out a bit longer even if it mean't a smaller a/craft. If BACON were able to operate the route without the benefit of connections, why did it not work with LH?
May be BMI posting a massive loss, just after LH made a purchase, could have been one of the reasons why the route could also have been chopped?...
I wonder if they are still thinking of operating the DUS-NYQ service this summer..
Last edited by 2J&D; 3rd Apr 2009 at 14:09. Reason: WATABENCH bet me too it by a minute..Nice to see some of us thinking the same though!
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Bristol
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I think it was due to BMI's losses.... either that or a falling out with BRS management.
It does not make sense to only run the route for a year and not even scale down to something smaller than a 100- seater aircraft if LF was poor. That's a lot of marketing money and administration costs lost by scrapping the BRS base.
It does not make sense to only run the route for a year and not even scale down to something smaller than a 100- seater aircraft if LF was poor. That's a lot of marketing money and administration costs lost by scrapping the BRS base.
Join Date: May 2005
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However I wont miss the crew, in one word....Arrogant! But that's just my opinion.
In respect of smaller a/craft, I don't know if that would have been feasible, or (if costs were the problem) a real cost saver. Remember that LH were overnighting two crews every night.
I understand there may be some fleet issues, which mean that smaller a/craft (or even the existing a/craft) wouldn't be available. And it certainly didn't warrant a 737-5, except on a few rare occasions.
One year wasn't long enough, and I doubt that was in anyone's plans to make a pull decision after a year. But something happened, which we'll never know the detail of.
Really only posting here because I have used this (to be no longer) service 5 times in the past year.
Personally I thought the Eurowings (LH) cabin crew as good (and bad) as just about everyone else. I would say the majority of pax on teh flights I was on was predominately for leisure.
My biggest issue was that the LH booking system always made the fares to be excessive (especially with connections) and it ws easier and cheaper to fly from the big place london way.
Lufthansa has a history of flights being introduced from the regions and subsequently dropping them...going back a few years I remember fairly good loads on Glasgow-Dusseldorf and Glasgow-Frankfurt. Both were lost for one reason or another.
Price is a main driver and convenience is certainly a factor but in my opinion not the overall decision maker. I can never understand why flying from the regions costs more than from London. A prime example is using Continental ex Glasgow and most likely ex BRS. It costs more than flying from Heathrow.
Nivsy.
Personally I thought the Eurowings (LH) cabin crew as good (and bad) as just about everyone else. I would say the majority of pax on teh flights I was on was predominately for leisure.
My biggest issue was that the LH booking system always made the fares to be excessive (especially with connections) and it ws easier and cheaper to fly from the big place london way.
Lufthansa has a history of flights being introduced from the regions and subsequently dropping them...going back a few years I remember fairly good loads on Glasgow-Dusseldorf and Glasgow-Frankfurt. Both were lost for one reason or another.
Price is a main driver and convenience is certainly a factor but in my opinion not the overall decision maker. I can never understand why flying from the regions costs more than from London. A prime example is using Continental ex Glasgow and most likely ex BRS. It costs more than flying from Heathrow.
Nivsy.
Join Date: May 2005
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I always found LH's fares to be identical ex-BRS, ex-BHX, ex-LHR (with the exception of the small fiasco at the beginning where they hadn't properly loaded fares, and it was returning crazy prices). In almost every case, the cost was driven by the "other leg" (aka FRA-XXX), not the ex-BRS bit.
What was, and still is, painful is LH's YQ. At one point it was £32 per sector, and it's still in the high £20s now. And nearly all flights ex-BRS are 4 sector flights.
As an example, a BRS-FRA-INN flight on LH consisted of about £100 fare, and £176 in taxes, of which £128 was fuel surcharge. The fare + airport taxes made it a viable option over the EZY flight, but the fuel surcharge killed it. A similar problem with long-haul, although not quite as acute.
YQ is a horridly blunt tool, and many people complain that LH's is out of line with the market. It may be that they can command that where they are established, but it certainly hurt when trying to compete against KL/AF.
As for CO - the fares ex-BRS are identical to those ex-LHR. They may have more competition ex-LHR, so the lower fare buckets don't sell out as fast, but it's still a better deal flying from BRS. (I've got great fares for June).
What was, and still is, painful is LH's YQ. At one point it was £32 per sector, and it's still in the high £20s now. And nearly all flights ex-BRS are 4 sector flights.
As an example, a BRS-FRA-INN flight on LH consisted of about £100 fare, and £176 in taxes, of which £128 was fuel surcharge. The fare + airport taxes made it a viable option over the EZY flight, but the fuel surcharge killed it. A similar problem with long-haul, although not quite as acute.
YQ is a horridly blunt tool, and many people complain that LH's is out of line with the market. It may be that they can command that where they are established, but it certainly hurt when trying to compete against KL/AF.
As for CO - the fares ex-BRS are identical to those ex-LHR. They may have more competition ex-LHR, so the lower fare buckets don't sell out as fast, but it's still a better deal flying from BRS. (I've got great fares for June).
Join Date: Dec 2006
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Interestingly, I can't think of another UK airport with the same mix of traffic as BRS. Think LHR (Business), LGW (Leisure), STN (LCC), MAN (no LCC), BHX (little LCC), EDI (no LCC). It will take work to get people to understand BRS = Business + Leisure + LCC.
Also Edinburgh has Ryanair and Jet2 and Easyjet and flyglobespan so that airport certainly has LCC
Lufthansa
Lufthansa are a masive airline group and at the end of the day they fly to & from where ever there is money to be made, the number of pax flown is only a part of the story- as i'm afraid these days its all about yield.... making money.
LH have tried several flights from regional airports in the last few years and if they don't make money they stop.
BHX my local airport they tried Hamburg (at very poor flight times) that lasted less than 1 season, also tried Cologne (with LH & German wings)
I do think Berlin to BHX would of been a route to try that would make money.........
so i'm afarid at the end of the day all airports are going to have flights that start & stop... if its not making an airline money why operate ?
LH have tried several flights from regional airports in the last few years and if they don't make money they stop.
BHX my local airport they tried Hamburg (at very poor flight times) that lasted less than 1 season, also tried Cologne (with LH & German wings)
I do think Berlin to BHX would of been a route to try that would make money.........
so i'm afarid at the end of the day all airports are going to have flights that start & stop... if its not making an airline money why operate ?
Join Date: May 2005
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if its not making an airline money why operate ?
To illustrate my earlier point on YQs. I have to get to HAJ next month, and was on the verge of booking BRS-FRA-HAJ. I'm now looking at BRS-BRU-HAJ (but the connection times are very poor). The fare is £102, the 3rd party taxes are £76, and the fuel surcharge is... £107.60 (the most expensive component). Total, £286 (and not great flight times - 3/4 hour layovers in BRU).
So it looks like BD ex LHR is a viable option, at £237 and direct flights at the right times.
Join Date: May 2005
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To give credit where credit is due. I called LH Reservations to do all the necessary rebookings, and the agent was properly briefed about the route suspension.
He efficiently and quickly processed all the re-routings, including the tricky one that ended up as a double-open-jaw (as SN don't like flying on Saturdays).
Still hoping that LH can tweak their long-haul fares to allow BRU as a routing....
He efficiently and quickly processed all the re-routings, including the tricky one that ended up as a double-open-jaw (as SN don't like flying on Saturdays).
Still hoping that LH can tweak their long-haul fares to allow BRU as a routing....
Join Date: Apr 2007
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tommorow the inbound lourdes flight arriving at 1705 is showing on the arrivals screens as hv8228, but on the mayfly as ble 823. which do you think is correct? i know that blue line did the departing flights but if its the first flight number then does this mean Transavia is operating the flight?
Join Date: May 2005
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Bristol Airport to be Sold.
According to the Sunday Times, Macquarie has sounded out potential bidders including Fortis which recently bought Belfast George Best airport.
According to the Sunday Times, Macquarie has sounded out potential bidders including Fortis which recently bought Belfast George Best airport.
I will be interesting to see how a new owner pursues the airport expansion plan.
Brunel to Concorde
Join Date: Mar 2003
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BRS sale
This was alluded to in this thread in early March when Times Online first reported that Macquarie was anxious to offload some of its assets, with BRS stated to be a likely candidate.
The latest Times Online report suggests the price of the airport will have fallen for two main reasons: lots of assets being put onto the market at the moment and the dramatic fall in passenger numbers over the past few months.
Assuming the airport is sold, the new owner may be content to let the planning applications continue. They are likely to take a long time to be determined, with a public enquiry/appeals/legal challenges likely. If the final decison was in the airport's favour the world economic situation might be better in a couple of years' time.
The one small comfort for passengers is that the drop in numbers means there will be a little bit more room in the terminal this summer at the busy times, and it might be a year or two before numbers build again to a level where a terminal expansion is extremely desirable.
The latest Times Online report suggests the price of the airport will have fallen for two main reasons: lots of assets being put onto the market at the moment and the dramatic fall in passenger numbers over the past few months.
Assuming the airport is sold, the new owner may be content to let the planning applications continue. They are likely to take a long time to be determined, with a public enquiry/appeals/legal challenges likely. If the final decison was in the airport's favour the world economic situation might be better in a couple of years' time.
The one small comfort for passengers is that the drop in numbers means there will be a little bit more room in the terminal this summer at the busy times, and it might be a year or two before numbers build again to a level where a terminal expansion is extremely desirable.
Join Date: Aug 2007
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According to their web timetable, Teleticket's very limited seasons to Paphos, Lanzarote and Gran Canaria will be operated by bmi, and the more extensive Tenerife South programme by Air Europa.
Join Date: May 2005
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10 days to go on the FRA route. I must admit, I've been on a couple of 100% flights, and even got bumped to C on one of them. But the majority I've been on have been in the 35-45 people range.
I sense that traffic wasn't the only reason for the route being suspended, and it seems as if there's some desire to bring it back on LH's part, although whether good sentiments are backed with action remains to be seen. I wonder if fleet availability also influenced the decision, and whether there simply weren't the right aircraft of the right type available? (Bearing in mind the LH have "borrowed" some A319's from BD to run Lufthansa Italia).
I sense that traffic wasn't the only reason for the route being suspended, and it seems as if there's some desire to bring it back on LH's part, although whether good sentiments are backed with action remains to be seen. I wonder if fleet availability also influenced the decision, and whether there simply weren't the right aircraft of the right type available? (Bearing in mind the LH have "borrowed" some A319's from BD to run Lufthansa Italia).