BRISTOL - 4

[WATABENCH]

Thanks MV, Yeh it must of been your post the regarding GVA very interesting, I thought you may pick up on my CWL posting, I knew you would put me correct if I forgot anything, It was more a posting NOT to knock our pals over the bridge, but to merely point out that there is a thriving ski market in BRS, whereas a poster on there had said there was virtually no ski market in the uk?? a very bold and some what confused statement given the volume of ski going through the region, you may agree?

Heard a funny rumour at work, apparently TOM are basing 3 x 767 at BRS this summer, it did make me chuckle, that would be the day

[2J&D]

CO New Seats

Hi All

Well for those interested I managed to get to try the BF seats last night and I have to say, they are very good.

I am fortunate to have been able to travel BF to EWR and the 'old seat' was very comfortable, however the new seats are so much nicer. In Summary:

Lie Flat and not angled to the ground
Larger TV than previously
Proper Duvet as opposed to just a scratchy blanket!
Lots more storage space than previously
Various plugs etc for laptops / ipods etc
Various positions for the seat i.e not just seated / flat. Which is great as it offers a lot of comfort options

Generally, this will make whole BF experience so much nicer, from a comfort point of view than previously. They are ever so slightly angled to wards the window from what I could make out, and there will still be 16 seats on the 75's. It may mean the aisle is a little smaller, however as meal service is personalised, I do not see a problem.

They are being progressively fitted to all 757's and it is nice to report that BRS has already had the seats on one of it scheduled services! So it seems that those booked in BF could possibly be fortunate to have the seats in the future. I believe it is going to take approx 2 year to complete.

With the addition of the new seats, and with PTV's in Economy I really cannot see the reason why the CO service does not continue to expand and grow. It offers such a great service for regional departures and I suggest anyone who has not tried it yet whether BF or Economy does give it a try! (and no I dont work for CO!)

MV - in answer to your question, these seats will also be installed on the the 777's as well. Not too sure about the 767's but unless there is an increase in the demand for the BF cabin, then BRS should be safe with a 757 anyway.

Also, as you are aware they had a 'few' problems last week and there were 2 departures from BRS last Saturday...To top it all the check in process had to be done manually as the systems went down...By all accounts a fun day was had by all (not!)

Thanks

[santito]

Are we actually still seeing steady growth on the EWR route? I don't think the November 2009 figures were too great TBH....

Also surprised how empty the AF service usually is.... On Friday, there were only about 25 of us going CDG- BRS on the 16:20.... Is it just the time of year, or is this normal?

[bristolflyer]

The new seats have already been fitted to the 777. I was due to fly out from BRS to Miami via Newark just before Christmas when Newark was closed due to snow. I was rebooked via Houston from Heathrow. The service on that 777 flight was excellent. The new lie flat seat was extremely comfortable. Much more so than Club World on BA. I'm 6'4" and had no problems lying flat on the Continental seat. In Club World I can't. The new seat is also in a 22 formation. I actually prefer having them this way rather than the isolation of single pods on Virgin and BA. The return flight to Bristol in early Jan was probably 85% full. The service was very good, but with the new beds it will offer a vast improvement to the cabin environment. The new seats are being fitted to the 777 first and then across the 757 fleet. I don't believe they will be fitted to the 767, due to the arrival of the 787 in a couple of years.

[MerchantVenturer]

CO BF seats and EWR route

Thanks 2J&D and bristolflyer for information re seats.

I know people who have used the EWR route in BF and most have been very satisfied. Economy reports seem to vary and much appears to depend on the quality of the cabin crew on the day from what I've heard, though there are some who will always complain about flying the Atlantic in a narrow-bodied aircraft.

santito,

You mentioned the progress of the EWR route and my thoughts, based on publicly available figures and one or two other sources, are these. I don't claim infallibility and would be interested to learn anything that contradicts the below.

The CO EWR route will reach its 5th anniversary in May this year.

Total passenger numbers (to the nearest thousand) for each of the four complete calendar years of its operation are:

2006 84,000
2007 93,000
2008 90,000
2009 83,000

The first three months of 2009 showed poor figures but that can be explained at least in part by the teeth of the recession and fewer rotations, especially in January when some weeks saw only two or three.

The main summer months were surprisingly good with August 2009 seeing the highest monthly passenger figures since the route's inception – 9,622: 88.5% load factor.

From the middle of September the rotations were reduced to six per week from daily (no Wednesdays) and, perhaps perversely, that month saw the highest monthly load factor of the route's history at 91.5%.

November saw only 18 rotations, with the usual 5 x weekly reduced to two around Thanksgiving, so the 4,925 passenger figures meant a monthly load factor of 78%.

December saw a similar number of rotations with only two being flown in the period from just before Christmas to New Year's Eve resulting in a monthly load factor of around 81%.

Rotations were reduced to 4 x weekly for January and February 2010 (no Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays) and I believe that after a good start to January the remainder of the month and the first part of February saw disappointing loads, though the four days of the current long weekend seem to have done well on the outbound legs to Newark – no doubt the half-term effect.

Figures for January should be published this week.

I remember Paul Kehoe, during his short tenure as CEO of BRS, urging the business community to use the route or lose it. Obviously the recession hasn't helped but I still have the feeling that businesses in the area aren't supporting the route in the way many said they would when it was being touted – but that sort of thing is not specific to BRS.

I mention the usual caveat about loads not necessarily equating to good or bad yields.

[MUFC_fan]

We always seem to go on about how the load factor is irrelevant for the airline, it is the revenue it can make from it. This is so much more important for routes such as this.

There can only be a 50% load factor yet if J is full and they are all flying onto, say, LAX, then CO is laughing, opposed to 100% staying in NYC.

The beauty of a hub system - if they get the transfer passengers...

[santito]

MUFC_fan

I guess this is why Air France keeps runnnig the ATR72 with loads of around 30-ish- just for transfer pax?

Loads better than I thought.... Based on that alone I guess we don't need to worry about CO dropping the service?
I did see November on the CAA site, but didn't realise there were so few actual rotations in that month... Explains the figures.

Thanks

[MUFC_fan]

I guess this is why Air France keeps runnnig the ATR72 with loads of around 30-ish- just for transfer pax?

Most likely, yes. Say 50% transfer: 15 people. If say, 5 people are on J/F flying long haul from CDG - then those 5 pretty much cover the cost of the flight...

[Standard Noise]

162 on the outbound Conti this morning, seesm like a grand load to me.

As for Air France, I thought the French govt covered their costs.

[andrew1968]

January 2010 Stats

Looking at the provisional stats for January again BIA seems to have done pretty well considering the weather related cancellations.

Jan 2010

Pax: 323,496 Down 0.3% on Jan 2009

The only major regional airport to record positive growth was Liverpool with an increase of 7.9%

On the Continental BRS - EWR route this seemed ok, Jan 2010 4,207 down 1% on the 4,234 in Jan 2009. So with the reduced freq this year the route has held up well.

Overall BIA has done well, I think we may just move into positve territory in Feb'10

[MerchantVenturer]

January 2010 passenger figures

A creditable performance, especially as it was achieved without a significant increase in flights. In fact, atms were down 2.4 % on January 2009.

CEO Robert Sinclair is quoted in the press that passenger numbers would have been up around 5% over January 2009 had the severe weather not intervened.

He also spoke about continued growth throughout 2010 "with the summer potentially our busiest ever".

CO to EWR

Further to the recent discussion on the BRS EWR route, the BRS website carries an item today regarding another promotion of the route jointly by the airline and airport in the South West and South Wales that mentions around 50% per cent of passengers having a destination beyond Newark.

[bravoromeosierra]

Charter flight- October 2005

Just hoping to jog someones memory.. I flew from BRS to Zakinthos (ZTH) in October 2005 with MyTravel. I remember flying out on a certain day and flew back the same day two weeks later. I think the flight numbers were MYT1725 and MYT1726 respectively.

Could anyone remember, and perhaps confirm the day I may have departed? Thanks!

[MerchantVenturer]

Charter flights October 2005

Haven't got the flight numbers but there were four weekly charter flights to Zakinthos then: FCA on Tuesdays and Thursdays; MYT on Thursdays; XLA on Sundays.

So it looks as though your travel day was a Thursday - the inbound was scheduled back at BRS at 1715.

Airport Flyer

BRS has announced major improvements to the Flyer service.

From 4 April it will run at ten-minute intervals, increased from every fifteen minutes, for the main part of each day.

Route numbers will become A1 and A2 and the former 330 route to Clifton via Temple Meads and the bus/coach station will terminate at the Triangle, Clifton instead of travelling all along Whiteladies Road as is the current practice. The route around the central area will be amended in order to serve more city centre hotels.

Over £2 million is being spent on twelve new purpose-built Volvo buses that will feature leather seats, will be wheelchair accessible and equipped with free Wi-Fi and phone/laptop power points.

Passengers will be able to take luggage on board which will speed up the boarding process.

The current fleet of coaches, though for the most part no more than six years old, is beginning to look tired and luggage has to be loaded externally (usually by the passengers) into under floor compartments.

Six of the new buses will arrive in spring and the other six next year.

[bravoromeosierra]

Thanks for your help MV- you've been handy! Good news about the Flyer too.. I've taken it only the once, but its reasonably priced and was reliable.

Though I wonder if First or BIA will pay for the new buses.. or perhaps its a joint thing!

[LGS6753]

Guys,

Don't get too carried away by the thought of First providing new vehicles. They operate a route between Luton Airport Parkway station and the Airport, and made a huge fanfare a couple of years ago about the purpose-built, brand-new, traveller-friendly articulated buses they would be using. And sure enough, four brand new vehicles showed up, just to be moved away after about 18 months to another outpost of the First empire.

[MerchantVenturer]

The Flyer is operated for the airport by First Coaches. It's been running for over ten years with dedicated, airport-liveried 50-seat coaches.

The Flyer is more than a bus service. Because BRS has no rail connection, and is unlikely ever to get one, the Flyer is part of an integrated public transport system to the airport and it's possible to book through rail tickets to the airport from most stations in the country, through National Express tickets and through local bus tickets, with the last leg (first leg for inbound flights) on each using the Flyer.

I would be extremely surprised if the airport hasn't ensured the new buses will be for its exclusive use in its contract with First.

It cannot afford to have First playing fast and loose with the type of vehicle it uses.

[jerboy]

The Flyer's handy, although a little pricey I think (£7 single). Its just a shame that it has to crawl through Bedminster and up the A38: Its an 8 mile journey (according to google maps) that can, if you have to travel during rush hour, take up to 45 minutes.

I, for one, would like to see other options to the airport. First has the monopoly, as it does with most travel in Bristol. Have First signed an exclusive contract with BRS to serve the airport?

Although it does have its down points, it is clearly a vital service and its always good to see improvements.

[MerchantVenturer]

Hello jerboy,

Other options would be extremely difficult to achieve realistically.

The airport's major expansion planning application is due for hearing on 3 March and opposition is immense.

A main plank of the opponents' case is the reliance on private transport by airline passengers. In the 90s there was a mini bus link with Bristol that was infrequent. About ten years ago the airport apparently determined it would set about providing its own regular connection with the city, hence the Flyer.

At the time First Group owned a majority share in the airport with Bristol City Council having the minority share. That was probably why First Coaches was chosen as the operator of the Flyer, as a sort of inhouse venture perhaps. There was talk of a seamless transport interchange as First also own First Great Western, the main train company in the region.

First gave up all its interest in the airport in 2001 but the Flyer continued.

First does dominate Greater Bristol but the Rotala Group operating as Wessex Connect has an increasing presence in the city, including the operation of two park and rides and the city's night buses, so there could be another option if Rotala really wanted to become involved.

The airport has included section 106 payments in its planning application of £100,000 per annum to enhance the only other bus service (route 121) that accesses the airport. It's a meandering village tour between Bristol and Weston – the main bus routes between Bristol and Weston operate along the A370 and don't pass the airport. Route 121 is operated by First (except Sundays when a local company does the honours) but is two-hourly, doesn't contribute much to airport passenger numbers and was going to be withdrawn last year until the local authority stepped in with a subsidy.

The section 106 proposals also include contributions of over £5 million towards Bristol Rapid Transport Phase 1 and the South Bristol Link. Phase 1 could be in operation by 2013 and involves buses running from the Temple Meads area on dedicated tracks to Long Ashton near the proposed Bristol City football stadium for much of the route. There has been talk in the local Press that the Flyer would use this route and also part of the South Bristol Link. It would be further than the current route via Bedminster but, in theory, at least should be as quick and not subject to traffic delays.

I've used the Flyer several times in the past few months and the Temple Meads-Airport section has never taken more than 25 minutes. I've probably been lucky.

[santito]

Whilst SBAE would have an absolute fit, has there ever at any point in the airport's history been talk of extending the runway? Looking on Google Maps, there is at least 1000ft of land available off the 09 end before the coombe starts.

Approach lighting and so- on could be moved into the coombe area, and a small area cleared/ the lighting raised to ensure it is prominent.

I don't expect it to ever happen, as the opposition would be immense, and I don't think there is a good enough business case for it, but an extra 1000ft or so would put 09/27 at the same length as Newcastle, allowing aircraft such as the A330 and longer direct flights with the 767's.


I guess also the imminent arrival of the 787/ A350 means long- haul should soon be possible off our tiny strip of concrete?

[bristolflyer]

Santito, the extension of the runway was debated at length between the 70's and the early 90's. Of course during this time the airport was tiny compared to todays traffic and the cost and planning problems meant it wasn't considered viable. The main problem is that Feltham Common is protected common ground, i.e, anybody can graze their sheep on it, but not build a runway! Over the years various plans were forthcoming looking at a tunnel for the A38. The airport does own the ground immediately over the road. Some of the options were looked at in the expansion report. The most likely option would be a starter strip back to where the road is now thus not having to undertake a massive legal/PR battle for the Common. Clearly the view that has been taken by the airport is that the future lies in the 787, which is a fair one. The new 747 has about 15 orders and obviously the airport will never take an A380! So the general future is the 777 and the 787/A350. They have been assured by Boeing that the 787 will operate from the current runway direct to Florida/ Middle East. So there is little point in lengthening the current strip. I presume that Emirates/other middle eastern carriers will buy the 787/350 at some point as a replacement for the 330 which may open up those routes.