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Old 8th Jan 2016, 18:51
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2015

Bristol Airport reports record year | Bristol Airport

Bristol Airport reports a record year that handled 6.76 million passengers an increase of 7.7% on 2014.

The airport expects in excess of 7 million in 2016.
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Old 15th Jan 2016, 23:23
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EI increase DUB from 17 to 20 weekly next summer.
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Old 15th Jan 2016, 23:26
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Originally Posted by EI-A330-300
EI increase DUB from 17 to 20 weekly next summer.
That's good news EI.
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Old 17th Jan 2016, 07:50
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Just out of interest, does anyone know how the bookings for WOW are going, a good point for the skiing comunity in the southwest where there is no snow in europe, then this new low cost service should entice them on to this route for cheap onward travel to Canada for skiers paradise with gaurateed snow, but we will see.

Just hope the Canada-Bristol curse does not appear again, as every airline that has operated Canada - Bristol has ceased operations during their second season. hopefully the Canada - Bristol gremlin will get off in Kef and the route will live long and prosper.

SO SKIERS BOOK ON THIS ROUTE AND SAVE SOME MONEY AND HAVE FUN IN THE SNOW. AND AS THEY SAY USE IT OR LOOSE IT !!
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Old 18th Jan 2016, 19:50
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NYC

Can't answer that one c j, although the BRS CEO, Robert Sinclair, was on BBC Radio Bristol this morning and put in a plug for WOW.

It's a two and a half hour long news programme first thing in the morning and I wasn't quite sure why the CEO came on as his interview was obviously by telephone and lasted no more than a couple of minutes.

It seems that Simon Calder had been on the programme before I tuned in and had made some comments about WOW's fares and the chances of BRS reinstating a NYC service. I presume the CEO was brought on to rebut something that ubiquitous travel journalist had said.

What the CEO did say was that he was still confident that a NYC service would be obtained in the next year or so. That's fine as far as it goes but last April a BRS spokesman said in an article published on the web regarding NYC that, “We believe we came very close to securing the route last year for this summer but missed out to another airport. We are very confident that this year will be different and we will be able to bring non-stop connectivity to the New York and wider US market directly from Bristol Airport in 2016,”

Discussions were said at that time to be at an 'advanced stage' for the return of a NYC service in 2016.

The CEO also spoke this morning of transatlantic flights to holiday destinations in a year or so.

I still have the feeling that airlines are waiting to see if APD is to be devolved to Wales. Until the Westminster government makes a decision one way or the other the matter might remain in limbo. Scotland only got APD devolved to their government as part of a package to try to prevent their voters opting for independence. There is not a similar imperative for Wales so the matter may be allowed to drift until a way is found not to disadvantage English airports too much (if there is a way which at the moment seems unclear).
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Old 19th Jan 2016, 07:48
  #2846 (permalink)  
 
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NYC

“We believe we came very close to securing the route last year for this summer but missed out to another airport. We are very confident that this year will be different and we will be able to bring non-stop connectivity to the New York and wider US market directly from Bristol Airport in 2016,”


I wonder if that was AA who started BHX-JFK flights last year? Hopefully you will see New York back on the departure screens at BRS soon!
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Old 19th Jan 2016, 09:27
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In relation to the comment about a New York service, you would have to wonder will Norwegian start to appear on routes ex the UK for some long haul services that have been marginal for the big US carriers. With a lower cost base these routes could prove commercially attractive to the likes of Norwegian.??


Obviously subject to aircraft availability etc. But could 737-800 do a Bristol New York routing nonstop?


EI-BUD
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Old 19th Jan 2016, 09:59
  #2848 (permalink)  
 
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"I wonder if that was AA who started BHX-JFK flights last year? Hopefully you will see New York back on the departure screens at BRS soon!"


I suspect it was more likely United's NCL-EWR route personally that was the main competition, but


UA = EWR - NCL
AA = JFK - BHX
AA = JFK - EDI


...all could have been the competition!
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Old 19th Jan 2016, 17:22
  #2849 (permalink)  
 
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Obviously subject to aircraft availability etc. But could 737-800 do a Bristol New York routing nonstop?
A 737-800 can barely do Bristol-Canary Islands non-stop with unfavourable airport and en-route weather conditions.
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Old 19th Jan 2016, 18:19
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MXP

Worth noting that the BM MXP service it not on sale beyond 21 March; all other BM routes are on sale until the end of October so can only assume this route will cease to operate after that date...

Is it only a matter of time before EZY eyes this route to take on FR BGY?

In the meantime, notably, the CWL BE service has gone to 4 x weekly during the summer.
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Old 19th Jan 2016, 19:40
  #2851 (permalink)  

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A 737-800 can barely do Bristol-Canary Islands non-stop with unfavourable airport and en-route weather conditions.
Ryanair operates at least 6 x weekly from BRS to the Canaries with B 737-800s and have been for a number of years. Do they have problems at times? I haven't heard on the grapevine that it's a major issue for them.

Worth noting that the BM MXP service it not on sale beyond 21 March; all other BM routes are on sale until the end of October so can only assume this route will cease to operate after that date...

Is it only a matter of time before EZY eyes this route to take on FR BGY?

In the meantime, notably, the CWL BE service has gone to 4 x weekly during the summer.
In 2008 and 2009 Ryanair and easyJet did go head to head on daily flights to BGY and MXP respectively. easyJet then pulled out and Ryanair gradually reduced BGY to the point where it's now just a 3 x weekly summer service.

MXP is a route that I'm very surprised easyJet has not brought back. They introduced Basel this winter at 4 x weekly (2 x weekly in January) then back to 4 x weekly at the beginning of February and on through the summer. Stats suggest that the route is not up to easyJet's usual BRS loads, and whenever I've looked fares have not been expensive either.

Venice which easyJet is bringing back in March at 4 x weekly (using Venice-based aircraft) was flown until 2009. It will go against Ryanair's version of Venice at Treviso which would be a similar scenario if easyJet flew MXP against Ryanair's BGY.
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Old 19th Jan 2016, 20:07
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Ryanair operates at least 6 x weekly from BRS to the Canaries with B 737-800s and have been for a number of years. Do they have problems at times? I haven't heard on the grapevine that it's a major issue for them.
It's not common, but certainly not unheard of to have tech stops in Portugal. Strong head winds en route and a high load, coupled with a low QNH, wet runway and reasonably high temperature (>15 celcius) in Bristol can limit performance. Non-standard take off configurations (bleeds off/flap 25) to reduce runway distance required are certainly not uncommon on the Canaries routes.

But that's what happens when you build a short runway on the top of a hill.
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Old 19th Jan 2016, 21:17
  #2853 (permalink)  

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Many thanks.

Bristol hasn't had a lot of luck, or perhaps lack of foresight is more accurate, with its airport sites. Whitchurch that served the nation so well in WW2 closed in the mid 1950s because the city council decided it was too small for future types of aircraft.

So what did they do? Bought a former RAF station, which was by then a glider club, on a small site on top of a mist-laden hill that stored up exactly the same problems for future generations that led them to close Whitchurch.

And just across the city was a works aerodrome that possessed most things that Lulsgate lacks. It doesn't any more of course.

The fact that BRS/EGGD is thriving makes many wonder if it would not be even more successful if it had become FZO/EGTG.
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Old 19th Jan 2016, 21:31
  #2854 (permalink)  
 
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Is BRS possibly hindering the chance of a direct NYC link by attracting WOW?

WOW will surely want to feed it's long haul network, rather than just have 3x weekly KEF service. In my eyes this would be direct competition against a NYC route. Most carriers that would be suitable for BRS-NYC would be offering onward connections, not just direct NYC. Granted those carriers (AA/UA/US) would offer many more connections than WOW, but would this dilute the service? Bearing in mind EI also offer the same.
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Old 19th Jan 2016, 22:36
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The fact that BRS/EGGD is thriving makes many wonder if it would not be even more successful if it had become FZO/EGTG.
Almost certainly. Long haul from Lulsgate isn't sustainable with the payload restrictions or fuel stops that hindered the previous attempts. With Filton's long runway, the EWR route and TOM's bucket and spade services would've almost certainly survived. Far superior ground transport connections would've only bolstered this further. It's a shame, but that's UK politics.
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Old 19th Jan 2016, 22:49
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NYC

My bet is that the discussion was with UA on resuming EWR-BRS, and we did lose out to NCL.

I'm still sceptical that direct TATL can become a bedrock service from BRS. There's so much competition across the Atlantic from BRS (KL/DL via AMS, EI/AA via DUB, BM/LH via FRA, SN/UA via BRU), plus now WOW via KEF, and of course competition against BRS from other similar sized airports in Europe wanting a direct US flight.

It's a nice headline service to have, but from a traveller's point of view, if I want to get to anywhere else in the US other than NYC, it's probably easier via AMS/DUB/FRA/BRU and then direct over the Atlantic rather than connecting at EWR (assuming it's BRS-EWR) and being constrained to UA metal.

I loved flying BRS-EWR (from the first flight to the last flight), but I wouldn't want to bring it back at the expense of richer connections into Europe, or have it wilt as it did last time. (Although the upgrade opportunities were always excellent).
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Old 20th Jan 2016, 08:59
  #2857 (permalink)  
 
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Checking prices recently, I found WOW ultra-competitive on LAX and SFO in summer. Also, the short connection times made it a very viable option.
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Old 20th Jan 2016, 16:58
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As soon as Continental gained access to LHR, which they didn't have when they commenced their EWR-BRS route in 2005, I always wondered how long the Bristol route would remain. In effect it was shifted 100 miles east along the M4 to become the fifth daily CO LHR-EWR rotation at that time. They moved their LGW-EWR to LHR even before they moved the BRS route.

So far as I'm aware the CO B 757-200s always made it non-stop to EWR without the need of an en route fuel stop. Whether that was at the expense of load restrictions I don't know. If it was and was a regular occurrence it seems odd that CO ever started the route and continued to operate it for five and a half years.

The BRS master plan now nearly a decade old accepted (and still accepts?) that there was (still is?) no demand for a large network of long haul scheduled routes suggesting that four might be the limit, with three to the USA and the fourth to the Middle East. Long haul charter routes were a different proposition and the airport then put its hopes on the (then in production) B 787 and A 350.

Bristol as a city and city region region is one of the most prosperous and economically successful in the UK and has managed this with no direct long haul air connectivity (other than the former EWR route) from its local airport. It can be argued that its residents are already spoilt for choice: one of the world's biggest airports is 90-105 minutes away; the local airport certainly punches above its weight given its physical size and remote location with an abundance of short haul offerings and links to several nearby European hubs; BHX is 80-90 miles along the M5 with a growing list of long haul routes and carriers; there are smaller airports at CWL, EXT and SOU (and BOH if it gets its act together) within reach if, for whatever reason, none of the other airports mentioned fits a particular bill.

I'm certainly not knocking the idea of the return of a NYC route. It would undoubtedly be useful for some but would it be a game changer for the local economy which as I've already pointed out isn't doing at all badly compared with many other areas of the country? I remain to be convinced.

I endorse B_T's view that a NYC service is fine for the New York area but there are often better options to fly from the Bristol area to other parts of the USA. Like B_T my son sometimes used the CO service when he had business in New York but at other times he drove to LHR to fly direct to other US cities as he found this to be more efficient.

BRS is exceptionally good at what it does best: connecting with Europe and just beyond. B_T makes a valid point about not wanting a NYC area service brought back 'at the expense of richer connections into Europe'.

Is BRS possibly hindering the chance of a direct NYC link by attracting WOW?
I don’t think that any airline looking at a direct service would be put off by WOW’s presence any more than KLM etc with their transatlantic hub connections put off CO.

However, when I heard the WOW news my first thought was that the direct NYC route confidently predicted for 2016 had taken a step or two backwards, at least in timescale.
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Old 20th Jan 2016, 17:06
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MV

Rarely do I read such good analysis in a posting on PPRuNe!

Congratulations. Shame many posters on other AH&N threads aren't so objective!
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Old 20th Jan 2016, 19:38
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If you go back to the late Go/easyJet days (2001/2002) BRS and NCL were similar airports in terms of size and range of airlines - from memory pax numbers were very similar.

Since then they have diverged, based largely on the relative success (or otherwise) of the regional economies.

The fact that NCL has attracted Emirates and United, and also has slightly stronger links to European hubs strengthens the argument that it is BRS proximity to LHR/BHX that is impacting on long haul growth (though the physical constraints also play a part), because in most other aspects BRS has powered ahead (OK, maybe not in football related traffic )
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