MANCHESTER - 8

[spannersatcx]

Don't get me wrong I would like to see a service to MAN, the question has been raised many times in HKG, can not due ......... many reasons/excuses!

All I'm saying is wait for this 'official announcement' remember it could also be not what you want. Having worked for CX many many years, I have learnt that until it actually arrives don't hold your breath.

Fingers crossed t goes ahead.

[learjet50]

This seems to be getting into a long winded debate re CX

2 Things to bear in mind

1/ There website for bookings in Oct Nov still sends you via LHR,I would have thought that would be the first thing to get it on.

2/ The woman at our Local Chineese knows nothing about it and she goes to HKG 2-3 times per year.


May the debate continue well into the day Gentlemen/Ladies.


Happy New year to all may we all keep debating in 2011 ( I Hope so)


Regards

Uncle Gezza

[Ian Brooks]

Not always the first place TAP announced the route to MAN a couple of weeks ago and it is still not bookable


Ian B

[StoneyBridge Radar]

It's fully bookable on the TAP website.

Rgds

[Ian Brooks]

Cheers Stoneybridge

[zfw]

All this chat about new routes etc etc.........and a really upbeat outlook from the Airlines.
But are they looking at it all through rose-tinted specs????

Try pricing up flights to the States and you will find that last years 300 quid flight is now 550-600, and indeed the Charter carriers{TCX TOM etc} are even more pricey................680 quid to Orlando and then the cost of bags and seats next to each other and food.

Im paying 245 quid for 2 to DLM on Easyjet, but on the same day in May JET2want 570............

I think its going to be a bad year for flying unless the taxes are reformed theres noway the public can afford these prices and if they do it will be the 1 holiday this year and not 2 or 3, figures are in constant slide and despite MAN posting for jobs with a figure of 22 million Pax a year the actual figure is 17.6 and descending fast..................16 million by the end of the year?.


Any way Happy New Year and hope im wrong.

zfw

[Nomoresteerage]

Not always the first place TAP announced the route to MAN a couple of weeks ago and it is still not bookable


Ian B

Just booked 2 adults, 1 child and an infant 1 way for less than BMIbaby wanted for 1 adult 1 way before bags! The price can't be sustainable (£157 for all) - but grab the good fares while you can.

NMS.

[Ringwayman]

zfw

Passenger numbers are increasing again - the moving annual total is 17.8 million. Two months ago it was 17.6 million passengers. Hardly "descending fast". It might not be the large increases that's attention grabbing but if steady growth is achieved then no-one will be complaining. All I suggest you do is look at the Traffic Statistics section in the Publications menu after clicking on the "About Us" on the MAN website so that you can keep tracks on how each sector is doing.

In addition, MAN is reporting the highest passenger throughput for the New Year period since 2006.

[Bagso]

zfw - But are they looking at it all through rose-tinted specs????

In Manchester case it is more about clawing back traffic that routes via LHR or other hubs and offering the option of a direct service, in that regard there is an awful lot to go at. The amount of passengers from the NW who use other hubs is disproportionate to the level of service that could be offered.

EK and other Middle East airlines have recognised this and hopefully CX now have as well !

[MUFC_fan]

Try pricing up flights to the States and you will find that last years 300 quid flight is now 550-600, and indeed the Charter carriers{TCX TOM etc} are even more pricey................680 quid to Orlando and then the cost of bags and seats next to each other and food.

Airlines alter fares all the time to match demand. If demand fall, fares will also. Maybe flights are already filling up?

Im paying 245 quid for 2 to DLM on Easyjet, but on the same day in May JET2want 570............

I have always found LS to be quite pricey but they always seem to have full planes! You should see some of the winter fares they charge to the Canaries!

[spannersatcx]

Didn't APD tax go up in Nov as well which will increase ticket prices even more!

[rutankrd]

Exchange rate , fuel prices and ADP , Oh and a need to MAKE a PROFIT to stay in business.

PROFIT is NOT a dirty word and if some marginal traffic with low/ negative margins are priced out so be it.
However do look for last minute prices especially in steerage/cattle classes.

[MUFC_fan]

need to MAKE a PROFIT to stay in business.

A general misconception. No company needs to make a profit to stay in business. They need to break even. To stay competitive they need to make a profit. However that competitive edge is sometimes more important than profit, certainly if an airline is sat on a couple of billion pounds/euros and in a recession.

[cyclops16]

Regarding APD. Has anyone read this mornings Daily Mail or Daily Mail on-line ? There is talk from the Transport Minister that when the APD gets reviewed that it may include variable rates with those in the South-East being hardest hit in an attempt to lessen congestion ( I presume both passengers and aircraft). It may work out to a slight advantage to us if our APD is cheaper than any of the main airports in the South-East. We will have to see what happens as obviously some airlines like to fly to and from the South-East especially LHR/LGW,but the travelling population that currently travel from the North via shuttles to LHR/LGW and then onwards could be hit with a higher rate of APD and the airlines will probably seriously have to look at the movement of people (Dermographics ?) and may see MAN as an option.

After the snow crippled Heathrow, new Government plans will make it more expensive to fly from London airports | Mail Online

[zfw]

Hardly "descending fast".

Alright a temporary lull as it is christmas............we were doing 22 million+ in 2007/8 we,ve lost nearly a fifth in 2 years, whereas Dubai was somewhere about the same as MAN at that point and is now in the mid 30s.

The tax effect in this country under the so-called green banner is completely stifling the road to growth, like i say i hope i am wrong but with what i am hearing from fellow collegues on travelling in the coming year there is a marked downturn on the number of holidays that people are taking which can only lead to less footfall through the many shops in all 3 Terminals.

zfw

[MUFC_fan]

Regarding APD. Has anyone read this mornings Daily Mail or Daily Mail on-line ? There is talk from the Transport Minister that when the APD gets reviewed that it may include variable rates with those in the South-East being hardest hit in an attempt to lessen congestion ( I presume both passengers and aircraft). It may work out to a slight advantage to us if our APD is cheaper than any of the main airports in the South-East. We will have to see what happens as obviously some airlines like to fly to and from the South-East especially LHR/LGW,but the travelling population that currently travel from the North via shuttles to LHR/LGW and then onwards could be hit with a higher rate of APD and the airlines will probably seriously have to look at the movement of people (Dermographics ?) and may see MAN as an option.

Although I agree that places such as LHR/LGW, that carry much more traffic than the likes of MAN/BHX should be paying more but if we take things into prospective - 66m passengers are going to be paying more (or say 33m who depart LHR) in total contributions than 20m or whatever from MAN.

I think if Theresa Villiers want to go down in history as a great ambassador for aviation which is what I believe the government representative should be - she should be talking to the airlines and understanding what THEY feel would be best. People's automatic reaction would be "well the airlines will say they don't want any tax" but I think, certainly the likes of U2, understand that there does need to be things in place regarding taxation but lets listen to how the airlines think it should operate - after all, they are the experts!

By increasing APD even further from London airports (personally I think they should stay the same and regions reduced instead of raising them) they are again decreasing the competitive edge of BA, VS and LHR.

Lets take BA for example: they have a state of the art terminal, up there with SIN and HKG in my opinion. They have one of the most diverse networks on the planet. They operate arguably the best business class on the planet and are a British icon. Why ruin that? Higher taxes mean higher fares and there is only so far companies and passengers will go to pay for premium services.

What happened to Cameron wanting to "open the UK for business?"

only lead to less footfall through the many shops in all 3 Terminals.

MAN is quite lucky in that is it one of the largest charter market airports in Europe, most likely the world. Package holiday passengers, myself included, are a funny breed. Have you ever seen the programme "Airline?" In the days of Britannia? One of the main characters was a rather camp chief cabin crew member (I forget his name). A man with years and years experience who said that those in the north would come back from holiday with, for example, £50 remaining and would ask on board - "what could I get for £50?!" Those in the south would come back with £50 and say "wow...I came back with £50." This suggests to me it would be the same in the terminal building...

[Ian Brooks]

MUFC fan
that must prove I`m a southerner as I always try and come back with a bit of money lol!!

I hope 2011 is a lot better than 2010 in many ways and may I wish
you all a very prosperous and happy 2011 and lets keep this forum a
great read and fun, love the banter but lets cut out the back biting which has appeared
at times

[Manchester Kurt]

With regards the Mail's article, when the new government came in they were asking for opinion from the population on all subjects, below is what I posted about air travel...

[ARCHIVED CONTENT] Transport | Programme for Government

Kurt Stephens says: 8 June 2010 at 7:43 amAirports
Like the other transport issues I have mentioned the government policy towards airline and airport regulation and taxation could be both beneficial economically to the less affluent parts of the country as well as improve the green credentials of the industry.
At present, if you wish to fly to most long haul destination in the world from the UK you have to go via London, Paris, Frankfurt….
Often the journey to get from the persons home city to the hub causes a huge amount of environmental damage as that journey is often by plane.
If government policy had a carrot and stick approach towards encouraging airlines to move more of their (often duplicated) long haul routes away from the crowded south east towards airports elsewhere in the UK (many of which have significant capacity to expand with no additional environmental damage) the policy would have multiple large benefits.
Firstly, environmentally, those pointless short hops (say from Manchester to London) could be greatly reduced. Why not encourage to move 25% of the long haul routes away from London (on routes where they operate more than 1 flight / day) through incentives and disincentives to continue forcing everyone in the UK to go via the South East – often causing unnecessary environmental damage in doing so.
Secondly, this will free up slots at Heathrow (taking away some of the shuttles to the regions) which can be used for more long haul flights which will be more beneficial to the economy of London.
Thirdly, having major destinations more accessible to the north of the country will only help businesses grow in these regions. What better way of helping the UK economy grow in the poorer parts of the country by trying to stimulate inward investment from other countries by connecting them much better.

[wanna_be_there]

Alright a temporary lull as it is christmas............we were doing 22 million+ in 2007/8

Pax figures have been going up for 2 months, so cant really attribute it all to 'christmas'

All this chat about new routes etc etc.........and a really upbeat outlook from the Airlines.
But are they looking at it all through rose-tinted specs????

Try pricing up flights to the States and you will find that last years 300 quid flight is now 550-600, and indeed the Charter carriers{TCX TOM etc} are even more pricey................680 quid to Orlando and then the cost of bags and seats next to each other and food.

But the thing is, people are still paying it. If these are the prices but airlines are still ADDING service, it shows people are still travelling. Look at 2011 new routes/increases, and there are plenty, and then look at dropped routes/frequencies, you will see the former seriously outbalances the latter. Surely they would not be adding if the outlook is as bad as you say.

[Ian Brooks]

When you actually look at the routes Manchester has lost in the last year or so
most seem to be airlines that are struggling or have gone bust and Ryanair ( need i say more).