CAMBRIDGE

[01475]

July:

Amsterdam 1055 -average 10 pax per flight (20%)
Dublin 1759 - average 16 pax per flight (33%)
Jersey 349 - average 44 pax per flight (¿this is an ATR42 so 92%?)
Verona 235 - average 29 pax per flight (59%)

I really thought AMS would get more pax than that. May and June had to be disasters because nobody had got a chance to find out the flights even existed before they started flying, but by July I thought things would be (if not wonderful) better than that.

On the other hand... I've booked a lot of flights and none of them from CBG.

Today I was looking at:

LGW <> TBS: £243.04, 08h00 out 08h00 back
STN <> TBS: £291.04, 10h55 out 10h35 back
LTN <> TBS: £365.68, 11h40 out 08h00 back
LHR <> TBS: £398.38, 10h25 out 07h50 back
LCY <> TBS: £402.91, 11h40 out, 14h25 back
NWI <> TBS: £507.79, 14h05 out, 10h10 back
CBG <> TBS: £552.50, 27:45 out, 10h40 back

The extra is something you might be willing to pay (a lot of the cheaper flights are Ukraine International Airlines) if it wasn't for the fact that the connections just don't work because of the wacky flight times between CBG and AMS :-( (And if you're flying to Georgia you're probably willing to take the chance of going via Ukraine.)

I'm noticing that the timetable seems to be changing in mid September, but I'm confused as to exactly what they're doing.

Based on the CityJet website the weekday timetable is going to be:

CBG-DUB 0910-1035, DUB-CBG 1105-1230
CBG-AMS 1125-1330, AMS-CBG 1400-1405
CBG-AMS 1355-1600, AMS-CBG 1640-1645
CBG-DUB 1715-1840, DUB-CBG 1910-2030

This doesn't make any sense at all.

The second rotation to AMS seemingly isn't actually bookable, which leaves us with:

CBG-DUB 0910-1035, DUB-CBG 1105-1230
CBG-AMS 1125-1330, AMS-CBG 1400-1405
CBG-DUB 1715-1840, DUB-CBG 1910-2030

Which... still doesn't make any sense?

[01475]

Amsterdam now down to one flight a day in late September / October in both the timetable and booking engine.

However the one flight is still at times that clash with the bookable two flights a day to Dublin, unless they are going to use two Cambridge based aircraft to run the reduced service :s

Am looking to book myself a day trip to Dublin, but am worried that the timetable for only just over two weeks from today doesn't look like what I believe they intend to fly.

[dc9-32]

With rail ticket prices on the increase again, would there be a market for something that resembled the old AIR UK routes from STN, such as CBG-EDI-GLA-CBG, say 3 times daily kicking off at 7am ? Fokker 50, or RJ85 would be ideal.

[stopbar]

Just motor up the shortly to be dualled new A11 to Norwich where there is a choice of 4 daily flights to Amsterdam and 3 daily flights to Edinburgh with minimal terminal hassle and parking alongside the terminal....

[Jet Set Willie]

Or even less time to Stansted or London City for multiple flights to the above

[Cyrano]

Originally Posted by 01475

Amsterdam now down to one flight a day in late September / October in both the timetable and booking engine.

However the one flight is still at times that clash with the bookable two flights a day to Dublin, unless they are going to use two Cambridge based aircraft to run the reduced service :s

Am looking to book myself a day trip to Dublin, but am worried that the timetable for only just over two weeks from today doesn't look like what I believe they intend to fly.

I'd guess the plan is to retime the morning CBG-DUB-CBG rotation about 90 minutes earlier, but perhaps they have a slot issue in Dublin? I can't believe that WX would really plan to use 2 aircraft for such a low-utilisation schedule.

[Nextprop]

I can't believe that WX would really plan to use 2 aircraft for such a low-utilisation schedule.

The two F.50s based at RTM operate fewer flights between them each day.

[01475]

With rail ticket prices on the increase again, would there be a market for something that resembled the old AIR UK routes from STN, such as CBG-EDI-GLA-CBG, say 3 times daily kicking off at 7am?

While this would be a dream come true for me, I don't think it could work. Train fares aren't *that* high. While lots of people do come to Cambridge, they come from lots of random places all over the place and not from anywhere in particular... which is why I really thought the AMS flights would work. However I do think they're doing them wrong because, as I say, I want to use them but so far haven't :-(

I am however now starting to see adverts for the flights around Cambridge, so hopefully that will help!

[01475]

Bookable flights for a week on Mon still require two aircraft. Confused :-s

[01475]

Timetable from tomorrow has now become a more understandable dropping of the afternoon rotation to AMS:

CBG-AMS 0600-0805, AMS-CBG 0835-0840
CBG-DUB 0910-1035, DUB-CBG 1105-1230
CBG-DUB 1700-1830, DUB-CBG 1900-2030

A confusing set of times; I can't imagine it offers so many connections through AMS on the way to CBG.

I presume it also means that people booked on the old afternoon flights have been given two changes in flight time, first a relatively minor one, and then to not-sensible o'clock in the morning.

Second AMS rotation is shown as coming back on 27 October.

[01475]

August:

Amsterdam: 1157 total, 11 average, 22% load
Dublin: 2093 total, 20 average, 40% load
Verona: 256 total, 26 average, 51% load
Jersey: 404 total, 40 average

Since they started:

May June July August
Amsterdam 10% 16% 20% 22%
Dublin 13% 20% 33% 40%

Dublin loads are really starting to get somewhere. We'll see whether one strangely timed flight a day will work for Amsterdam, but I'll have a fiver on no.

[LTNman]

City Jet services finish at the end of October.

[fjencl]

cityjet

CityJet to axe flights from Cambridge | Anglia - ITV News

[01475]

This is a shame. Nobody else will touch the airport after two attempts, both of which have seemed misguided and poorly advertised.

[NickBarnes]

Sadly that's the end of scheduled services from CBG for the foreseeable future, few charters yes but just can't see much more.

[Global_Global]

both of which have seemed misguided and poorly advertised.

In the case of Oxford I agree on the advertising. This one just is a catchment area thing: I tended to fly in to STN for less than half the price and with higher frequencies... and just up the road..

[PAPI-74]

CityJet never could get their act together at LCY either, almost destroying the Scottish routes in one Summer.

[NickBarnes]

With the AMS route you have NWI with the long established KLM city hopper offering great connections worldwide carrying 132,000 pax a year then in the other way you have EZY from STN offering good frequency and cheap fares for day/weekend/shortbreak trips.

AMS from CBG was just never going to work

[davidjohnson6]

Does the weekly JER route still have a future in the summer ?

[roverman]

End of City Jet flights - Should we be surprised?

No surprise. As with similar attempts at OXF, the demise of PLH and now (most likely) BLK; the struggles at DTV and DCS, what is it telling us? It says that small airfields cannot sustain scheduled airline flights against the offering at not so far away larger established airports. And that is not a bad thing because in the UK no-one is very far from an airport offering a range of services. We need to get back to this reality. Small airfields have an important role in providing a facility for niche markets, flying training, maintenance, and private flying clubs. All these things are needed and usually cannot be accommodated viably at the larger airfields. Horses for courses.