BELFAST AIRPORT INTERNATIONAL

[GAZMO]

Questions? Why start it now when the summer schedule is underway?
Why was it not completed during the winter period when aircraft movement quieter?

[BFS BHD]

Thanks for the info ILS25!

[AIRPORT66]

airport66

Because its to cold to put that tarmac down in winter months it has to be a bit warmer so i am led to believe.

[richardnei]

"They're completing the rapid exit facility at the intersection. Basically they are cutting the corner off the north east section of the intersection allowing traffic to exit faster off 25 onto the north section of 17-35."


Is the runway really that busy! Most airports create rapid exits in order to increase number of movements on the runway.

[eastern wiseguy]

Richardnei.....perhaps not at the moment and it isn't a rapid exit in the traditional sense. It is a more gentle right turn .
As an (ex) ATCO there i can say that it will allow the inbounds on 25 to turn off slightly quicker and may increase the movement rate.
Planning for the future. I hope so anyway.

[GAZMO]

Noticed BEE132 diverted from BHD and landed at 22.36, any reason why it did not land at BHD?

[BFS BHD]

There was no movements aloud after 22:00 for WIP will be the same to Friday.

+ DUE MAINT NO DEPARTURES AFTER 2045/NO ARRIVALS AFTER 2100.
FROM: 16 APR 2014 20:45 TO: 18 APR 2014 21:00

[GAZMO]

Thanks for thank BFSBHD

[Letsflycwl]

Would it be a good idea if the Northern Ireland and Welsh Government put their heads together to entice an airline to operate to and from Toronto ? Both airports are crying out for a carrier and both had successful flights with Zoom until they collapsed.

Surely between the 2 governments they can get something sorted

[GAZMO]

Common sense, start flight in CWL and pick up at BFS, could probably be trice weekly

[Jack1985]

It seems common sense by the public for airlines is a different theory in NI, DUB has gone from pre 2008 having 12 flights PW to Toronto to now having 25 PW - Any demand from Ireland has been re-routed through DUB and it will continue to grow.

[Jack1985]

Airlines aren't a charity, That's all. Plus a 2hr drive from Central Belfast to Dublin is hardly hundreds of miles.

[GAZMO]

Unless you live on the north coast or north west then it's three hours!!

[True Blue]

But they don't matter.

[ILS25]

Jack1985

So everyone in Northern Ireland lives in central Belfast and would prefer to drive to Dub. Wise up !

And if that's the case the Newark service from BFS must be doomed

[Jack1985]

Unless you live on the north coast or north west then it's three hours!!

And yet most connections from the UK globally are via LHR where plenty of people use transport and/or car journeys to get there.

Jack1985

So everyone in Northern Ireland lives in central Belfast and would prefer to drive to Dub. Wise up !

And if that's the case the Newark service from BFS must be doomed

I should wise up? yet you have you guys posting about the demand no airline sees in NI, and which none of them are even thinking about......

[CallBell]

owenc But its not fair that Dublin gets all the demand this is a small island and it is craply that we have to drive hundreds of miles to get an international flight.

Dublin doesn't get all the demand, the demand is to and from Dublin. And the fact it is a small island means that services tend to centre on the place(s) with higher population density. If the airlines thought they could make better profits on BFS-XXX than DUB-XXX they would move the route. It's no longer a case of just making a profit, it needs to be more profitable for them.

[Una Due Tfc]

ILS25

The BFS-EWR flight almost did disappear last year. Some last minute scrambling by government kept it going.

Look the fact is the airlines obviously don't think having a DUB-YYZ/JFK/ORD etc etc running simultaneously with a service from BFS would be as profitable as serving DUB and somewhere else. Airlines only have a finite number of aircraft and crews. A BFS-YYZ may well make money, but would it make more money than an extra CDG/LHR/FRA etc service to YYZ? And would those Airlines' DUB service still be profitable without the pax from North of the border? What about cargo? What about the pre-clearance for the US flights? That's a big enticement too.

Airlines are far more risk averse than they were pre 08. They will take the safer option every time now.

[ILS25]

The last minute scrambling put BFS on par (almost) with DUB regarding APD and the APD was the reason why united were threatening to pull the plug, so fairs fair in that regard. The demand was always there ! People still choose the BFS service over DUB even though they could get the pre-clearance advantage from Dublin.

I agree that the majority of long haul flights that DUB offer are not sustainable from BFS but I believe that Canada is doable.

I'm sure the majority of NI flyers would prefer to have a service at their doorstep (and I'm not just talking about BFS) rather than having to travel to DUB.

[Una Due Tfc]

I also agree YYZ would be doable, and profitable, but would it be more profitable than say Marseille, or Stockholm (2 Air Transat summer routes). I don't think it would. Like I said, only a finite amount of metal in every fleet, Belfast would have to be the most profitable rout not yet served for them to go for that.