BELFAST AIRPORT INTERNATIONAL
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I know that a few months back Easyjet had a press statement re more flights to London. Looking at their booking engine, am I right in thinking that there will be a lot more flights this winter to many domestic airports than there has been in the last 2-3 years? There are fewer flights on a Tuesday/Wednesday.
The times are still completely useless for a day return to London on a Saturday. Surely they could time a flight from at least one London airport a bit later?
TB
The times are still completely useless for a day return to London on a Saturday. Surely they could time a flight from at least one London airport a bit later?
TB
Join Date: Nov 2011
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True Blue
Yes the MAN and BHX are having increases definitely - this was part of the LON announcement but it was very much less shouted about.
The only feasible day return on a Saturday is EI to LHR in winter, and that would be a 19.45 back, still not great!
Yes the MAN and BHX are having increases definitely - this was part of the LON announcement but it was very much less shouted about.
The only feasible day return on a Saturday is EI to LHR in winter, and that would be a 19.45 back, still not great!
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TB
I think STN is the London airport that is getting more flights, Monday will now have five flights on a Monday and a Friday for winter. Agree it would be nice to see late flight on a Saturday for all those London football fans
MAN extra Friday flight, BHX three extra flights, Mon, Wed, Sun
I think STN is the London airport that is getting more flights, Monday will now have five flights on a Monday and a Friday for winter. Agree it would be nice to see late flight on a Saturday for all those London football fans
MAN extra Friday flight, BHX three extra flights, Mon, Wed, Sun
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Here's the link from the website;
Airport says easyJet London expansion ?historic milestone? - Belfast International Airport
Airport says easyJet London expansion ?historic milestone? - Belfast International Airport
Join Date: Aug 2012
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Ever mind, changed the date by 4 days and got it down to £98 return. quite the price difference!
Last edited by josechung; 11th Aug 2015 at 19:12.
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There were rumours about that on the Emirates thread a few years ago, possibly due to Mr Clark's rather cryptic suggestion that their next UK destination "could be north of the border or further west" - but nothing came of this (obviously). A Mid East route is something BFS have supposedly been pursuing (as they should) and must be likely to happen "sometime". With EK wanting to start 100 new cities in the next decade etc......
I do wonder what EK will do re the inevitable (eventual) expansion of their Dublin route. Would they
- upgauge one or other of the flights
- start a third daily
- or start BFS, maybe sub-daily and/or possibly timed to complement the existing two flights and provide more choice for passengers both sides of the border? I'm sure BFS would bend over backwards to have them (as they should). And I take it it would be classed as a long haul flight and thus exempt from APD?
Not just GLA.... personally I've connected to EK in BHX and to QR in LGW and LHR. Question is, are there enough such pax? I'd be more optimistic if EK had smaller aircraft to start routes to smaller cities, but IIRC soon their smallest aircraft will be a 77L? Saying that, they started NCL (an airport only slightly larger than BFS and much smaller than BFS+BHD) on a 332 and now appear to be doing very well with a daily 77W. And NCL has to compete with MAN/EDI/GLA.
Must say I wouldn't want to see this happen and then fail, I'm happy to be patient until the local market is ready for it
I do wonder what EK will do re the inevitable (eventual) expansion of their Dublin route. Would they
- upgauge one or other of the flights
- start a third daily
- or start BFS, maybe sub-daily and/or possibly timed to complement the existing two flights and provide more choice for passengers both sides of the border? I'm sure BFS would bend over backwards to have them (as they should). And I take it it would be classed as a long haul flight and thus exempt from APD?
They'll be watching the number of pax connecting in GLA with Flybe closely.
Must say I wouldn't want to see this happen and then fail, I'm happy to be patient until the local market is ready for it
Last edited by madgav; 17th Aug 2015 at 08:27.
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The good thing about a Middle East route is that the market for a direct flight definitely exists. A huge number of passengers fly out of Belfast each day, with connections to the East and beyond. In the last number of years this has been on the up, partly boosted by the number of families from India, China, Philippines, and many other countries who have settled down here. Flybe has codeshares with Emirates, Etihad, Qatar, even Finnair if you think of the East Asian routes they operate. BA and Aer Lingus both offer a huge number of connecting options, with One World, Virgin, Royal Brunei, etc. etc. KLM has a great network of different destinations, thanks to Skyteam, and finally you have the droves of passengers who use Dublin each day.
The possible negative is that Dublin is looking into an A380 stand, I can only assume for Emirates.
Could Emirates fill a 400ish seat 777, including all the expensive first class seats every day? who knows. With their A330s on the way out their smallest aircraft is now the 777 'Worldliner' with around 260 seats. This combined with a healthy cargo flow- aerospace, pharmaceuticals etc. should keep them busy. I'm still holding out for the likes of Turkish though.
With all 3 of the big ME carriers on the constant expansion it will be interesting to see who jumps in first.
The possible negative is that Dublin is looking into an A380 stand, I can only assume for Emirates.
Could Emirates fill a 400ish seat 777, including all the expensive first class seats every day? who knows. With their A330s on the way out their smallest aircraft is now the 777 'Worldliner' with around 260 seats. This combined with a healthy cargo flow- aerospace, pharmaceuticals etc. should keep them busy. I'm still holding out for the likes of Turkish though.
With all 3 of the big ME carriers on the constant expansion it will be interesting to see who jumps in first.
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The idea that there are enough pax daily to support a 777 to the Middle East is questionable. It might work as a long haul connection service if EK were to deliberately target all of BA's (non US) LH connection traffic. Perhaps that's their game. Even so a 777 is still very optimistic. Mind you, EK appear to have more aircraft than they know what to do with.
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The idea that there are enough pax daily to support a 777 to the Middle East is questionable
Meanwhile Dublin has four dailies to the UAE and has Qatar coming on-stream too. The ME3 make their own market.
And InvestNI is pushing very hard for NI businesses to open-up to the Middle East, currently the roadshows have to trapse through Dublin to reach the conferences which is laughable.