BELFAST AIRPORT INTERNATIONAL
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Re the EI move to Bhd. I have just been checking the BA site for flights early April 13. BA have departures at 6.30, 7.35 and 9.45am. How will EI compete with that with a departure at 7.20am? BA has the early morning times swamped with capacity. At least EI had a different market at Bfs, at Bhd they will have no difference. I know BA could change times, but at the minute the move to Bhd makes little sense. It matters not having low landing fees if your planes are leaving half empty because a larger competitor has more departures. And where are they going to majic up sufficient pax to make Lgw work? 7 flights by BA, 3 with Ei. How will this end?
TB
TB
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Re the EI move to Bhd. I have just been checking the BA site for flights early April 13. BA have departures at 6.30, 7.35 and 9.45am. How will EI compete with that with a departure at 7.20am? BA has the early morning times swamped with capacity. At least EI had a different market at Bfs, at Bhd they will have no difference. I know BA could change times, but at the minute the move to Bhd makes little sense. It matters not having low landing fees if your planes are leaving half empty because a larger competitor has more departures. And where are they going to majic up sufficient pax to make Lgw work? 7 flights by BA, 3 with Ei. How will this end?
TB
TB
I can see either RYR , BE or MON joining BFS sometime soon.
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On the LHR route looking around Nov to early Dec EI are coming out about £40-£45 cheaper than BA, that may very well swing a lot of people in the EI direction, even adding a bag on you would still be £20 better off. I would say having 3 flights a day they have a lot less to loose than having 7 half empty flights, especially with BA's high cost base. On the LGW I agree it will probably be a bun fight but its worth remembering LGW are going against smaller aircraft and this may affect BE.
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EI have made it clear that they are attempting to attract the business market. It is much more difficult to compare prices in this market as there are so many corporate deals in existence. As BD sunk EI managed to pull off many corporate deals with NI companies that undercut BD. Whether BA will be more aggressive in this area is still to be seen.
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qatar airways have announced a new route today from birmingham. in the statement they also said they where in talks with 2 other UK airports, could one of them be BFS, with the loss of 2 major airlines in the last 2 years now by BFS they should be bending over for an airline like this
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I can see either RYR , BE or MON joining BFS sometime soon.
Still amazed there has been nothing from BE in terms of some retaliation if only moving 1 or 2 non competing routes...
EI-BUD
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There is still plenty of time EI BUD, bfs management said they where looking for replacement airlines, so we are only left with mon be and fr. I can't see fr so my money is on be or mon
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whats wrong with the airbridge? or do you mean they need more?
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Thanks BHD2BFS. I dont think MON will be here unless it is chartered services, in which case maybe BFS.
In terms of UK airlines: there are not that many eligible ones left for serving BHD, eastern though small is too pricey to make a go of the local market and cant see what gaps are left that would suit them.
bmi regional would be a good one if we could get them onto a BRU and FRA, but connectivity would be a real asset and I am not sure how connected they will be so to speak. So outside of who we already have an consider the opportunities that exist domestically the only one I can see is FR.
As far as serving Europe unless BE do it we could only hope for a Vueling to BCN though they started routes like SOU and CWL where no existing operator from those cities operate so Belfast unlikely though maybe next summer with EI off the scene they might, though wouldnt put money on it.
The 2 staring out to me are German Wings with a weekly or twice weekly to Cologne or the Return of Wizz Air to Belfast market with a maybe 1 or 2 weekly Warsaw or Gdansk. Would they do a BHD LTN route? Would marry well to the network at LTN.
The challenge as I see it for BHD is that there are actually few real alternatives left who would fit the market well. The EU traffic would be/is mainly outbound so a brand well known on these shores would be needed.
KLM to AMS most unlikely given the track record of the EI experience the current numbers and past experience by KL on LPL AMS v EZY.
On a completely different note Qatar Airways (what an exception airline) would they consider doing 319 on BFS as they do use 319 to some EU destinations such as GVA. Would need to touch down enroute...
EI-BUD
In terms of UK airlines: there are not that many eligible ones left for serving BHD, eastern though small is too pricey to make a go of the local market and cant see what gaps are left that would suit them.
bmi regional would be a good one if we could get them onto a BRU and FRA, but connectivity would be a real asset and I am not sure how connected they will be so to speak. So outside of who we already have an consider the opportunities that exist domestically the only one I can see is FR.
As far as serving Europe unless BE do it we could only hope for a Vueling to BCN though they started routes like SOU and CWL where no existing operator from those cities operate so Belfast unlikely though maybe next summer with EI off the scene they might, though wouldnt put money on it.
The 2 staring out to me are German Wings with a weekly or twice weekly to Cologne or the Return of Wizz Air to Belfast market with a maybe 1 or 2 weekly Warsaw or Gdansk. Would they do a BHD LTN route? Would marry well to the network at LTN.
The challenge as I see it for BHD is that there are actually few real alternatives left who would fit the market well. The EU traffic would be/is mainly outbound so a brand well known on these shores would be needed.
KLM to AMS most unlikely given the track record of the EI experience the current numbers and past experience by KL on LPL AMS v EZY.
On a completely different note Qatar Airways (what an exception airline) would they consider doing 319 on BFS as they do use 319 to some EU destinations such as GVA. Would need to touch down enroute...
EI-BUD
Last edited by EI-BUD; 26th Jul 2012 at 21:22.
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I would have said cityjet would fit BHD more in terms of aircraft and operating style and maybe air berlin or brussels airlines? For BFS with EI going it looks very much like LTN or STN - full of lcc routes and unless someone breaks that mould I think it will remain so, this may very well be behind the thinking of EI's move.
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mart
Can't see AirBerlin coming back, they have tried it and it didnt work and that was when they were on a domestic route with a STN base. Sadly.
Me thinks Brussels Airlines would be wishful thinking, though given the success of EI's ORK BRU route this summer and the apparent presence of more tourists than usual (me feels that the NI tourism marketing campaign is not bad at all plus the focus on Titanic etc.) and a 319 maybe EI could do a x3 weekly BHD BRU? Plus relatively short sector and a refreshing alternative to AMS!!
Cityjet given their current financial situation under the AF umbrella and the overhang of a strategic review they are unlikely to go a back onto a route that they tried, tested and failed.
Can't see AirBerlin coming back, they have tried it and it didnt work and that was when they were on a domestic route with a STN base. Sadly.
Me thinks Brussels Airlines would be wishful thinking, though given the success of EI's ORK BRU route this summer and the apparent presence of more tourists than usual (me feels that the NI tourism marketing campaign is not bad at all plus the focus on Titanic etc.) and a 319 maybe EI could do a x3 weekly BHD BRU? Plus relatively short sector and a refreshing alternative to AMS!!
Cityjet given their current financial situation under the AF umbrella and the overhang of a strategic review they are unlikely to go a back onto a route that they tried, tested and failed.
Last edited by EI-BUD; 26th Jul 2012 at 21:29.
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In my opinion the EI move to BHD won't last very long, they're operating the same old boring routes (Faro,Malaga,Heathrow,Gatwick) what both BHD and BFS need is to attract new markets like Germany I mean come on ! We don't even have a scheduled service to Germany ! I mean look about 80% of flights from BFS are bound for the UK or bucket And spade destinations (Turkey, Spain, Portugal)
I dunno what will happen with EI but I don't think they will be in BHD for very long, could this be the end of EI in Belfast ? Very short sighted move Aer Lingus
BFS will be fine replacing EI, we'll get more Easyjet London flights, will start up canary routes, the only real loss will be Heathrow. But I hope that someday Easyjet would consider starting routes such as Berlin, Rome, Milan, Madrid or Prague ?
I dunno what will happen with EI but I don't think they will be in BHD for very long, could this be the end of EI in Belfast ? Very short sighted move Aer Lingus
BFS will be fine replacing EI, we'll get more Easyjet London flights, will start up canary routes, the only real loss will be Heathrow. But I hope that someday Easyjet would consider starting routes such as Berlin, Rome, Milan, Madrid or Prague ?
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I'm sure EZY will add more routes I'm not sure what BFS needs is yet more reliance on one carrier, which is why EI's move is good for BHD. Where Air Berlin is concerned I was thinking of the smaller aircraft and German destinations, the reason for Brussels is having used it last week its a brilliant place to connect and Brussels airlines interline with luftansa, austrian and swiss. Brussels airlines have avro in the fleet and access to Q400. Other than those carriers maybe germanwings??
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In my opinion the EI move to BHD won't last very long, they're operating the
same old boring routes (Faro,Malaga,Heathrow,Gatwick) what both BHD and BFS need
is to attract new markets like Germany I mean come on ! We don't even have a
scheduled service to Germany ! I mean look about 80% of flights from BFS are
bound for the UK or bucket And spade destinations (Turkey, Spain, Portugal)
I actually upon reflection think EI will be ok in BHD. BE while they will defend their patch, EI is bigger carrier with stronger performance in terms of profitability and BE wont want to waste resources competing for loss making services. I.e. when LGW becomes saturated with low priced seats BE will reduce the schedule slightly and focus on business traveller and onward connections added to its well established name on the route. I.e. people who want to fly BHD LGW know BE is the carrier on the route. EI have to work on that side of it.
EI will be a compelling proposition in terms of price and at this stage in their development they will be extremely reluctant to effectively close another base (granted closing BFS but staying in Belfast market).
EI-BUD