BELFAST CITY AIRPORT (BHD)

[Mlinnie]

LHR

But when you think about it the BHD-LHR route is one of the most important routes in NI for business and leisure travellers and is also the most busy. So maybe it's a good idea to have 2 airlines operating it ?

[BFS BHD]

CAA stats-

This month:

Down 9.5 (180617)


This year so far:

Down 8.4 (2232958)


Not looking good this year.

[GAZMO]

They will probably be 2.2 million for the year and BFS will be 4.3

The interesting point will be the change in Nov and Dec stats when EI operate from BHD and the extra EZY and LS kick in at BFS

[Mlinnie]

I expect numbers at BHD will be down this year. manx2 seemed to have had a good year so far this year following the new timetable ! On another note did a BMI A321 operate tonight's BHD-LHR service ?

[BFS BHD]

Yep BMI A321 G-MEDU.

[j636]

Aer Lingus set to increase Belfast to London flights - Business News, Business - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk

[GAZMO]

Brave move by EI, or is it just a PR stunt

EI did operate 4 X daily flights last year from BFS but yields and LF meant they reduced to 3 for this summer. EI numbers on the LHR route are reducing.

Looks like a glut of LON routes.......who will crack first, BA, BE, EI, EZY?

[EI-BUD]

Gazmo ; Yes numbers have been in decline, but lets not forget that 320 was replaced by 319 and frequency was reduced on LHR. This was in a deliberate attempt to drive yield.

To be fair to EI are trying and the move to BHD and appointment of new commercial manager is getting behind the NI operation. Clearly the 4th daily slot was more profitable deployed to ROI and that makes for good sense. EI have had a good summer all in all on BFS routes. Sun routes performed well and the addition of 319 tightened the profit equation up strongly, I would suggest. Furthermore, they are now well established on the sun routes esp FAO and AGP. Which will be daily in 2013. I think the only challenging area going forward is BHD LGW, yes for EI but for BE also. BA and EI will find middle ground due to mutual interest and LHR will stabilise, and that assumes that BA dont see the attractiveness in cutting the route back in the next year or two to facilitate new long haul routes.

EI will be ok.

[BFS101]

A quote from the Belfast Telegraph article

"It is a reflection of a change in strategy for us," he said. "What we are doing is not just shifting from one airport to the next but moving our focus on the island of Ireland away from the sun destinations to Great Britain"

An indication perhaps of the arrival of EIR in the not to distant future.

The article however stats that EI see themselves in the middle market, not lo-co with a scrum for boarding, nor 'top-end' as BA may be perceived. Though is this not exactly where BE also see themselves, who they would then be competing against, should EIR arrive.

That seems to put it in direct competition with BA which recently took over BMI on the Belfast-Heathrow route, but Mr Mueller claimed that wasn't the case: "I would not agree we are in a head-to-head competition with British Airways. It's a different value proposition.
"We are not entering the market to compete with someone, we want to make money. Our costs position is better than the incumbent so we can go in at a lower price point."

So they don't want to enter a market to compete with someone, as stated, however that is exactly what they will be doing, IF EIR put themselves up against BE on the same routes!!

[BHD2BFS]

I personally can see BA reduce flights to 3-4 per day and move to BFS Willy Walsh said he was here to stay in NI so can easily move up the road.
Also as I previously said can see BE move non competitive routes to BFS. There is still routes BE fly that EIR would never be interested in

[GAZMO]

BHD2BFS..I couldnt agree more

BE moving non competitive routes to BFS could help them maintain LGW frequency and prices.

BA at BFS would give them the opportunity for earlier departures and later arrivals.

Maybe should post of BFS thread as well

[sealink]

its bye bye bmi

The weekend of the 27th Oct will see the official end of bmi at BHD. Most ground staff have left or will leave on this date. Cabin crew have already gone. As the winter flying officially starts for BA and EI move in its a sad day for the loyal BD staff. Some are moving over to Servisair but most are leaving airport life.

[BFS101]

Aer Lingus on Heathrow route is no threat: BA chief - Business News, Business - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk

...but said the Belfast operation, headquartered at George Best Belfast City Airport, had been a bright spot in the organisation when BA completed its takeover.

"Belfast was probably one of the few parts of the bmi business which was profitable," he said prior to speaking at the Institute of Directors lunch in the city.

"Belfast has always been a good route for bmi and I think it'll be great for BA as we can give it the added focus on connectivity to other destinations from Heathrow."

Which makes me think if the operation is profitable from BHD, and BA have already stated their commitment, I really don't see any huge reduction in services.

[mart901]

Interesting to note BE are up to 7x daily to BHX and in NOV/DEC they have lower lead in fares than EZY. Be interesting to see what happens here and on MAN with a 6x daily frequency planned next year, will EIR appear on these routes? BE held up against WW but not sure about EI/LGW, I think it could be quite a fight!

[GAZMO]

BE should be concentrating on the LGW route as well, with EI three times daily in winter and four times daily next summer they have to maintain market share

Yes nice to see upping MAN but EZY are going the same to MAN with extra flights , three per week plus extra on EDI and an extra weekday flight to LGW

For BE to remain profitable they should shift their non competive routes to BFS, get a good deal to cover the losses out of BHD especially to LGW.

EZY will be difficult to beat in the long run

I can see EZY going three times weekdays to BHX from summer 2013 once their BHX route gets established

[EI-BUD]

What are the prospects of BHD attracting KLM to a daily AMS rotation; upon reflection, they would be the ideal airline to this route and develop it as they have the right aircraft size E190 or F70, and with a night stop and an early morning departure it could work very welll, something like this;

12345-- BHD AMS 0700/0930
----5-7 BHD AMS 2010/2240

1234--- AMS BHD 2020/2100
----5-7 AMS BHD 1900/1940

Timings would allow for

• Excellent connectivity in AMS for onward connections with an early arrival, late departure to capture good return options
• Excellent opportunities for day return for business traveller
• Excellent timings for leisure traveller to AMS from Belfast, allowing for late Friday out late Sunday return, giving good weekend citybreak options
• Small aircraft
• On a separate note putting Belfast on the Skyteam map...
• No service on Sat when demand is softest
• Night stop on days Mon, Tue,Wed, Thurs & Sun.

This could succeed with KLM where bmibaby had challenges against EZY. I have noticed a marked increase in Dutch passengers on AMS BFS flights, hence is NI growing as a tourist destination from Holland or is it low fares by easyJet since the increased capacity on the route when WW came in ie extra Mon and Fri rotations..

Might be worth BHD attempting to attract KLM.... If they havent done so already..

EI-BUD

[FRatSTN]

I think KLM, Air France and Lufthansa should all have some sort of connection to Belfast and dare say they will do in the future. If they were to come, I would imagine that Belfast-City would be there preferred airport due to its proximety to Belfast and the nature of it's current markets and where the demand would be greatest. That's why I think Belfast-City should get a runway extention to 2200m or whatever, which would also allow Ryanair to come back and if any airport in Belfast were to close, then Belfast-International should be it, since in reality it doesn't look as if it's ever going to be attractive to anything other than EasyJet and the odd charter flight.

As for a FlyBe move to BFS for some routes, can't see that happening. I doubt they'd want to lose their market share at BHD which is still very strong for them and it would also limit connecting flights across the UK and Europe if their operation were to be split between both Belfast airports.

[eastern wiseguy]

if any airport in Belfast were to close, then Belfast-International should be it,

Which shows a complete lack of understanding of many things,including.but not limited to Performance.curfews,night operations,noise issues,infrastructure issues(not buses and trains)and customer preference. How do you propose to combine a 4.5 million pax per year plus freight into a small dockside airport which already has 2 million pax per annum?

[Skipness One Echo]

Wasn't AMS an Air UK route back in the day?

[BHD2BFS]

If you had to (I'm not saying it would ever happen) close a Belfast airport it is clearly BHD ok it's close but has not got the space for expansion, it could never cope if BFS closed. Ok it does have a closer train station than BFS but it's still not onsite and many intl airports over the world rely on buses which is the same for BFS. The only thing BFS is crying out for is a new terminal which it will neve get from its current owner no matter how much profit it makes and also need a a schedule flight to Canada which it will also probably never get from its current owner a management don't know their arse from their elbow. BHD myt not make as much money per pax as BFS but atleast they know how to attract airlines