NEWQUAY

[cornishsimon]

Any hint of anything from NQY, BE etc for the LGW route ? Doesn't the increased flying and 0 APD finish tomorrow ?


cs

[srobarts]

I guess it will leave a hole if they don't carry it on. My wife flew there and back on Tuesday taking the second flight to Gatwick and back on the penultimate one. She said both the early flights were fairly full and mentions from fellow passengers that it was so much more convenient than the train.
Smart move would be to carry on the extra flights for as long as the demand is there. There could be quite a few converts to flying rather than 5 hours on the train.
Might help to market them a bit too. Not seen much promotion of the extra flights.

[Wycombe]

Not seen much promotion of the extra flights.

Its been all over the news media, to a national level (as part of the coverage around the Dawlish rail closure) and I even heard it mentioned in the House of Commons (during PMQ's I think), so I would say there has been quite a bit of coverage.

Bearing in mind that it'll probably be another month at least before Dawlish is re-opened, you have to think that BE will keep the extra flights going if it makes sense financially. It's a good PR opportunity aswell.

[davidjohnson6]

The Flybe website allows one to book any of 6 flights on LGW-NQY on Fri 28 February. Next week, the website is offering bookings for just 3 flights per day. If those extra flights are going to continue beyond tomorrow, Flybe need to get them on sale very quickly.

[Skipness One Echo]

he said both the early flights were fairly full

So not full even with no railway connection at all????

[srobarts]

So not full

she said she couldn't see any empty seats on her flights but couldn't be sure about earlier flight as she saw them boarding but could judge numbers. She overheard someone saying the earlier flight was chokka. Apologies, skipness, 'fairly' was too loose a word to use!

so I would say there has been quite a bit of coverage

coverage yes, promotion not that I have seen. My wife took some persuading to look at the flight prices and was prepared to drive to our daughters and then take the train until she saw the fare on flybe website. There is a golden opportunity to persuade travellers that flying is not only quicker but for many cheaper too.

[MerchantVenturer]

PSO route to Gatwick

Newquay Airport weeks away from tendering Gatwick route to bidders | This is Cornwall

According to this newspaper report the tendering process will begin within the next few weeks.

The NQY MD anticipates bids from “at least” eight UK and European operators.

[devonish]

I don't know why the other airlines are bothering, i bet it is a stitch up between the airport and flybe, hence flybe carrying on the route until the pso kicks in

[wallp]

Realistically, who else is likely to bid for the route?

[cornishsimon]

If we are to believe the article and the comments from big Al who do we suggest are the 8 airlines hinted at ?





cs

[Cloud1]

Any route that is subsidised will be attractive for airlines as they don't really lose out on it. It's win win for them

So the 8 could be any of the following based on aircraft size:

Flybe
Loganair
Bmi
Eastern
Aer Lingus Regional / Aer Arran
Easyjet
CityJet - they have now ventured to CWL with the F50

Plenty of others but realistically I am struggling to pick an 8th candidate for LGW. If it had been any London airport would have said BA CityFlyer

[cornishsimon]

Certainly looks like its being set up for flybe.

If the venture on NQY-BHX pays its way surely there would be sufficient routes to base a DH8 or two at NQY to run alongside th PSO LGW route.

I hear that NQY-MAN is carrying decent loads which will be a helpful addition to a based aircraft operating the PSO route.


cs

[adfly]

BA might look at it if the subsidy was generous enough, and if they got a reasonable number of people connecting onto the rest of their LGW network.

[Wycombe]

I hear that NQY-MAN is carrying decent loads which will be a helpful addition to a based aircraft operating the PSO route.

The Flybe online timetable appears to have been updated, and shows a second (earlier) MAN-NQY-MAN flight on Saturdays starting 24th May, until 13th Sept.

FLT NO DEP ARR DAYS STOP A/C CHANGE DATES
Manchester
Newquay
BE351 11:05 12:15 . . . . . Sa . 24-May-14 - 13-Sep-14
BE353 12:40 13:55 M . W . F . . 07-Mar-14 - 28-Mar-14
BE353 16:35 17:50 . . . . . . Su 09-Mar-14 - 23-Mar-14
BE355 16:40 17:50 M T W T F Sa Su 30-Mar-14 - 25-Oct-14

FLT NO DEP ARR DAYS STOP A/C CHANGE DATES
Newquay
Manchester
BE352 10:55 12:15 M . W . F . . 07-Mar-14 - 28-Mar-14
BE352 12:40 13:55 . . . . . Sa . 24-May-14 - 13-Sep-14
BE354 14:45 16:00 M T W T F Sa Su 30-Mar-14 - 25-Oct-14
BE352 14:50 16:10 . . . . . . Su 09-Mar-14 - 23-Mar-14

It looks like it operates from the MAN end (the daily BE354/355 operates the other way around).

[cornishsimon]

Well the increase on NQY-MAN is certainly welcome and proves the point iv made a few times, most recently yesterday !

Its strange to have the two NQY departures so close together but perhaps for 2015 we might well see a decent double daily schedule with morning and afternoon departures, There certainly does seem to be a good market for NQY-MAN.

Its also good to see that if booking via EK you will be routed via MAN on the A380 via a BE flight, also LGW onto the various EK departures, BHX, EDI etc !

However on another point, looks like the BE EDI-NQY is now down to once weekly on a Saturday which is quite a reduction on previous years where it was at one stage either 4 or 5 weekly ?


cs

[alfaman100]

Flew NQY-MAN on 5 March and returned on 7 March. There were only a few empty seats on the EMB 195 - on both flights! Not sure how much of that was due to the train situation, but its got to be seen as a positive. Long may it continue (and grow!)

[cornishsimon]

The train situation can only be seen as positive for NQY in general as no doubt it will raise awareness of the airport and the routes offered.

You have to wonder how many punters who would normally take the train will now return to use the airport in future ?

NQY-MAN was always a decent sized market for Air Southwest and seems BE are now starting to see this, for example:

December 2013 the route had 1778 passengers compared to 1578 in December 2012.

Provisional for Jan 2014 shows 1739 against 1215 for 2013, not bad at all considering the route only operates 4 weekly during the winter schedule !

Obviously I have no idea on the yield but the loads certainly seem to be heading in the right direction on this route !


cs

[cornishsimon]

Other threads currently suggesting that BE have slots to operate various routes including NQY into LCY from September ?!


cs

[cornishsimon]

Has BE gone back to the DH8 on the NQY-LGW shuttle route ?
FR24 suggests that its being operated today by G-JECL and not the E195 ?


cs

[Cloud1]

Yep the jet was only temporary and has been replaced by the dash as of yesterday