MANCHESTER - 9

[golf yankee one one]

Sorry, more about the trains

As a fairly regular traveller from the airport via the station, my feeling is that rail connections to anywhere north, east or west are excellent, whereas points south are rather poorly served. The last direct train to Crewe is at 1811, and after 1930 it is necessary to go via Piccadilly. Crewe opens up Staffordshire, Shropshire and the Welsh border line through Shrewsbury.
I suspect part of the problem is that Northern trains control the airport station and shut out other operators like Arriva trains Wales. If their service to Piccadilly which already stops at Wilmslow went via the airport rather than via Stockport it would improve connectivity for many passengers and maybe draw a few people from BHX!

[easyflyer83]

I don't think that northern managing the station really affects what calls there. Also I think TPE manage the station though I could be wrong.
Diverting the arriva Wales service away from Stockport could arguably be tunnel vision on our part. I'd say there is a stronger argument for that service to serve Stockport rather than a self contained, albeit large, facility such as MAN.

Comparably speaking, the number of journeys into the airport station will be relatively small when compared to our major towns and cities and diverting services away from these centres is not ideal planning.

[spannersatcx]

Originally Posted by MANFOD

Spannersatcx, Have you any indication on how forward bookings are looking and whether they are up to CX expectations?

Thanks for any info.

I can't see actual bookings, I was told a month or more ago that advance bookings were good, recently told they are now very good, whatever that means, so good that...........!

Just had a look at making a booking on the system and the first weeks flights, for staff, are wide open, so not sure what is meant by very good!

[Fairdealfrank]

Trains/Hainan

A vast network of available direct rail destinations accross the north has long been Ringway's unique selling point. Discussions about changes/reductions are therefore relevant on this thread.


Good news about Hainan, hope it comes off!

[manniashraf]

Hanain airlines

Hi guys I emailed hanain saying I wanted to travel to baijing on there airline from manchester directly and if the rumours are correct.
There reply was "good afternoon manni great to know your a loyal customer towards us and we are sorry to tell you we are unable to tell you any information regarding opening any routes but we would strongly advise you to keep a eye on the local and international press conferences for the next couple of weeks"

This is exititing as this sounds promising..
Anyone with more Info please let me know..

[LAX_LHR]

Unfortunately Aer Lingus will cancel its 3 daily SNN flights due to Ryanair entering the route, but, will shift some flights to Cork, which will be increased and announced next week. An increase on MAN-DUB is expected too.

Lets hope the Hainan rumours are made clear soon, although, to be told to 'keep an eye on the news for the next few weeks', is a more defined time frame than just 'keep an eye out for an announcement'.

It all very intriguing.

[MANFOD]

As you say, the Hainan situation is getting intriguing so fingers crossed.

The advantage of EIR to SNN being 3 x daily was that they afforded a return trip on the same day, which FR's daily flight obviously does not. Whether that is significant I've no idea. Any extra flights to Cork will be welcome though.

Was in T1 late morning and no surprise that the check-in for EK18 was very busy. I've never seen such a long queue for J class before. Perhaps all the Business pax arrived about the same time but I doubt there were many, if any, empty seats.

[Crazy Voyager]

Any ideas what equipment EIN will be using for the increased frequencies? Is it a shift of ATRs from Shannon to Cork or are there more jets being thrown into the mix too?

[Bagso]

I see EI as a big loss as it provided connections from SNN to Europe and code shared with Etihad. More Dublin is just beyond as it simply bleeds yet more pax to US routes.

In more positive news Daily Bugle suggest Deutsche bank may be relocating a large operation from Birmingham to Manchester.

Gazprom are also rumoured to be setting up in Manchester.

Good news for Moscow as long as WW3 doesn't cock things up !

[All names taken]

Gazprom have been set up in Manchester for a good while now - Quay St in the city centre if I'm not mistaken. I have a friend that works there.

[chinapattern]

Hainan

If Hainan do suddenly jump in and launch MAN-PEK then what on earth has stopped Air China given all the rumours and reports of how much money they have a allegedly spent in attempting to secure MAN?

[Bagso]

Gazprom have been set up in Manchester for a good while now - Quay St in the city centre if I'm not mistaken. I have a friend that works there.

Tell him/her they may be on the move to new dwellings in the order of 40,000 Sq ft.

[eye2eye5]

Gazprom

Good spin by the MEN, my colleague's husband has worked for Gazprom in Manchester for at least 5 years. Similarly, I'm sure Ryanair will trumpet their daily Shannon route a being new (which indeed it is to Manchester) although I share the view that the loss of a 3 per day Aer Lingus is a diminution of service. Bear in mind the fact that Ryanair's Liverpool to Shannon was only planned for 3 per week and I'm sure the Ryanair route planning dept have earned a glass of bubbly today for a job well done. Now, which Aer Lingus route is next.......?

[AndyH52]

Hainan

Is it fair to assume that Hainan won't be 'jumping' anywhere near MAN until negotiations are concluded to amend the current Bi-lateral Air Services agreement with China? They are not a designated carrier under the current agreement...are the timescales for negotiations between the Uk and Chinese Governments known?

[LAX_LHR]

The current bilateral only has 1 un-allocated slot for Chinese carriers.

2 can be sourced from the old Air China Cargo flights, and, if the bilateral arrangement is a 'use it or loose it' arrangement, then maybe Hainan can 'pinch' the un-used slot from China Eastern for their potential 7th weekly flight.

So, as the rumour is for 4 weekly flights, 4 slots can be sourced at a push, but, we will have to wait and see.

[AndyH52]

You may be right LAX, but as per my original query given Hainan is not currently listed as a designated carrier under the existing agreement, services presumably cannot start until the revised agreement is concluded. I would presume also that slots may cease to be an issue in the new agreement as surely the total number of flights allowed and the number of destinations permitted will also increase?

[manniashraf]

China flights...

Let's hope there's some news this week with hanain as Charlie Cornish told the m.e.n they are inches away from securing another direct flight to mainland china back in April when cathay was announced.
New flights to china does have a lot twists and turns don't they!
Also can't the british government not do something about creating slots as I genuinely personally feel they don't want designated carriers from china to fly direct to other city's in the UK other than London as I'm sure a direct flight to china would of started years ago...

[Manchester Kurt]

Ryanair to Gdansk

Hi


Quick question.

I am looking at flying to Gdansk next summer, see Ryanair do not have flights loaded for next summer (certainly on this route).


Is it a case that Ryanair have....


1 - ceased to operate this route next summer
2 - not loaded summer 2015 routes yet


Thanks

[FRatSTN]

Ryanair only have Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow (Intl and Prestwick) and London Stansted on sale for Summer 2015 at the moment. The rest should be there by mid to late September at the latest.


Hope this helps.

[pwalhx]

Sorry to bring up Twitter again, but the airport deserves praise today for the trolling of Piers Morgan, brought the airport lots of free publicity both on Twitter and in the news.