MANCHESTER - 9

[LAX_LHR]

Some positive words from Laurie Berryman (Emirates) here:

Manchester is beginning to amaze everyone. It is building itself as a strong
international airport from which people realise you can fly long-haul.

Perhaps one day, through fifth freedom flights (commercial aviation rights),
Emirates could fly Dubai to New York via Manchester? “We do hold some rights out of the regions, so I would never say never

Heathrow sits in the south of England, but Manchester has a bigger catchment area in terms of a two-hour drive.”

The interview: Laurie Berryman, Emirates | Buying Business Travel

[RoyHudd]

Confused man.

[Shed-on-a-Pole]

It is a lovely day, Roy. Surely you have something better to do than troll the Manchester thread again?

[Suzeman]

Confused man.

Luckily, Laurie Berryman has some say over route developments at Manchester and you don't, thank goodness

Obviously been a hot day in creepy Crawley

[LAX_LHR]

China Airlines cargo

Was just playing about with a cargo availability system, and threw up an interesting anomaly from October onwards:

CI5621 TPE-AUH-FRA-MAN
CI5622 MAN-TPE

Sundays using B744F. Availability was zero and obviously a return is far from confirmed, but, hopefully this is a sign that one of our long lost carriers could be about to come back (and good news for MAN's cargo in general which has been in decline for a long time now.)

---------------

Also, Etihad have now confirmed in its online schedule that an A340-600 (will be A6-EHJ) will be operating the EY21/22 flights on 15th September so that it can make an appearance at Dublin's 'Flight-fest' flypast during its layover.

[GavinC]

Varadero?

Does anyone know what is happening with Varadero (Cuba) flights next year? Currently possible this summer but not showing for next spring which is when i'm looking to use the flights.

Cayo Coco and Holguin are both still possible on TOM and TCX.

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By the way, is that the EY A340 painted in the F1 colours?

[j636]

By the way, is that the EY A340 painted in the F1 colours?

That's the one.

[RoyHudd]

Confused about an earlier thread. Just back from long-haul and still confused. Not important. BTW Shed, I was no more trolling here than I was trolling while communicating with MAN ATC earlier today.

Can't say anything here without being picked on, esp if it is perceived as anti-MAN. ffs guys, get a life. MAN is a faulty airport, as are many others.

[StoneyBridge Radar]

I think too many people pounce on anything poor RoyHudd says when they perceive their hallowed MAN is being criticised.

He has a point; every airport has its flaws. The problem with MAN is that it still holds on to many which should have been mended years ago. Woo hoo, a brand new tower, but the airport is still gridlocked at the most important times of day because the airport infrastructure is creaking, and where its not creaking, those infamous cracks and potholes are still being temporarily filled.

So, from an aviator's perspective, Roy is closer to the mark than many.

Laurie Berryman, however, conditions his comments to the amount of revenue an airport feeds his airline, and on that score, MAN truly seems to excel.

So let's not jump down the throat of anyone who dares to see MAN from a different perspective; the view from the flightdeck is significantly different to that from seat 21A or the Galleries lounge or the airline boardroom, and this forum was, after all, originally set up for professional aviators, so perhaps his comments are more pertinent than others.

[Shed-on-a-Pole]

Afraid you've rather lost me there. Is "Confused man" a deep and meaningful contribution to our discussions on here? Is it a comment "more pertinent than others" ??? What am I missing?

[RoyHudd]

Ah, never mind, Shed lad. Most contributions are not deep and meaningful on this site......neither mine nor yours.

Here's a question. Why has 2 way traffic passing the Thomas Cook hangar been put back to one? It was around for a while and seemed to work well getting a/c on stand without longish delays with engines running.

[PhilW1981]

I'm going to stick the boot in to MAN as well. I usually take EK early flight from T1 and have never had any issues with security aside from the odd grumpy security officer. I went through T1 the other day en route to Aberdeen with Flybe and the queues were simply a joke, 40 mins in a queue to go through is simply intolerable. Massively understaffed. If MAN wants to continue to attract new airlines and destinations then they must improve the customer experience.

[LAX_LHR]

I went through T1 the other day en route to Aberdeen with Flybe

Im assuming you mean T3? Flybe does not operate from T1.

Also the understaffing is an issue that will hopefully be sorted, MAN have just expanded the security zone, so lets just hope there are some staff to fill it, otherwise said extension becomes a bit useless!

[LAX_LHR]

Could Easyjet be about to re-instate Madrid?

The holiday section of easyjet website once again shows Manchester to Madrid. However, when you select a flight it just states it is unavailable. It had previously been removed completely from the easyjet site.

A way to view it is to select Madrid in the 'to' box, then the options that are given in the 'from' box are BRS/EDI/LPL/LGW/LTN/MAN.

Could be nothing but then could also be something.

[LAX_LHR]

Just having a dig in GDS for advance previews, and it appears TAP will be increasing to 12 weekly from May 1st 2014, then 14 weekly from July 1st 2014:

TP326 LIS 0745 MAN 1045 MTWTFSS A320-100/200
TP329 MAN 1120 LIS 1400 MTWTFSS A320-100/200

A321 ops on Mon and Sun

1/5/14-31/5/14

TP322 LIS 1340 MAN 1630 MT-TF-S A319
TP323 MAN 1715 LIS 1955 MT-TF-S A319

1/6/14- Onwards Wed/Sat added to TP322/323 schedule with F100.

Extra flights are not available for sale at this time as S14 schedule mirrors W13/14 schedule.

[LN-KGL]

Back to security check at T3. I went through yesterday afternoon. Only five check points open and 20+ minutes waiting time to get through. I didn't see any of the security staff smiling; the manager was very busy explaining himself to the very unsatisfied customers, sorry passengers, and he happen to hit only the sour notes.

[gazza007]

I flew to GLA 2 Fridays ago on the 16:30. No queues whatsoever in T3, in fact I got pulled as I forgot to take the liquids out as it was that quick. The bar code scan thing won't help as people don't get it & need assistance. What is needed is the blackbox conveyers to be ajacent to passengers well in advance of the scanners with instructions to remove coats belts phones, & liquids etc, IMHO this is a good idea & would stop the bottleneck when you hit the scanning staff.You would walk with your box on the roller, I guess it would be just like system they use withthe suitcases. Information screens would reguarly advise on the procedure. This mainly aimed at the not so frequent travellers as i'll bet that this the biggest frustration for us regulars. Ps I'm patenting this

On another note I'm frustrated & disappointed that nobody has picked up LGW, I thought it would be ideal for Flybe & the Dash.Even SE kent would be useful.

[Shed-on-a-Pole]

FlyBe is pulling out of LGW completely due to the high cost of operating smaller aircraft types out of there. Any other carrier considering MAN-LGW with similar sized equipment would face the same problem, even if they could acquire runway slots at viable times. UK domestic flights are also suffering from high exposure to APD with passengers paying twice on return flights. Tax has become a very high proportion of a domestic airfare which of course is intentional, as politicians wish to be seen as sympathetic to the eco-extremist global warming agenda. Tough times for domestic air services, and part of the reason that FlyBe's new CEO has identified diversification away from UK domestic as a priority.

[WK622]

Having booked with Flybe to Edinburgh from the Isle of Man I was rerouted via Manchester's T3 when the direct service was pulled. Ten days ago I duly arrived at T3 to find that all of us had to pass through a retina scan - even those who were not moving onto another flight. Key to this process was your boarding card - with hand baggage who needs a boarding card to arrive? There was no mention of this process during the post landing blurb so I guess Flybe were as much in the dark as we were. Some boarding cards were mislaid but eventually found, while for several of us the retina scan just didn't work. But for everyone queuing during the evening peak in what was effectively just a corridor leading to an overflowing shopping mall, there was considerable irritation.

We then repeated the process when we went back down the same corridor to Gate 150, only to hear that our Dash 8 was tech, so we trooped back up for a 3 hour wait via our third scan of the day. And when we left we had No 4 followed by the standard photo id to boarding card check at the gate. So what was the point of all the scanning - the right people got on the right plane?

If Manchester and Flybe are really trying to establish some kind of domestic hub in T3 they are going to have to spend some serious money and create a proper facility. I was far from the only person on BE295 who said never again.

[The96er]

Ten days ago I duly arrived at T3 to find that all of us had to pass through a retina scan

This procedure has been mandated by the DfT, NOT the airport and is not actually a Retina scan but a facial recognition scan.

even those who were not moving onto another flight.

I assume you're referring to pax terminating at MAN !? These pax would simply leave the building so not sure why you say these people had to be scanned.