Prestonian

Seems to have been moved from here?

ESCNI

RIP?

111KAB

UK's Blackpool Airport announced (07-Oct-2014) that no agreement has been reached to secure the future of operations at the airport. It noted: "The airport operation has been making a loss for a number of years and unfortunately there is no option for the company other than to close. This is a very sad day for the airport which has a proud aviation history and a loyal, appreciative customer following. We would like to thank all our dedicated staff who have delivered exceptional service to passengers for many years. The airport will remain open to the public until 15 October 2014 and we will endeavour to maintain operations as normal until this date, after which time commercial flights will cease". The airport noted: "While the sales process announced at the end of August was a final attempt to secure the future of the airport, the airport's management had spent many months prior to this announcement approaching organisations with a potential interest in the airport in an attempt to find a buyer. Work is currently underway with the independent aviation businesses and tenants at the airport to understand if their operations can continue in the future. Working in partnership with the local authorities, regeneration plans are also being developed which will be designed to create future employment and sustainable economic development opportunities for Blackpool and the Fylde Coast". Balfour Beatty, which purchased the site in 2008, put it up for sale in Aug-2014.

take-off

So is the whole site up for sale ? Because it's been made clear they don't have support for a housing estate , well maybe from Fylde council , as they are already saying that they can't see a enterprise zone working ? Can't see why BB would keep a general aviation site ?

lfc84

PRESS RELEASE



CITYWING EXPLORING OPTIONS FOLLOWING ANNOUNCEMENT

OF BLACKPOOL AIRPORT CLOSURE



Following the announcement made last night (07 October 2014) by Blackpool Airport that the airport will close to passenger traffic as of 15 October, Citywing will temporarily suspend its flights to Blackpool from that date for a period of four weeks.



It is in the interests of the communities of both Blackpool and the Isle of Man that services are resumed as soon as possible, and Blackpool Airport have stated that they will continue to work with the independent aviation businesses currently operating from Blackpool to develop a sustainable future for aviation services at the airport. Citywing will be taking an active part in those discussions to bring back this lifeline air-link as soon as possible.



The local council and many local businesses are now actively seeking a way to ensure Blackpool Airport will re-open with a sustainable new business model and we are pleased to be a part of those discussions.



Citywing Managing Director, David Buck, said: ‘Unfortunately, our discussions with a nearby airport to provide temporary facilities while Blackpool Airport’s issues are resolved proved unworkable. In order to minimise disruption to our passengers, we have reluctantly decided to suspend flights to Blackpool for a period of four weeks.



‘We apologise for any inconvenience caused by Blackpool Airport's decision and we will keep our customers fully updated on progress over the next few weeks. Citywing remains committed to serving its customers and maintaining the vital route between the Isle of Man and Blackpool.



‘Citywing Reservations will contact all passengers in due course and we ask for patience during this process.’



Passengers booked for travel up to 15 October will be unaffected. Passengers booked for travel between 16 and 22 October will be offered a full refund or alternative travel arrangements. Passengers booked for travel between 23 October and 16 November will automatically be given a full refund.

racedo

RIP but it goes the way of Manston and potentially a number of others in being too small to be viable in the long term.

Not sure bigger is better but a sizeable volume is requried to keep an airport solvent.

Keepitup

So Moderator/Administrator,
Where is the original Blackpool Thread ?????????

Blackpool Airport is still here !!!!!

Solar

It's certainly a shame that the airport is closing, my understanding is that it's the operations side that is up for sale and that it's commercial aviation only that will cease for the time being, this of course remains to be seen.
A lot of people on the original thread were lamenting that the council should have done all in its power to keep it open but you need to be careful what you wish for and by that I mean take a look at Derry airport in NI.
Derry is almost completely subsidized by the rate payers of Derry which is one of the reasons that Derry has the highest rates in NI.
There are obviously political reasons as well for the airport to stay open but at some point the rate payers will waken up and start asking questions.
The airport is owned by the council but operated by BB.

IB4138

Fair play to Jet2 for keeping people informed.

Status | Jet2.com

StoneyBridge Radar

May be it's been bought by a Gulf airline who doesn't like being talked about...

"From Blackpool to the World"

TSR2

Yep, totally agree. Well done Jet2.

IB4138

Today's Blackpool Gazette article:

Last-ditch talks fail to save our airport - Blackpool Gazette


Note that Jet2 has done even more than their status report says, regarding car parking for BLK passengers moved to MAN.

Ernest Lanc's

Yes I have been given a number of options, once I receive the e mail on the 14th.

Remember that Jet2 were cutting frequency by 10% at BLK and want to keep BLK passengers using Jet2 at MAN.

I see the Gazette harping on how the pax numbers fell from 500,000 to it's current level, we all know that was mainly dues to FR being driven out.

ADF was a good idea - being it could only be used for outbound, not very clever with Free parking.

Got rid of FR and could not have generated that much cash.

Nobody comes out of this with credit and that includes Blackpool council.

There have been calls by some to have the £10 ADF returned, well that won't happen and the only people who had a reason to try, were those not using the free parking. Maybe the government could have helped here also.

I am really sad BLK has shut - Well as an International Airport anyway.

I personally do not come out to bad financially - I have cancelled my travel insurance and have got a new quote, saving some money as when I take that up, cancellation won't really be needed.

I lose £90 in taxi fare, no way am I driving to MAN. So really unlike the poor airport workers, I don't lose.

Jet2 listened to what I had to say and my needs, so they have treat me well thus far.

The original thread has gone, well so has the airport - No longer relevant. This thread is better, it's what happens in the future such as GA matters and Citywing. And who knows in the future.

I do know one thing and this is aimed at Blackpool council - You may have a new hotel costing millions, Southend and other seaside towns, have an airport - Blackpool has taken a step backward. Reflects badly on the town, how this has been handled. LCC - It affected them also. They did nothing either.

One last barb - I have read comments on Trip Adviser and other sites, and read - "I never knew there was an airport at Blackpool" says it all.

ericlday

Postmortem getting a tad repetitive and boring now.

Ernest Lanc's

ericlday

The airport only closed yesterday. so not even 24 hours for post-mortems.

With respect ericlday nobody is forcing you or anyone to post. or read this thread.

paully

Even more odd, when you consider Manston has not only been closed, but had the x`s painted on the runway, and the duty free shop fittings auctioned off, yet that thread is still open, but Blackpool, which is still open commercially here and now is not....

I smell the fickle hand of a bunch of builders, dont you?

Ernest Lanc's

paully

You can bet the Blackpool2 thread has not (yet) been deleted. It would probably have been moved to a hidden forum, visible only to admins and or mods.

Not sure why, when the coffin lid has not been nailed down.

I am admin of a sports forum with the same software as this forum. 'vbulletin'

Top of the thread are thread tools, a mod can move a thread to a forum for archiving if they are any good, or delete them if not worth keeping

Some forums like ours, have them visible from the jump menu for viewing only.

west lakes

Unless whoever started it deleted their first post which also deletes the thread, possibly unlikely but .....

JB007

Thread deleted by thread starter! Comments: Airfield & Business closed

Ballymoss

I seem to recall Silverhawk deleting the original Blackpool thread by accident whilst having a 'clear out'. Shame he's done it again, and a little hasty IMO as the place is still very much open for business until the 15th.

Perhaps this thread should be retittled BLACKPOOL-3 so as to allow the peeps to debate the future as it unfolds. Much talk locally about interested parties, but it was never going to happen in a week. Let the dust settle post 15th and a clearer picture of the future may appear. Whether Ernest et al will be able to fly to those sun spots again will not be known for some time.

Don't lay the blame at anyones door, it just wasn't viable in its current form in this current economy, and indeed may never be. Doesn't stop people exchanging rumours and news on this forum though

Rgds
The Moss

P.S. I have to agree with all those who have said Jet2 have handled this well. I was due to fly 19th, received my revised flt details 15 minutes before the announcement and 45 minutes before their other email telling me that BLK was closing and alternative arrangements would be offered...