Belfast International-2

[A320.b744]

CAA 2017 Stats

CAA 2017 stats have been released, and here are the most important points;

- BFS handled 5,836,552 passengers (+13.3%)
- BFS handled 58,152 aircraft movements (+5.4%)
- BFS handled 12,308 tonnes of cargo (+62%)

Passenger numbers have increased by 32.7% since 2015, which is a remarkable achievement.

2017 was a record breaker for both annual passenger numbers and annual aircraft movements.

My provisional 2017 route analysis figures from February has been confirmed as correct, so I'll repost it here with the rest of the statistics.

Originally Posted by A320.b744

Below I've calculated the total passenger numbers based on CAA Jan-Dec stats.

Domestic Routes;

Modest growth on most routes, decrease for both BHX and GLA.

1. Gatwick - 982,790 (+14.4%)
2. Liverpool - 490,613 (+5.4%)
3. Stansted - 376,429 (+3.4%)
4. Luton - 340,034 (+9.5%)
5. Edinburgh - 284,833 (+3.8%)
6. Manchester - 265,643 (+4.9%)
7. Bristol - 261,730 (+4.9%)
8. *Glasgow - 261,020 (-7.6%)
9. Newcastle - 259,776 (+3.7%)
10. *Birmingham - 224,393 (-1.4%)
11. Jersey - 20,783 (+4.3%)

International Routes;

First time in 10 years that an international route has exceeded 200,000 pax, and the first time ever that two routes have exceeded 200,000.

Sun routes, in particular Iberian routes, performed exceptionally well. Ski routes on the other hand performed very poorly.

1. Alicante - 227,397 (+48.0%)
2. Malaga - 209,583 (+60.8%)
3. Palma - 183,383 (+24.4%)
4. Faro - 164,738 (+32.4%)
5. Tenerife - 126,232 (+39.5%)
6. Lanzarote - 123,470 (+13.5%)
7. Amsterdam - 122,369 (+0.3%)
8. Krakow - 99,585 (+82.5%)
9. Paris CDG - 76,399 (+0.0%)
10. Reus - 60,489 (+15.3%)
11. Barcelona - 55,279 (+55.8%)
12. Gran Canaria - 45,879 (+148.0%)
13. Ibiza - 45,362 (+59.6%)
14. Berlin SXF - 44,683 (+193.8%)
15. Vilnius - 34,559 (+15.6%)
16. Gdansk - 34,163 (+582.7%)
17. Warsaw - 33,732 (+485.5%)
18. Wroclaw - 32,386 (+549.5%)
19. Bergamo - 31,033 (+221.8%)
20. Girona - 28,740 (NEW)
21. *Geneva - 20,063 (-13.8%)
22. *Katowice - 19,259 (-30.8%)
23. Burgas - 18,799 (+17.5%)
24. *Nice - 18,593 (-3.2%)
25. *Larnaca - 18,096 (-5.6%)
26. Menorca - 17,725 (+54.3%)
27. Dubrovnik - 17,049 (+191%)
28. Newburgh - 16,676 (NEW)
29. *Reykjavik - 15,515 (-43.9%)
30. Split - 12,874 (+116.3%)
31. Orlando - 9,176 (+66.6%)
32. Bordeaux - 8,888 (+20.8%)
33. *Dalaman - 8,701 (-67.4%)
34. Corfu - 7,363 (+2.4%)
35. Rhodes - 6,666 (+0.00%)
36. Providence - 6,518 (NEW)
37. Zante - 6,202 (+0.4%)
38. *Verona - 5,755 (-8.1%)
39. Plovdiv - 5,128 (+46.8%)
40. Malta - 4,684 (NEW)
41. *Lyon - 4,589 (-15.5%)
42. *Newark - 2,924 (-96.3%)
43. Cancun - 2,504 (+625.8%)
44. Rovaniemi - 1,754 (+3.1%)
45. Las Vegas - 631 (NEW)
46. Varadero - 567 (+21.4%)
47. *Salzburg - 411 (-86.9%)

[richardnei]

If Ryanair hadn't cancelled the BFSLGW.We could possibly have broke the 6 Million mark in 2017.

Originally Posted by A320.b744

CAA 2017 stats have been released, and here are the most important points;

- BFS handled 5,836,552 passengers (+13.3%)
- BFS handled 58,152 aircraft movements (+5.4%)
- BFS handled 12,308 tonnes of cargo (+62%)

Passenger numbers have increased by 32.7% since 2015, which is a remarkable achievement.

2017 was a record breaker for both annual passenger numbers and annual aircraft movements.

My provisional 2017 route analysis figures from February has been confirmed as correct, so I'll repost it here with the rest of the statistics.

[DC9_10]

Could it be FR operating LGW-BHD-LGW from W18?.

Wishful thinking I would suggest.

[True Blue]

Could it be FR operating LGW-BHD-LGW from W18?

Considering the comment was about something maybe brewing at Bfs, why suddenly come out with this, a complete non-idea?

[DC9_10]

Exactly TB, I was referring to someone called Alteagods previous post.

[EI-BUD]

I think given the very competitive environment that exists between the Belfast Airports it is not inconceivable that Ryanair may seek to lever its position. They now have a number of 738's with short field capability so operating into and out of BHD could certainly be attractive. However, the largest challenge would be the 2130 closure time. I wouldn't rule anything out.

[mart901]

Originally Posted by EI-BUD

I think given the very competitive environment that exists between the Belfast Airports it is not inconceivable that Ryanair may seek to lever its position. They now have a number of 738's with short field capability so operating into and out of BHD could certainly be attractive. However, the largest challenge would be the 2130 closure time. I wouldn't rule anything out.

FR said they would possibly fly to both but as with most things they say, use a kilo bag of salt with it. In reality the post about LGW-BFS/BHD is a typo by someone in FR marketing, a reflection of a company getting so big they loose the run of themselves at times. FR handed the slots back to IAG.

[GAZMO]

If anything brewing at BFS maybe Norwegian to Toronto!

[BFS Dude]

Originally Posted by SecondDog

I have a feeling there is something big in the air (pun very much intended) but I'll be goshdarned if I can get it out of anyone I know who works there. Anyone got any ideas??

Anyone got any updates on this? Or when it may be announced?

Maybe another Transatlantic airline? Didn't BFS management say they where close to getting another airline to US when Norwegian was announced?

[owenc]

Well, let's hope so. We all know that Norweigan is not a permanent venture.

[BFS Dude]

Belfast Airport deploys Veovo?s management system - Airport Technology

[BFS BHD]

First Ryanair service to Manchester starts tomorrow. Outbound service seems to be sold out. Seats left on the inbound back from Manchester but.

[KNT544]

Very easy to sell the seats. The key is to also make money. Having a couple of pilots to fly would be great too

[owenc]

Virgin Atlantic starting up today. 28 flights for the season, circa 25,000 seats.

I wonder, will they increase it for next year?

[A320.b744]

Originally Posted by owenc

Virgin Atlantic starting up today. 28 flights for the season, circa 25,000 seats.

I wonder, will they increase it for next year?

25,480 seats to be exact. It all depends on how successful the route is. This is the first year that VS are operating the route for the full summer season, so any increases next year will depend on the success of these new off-peak flights. I imagine that next year will see the x2 weekly peak period extended by a few weeks, but perhaps it could be extended throughout most of the summer season.

It should also be noted that from next year VS will be starting to replace their B744s with the A350-1000. The A350 has 100-150 fewer seats than the B744, meaning in order to keep current capacity on the route, the number of flights would need to increase from 28 to about 40. I suspect that the first A350s will be used exclusively from LGW, and that BFS won't see the A350 for a few more years, but soon enough BFS could be seeing up to x4 weekly VS flights to Orlando.

[MaverickPrime]

Maybe they would make more profit on the 350 with the lower seat cost per mile?

[BFS BHD]

Nothing new for TUI for S19 announced today?

[owenc]

Thanks.

What is the maximum potential for the Northern Ireland route? Would Dublin cut into that?

Just hope we can make this niche work and not give it over to Dublin again.

[A320.b744]

Originally Posted by owenc

Thanks.

What is the maximum potential for the Northern Ireland route? Would Dublin cut into that?

Just hope we can make this niche work and not give it over to Dublin again.

Orlando is an interesting destination. Compared with other transatlantic routes such as New York, almost all passengers are British holidaymakers, with a substantial number booking package holidays with Virgin Holidays, TUI, Thomas Cook and other companies. People are also more likely to travel from their local airport when flying to a leisure destination, and this is compounded by the fact that a large number of passengers are families with young children. Therefore, Aer Lingus would carry relatively fewer NI passengers on their DUB-MCO service than on their business-orientated transatlantic routes.

With regards to maximum potential for BFS-MCO, I believe that peak demand would be obtained if the route was served by Virgin Atlantic, TUI and Thomas Cook. During the peak summer season (June-August), I believe that there would be enough demand for daily flights - something along the lines of x3 weekly Virgin B744, x2 weekly TUI B788, x2 weekly Thomas Cook A332.Throughout the rest of the summer season, there would be demand for x4 weekly flights, and x1 weekly flight during the winter season.

This schedule is, of course, what I believe to be the absolute maximum potential for BFS-MCO, though I doubt that the airport will achieve such a schedule any time soon. This schedule would mean 148,340 seats would be offered between Belfast and Orlando, and based on average load factors, passenger numbers would be approximately 120,000 which, to compare, is slightly less than the 2017 annual passenger numbers between Glasgow and Orlando.

[SealinkBF]

Originally Posted by BFS BHD

Nothing new for TUI for S19 announced today?

I think the announcement today was quite vague, pointing to 5th April as the S19 launch date...