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Old 11th Oct 2019, 21:24
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Changes noted on the RYANAIR SUMMER 20 timetable...

FARO....3 Weekly until 23/10/20.....previously 4 Weekly until 27/7/20

MALAGA.....4 Weekly until 24/10/20....previously until 26/7/20
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Old 12th Oct 2019, 00:51
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The airport was advertising for a Lounge Delivery Manager to work on a new lounge project from the job description. Thinking of locations, I wonder if it will be built on top of the immigration hall? When they built that extension they did say they would build the other floor at a later date. It would have views over the Apron so would be a good location for a Lounge, better than Aspire and the BA Lounge.

Also, would the new Lounge be a new company I.e. No1 Lounge, or an in house Lounge by the airport similar to the Yorkshire Lounge, White Rose and 1432 Club at Leeds Bradford. I can’t see British Airways moving lounges like they did in Aberdeen unless they airport want the BA Lounge as extra space for the Aspire Lounge.
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Old 14th Oct 2019, 19:27
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Originally Posted by Ph1l1pncl

...It would have views over the Apron so would be a good location for a Lounge, better than Aspire and the BA Lounge...
A few observations here, from someone who frequents numerous business lounges, then to be honest when travelling through NCL I tend to attempt to spend as little time between arrival & flight departure to the extent that I avoid the Aspire lounge "like the plague".
At times It's frankly "horrid" & early mornings is often full of drunk noisy Geordies off on one of the many bucket & spade IT's, who have gained access through tour company promotion / bank concession on premium accounts/ or simply subscribe to "priority pass". The vast majority see it as simply a cheap way of getting totally inebriated & can't pass up the opportunity of something for nothing / greed.
There are many instances where it is necessary for staff to restrict access even to those who may otherwise qualify for entrance,
To add to this it's pretty dingy and the choice of food is basic & predictable & in reality better quality food is available on the public concourse "for a price", but often it's a price worth paying.
Now they also have an Aspire Plus section which is available to ticketed "business class" passengers though it's actually no better, being less busy (predictably!), then it may offer a bit more peace & quiet, but little else, about 30% natural light vs. zero natural light in Aspire & this is only from pier,then only obstructed & limited (i.e. useless) views. The food is shared as are other facilities, so really little more than a semi quiet annex.
I don't fly BA out of NCL these days but used to and as such can't comment on their current offering, but suffice to say that it was completley the opposite of the Aspire Lounge & as well as being upstairs with 100% daylight & full view of the apron, it was civilised being populated with pax who knew how to behave, also offering a "slightly" improved buffet food.
As such it is obvious to me that BA will never allow themselves to become involved with a load of bucket & spade Geordies & IF new lounges are the order of the day, will ensure that they maintain the exclusivity necessary to address bad behaviour.
One final & positive observation, I was recently in an AA business lounge at MIA, & they had an excellent system to control excessive /binge drinking. They did this by administering free alcohol purchase vouchers (usually 2) to all (over 21) persons who were admitted to the lounge. More vouchers were readily available as & when guests required them, but they had to ask & if necessary could be controlled. What it controlled was the "group drinking" mentality when habitually one member of a group wanders to the bar with large group orders feeding an ever more intoxicated bunch. This is IMHO something that ought to be introduced at Aspire, but then ....
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Old 14th Oct 2019, 19:43
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Quite amazingly, I find myself in full agreement with Skyman's post.
I often wonder how on earth so may people are allowed access to the Aspire lounge.
Part of the problem, I guess, is that half the KLM and AF flights have pax with Sky Priority which gives them access, even if they have to use points.
But the noise and behaviour makes it a pretty unpleasant place, though the food and drink I would say is ok.
The old one was more refined but the food and drink option was non-existent. Even at 6am you couldn't get a bowl of cereal.
And I have seen highly indignant passengers turned away because it was full of riff-raff and, no, I am not remotely a snob.
I get access to the Aspire Plus lounge and even get some biscuits (though I could go through and get something more), and find it an oasis of tranquility, though, like Skyman says, I do limit my time there to 1 cup of coffee.
On the other hand, we know that NCL is desperate to get income in from all sources so if people pay via Priority Pass etc to get in they will keep allowing it. Mind, I am only guessing that NCL benefits from that and it is not a totally an independent run scheme.
The lack of light and views doesn't bother me though the view of the apron etc would be good.
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Old 14th Oct 2019, 20:58
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Devil

I agree with a lot of what you say, with the caveat that I suspect that one or two of the 'pax who knew how to behave' in the BA lounge were Geordies as well.
Must admit, when on my last trip through Amsterdam I spied and heard (from some distance away) a bunch of people who completely refused to integrate themselves into the Business-Class Eurosoup that inhabits large parts of LHR, AMS and CDG, I experienced a strange frisson of pride when I realised that they were Geordies. But that's possibly a discussion for the sociology forum if there is one.
I agree though: Sharing a departure lounge with people who find it an essential part of their cultural identity to get poo-faced at 5.30am can be a pain.
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Old 15th Oct 2019, 08:05
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I have to agree with most of the comments above on the Aspire lounge, Aspire plus was always a bastion of quietness and a lot more civilised however it too is starting to fill at times, my wife travelling EK Business walked in earlier this summer to find most of the seat reserved for couples and groups! When asked why she could find a seat was told by a rude member of staff that they were busy with direct bookings and that EK should have their own lounge! EK upon complaining said they couldn't control non EK lounges sorry! I used the plus lounge in early September and both toilets were U/S and you have to go down pier or into terminal to go to toilet!! Really.......
I have had need to use EK LHR T3 lounge of late and find it fabulous! Floor to ceiling view's, cooked meals, direct access to upper deck from both gates EK use, could not be more different to NCL!
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Old 15th Oct 2019, 10:03
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I am gold on BA and KLM and use both lounges at NCL (although most of my KLM flights are out of MME).

THe BA lounge is great, OK it is not as nice as some of the other BA outstations like GLA but there is plenty of space and if you are waiting on the inbound flight to come in, you can see when it has arrived at the gate. The lounge has a well stocked help yourself bar and some nice snacks although the lack of any hot food for breakfast is a slight letdown.

However, the Aspire lounge is not a great experience. I normally only nip in for 15 minutes but sometimes there is an issue finding a seat during the mid/late morning as many places are reserved for the EK flight. Clearly having a manned bar goes some way to restrict some paid guests from getting the maximum value for money but it doesn't stop some trying. I have been refused entry in the past on the grounds that the Aspire lounge was full and was told that I should have paid to pre-book in order to guarantee entry - I do 120 flights a year so that it not happening as I only want a quick drink and some space to check a few emails.

Is the Aspire plus lounge ever busy? Every time I walk past when arriving at NCL or walking to the BA lounge there is hardly anyone in.
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Old 17th Oct 2019, 04:04
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TUI 2021

see TUI will put May-Oct 2021 holidays on sale next month the 7th nov
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Old 18th Oct 2019, 16:40
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Statistics now available on the airport website for Aug and Sept.....both months down on 2018
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Old 20th Oct 2019, 09:30
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I have long wondered what the story behind the NCL-DUS route is. It has existed for something like 25 years, first served by Gill, later by Eurowings Mk. I and now by Eurowings Mk. II. It is one of the very few destinations served by the Lufthansa group not from FRA or MUC, but only from a non-hub airport (I know this will change in 2020). What exactly is the target group of the route? Industry that I am not aware of?
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Old 20th Oct 2019, 09:45
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Eurowings/Germanwings also had a long history at STN but sadly they're now pulling out their only remaining CGN route. Lufthansa/Eurowings are doing a lot of restructuring at the moment to cut costs and being tough on routes that aren't quite performing.
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Old 20th Oct 2019, 10:02
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Looking at the Easyjet website it would appear that they are not going to operate the Rhodes flights next summer. It be interesting to see what they do instead of Rhodes - Newcastle must be the smallest or one of the smallest bases for Easyjet.
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Old 20th Oct 2019, 15:41
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Originally Posted by virginblue
I have long wondered what the story behind the NCL-DUS route is. It has existed for something like 25 years, first served by Gill, later by Eurowings Mk. I and now by Eurowings Mk. II. It is one of the very few destinations served by the Lufthansa group not from FRA or MUC, but only from a non-hub airport (I know this will change in 2020). What exactly is the target group of the route? Industry that I am not aware of?
Often wondered that myself. My mam had to go to Essen in the late 60's and flew on 'an old propeller plane' from Newcastle to Duesseldorf, so the route was operating back then.
Edited to add: It's not so much the link to Duesseldorf that's interesting (it's the major airport for the Rhine-Ruhr conurbation as well as the picturesque Rhineland region) but the lack of a service to Frankfurt.
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Old 20th Oct 2019, 16:41
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Do I recall correctly that BUA (later BCal) operated NCL - AMS - DUS fora while in the 70s?
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Old 20th Oct 2019, 16:43
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I think it may even have gone further back than that....maybe Hunting Clan
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Old 20th Oct 2019, 19:10
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S20 Ryanair PMI-NCL-PMI showing operated by Lauda on Tu We Fri Sa
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Old 20th Oct 2019, 19:27
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Hunting indeed offered NCL-AMS-DUS in the mid 1950s with Vikings and Viscounts.

I am also aware of BKS serving DUS at some point between 1959 and 1963: NCL-LBA-RTM-DUS. Twice weekly in 1960, flight time a leisurely 4hrs. BKS main route form the Northeast to DUS was always LBA-(XXX)-DUS back then. It was served continously for more than a decade. In 1966, BKS also tried a connecting MME-AMS-DUS service that met the LBA at AMS, but that was short-lived.

I don't think BUA/BCal operated to Düsseldorf, but I may be wrong, of course.
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Old 21st Oct 2019, 15:34
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Flybe

According to Wikipedia (which I think someone is messing around with it) but Flybe are to end the Aberdeen, Cardiff and Exeter just wondering if anyone could shine a light on this
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Old 21st Oct 2019, 15:40
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I would be very surprised to see Flybe axe EXETER...pax loads of between 3,500 and 4,500 a month. Aberdeen and Cardiff ....possibly....and not sure how Newquay will stand up to the competition from Loganair.......whoever it was on Wikipedia has totally deleted Newquay !!!!!

Last edited by Jamesair; 21st Oct 2019 at 16:00.
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Old 21st Oct 2019, 22:32
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Originally Posted by virginblue
Hunting indeed offered NCL-AMS-DUS in the mid 1950s with Vikings and Viscounts.

I don't think BUA/BCal operated to Düsseldorf, but I may be wrong, of course.
In the 60's British United as they were then known operated the route NCL-AMS-DUS with viscounts. I was told that the reason that the route extended to DUS was to serve the many British army bases that were located in Germany around that time. It was not a daily service possibly 3? weekly and it may have operated through to Glasgow.
Time moved on & with diminishing demand from military the route terminated at AMS & in late 60's Viscounts replaced by BAC 1-11's, which morphed into today's KL AMS route.
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