Cardiff-2

[Letsflycwl]

It be great to have MLA back as permanent destination, this is just a one off flight......Air Malta served the route for years and years and surprised no one else has picked up this route.

[Jerry123]

Yeah Malta is a strange one but it seems that neither Thomas Cook or TUI want to serve it and are quite happy for people to go over the bridge. It is a pity that Ryanair didn't launch it when they launched BFS and ABZ, they seem to be doing well on FAO and TFS so i've no doubt they'd make a success of MLA but again they are quite happy to see the passengers head over the bridge to fill their aircraft. Maybe one for Flybe in the future.

[Letsflycwl]

Yeah bit confused with Ryanair, I would have thought they would have added some more destinations as obviously both TFS & FAO are doing well for them.

Would a BE E95 have the range for MLA and would that fit with their CWL routes ? I imagine TUI and other tour operators would sell some seats on it if that happened

[Jerry123]

The E195 and E175 both have the range. Pretty sure they have the range for Greece as well but I can't see that happening. As for Flybe I'd say Malta would fit in to their routes.
As for Ryanair i can't figure them because with their network they could operate a few destinations into Cardiff that they wouldn't struggle to fill and make money on.

[Letsflycwl]

Well it’s just to see things are on the up for CWL, new airlines, new destinations and of course those new (2nd hand) airbridges......

Hopefully more to come over the next few months......would still like some French regional routes but that’s my wish list haha

[Callum Paterson]

Why are Ryanair's flights from Cardiff "obviously" doing well?

What's the source of this bold and certain claim?

[Letsflycwl]

Passenger loads and the fact that they are still “present” as they do not hang around if the passenger figures are not there !

There has been a marked increase in passenger figures to both TFS & FAO for 2017

[Callum Paterson]

Well of course there has been a marked increase in the number of passengers flying to TFS and FAO, there has been a marked increase in the number of flights to both destinations.

However, you do not know the yield being generated by bookings or the overall financial performance of these routes.

Perhaps the reason Ryanair has not further expanded from Cardiff is because these routes aren't making as much money as you "obviously" unfoundedly claim. Perhaps.

[Letsflycwl]

Well when you are responsible for boarding these flights and dispatching them then you sort of get a good idea on how the loads actually are.......so yes they are experiencing good pay loads and have done for several months.

[Callum Paterson]

Again, you have zero access to or knowledge of how these routes are performing.

If Ryanair was as much of a success from Cardiff as you unfoundly claim (as you admit) I'm sure they would have expanded by now. However, they haven't.

[yeo valley]

So correct in saying its not the pax numbers on any flight,its the yield that counts. This has happened at BRS and at many airports they serve. Some routes from BRS has been running just about full and they have binned the route. So if FR are happy with the 2 routes out of CWL then they would add routes. With the 2 routes out of CWL with good loads that tells me the yeild is not as good as they want it to be. We all know the loadings on each flight,but there is no way we shall know the yields.
Airlines operate routes to make money as that's the name of the game,not operate routes here there and every where to please airport supporters. It always put a smile on my face when arm chair supporters say this or that route will work,so they must know a lot more than the airlines know, so if they do work without operating the route then airlines would add routes every where.
You have to wonder why FR has not added CWL routes it must be yields are not as good as they should be.
Airlines are a business not a charity for arn chair CEOs

[Jerry123]

Originally Posted by Callum Paterson

Why are Ryanair's flights from Cardiff "obviously" doing well?

What's the source of this bold and certain claim?

They haven't pulled them. From the figures I've seen the aircraft seem to be pretty full on most flights. If they weren't making money do you really think Ryanair would stick around at little old Cardiff?

[Jerry123]

Who said anything about charity? Ryaniar must be happy with the yields as they are continuing the flights and as these are non based flights those bases may not have the aircraft to operate extra flights or may feel that for the market the current flights are enough and that additional flights might then effect their yield.
As for Ryanair not adding new routes or not basing only Ryanair knows and maybe the airport knows the reason personally I'd love to ask MOL but I doubt he'd tell a non expert like me! They do seem to be concentrating on expanding in Germany at the moment so I'd suggest that is where their focus is and CWL is small fry compared to that.
In the end it is Ryaniars choice whether they believe CWL will make them money. Personally I think it would but again that is my personal opinion based on the evidence that I've seen and if you look at the historical numbers for what CWL used to sustain in the past that would also suggest more flights even if they were seasonal would be sustainable for airline like Ryanair.

[Jerry123]

Another factor as well is that there is a massive amount of leakage from CWLs catchment area to other airports and Ryanair will be one of the beneficiaries of that so they may be very cautious in that they don't want to effect their operations at other airports.

[Harry Wayfarers]

That's not strictly so ...

There is such a thing as flooding one's own market, RYR have quite a network of flights out of BHX and BRS, start offering the same or similar destinations out of CWL and they'd be taking their own passengers away from BHX and BRS thus other or all routes may fail, it could be that TFS and FAO are so loaded from these other airports they feel safe to offer a third option but not so with other routes that aren't so well loaded from BHX and BRS.

There's such a thing as walking before running, for years Ryanair ignored CWL, now they're there with a route or two that, so far so good, what with all their recent problems a simple way to test the water ... Have Ryanair been cancelling CWL flights in favour of more profitable routes because of their pilot shortage crisis?

[Jerry123]

The CWL routes have remained unaffected by the pilot shortage and are very rarely cancelled or even delayed from what I've seen.

[Harry Wayfarers]

Make's me smile that yeo valley mocks, what he calls, arm chair CEO's and whilst he may have a point "Oh let's go to Naples" or whatever by making the post that he did he has become an arm chair CEO himself.

As difficult as this may be for some to understand but behind every commercial decision there is a commercial department making that decision and normally for a very good reason!

[SWBKCB]

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (4 Dec) released November traffic statistics as follows:
•Traffic grew 6% to 9.3m customers.
•Load factor rose 1% point to 96%

So, the average load factor across all routes in November 2017 was 96% - so looks like all flights are doing well. Based on these figures, bums on seats doesn't tell you a lot about whether a route is doing well or not, or whether a base will be expanding or contracting.

[JobsaGoodun]

The E195 and E175 both have the range. Pretty sure they have the range for Greece as well but I can't see that happening. As for Flybe I'd say Malta would fit in to their routes.

The aircraft might have the range according to the manufacturer, however fill it with passengers, luggage and enough fuel for a possible diversion away from MLA if required and you'll find such a significant payload limitation that it becomes a no-go. I think you'll find that all of Flybe's existing charter services to Greece from the U.K. are restricted from carrying a full passenger load.

[caaardiff]

You have to wonder why FR has not added CWL routes it must be yields are not as good as they should be.

Surely just because one or two routes do well doesn't mean another new route would?

TFS and FAO are big demand routes and very underserved from CWL. As Harry has said FR probably know there's sufficient Welsh passengers using these BRS services to support CWL flights. TFS and FAO are good routes to build ancillary revenue. Those type of passenger will buy a bag, will pay for golf clubs, will buy a drink or snack on board. Quite often the highly loaded routes that have faced the chop are city break or eastern European routes, where people want a cheap fare and don't buy the extras.

The only possible FR routes I can see duplicating BRS is ACE and maybe LPA and IBZ, both served by EZY and FR. EZY don't serve MLA so FR would potentially be diluting their own yields in BRS to MLA.

The bonus to these flights is that they aren't operated by CWL based aircraft and no associated base costs. This is why I can't see FR basing at CWL until they prove a few more routes can work.