Norwich-2
Look I understand you will always have this opinion and that's fine, but once again I say to you in the last year, 2 brand new Costa coffee's have opened both Landside and Airside, of course the new world duty free as seen in airports up and down the land. Whsmith completely refitted landside and a new one opened Airside along with the new pub. All the creature comforts you would expect from a small airport. I must take pictures the next time I fly through as a passenger and post them and let you decide if it still looks dreadful, although I admit it doesn't look great from the outside.
Yes the ILS on 09 would be lovely but on a lot foggy days Runway 27 can be used but even then I believe our RVR needs to be 550m plus so even though that's got an ILS if it's fogged out you ain't getting in anyway.
Yes KLM is the only year round international at the minute oh and of course with Tenerife also and I stress at the minute
even then TUI since 2014 I think has had a based Aircraft in the form of Germania and now Sunwing for the summer season flying to a range of summer spots.
Of course we would all like to see the ADF go but once again I ask you if Norwich is 3/10 on Skytrax what makes Luton and Stansted worse at 2/10 on Skytrax?
Many things wrong with Norwich mostly to do with the ADF but aren't there at so many airports across the UK.
Yes the ILS on 09 would be lovely but on a lot foggy days Runway 27 can be used but even then I believe our RVR needs to be 550m plus so even though that's got an ILS if it's fogged out you ain't getting in anyway.
Yes KLM is the only year round international at the minute oh and of course with Tenerife also and I stress at the minute
even then TUI since 2014 I think has had a based Aircraft in the form of Germania and now Sunwing for the summer season flying to a range of summer spots.Of course we would all like to see the ADF go but once again I ask you if Norwich is 3/10 on Skytrax what makes Luton and Stansted worse at 2/10 on Skytrax?
Many things wrong with Norwich mostly to do with the ADF but aren't there at so many airports across the UK.
The big issue with Norwich is the much hated departure fee and the staff attitude. The latter is in my opinion caused by the security unit having boring periods followed by passengers who expect to glide through a small airport as if they were in a big one.
Security staff tend to treat their job as if they were in Ben Gurion.(Israels premier airport) and the passengers are subjected to highly invasive searches not encountered at Heathrow or Gatwick.
Passenger profiling at Norwich is simple compared to other parts of the world.
The departure fee is hated because nothing has really changed at Norwich in my 30 years of looking at and and using the airport. (I last used Norwich 15 years ago)
Private helicopter and non exec GA aircraft abandoned using the site when the old club area was no longer an easy access. The fact that a handling agent is mandatory means a lot of light aviation now uses airfields such as Old Buckenham.
The management seem oblivious to what customers actually want. The outside of the building still looks like the same shed it was when I first flew in there from Jersey in 1991. You can say that Costa and others have spent money but that does not come from the departure fee.
NDB landings went out decades ago.
All I see at Norwich is KLM running the place like a satellite for maintenance and oil and gas flights.
They own no assets there and could pull out quickly.
It might be an idea for Rigby’s management to publicly engage with the users of Norwich airport.
I have to say I cannot agree with the criticisms above, and I say that as an infrequent user of Norwich.
I quite like the airport. Yes, the ADF is a pain. However, I've never found security to be invasive (and I could give you a list of places in the UK allegedly working to the same legislation of which I could say that) and it has retained the convenience and speed benefits of being able to use a smaller airport - which is a huge plus when compared to the likes of Stansted.
If you look at Norwich's route network today, you have:
- KLM service to Amsterdam maintained over many years
- A Loganair base now with three jet aircraft flying Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Jersey, Manchester which I think I'm right in saying is larger than anything AirUK had at Norwich when taken together with KLM's Amsterdam service
- The Flybe/Eastern service to Aberdeen
- A based TUI 737 operating to Spain, Greece with a collection of destinations beyond what was ever imaginable 20-30 years ago
- A prosperous helicopter sector with two based operators (after CHC moved from North Denes)
- Air Livery paint shop
- KLM maintenance base
- FBO with SaxonAir
It's a balanced, all-round business with a reasonable amount in each segment. That level of diversity is something of which many larger airports dependent on a single carrier, or a single low-cost carrier, would be envious. Based on all of this, I don't see the comments above as anything other than an anti-Norwich raid, for which I don't know - and don't really want to know - the reasons. Suffice to say, the views are not shared.
I quite like the airport. Yes, the ADF is a pain. However, I've never found security to be invasive (and I could give you a list of places in the UK allegedly working to the same legislation of which I could say that) and it has retained the convenience and speed benefits of being able to use a smaller airport - which is a huge plus when compared to the likes of Stansted.
If you look at Norwich's route network today, you have:
- KLM service to Amsterdam maintained over many years
- A Loganair base now with three jet aircraft flying Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Jersey, Manchester which I think I'm right in saying is larger than anything AirUK had at Norwich when taken together with KLM's Amsterdam service
- The Flybe/Eastern service to Aberdeen
- A based TUI 737 operating to Spain, Greece with a collection of destinations beyond what was ever imaginable 20-30 years ago
- A prosperous helicopter sector with two based operators (after CHC moved from North Denes)
- Air Livery paint shop
- KLM maintenance base
- FBO with SaxonAir
It's a balanced, all-round business with a reasonable amount in each segment. That level of diversity is something of which many larger airports dependent on a single carrier, or a single low-cost carrier, would be envious. Based on all of this, I don't see the comments above as anything other than an anti-Norwich raid, for which I don't know - and don't really want to know - the reasons. Suffice to say, the views are not shared.
.
The big issue with Norwich is the much hated departure fee and the staff attitude. The latter is in my opinion caused by the security unit having boring periods followed by passengers who expect to glide through a small airport as if they were in a big one. Security staff tend to treat their job as if they were in Ben Gurion.(Israels premier airport) and the passengers are subjected to highly invasive searches not encountered at Heathrow or Gatwick.
(I last used Norwich 15 years ago)
(I last used Norwich 15 years ago)
I use NWI quite often and have never had a bad experience with security staff, I recently had a good meal in the restaurant due to a 2 hour Flybe delay, the Costa Coffee staff were friendly and the Duty Free quite acceptable. All in all it was a good experience as far as the airport was concerned. On return the baggage reclaim area needs a revamp but the bags arrived promptly - which is the main thing. Then straight out of the terminal to a waiting pre-booked taxi meant that I was home 25 miles away within an hour of disembarking the aircraft. As for Skytrax - that's about as reliable a source as the tabloid press.
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I've been a regular traveller through Norwich since before the days of the tiny AirUK plane posted earlier in the thread (was it Air Anglia?). I'm also a frequent traveller and have been through many small and large airports all over the world.
I'm not a huge fan of the development fee but my earliest memories are check in being near where you exit arrivals now. I also remember the departures lounge having the toilets and offices in the middle of it and the bar and cafe being where the toilets are now. More recently as stated the cafe (which was pretty bad) has been updated to a Costa (which is even worse in terms of quality, vile coffee). Lots of changes have taken place for the better over the years.
I cant say I agree with the thoughts on security as well, in thousands of times they have always been extremely polite, patient and friendly to me. In fact i've never had a negative experience with them. A few times I've been part of a group that required (disabled) assistance for one of our party and they've been so kind and helpful in those times, far more so than the staff at Schiphol. I suspect the issue with people treated badly by them is said people being rude to security. I've never had to wait out in the cold for ages to clear customs. I've never had to wait for more than about 5 minutes for baggage to arrive.
It's not perfect, more destinations would be nice (although with KLM / Skyteam the connection possibilities are fantastic), sometimes I do use Stansted instead but for the catchment area we're lucky to have it.
I'm not a huge fan of the development fee but my earliest memories are check in being near where you exit arrivals now. I also remember the departures lounge having the toilets and offices in the middle of it and the bar and cafe being where the toilets are now. More recently as stated the cafe (which was pretty bad) has been updated to a Costa (which is even worse in terms of quality, vile coffee). Lots of changes have taken place for the better over the years.
I cant say I agree with the thoughts on security as well, in thousands of times they have always been extremely polite, patient and friendly to me. In fact i've never had a negative experience with them. A few times I've been part of a group that required (disabled) assistance for one of our party and they've been so kind and helpful in those times, far more so than the staff at Schiphol. I suspect the issue with people treated badly by them is said people being rude to security. I've never had to wait out in the cold for ages to clear customs. I've never had to wait for more than about 5 minutes for baggage to arrive.
It's not perfect, more destinations would be nice (although with KLM / Skyteam the connection possibilities are fantastic), sometimes I do use Stansted instead but for the catchment area we're lucky to have it.
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TUI will be operating weekly flights to Antalya next summer on Saturdays. Also Dalaman will be operated twice a week with new flights on Thursdays.
Last edited by tommynwi; 22nd Oct 2019 at 07:58.
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Good news indeed, looks to be other carrier on website for these rather than the based Aircraft, presume freebird most likely
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My guess too would be freebird for the Turkish flights. Are we any closer to getting a replacement on the Alicante and Malaga routes, as this will be the last week flybe operate out of Norwich.
