Carlisle-2
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This was the BBC's take on the situation as reported last Friday, 24 July:
Carlisle flights 'won't take off again until 2021'
The airline that operates flights in and out of Carlisle says it has no plans to restart them "for the foreseeable future".
Loganair flights to London Southend, Belfast and Dublin were grounded in March, less than a year after they started flying, because of the pandemic.
In 2017 the airport was given £4.75m by Cumbria's Local Enterprise Partnership to upgrade its terminal and runway, and starting flights was seen as an important development for the regional economy.
Carlisle Airport has so far only said that announcements will be made in due course but the travel journalist Malcolm Ginsberg says he isn't expecting anything to happen this year.
I personally believe there is a future for the airport but not this year, let's forget about this year and talk about 2021."
Loganair and its managing director Jonathan Hinkles will look at the routes and the aircraft I suspect in January or February next year, see what's happening and then make a quick assessment
Malcolm GinsbergTravel journalist
Carlisle flights 'won't take off again until 2021'
The airline that operates flights in and out of Carlisle says it has no plans to restart them "for the foreseeable future".
Loganair flights to London Southend, Belfast and Dublin were grounded in March, less than a year after they started flying, because of the pandemic.
In 2017 the airport was given £4.75m by Cumbria's Local Enterprise Partnership to upgrade its terminal and runway, and starting flights was seen as an important development for the regional economy.
Carlisle Airport has so far only said that announcements will be made in due course but the travel journalist Malcolm Ginsberg says he isn't expecting anything to happen this year.
I personally believe there is a future for the airport but not this year, let's forget about this year and talk about 2021."
Loganair and its managing director Jonathan Hinkles will look at the routes and the aircraft I suspect in January or February next year, see what's happening and then make a quick assessment
Malcolm GinsbergTravel journalist
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So if another airline was interested in operating flights from Carlisle to Belfast, Dublin & London, would that be permitted or does the airport have to stick with Loganair.
Just wondered what happens in that event.
Just wondered what happens in that event.
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Thanks for that info, mabmac.
Strange that the BBC should take the slightest interest in Carlisle when its regional HQ is in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and that's the only part of the world in which it's truly interested. No surprise that its journalism is as crap as ever though: Stobart received £4.95 million, not £4.75. The latter figure was erroneously first reported by that other beacon of north of England broadcast journalism, ITV's Border News. Malcolm Ginsberg's belief that "there is a future for Carlisle airport"'does make me wonder if he was on the Happy Juice when interviewed. Then again though, he may've been talking about an entirely different kind of airport to the one at which so much public money has been chucked.
Strange that the BBC should take the slightest interest in Carlisle when its regional HQ is in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and that's the only part of the world in which it's truly interested. No surprise that its journalism is as crap as ever though: Stobart received £4.95 million, not £4.75. The latter figure was erroneously first reported by that other beacon of north of England broadcast journalism, ITV's Border News. Malcolm Ginsberg's belief that "there is a future for Carlisle airport"'does make me wonder if he was on the Happy Juice when interviewed. Then again though, he may've been talking about an entirely different kind of airport to the one at which so much public money has been chucked.
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Numbers on the Belfast route warrant interest from Logan or Eastern perhaps, it could be done as a ‘w’ from BHD. Not sure that makes passenger operations viable though.
A spokesman for Loganair said: “We have no plans for the foreseeable future to restart flights from Carlisle airport. A significant number of air services across the UK have been suspended or deferred through Covid-19 impacts on demand. The Carlisle services are amongst them.”
Stobart Group, which own and operate the airport, said the Carlisle facility had felt the full force of the coronavirus pandemic and the company was not currently in a position to secure a passenger airline agreement on commercial terms.
Stobart Group, which own and operate the airport, said the Carlisle facility had felt the full force of the coronavirus pandemic and the company was not currently in a position to secure a passenger airline agreement on commercial terms.
The airport team is taking an innovative approach to identifying new opportunities in general aviation, business aviation, logistics and military flying. However, the loss of commercial operations is significant and without the associated operating income we need to review our staffing needs, which will inevitably lead to redundancies.
“We continue in our endeavours to gain fully funded Public Service Obligation (PSO) routes and Freeport status. Gaining PSO routes would support regional connectivity, enable key air links across the UK and help address economic rebalance. We are also playing a significant role in the region’s Freeport application and the combination of PSO routes and Freeport status would deliver a material boost to the region’s economy.
“We continue in our endeavours to gain fully funded Public Service Obligation (PSO) routes and Freeport status. Gaining PSO routes would support regional connectivity, enable key air links across the UK and help address economic rebalance. We are also playing a significant role in the region’s Freeport application and the combination of PSO routes and Freeport status would deliver a material boost to the region’s economy.
de minimus non curat lex
This was the BBC's take on the situation as reported last Friday, 24 July:
Carlisle flights 'won't take off again until 2021'
The airline that operates flights in and out of Carlisle says it has no plans to restart them "for the foreseeable future"......I personally believe there is a future for the airport but not this year, let's forget about this year and talk about 2021."
Loganair and its managing director Jonathan Hinkles will look at the routes and the aircraft I suspect in January or February next year, see what's happening and then make a quick assessment
Malcolm GinsbergTravel journalist
Carlisle flights 'won't take off again until 2021'
The airline that operates flights in and out of Carlisle says it has no plans to restart them "for the foreseeable future"......I personally believe there is a future for the airport but not this year, let's forget about this year and talk about 2021."
Loganair and its managing director Jonathan Hinkles will look at the routes and the aircraft I suspect in January or February next year, see what's happening and then make a quick assessment
Malcolm GinsbergTravel journalist
Without a qualified ATCO it will not be possible for instrument approaches to be carried out.
Whilst VFR approaches only would be a reasonable prospect in Spain, it is clearly not the case in Cumbria 12 months of the year.
Depending upon the proposed opening hours, AFISO and/or A/G service can operate outwith ATC hours.
The airport fire and rescue service is the other critical component for the long term prospects.
CATEGORY 1 or 2 for general aviation. Aircraft up to but not including 12m in length.
Attempt to operate without instruments approaches and the business model is not viable.
It will simply die on the vine.
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I suspect there are a large number of company directors who didn’t pay enough attention to the risk register when it came up for annual review.
Quite so. Now I wonder why something like COVID-19 didn't occur to them, after all we all anticipated something like this happening didn't we. Er ............?
operators Stobart confirmed they were "reluctantly but unavoidably engaged in consultations" with staff about redundancies. When approached by the News & Star, Stobart refused to confirm how many jobs were at risk, but some sources - including BBC Radio Cumbria - put it at 30. Stobart did say "Covid-19 continues to have a devastating effect on the aviation industry" and Carlisle airport "is no exception". Despite the news, the firm added: "Although we remain confident that the airport has an important regional economic role to play in the long term, the short term is challenging."
Off topic, but of local interest, I found a website with copies of old airline timetables.
In the late 1950's Silver City operated a summer service, three return trips on a Saturday, between Carlisle and IOM. As Carlisle Council did not purchase the airport until 1960, these flights were operated from Silloth. I believe they used the B170 Bristol Freighter.
http://www.timetableimages.com/ttima...9/silv59-4.jpg
In the late 1950's Silver City operated a summer service, three return trips on a Saturday, between Carlisle and IOM. As Carlisle Council did not purchase the airport until 1960, these flights were operated from Silloth. I believe they used the B170 Bristol Freighter.
http://www.timetableimages.com/ttima...9/silv59-4.jpg
Off topic, but of local interest, I found a website with copies of old airline timetables.
In the late 1950's Silver City operated a summer service, three return trips on a Saturday, between Carlisle and IOM. As Carlisle Council did not purchase the airport until 1960, these flights were operated from Silloth. I believe they used the B170 Bristol Freighter.
http://www.timetableimages.com/ttima...9/silv59-4.jpg
In the late 1950's Silver City operated a summer service, three return trips on a Saturday, between Carlisle and IOM. As Carlisle Council did not purchase the airport until 1960, these flights were operated from Silloth. I believe they used the B170 Bristol Freighter.
http://www.timetableimages.com/ttima...9/silv59-4.jpg
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Apropos old Carlisle airfields, the former RAF Kingstown site in Carlisle is now mainly a large industrial/trading estate, at which Eddie Stobart (now separate from Stobart Group) still have a 'Truck Stop' facility (you can stay there if you want).
RAF built 'Crosby on Eden' as the runways were too short at Kingsdown for their planned wartime needs.
Really hope that the airport finds a way to meaningfully re-open, even if it be only for GA, military and biz-jets. It has a good runway finally.
RAF built 'Crosby on Eden' as the runways were too short at Kingsdown for their planned wartime needs.
Really hope that the airport finds a way to meaningfully re-open, even if it be only for GA, military and biz-jets. It has a good runway finally.
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Well the £4.75m for the runway & terminal improvements came from Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership & not Stobart so the "good runway" as described indirectly belongs to the area anyway surely.