Gatwick-3

[Skipness One Foxtrot]

Originally Posted by The96er

They’re unlikely to be part of a LHR operation, assuming they do go to BA. The lack of containerised load holding would not be in fitting with LHR’s Ops. Officially, they’re bound for Vueling. I, however do not see that happening as VY have a large Airbus fleet and I don’t see that having a small Boeing fleet would be in their interests. More likely, if I were a betting man, I’d say they’re Euroflyer bound judging by the size of the order which would be a perfect fit for a stand alone operation.

If they are for a realunched BA Euroflyer would this be the carrot to entice a seperate seniority list for pilots? Cut even more costs with the enticement of a growing fleet and a quick path to command in short hail albeit one on the Max and disconnected from the Hub and Spoke LHR operation AND cost structure. The 1/2 way house at the moment isn't built to last IMHO. But seems odd IAG that the finance team would okay this for an operation that hasn't had a single season under their belt yet?

[SWBKCB]

Originally Posted by cavokblues

It will be interesting to see where the 737 MAXs IAG have on order go. If (and it seems a big if) they go to BA then I guess LHR would be the preferred base and then that would allow some second hand aircraft to move to Gatwick. I think BA at Gatwick will remain 772s and the 320 family for a while yet.

Aren't the MAX8's on order the high density version? Surely even BA haven't fallen so low as to put them in LHR?

[The96er]

Originally Posted by SWBKCB

Aren't the MAX8's on order the high density version? Surely even BA haven't fallen so low as to put them in LHR?

Who’s to say that the end plan isn’t a formation of a full LCC (“gee, we messed up selling Go to EZY”) - Not BA Euroflyer, just ‘Euroflyer’ - we’ll see in time.

[Asturias56]

Originally Posted by ATNotts

Asturias56,

I imagine you were thinking only of PAX aircraft, however DHL Air 757 G-BMRA has not long turned 36, in February this year.

correct - but the point I was answering was about BA 777's not all types of aircraft in general

TBH I never enquire about the age of the airframe I'm flying in - might make me worry......... I suspect my DC-3 rides are the oldest tho'

[davidjohnson6]

Dan Air have *finally* put tickets on sale to Brasov and Bucharest... flights are each 1x weekly on Fridays from 16 June

[JW95]

Originally Posted by davidjohnson6

Dan Air have *finally* put tickets on sale to Brasov and Bucharest... flights are each 1x weekly on Fridays from 16 June

At 1 weekly, these guys are going to have a seriously tough time competing against W6, who are at 1 daily with the A321 (albeit at not so desirable flight times), in addition to their 5 daily LTN-OTP operation, and FR who fly to OTP from STN 4 times a day.

[davidjohnson6]

TUI to start flying from Gatwick to Frankfurt. Yes, FRA, Lufthansa's hub. Yes, I have verified on the TUI UK website, in conjunction with river cruises. Begins at the start of winter 2023-24

[AirportPlanner1]

TUI already operate out of FRA and have aircraft based there so this isn’t so crazy. Good to see them being more imaginative and using their assets efficiently.

[pabely]

Originally Posted by davidjohnson6

Dan Air have *finally* put tickets on sale to Brasov and Bucharest... flights are each 1x weekly on Fridays from 16 June

W6 starting x3 weekly from Brasov to LTN in August. Enjoy the 2 months Dan Air while you can.

[davidjohnson6]

Originally Posted by pabely

W6 starting x3 weekly from Brasov to LTN in August. Enjoy the 2 months Dan Air while you can.

I wish Dan Air no harm. I very much enjoyed visiting Brasov as a tourist about 10 years ago, and am trying to persuade Mrs Johnson to go there
However... I am dubious as to their plans regarding Brasov. In particular it seems they are due to fly internationally the day (or the day after) the airport opens. There's an awful lot that can go wrong or not be properly in place for the opening day... even Scandinavian Mountains airport in Sweden c*cked it up - they didn't get immigration fully in place for about 6 weeks after they opened so all flights from the UK had to divert to Oslo
I think that 2 month gap between Dan Air and Wizz Air starting is going to see more teething issues and perhaps end up rather shorter than Dan Air might wish. Wizz seem to have taken the rather more sensible option from an ops perspective - namely let Dan Air be the guinea-pig, only to devour it once the expermentation is complete

[JW95]

An interesting new TUI route for LGW - TUI to operate direct charter services to SIN using the 788, 1 weekly, effective 13th December this year. This will mark the second time that LGW has seen direct flights to Singapore in recent years, following in the footsteps of Norwegian long haul.

[davidjohnson6]

Originally Posted by JW95

An interesting new TUI route for LGW - TUI to operate direct charter services to SIN using the 788, 1 weekly, effective 13th December this year. This will mark the second time that LGW has seen direct flights to Singapore in recent years, following in the footsteps of Norwegian long haul.

Who are the target market for these flights ? People on 1 week cruises ? I wasn't aware that TUI were planning to have a ship in the region...

[Cazza_fly]

Originally Posted by davidjohnson6

Who are the target market for these flights ? People on 1 week cruises ? I wasn't aware that TUI were planning to have a ship in the region...

Tui Marella Cruises will be basing Marella Discovery 2 there for the winter season.

[MAC 40612]

Originally Posted by JW95

Nothing specifically haha, I guess that would be pretty major as far as a passenger aircraft is concerned, plus I'm unsure if BA have extended the life of their aircraft this far previously - I don't recall any of their 747s - (100/200/400) being in service for that long

The -400 series B747 would still be in service if not for the pandemic, as the remaining aircraft were envisaged to be in service until at least 2025-6 and were all in the process of having the cabin upgraded [WI-FI/New Panasonic IFE/New club seats etc] and they were due to be replaced by the 777X, so they probably would have stayed on for longer as the 777X is delayed. The airframes were all still in good shape and there were no leasing costs [long since paid off] and they were a dependable aircraft and were regularly being used as back-ups for when the A380 went tech...

Getting back to how long the Boeing 777-236s will be in service on one of the last investor meetings to be held by WW before he left BA, I remember listening to a audio transcript of the meeting [I must have been bored that day ] and having to pause and replay the section more than once about how long he envisaged running the Boeing 777 fleet in BA as he stated it was the intention to keep them going for 40 years!! There isn't actually anything wrong with running older airframes, it's just with age, they just naturally need more maintenance and you get more problems on older airframes. The problem at BA is they have continued to shrink the size of their engineering departments over the years. LGW is a good example, they have completely shut down the hangar/base operation there and it is now only a ramp operation.

Now I know he has long gone from BA and IAG [he's now at IATA] but I suspect given how tight IAG are with the purse strings they probably intend to hold onto aircraft as long as possible.

[MAC 40612]

Originally Posted by Asturias56

Skipness is right

BA have NEVER put any value on LGW operations - they'd far rather it died and everyone had to schelp over to LHR

You're definitely correct about BA never putting value on LGW operations but for them it is a 'necessary evil' as there is no way LHR could handle all the existing LGW operation, as there isn't enough room at LHR with the existing Heathrow operation already split between Terminal 5 and Terminal 3

[Skipness One Foxtrot]

I thought the BA Hangar (Hangar 6)at Gatwick had been reprieved? It's been closed and sitting empty now?

In related news, Hangar 7 (ex Virgin, BA, FLS) is being offered :
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properti...hannel=COM_LET

[vectisman]

Originally Posted by Skipness One Foxtrot

I thought the BA Hangar (Hangar 6)at Gatwick had been reprieved? It's been closed and sitting empty now?

In related news, Hangar 7 (ex Virgin, BA, FLS) is being offered :
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properti...hannel=COM_LET

I am not sure it has closed as they have been advertising for engineers recently. Can’t see the sense of such a decision myself with over 30 based mainline and Euroflyer aircraft this summer.
Unless of course they are moving to hangar7!
The BA Gatwick Engineering Director/Manager is still in post.

[vectisman]

Just read the the posts of MAC 40612. If it’s is closed permanent that is not good news.

[vectisman]

I suppose the 777s can use the Boeing Hangar at Gatwick. The 787s regularly visit there from Heathrow for maintenance checks. The short haul airbus fleet seem to be going
to Madrid and Manchester. Sad and depressing in terms of lost opportunities for local workforce and aspiring engineers.

[MAC 40612]

Originally Posted by vectisman

Just read the the posts of MAC 40612. If it’s is closed permanent that is not good news.

Hangar 6 definitely closed, they had to vacate it, for the same reason that many other older industrial buildings of that era cannot be used anymore, I'll let you figure out the reason....