Edinburgh-4

[GayFriendly]

Brussels Airlines seem to be having a UK re-think....BHX flights have been removed from sale from end of this month but are on sale again from end of Oct. Perhaps EDI becomes summer seasonal and BHX winter seasonal? Don't know what EDI loads are like but BHX were fair to middling since COVID and dare I say it, Brexit. Before COVID we had 3, sometimes 4 flights a day to BRU albeit on ARJ as opposed to Airbus

[XSBaggage]

Originally Posted by GayFriendly

Brussels Airlines seem to be having a UK re-think....BHX flights have been removed from sale from end of this month but are on sale again from end of Oct. Perhaps EDI becomes summer seasonal and BHX winter seasonal? Don't know what EDI loads are like but BHX were fair to middling since COVID and dare I say it, Brexit. Before COVID we had 3, sometimes 4 flights a day to BRU albeit on ARJ as opposed to Airbus

It is strange because Brussels Airlines flights appear on Lufthansa's website when making connections to EDI from other places in Europe, but more often than not Lufthansa's own flights are cheaper and with better connections than the Brussels flights. BRU is pretty good for transferring too, nice easy airport. But with their parent company outpricing them they don't have much chance!

[RA85684]

Agreed, I did NCL-BRU-LIN/VCE-BRU-NCL back in 2016 when it was Bmir E135's out of NCL and I found the whole experience very pleasant. I'd love to be able to use BRU as a hub again out of NCL, especially if the price was as good as it was back then. Our WDL Bae146 rocked up to VCE 3 hours late so we missed our connection home, the staff at BRU were very friendly and accommodating, put us up in a 5 star airport hotel for the night and rang ahead for them to keep the kitchen open for us. They even put us on the evening BRU-NCL instead of the morning one so we could enjoy a day in Brussels (at our request, of course). Good memories.

[Planeraz]

QR

Is QR making some changes or it could just be a website blip? From 10th March onwards, all the afternoon departures are showing as sold out or not available. Both flights from Doha continue to be available. I wonder…

First

14:10

EDI


Non-stop, 6h 40m

23:50

DOH

Flight details
Economy
Not available
Business
Not available
First
£5,304

[GeorgeNTravels]

Originally Posted by Planeraz

QR

Is QR making some changes or it could just be a website blip? From 10th March onwards, all the afternoon departures are showing as sold out or not available. Both flights from Doha continue to be available. I wonder…

First

14:10

EDI


Non-stop, 6h 40m

23:50

DOH

Flight details
Economy
Not available
Business
Not available
First
£5,304

Looks like it's fixed now, still loaded at 2 daily with A350-900

[VickersVicount]

oh… is that it?

[GeorgeNTravels]

Jan 2024 Stats

Total Passenger Numbers in Jan 2024: 894,763 (+9%)

Market Breakdown for Scheduled Pax Below;

Domestic: 320,935 (+22.5%)
EU: 462,035 (-2.8%)
NON-EU: 107,700 (+33.5%)

[Planeraz]

January 2024

Qatar smashing it again. New record high number of pax - 32,839. +120% on January 2023. Also beating Dec 23 total of 32,013.

Newark with United also performed strongly. 8,949. + 11% on January 2023.

Easyjet to Keflavik also carried more pax than Icelandair to/from Glasgow.

[GeorgeNTravels]

Originally Posted by Planeraz

January 2024

Qatar smashing it again. New record high number of pax - 32,839. +120% on January 2023. Also beating Dec 23 total of 32,013.

Newark with United also performed strongly. 8,949. + 11% on January 2023.

Easyjet to Keflavik also carried more pax than Icelandair to/from Glasgow.

easyJet usually carries more January that FI so not exclusive to this year.

Jet2 Iceland program also needs to be considered

[inOban]

Originally Posted by Planeraz

January 2024

Qatar smashing it again. New record high number of pax - 32,839. +120% on January 2023. Also beating Dec 23 total of 32,013.

Newark with United also performed strongly. 8,949. + 11% on January 2023.

Easyjet to Keflavik also carried more pax than Icelandair to/from Glasgow.

But with Delta pausing, the number of pax to New York is down.

[GeorgeNTravels]

Ryanair S24 Updates

Originally Posted by GeorgeNTravels

This should hopefully be the last of the changes for Summer 2024, but some rather unusual changes for Ryanair, especially on Marseille, full list of frequencies below. The first figure is the April figure with any mid season changes shown in brackets. There is also a summary at the bottom of the list.

AGA - 2 Weekly
ALC - 6 Weekly (rises to 7 weekly in July)
BCN - 9 Weekly (rises to 11 weekly in June)
BRI - 2 Weekly
BFS - 13 Weekly
EGC - 2 Weekly
BER - 8 Weekly (reduces to 7 weekly in June)
BZR - 2 Weekly
BIQ - 2 Weekly
BLL - 3 Weekly (rises to 4 weekly in June)
BLQ - 4 Weekly (reduces to 3 weekly in June, returns to 4 weekly in October)
BOD - 4 Weekly (reduces to 3 weekly in June)
BOH - 4 Weekly (reduces to 3 weekly in June)
BTS - 2 Weekly
CRL - 9 Weekly (reduces to 8 weekly in June)
OTP - 2 Weekly
BUD - 7* Weekly (reduces to 6 weekly in June) *There is an 0825 Ryanair Sun flight on Thursdays currently showing as "Sold Out", this has not been counted
CPH - 10 Weekly (reduces to 9 weekly in June)
CFU - 1 Weekly
ORK - 7 Weekly
DUB - 31 Weekly (reduces to 29 weekly in June)
NRN - 6 Weekly
EIN - 2 Weekly
FAO - 6 Weekly
FUE - 2 Weekly
GDN - 3 Weekly (rises to 5 weekly in June)
LPA - 2 Weekly (rises to 3 weekly in June)
GOT - 2 Weekly
HAM - 4 Weekly (reduces to 3 weekly in June)
IBZ - 2 Weekly
KUN - 2 Weekly (rises to 3 weekly in October)
NOC - 2 Weekly
KRK - 5 Weekly (reduces to 4 weekly in June)
ACE - 4 Weekly
LIS - 3 Weekly
STN - 21 Weekly
MAD - 5 Weekly (reduces to 3 weekly in June)
AGP - 7 Weekly (reduces to 6 weekly in June)
MLA - 2 Weekly (rises to 3 weekly in June)
RAK - 2 Weekly
MRS - 4 Weekly in April, 5 weekly in May, 4 weekly in June-August, 3 weekly September & October
BGY - 7 Weekly (reduces to 6 weekly in June)
NTE - 3 Weekly (reduces to 2 weekly in June)
NAP - 3 Weekly
NQY - 2 Weekly
PMO - 2 Weekly
PMI - 8 Weekly (reduces to 7 weekly in June)
BVA - 5 Weekly (rises to 6 weekly in June)
PSA - 5 Weekly (is 4 weekly for the first 3 weeks of April)
PIS - 2 Weekly
OPO - 3 Weekly
POZ - 5 Weekly (reduces to 4 weekly in June)
PRG - 5 Weekly (reduces to 4 weekly in June)
RHO - 2 Weekly
RIX - 4 Weekly (reduces to 3 weekly in June)
CIA - 6 Weekly (Might reduce to 5 weekly from June, there is a "Sold Out" flight showing on Saturdays being operated by Malta Air at 0840)
SDR - 3 Weekly (reduces to 2 weekly in June)
SVQ - 3 Weekly
SNN - 2 Weekly (rises to 3 weekly in June)
SOF - 3 Weekly
TFS - 5 Weekly (rises to 6 weekly in June)
TIA - 2 Weekly
TLS - 2 Weekly (rises to 3 weekly in June)
VLC - 2 Weekly
VCE - 3 Weekly
WMI - 2 Weekly
WRO - 2 Weekly
ZAD - 2 Weekly

SUMMARY OF CHANGES

• Barcelona gains an additional flight throughout the season, but keeps its change in June
• Bologna loses a flight between June and September
• Budapest gained an additional flight in April and May, and there could be another flight added as well
• Copenhagen gains an additional flight throughout the season, but keeps its change in June
• Faro gains an additional flight
• Gdansk loses 2 flights in April and May
• Malaga gains a flight in April and May
• Marseille gains 2 flights in May and 1 in June-August
• Bergamo gains a flight in April and May
• Nantes gains a flight in April and May
• Paris gains an additional flight throughout the season, but keeps its change in June
• Poznan gains an additional flight throughout the season but keeps its change in June
• Rome might lose a flight from June
• Warsaw not loaded at 2 weekly

Week Commencing April 1st Departures = 309
Week Commencing July 1st Departures = 301

Warsaw Modlin is now showing as 4 weekly, all appear to be EDI based, likely explaining some of the changes on other routes, as traditionally this was a BUZZ operated route. It also appears the resumption may have been pushed back a couple of weeks.

In April and May Budapest will be 8 weekly with the introduction of a second flight operating on Thursdays.

Rome remains at 6 weekly throughout the season, the possible drop to 5 weekly was actually the 6th flight being loaded.

Bergerac also moves from a morning to an afternoon departure from June, and appears to be loaded as a 737-8-200 in April and May, suggesting Ryanair may have reversed the decision to switch EDI to an all 737-800 base this summer.

[BHX5DME]

Originally Posted by GeorgeNTravels

Total Passenger Numbers in Jan 2024: 894,763 (+9%)

Market Breakdown for Scheduled Pax Below;

Domestic: 320,935 (+22.5%)
EU: 462,035 (-2.8%)
NON-EU: 107,700 (+33.5%)

A goof figure for Jan 2024, 3rd busiest January ever with 2020 being the best at 934,654

[Breathe]

Edinburgh Airport’s bid to be UK’s first with screening for US-bound passengers ‘closer than ever’

https://www.scotsman.com/news/transp...n-ever-4554539

Edinburgh Airport becoming the first hub in the UK where US-bound passengers can clear immigration and customs before taking off is “closer than ever”, its chief executive has told business leaders.

Gordon Dewar is stepping up a campaign by Scotland’s busiest airport launched more than a decade ago following its “phenomenal growth” of direct transatlantic traffic, which increased last year to 628,000 passengers – 48 per cent more than in 2019. Its US routes include to New York, where JetBlue will join United and Delta in May.

United was the first to provide Edinburgh with a US link in 2004, and also flies to Chicago and Washington DC – 75 per cent of whose passengers are visiting Scotland. Other airlines fly to Atlanta, Boston and Orlando.

Mr Dewar said a deal between the US and UK governments over a “pre-clearance” facility for Edinburgh had been “really close” in 2019, but was scuppered by the Covid pandemic.

Airport officials said the facility’s expected £10 million cost was significantly lower than previous estimates because of new technology, which would make operations less labour intensive.

If given the go-ahead, a processing hall would be created beyond the terminal’s security check area, on the runway side of the building, which would take up to three years to complete.

Edinburgh, which is bidding with sister airport Gatwick, hopes to emulate the success of Dublin, which has had full pre-clearance facilities since 2011.

Mr Dewar told an Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce event on Wednesday: "Before you get on a plane in Dublin, you clear American immigration and customs, so you arrive as a domestic passenger.

"You don’t then worry about how long you [would have to] stand in immigration when you get to [New York] Newark, or Chicago, or wherever else you’re going.

"Really importantly, you don’t have to pick up your bag and transfer it yourself onto the next flight if you’re making a connection, and the connection times are much shorter – usually about half if you don’t have to go through that process because the airlines can confidentially predict you’ll make the next flight.

“There’s other benefits as well, in terms of quite a lot of American airports not having any more international connectivity capacity – no more gates and stands to put airlines on.

"If we can open up domestic stands, then we have opportunities from Edinburgh to get into airports that would otherwise not be able to take us, so there’s a huge opportunity.”

Mr Dewar said: "We are talking to the US government and the UK government and everybody says isn’t this a great idea. But what we are missing is getting a few civil servants sitting round a table actually thrashing out the details of that deal.

"We have really got to get the Home Office to pay attention. What we need is a UK government invitation to the Americans to get this over the line and make this happen. The potential is massive and we need to get it.”

A Scotland Office spokesperson said: "We are in touch with the Home Office and Edinburgh Airport on the issue."

The Home Office and US government were contacted for comment.

[Asturias56]

2We are talking to the US government and the UK government and everybody says isn’t this a great idea."

so why does he think he can change things?

[GrahamK]

Originally Posted by Asturias56

2We are talking to the US government and the UK government and everybody says isn’t this a great idea."

so why does he think he can change things?

Misread that by any chance?

[Planeraz]

Pre-clearance would be a huge deal. First airport in the UK to be granted this. I just arrived into Newark on today’s slightly delayed United service. Almost completely full. Purser recognised me from same flight last month and was chatting to me. As is common on TA routes, she is very senior with 30 plus years flying. She has heard that United is very keen to expand further to/from EDI. United see LHR and EDI as the only two UK destinations they will continue to grow for the forseeable. She believes the 787 is earmarked for the EWR route, replacing the 752’s.

[SWBKCB]

Pre-clearance would be a huge deal. First airport in the UK to be granted this.

Edinburgh, which is bidding with sister airport Gatwick,

It would be a bit more convincing if there was comments from anybody other than Mr Dewar, and if he wasn't already pointing the finger at the UK govt.

[VickersVicount]

Originally Posted by SWBKCB

It would be a bit more convincing if there was comments from anybody other than Mr Dewar

Lol! I just can’t see what all this facility would be doing in depths of winter ?! LHR is going to have a lot to say if LGW is now in the package…

[VickersVicount]

Originally Posted by Planeraz

Pre-clearance would be a huge deal. First airport in the UK to be granted this. I just arrived into Newark on today’s slightly delayed United service. Almost completely full. Purser recognised me from same flight last month and was chatting to me. As is common on TA routes, she is very senior with 30 plus years flying. She has heard that United is very keen to expand further to/from EDI. United see LHR and EDI as the only two UK destinations they will continue to grow for the forseeable. She believes the 787 is earmarked for the EWR route, replacing the 752’s.

Good old notorious GalleyFM

[laviation]

As VickersVicount notes, what is the point in having Preclearance block out a lot of space when realistically there are only 2 daily flights year round?

The US immigration experience is vastly improved - I don't think many PAX will chose EDI simply because it has USPBC. The vast majority of US-EDI pax is US domiciled anyway.

It works for DUB as that's a USP for EI. EDI has no based long haul carrier to really make the most of that, and while the size of EDI-US is undeniably impressive, that market is very much seasonal.

IMHO Pre-clearance is suitable with a big terminal investment, the current terminal is unfit to cope with the current flows .