East Midlands-7

[Ascupart]

Originally Posted by Sharklet_321

Interesting to compare EMA's Dec pax throughput of 191,000 with BRS at 652,000 and BHX at 798,000 in 2023. Quite stark and shows the pressure EMA is under. I think to a certain extent EMA suffers from a lack of USP on the pax side. It has a superb USP for cargo. BHX is likely to absorb new pax that potentially would go to EMA as they are still on a growth trajectory with easyJet and Jet2.

If you compare to pre-pandemic the December figure for EMA is pretty much back to where it was. But of the three airports Bristol seems to have made the biggest improvements.

[BHX5DME]

Originally Posted by Ascupart

If you compare to pre-pandemic the December figure for EMA is pretty much back to where it was. But of the three airports Bristol seems to have made the biggest improvements.

EMA December Pax
2023 = 191,343
2007 = 376,447

[Trev4521]

I agree with the figures, Ema state that the figures are near pre Covid, but clearly not. We have lost alot of routes namely Florida/Mexico to Dsa Loganair were operating to Edinburgh, Glasgow but no more, every other year we get a NEW man at the Ema helm with promises, but never come to fruition, It did not help Ema when Jet2 started a new base at Bhx, they have just about doubled the flights out from there. compared to us next year we lose Santorini.We need to pull apart from Mag as they are just interested in the cargo site for the profits.

[EGNXROB]

X2 Air Explore 737-800’s (OM-OEX & OM-LEX) arrived today to be based for the summer season operating for Jet2.

[EGNXROB]

One air have moved their 5 weekly 747-400F LHR/HKG flight to East Midlands.

First flight due this Sunday 07:00 from HKG via MCT.

EMA-HKG
HKG-MCT-EMA

[ATNotts]

EGNXROB,

Good catch for EMA, with the beginning of the summer schedules it was probably on the cards they'd be squeezed out of LHR but I half expected BHX to pick it up, though with the existing HKG schedule with Magma plus others perhaps an extra five 74F inbounds could have been a stretch.

[ATNotts]

One Air

Who is handling the One Air HKG? FR24 (never wrong!!) indicates the aircraft has parked on the eastern end of the ramp close to UPS whereas most of the ad hoc cargo tends to park on the DHL ramp.

[EGNXROB]

Originally Posted by ATNotts

Who is handling the One Air HKG? FR24 (never wrong!!) indicates the aircraft has parked on the eastern end of the ramp close to UPS whereas most of the ad hoc cargo tends to park on the DHL ramp.

Fr24 is correct this time, Swissport are handing these flights and are using the eastern apron for parking.

[ATNotts]

Originally Posted by EGNXROB

Fr24 is correct this time, Swissport are handing these flights and are using the eastern apron for parking.

Do Swissport do much all cargo work at EMA? I understood, perhaps wrongly, that DHL did pretty well all the adhoc work.

[EGNXROB]

Originally Posted by ATNotts

Do Swissport do much all cargo work at EMA? I understood, perhaps wrongly, that DHL did pretty well all the adhoc work.

I’m not too certain, they used to handle some of the Cargologic 744’s when they operated into EMA but DHL usually tend to have the bulk of the adhoc work, at the moment DHL are short staffed from the strikes which have been extended into May so can’t imagine they’re willing to take on much extra at the moment with some of their own flights operating into other airports.

[EGNXROB]

Two new routes to Burgas & Boa Vista and extra capacity on existing routes with up to 50,000 seats added for S25 from EMA with TUI.

https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/air/...2025-programme

[FRatSTN]

Ryanair's Winter 24/25 schedule for EMA is looking pretty bleak compared to what's gone on sale elsewhere.

So far only the following routes look to operate:

Alicante - 7x weekly
Dublin - 3x weekly (big reduction)
Faro - 2x weekly
Fuerteventura - 2x weekly
Gran Canaria - 1x weekly
Knock - 2x weekly
Krakow - 2x weekly
Lanzarote - 3x weekly
Malaga - 4x weekly
Prague - 2x weekly
Tenerife - 5x weekly
Riga - 2x weekly
Wroclaw - 2x weekly

No flights at all on Tuesday or Wednesdays.

Considering EMA used to be one of Ryanair's biggest UK bases only in the last 6-7 years or so, this is sad to see.

Seems their focus is increasingly heading towards BHX.

Despite Ryanair's MAN growth however, LPL and LBA seem to hold their own reasonably well. Is this going to become the latest blow of MAG seemingly not giving a stuff about trying to grow the passenger side of the EMA operation?

[SWBKCB]

Despite Ryanair's MAN growth however, LPL and LBA seem to hold their own reasonably well. Is this going to become the latest blow of MAG seemingly not giving a stuff about trying to grow the passenger side of the EMA operation?

Or is it as simple as RYR not getting the returns they want?

[FRatSTN]

Originally Posted by SWBKCB

Or is it as simple as RYR not getting the returns they want?

There's an established market there which they've been serving for many years. There's no question in the viability of the routes, it's not like they've just tried and failed. Demand at EMA has always been softer over the winter months relative to other airports due to it's heavliy lesisure/low-cost customer base and the absense of any real hub links, but it's always maintained a certain level of traffic. Numerous Ryanair EMA routes over the past couple of seasons have been shifted to BHX, the latest just announced being Lodz.

Having lost Flybe, Monarch and Thomas Cook over recent years BHX have had little choice but to turn to the likes of Ryanair and EasyJet to recover the lost traffic and no doubt have given them much more favourable terms than in the past. Fundamental issue is EMA has become uncompetetive, partly as a result of MAG's piss poor management of the place.

BHX wins because of economies of scale, the airlines win because they get better commercial terms in a larger market, MAG has bigger fish to fry at EMA with cargo, so the only real loser is the East Midlands region customer base, some of which towards the north have already lost DSA as an option.

[ATNotts]

Originally Posted by FRatSTN

Ryanair's Winter 24/25 schedule for EMA is looking pretty bleak compared to what's gone on sale elsewhere.

So far only the following routes look to operate:

Alicante - 7x weekly
Dublin - 3x weekly (big reduction)
Faro - 2x weekly
Fuerteventura - 2x weekly
Gran Canaria - 1x weekly
Knock - 2x weekly
Krakow - 2x weekly
Lanzarote - 3x weekly
Malaga - 4x weekly
Prague - 2x weekly
Tenerife - 5x weekly
Riga - 2x weekly
Wroclaw - 2x weekly

No flights at all on Tuesday or Wednesdays.

Considering EMA used to be one of Ryanair's biggest UK bases only in the last 6-7 years or so, this is sad to see.

Seems their focus is increasingly heading towards BHX.

Despite Ryanair's MAN growth however, LPL and LBA seem to hold their own reasonably well. Is this going to become the latest blow of MAG seemingly not giving a stuff about trying to grow the passenger side of the EMA operation?

I wonder any incentives are tapering off making what whatever incentives BHX offer more attractive? Alternatively perhaps its part of the trend of Ryanair gravitating towards principal airports.

PAX aren't the be all and end all for EMA, unlike most UK airports there are two major strings to their bow.

[SWBKCB]

Demand at EMA has always been softer over the winter months relative to other airports due to it's heavliy lesisure/low-cost customer base

BHX wins because of economies of scale, the airlines win because they get better commercial terms in a larger market

So it looks like the market is deciding - what examples of "MAG's piss poor management" in particular?

[BHX5DME]

I understand two more routes may also be transferred from EMA to BHX

[Rt Hon Jim Hacker MP]

I predict that EMA will close to passenger traffic within the next 10 years. The terminal for both departures and arrivals is an utter disgrace. Disgusting, dirty and very dated. Use the toilets at your peril. Queueing outside for immigration on a cold, wet, winter night.

They don’t own an airbridge and cant even offer fixed electrical ground power for aircraft. It’s like a basic Greek island airport from the 1980’s.

[FRatSTN]

Originally Posted by Rt Hon Jim Hacker MP

I predict that EMA will close to passenger traffic within the next 10 years. The terminal for both departures and arrivals is an utter disgrace. Disgusting, dirty and very dated. Use the toilets at your peril. Queueing outside for immigration on a cold, wet, winter night.

They don’t own an airbridge and cant even offer fixed electrical ground power for aircraft. It’s like a basic Greek island airport from the 1980’s.

SWBKCB - There's part of your answer. Poor investment and uncompetitive in a nutshell.

​​​​​Also take a look at the passenger stats compared to similar sized airports across the UK - or don't, up to you - but they don't make for the best reading and they certainly don't reflect the demand for travel within the East Midlands region I can assure you.

I for one however don't see EMA closing for passenger ops in 10 years

[EGNXROB]

Originally Posted by Rt Hon Jim Hacker MP

I predict that EMA will close to passenger traffic within the next 10 years. The terminal for both departures and arrivals is an utter disgrace. Disgusting, dirty and very dated. Use the toilets at your peril. Queueing outside for immigration on a cold, wet, winter night.

They don’t own an airbridge and cant even offer fixed electrical ground power for aircraft. It’s like a basic Greek island airport from the 1980’s.

The airport is currently undergoing a £120m upgrade including the facilities. Flew through there to PMI with RYR last week and finally starting to see that investment in the toilets, the bar area and seating area around Starbucks which all look considerably better than before, immigration has also been extended, however it’s not perfect but it’s a step in the right direction. As a regular user EMA is useful for its simplicity - last week took me 17 mins from mid stay carpark 3 - sat with a beer in hand for a peak early morning departure. Happy days.

It’s a massive shame with the lackluster RYR offerings for W24 with some big route frequency reductions. All eyes on what S25 will bring.