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new carrier - BFS to LHR

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Old 24th Jul 2003, 17:32
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new carrier - BFS to LHR

I have heard strong rumours that BFS international are calling together a few key agents in Northern Ireland for a meeting regarding a new carrier operating BFS to Heathrow...

Has anyone ehard about this at all? In my eyes LHR slots wouldn't be available, so the only ones who could do this are BA, who are very unlikely as they pulled off the route 2 years ago for it being a loss maker, or bmi, who only pulled off the route this year for the same reason.

They have mentioned though that it won't be easyjet or ryanair.

If anyone has any information on this it would be great to hear it.
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Old 24th Jul 2003, 17:48
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There was a rumour running around a while back that Aer Lingus were to step in......personally we all thought that to be unlikely ....maybe we were wrong!!Time will tell.
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Old 24th Jul 2003, 18:26
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wonder where this rumour has come from - this really is pie in the sky stuff! - BFS has alienated virtually all mainline carriers which is why BMI finally severed its connections earlier this year - as for Aer Lingus, they stated after announcing cessation of the Dublin - Cork route, that they would be concentrating on routes out of Ireland - presumably this means Eire and not N Ireland.

Agree not likely to be a lo-co - Heathrow does not have any at the moment and probably will not want any either - in any event, BMI have this route pretty much sewn up with BHD - LHR and will certainly put up a fight against any newcomer!
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Old 25th Jul 2003, 04:42
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EI has been represented continually in the BFS AOC....keeping a foot in the door?
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Old 25th Jul 2003, 07:41
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Red face

Sorry but imho you're all talkin balix......!

As one who is doin a lot of travellin between NI and LHR we all no that BA and bmi were talkin the proverbial when they said the route wasn't busy.
For a start the BA accountants were bein economical with the figures and bmi were only pretendin 2 offer a service which gave them an excuse 2 pull off the route from bfs.
For at least the last 4 weeks bmi have been offerin passengers the choice of a voluntary off load because the flights are 2 full & only this week i have flown from dublin because i could not get back to belfast.....as usual belfast people are left to suffer cause its all about slots slots slots.........blah......2nd class citizen & thats all that matters.....
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Old 25th Jul 2003, 16:14
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I tend to agree with the rest of you. If anyone wanted to compete on the LHD service out of Northern Ireland they would have to do it from BHD to have any success.BFS is too far out of the city for passengers to travel the extra 25 mins from Belfast.

BFS is going to have to settle for being the low cost hub and charter airport for the moment. Well thats until BHD convince the local residents of the merits to having its passenger cap limit lifted
and to allow later flights in. When that happens and its only a matter of time, then BFS is going to have some real competition as then the likes of Ryanair have another possible airport to talk too.

I too have heard rumours about Aer Lingus in talks to launch a new service from NI. But it was in relation to flights from BHD via a tie in with Aer Arann.
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Old 25th Jul 2003, 17:36
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Angel

Thanks for that, my secret smile - saw in last weekend press that so called local residents in East Belfast flexing their muscles yet again - this time they're threatening to go to Strasbourg because they feel their "human rights" are being infringed by flights operating after 2130! - what a load of ***** - these people send letters to local press under various pseudonyms such as "steering groups" and "residents associations" - the letters are usually peppered with so many inaccuracies that they dont even warrant reading!

One can hope eventually they'll give up complaining about nothing and let BHD get on with the job - once runway resurfacing is complete we may well some interesting developments.
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Old 26th Jul 2003, 04:06
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Allmcc..the residents of east Belfast have every right to complain about the unjustified expansion attempts.They were there LONG before a COMMERCIAL operation stepped in and attempted to hijack the agreed limits on passenger figures and hours of operation.It was only a few years ago that the then MD ...Buckby said in an interview that BHD was a green airport and only operated between the hours of dawn and dusk(so it closes about 1600 on a December afternoon? ).
When Bmi moved their operation they were well aware of the limitations they were placing themselves under.They knew there was a virtual nighttime curfew and they knew and accepted the facilities available to them.Increasing the runway length is but ONE piece of the jigsaw...many more items need attention before an operation such as you describe could take place.To have a PROPER system in place there needs to be more stands ....more taxiways ....decent radar!!(how many tubes have you got left TR?and where will you get more if it goes phutt?).As it WILL take a public enquiry before anything is likeley to change I think this will run and run

MYSECRETSMILE

Not EVERYONE finds BFS inconvenient...ask the upwards of 4.5 million who will use it this year .
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Old 26th Jul 2003, 05:09
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Even i don't know what i was rambling on about last nite, something to do with goin out for lunch and comin home about midnight.....

Anyway i really don't know why everyone thinks more people are using midland cause its handier at the city......wrong....we don't have a choice. Its also amusin when they keep bangin on about the increase in passengers,it wouldn't be anything to do with the other carrier leaving the route and midland pickin up their passengers.......?

Personally the city is so not handy for me, plus i'm gettin fed up feelin like a crash test dummy every time i land. I've also heard passengers are gettin fed up with the amount of go arounds,seen 2 this week myself. As i've said as usual the population of NI are sufferin as there is only 1 carrier on the route

Oh yeah RYR in the city.....mayb if we're talkin the 146's they've inherited but a full 737 and that 1829m runway don't mix, and as we all know RYR need full aircraft....

Enough for now,i'm even boring myself....

Last edited by controller friendly; 26th Jul 2003 at 05:21.
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Old 26th Jul 2003, 23:57
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Afraid I don`t agree with EW , as often I have to talk to the complaining residents and to be honest it`s about four or five regulars. (one so regular that I know his address and phone no. off by heart)
Don`t quote but the first commercial flights from the City were in about 1938 , as regards to the noise levels you can`t tell me an A321 is noisier than any jet from the 70`s eg BA111 or even the earlier Hs125`s.
Traffic level`s higher? fraid not we`re shifting bigger A/C with more pax but we have less scheduled movements than three or four years back. I believe the increase in resident complaints is more to do the general trend in society to complain about the slightest thing. If you disregarded the complaints from inhabitants of properties valued at over £300k I wonder how many noise complaints would be left??
The bit that makes me laugh is the attitude of local politicians. In East Belfast the ship yard is on it`s last legs Bombardier has laid off thousands surely you would think that there would be support for a major employer in the area who is committed to growth and bringing more buissness to Belfast!!
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Old 27th Jul 2003, 02:22
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TR ....you should spin for Tony!! You and I both know that the RNAS SYDENHAM or whatever was NEVER a commercial operation.The occassional puddle jumper to and from England was not the problem.The city is now trying to become the main player in terms of punters shifted in NI and as such both the numbers and size of aircraft have increased dramatically.I notice that you are not trying to defend the proposed increase in late night extensions ....or your cathode ray tubeStill some of those fancy houses house fancy QC's ...so we will hear more when/if the enquiry opens .

LEFT BASE 22 AGAINST THE EXPANSION!!
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Old 27th Jul 2003, 03:07
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What length is BHD in feet and inches? Am afraid the ol' brain is no good with those Euro metres! What do you all up there at BHD think of Jetmagic and their double daily from Cork?
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Old 27th Jul 2003, 20:07
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I'd love to see one in each airport,lookin at the pax numbers I think it could be done.

Rgds K.I.L

P.S. FC wokin sorry
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Old 28th Jul 2003, 06:31
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the 321 is a lot louder than a 146..it should be too, it's twice the size. Anyone who thinks otherwise needs their ears syringed...maybe they've been standing around 321's a lot
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Old 28th Jul 2003, 16:05
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Eastern , the fact remains we are still about 16 movements per day down on what we shifted three years back and although i`m no fan of twelve hour shifts if you buy a ticket to fly to Bhd you should arrive there delayed or not.
Several of our sensitive neighbours have ppl`s I wonder how much consideration they have for the locals at EGAD?
Defend the radar equipment? There are some things not even I could put a good spin on!! If I say too much about it on here I`ll only end up in someones office.
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Old 28th Jul 2003, 16:11
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ALLMCC - i agree with you in relation to it being only a few troublesome residents that will make the late night extension at BHD a problem. Alot will depend on the local elections and if and when they happen.

At the moment because the local elections may still happen, the likes of Reg Empey and Peter Robinson will jump on the band wagon and defend the local residents saying how bad the noise is etc - anything to insure they win a few extra votes. Yet these same politicans use the same airport on a weekly basis and attend functions and openings there saying how great a facility it is for Belfast.

They know that the airport will shortly be the largest single employer in the area and if given the chance it will employ many hundreds more.

Eastern Wiseguy - i am afraid you are living in the past if you think BHD isn't going to become the main player for airtravel in and out of NI

Tom the Tenor - I can't speak for all the guys n gals of BHD but I think the daily Jetmagic service to Cork is great. It's doing decent loads and I hear talk that they might consider increasing their number of destinations out of BHD - possibly a European destination in the near future or making BHD their UK base. Certainly if they don't its only a matter of time before someone else will.
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Old 28th Jul 2003, 17:25
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Crikey, that is very interesting speculation, indeed! I am all for it if they do - another great opportunity for Jetmagic?
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Old 28th Jul 2003, 21:42
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Jetmagic? perhaps you guys might like to read their website regarding plans for the future and not expanding too quickly before concluding they are about to conquer the universe in their first 6 months of trading. They look like a well thought out operation but i doubt you'll find more bases on the cards in the near future. Their timetable looks suitable to market through flights via cork though..perhaps that could be an option.
Perhaps someone from Jetmagic could comment on this before a good old dose of pprune fantasy takes over?
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Old 28th Jul 2003, 22:58
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Mysecretsquirell....living in the past ...not a chance ..working on a daily basis in the real world .The chances of BHD becoming the main player in the grand scheme of things is up there with your transatlantic flight from LDY ....

TR ...Always worth a try!! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx edited cos I don't want an interview either!!
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Old 29th Jul 2003, 06:09
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As a regular staff commuter working for a certain fav airline all I can say is that at the moment BMI tend to be excellant with us out of BHD , and the rumour within the corridors of BA is, short of an oil find on the antrim road then the odds of BA going back to bfs/bhd-lhr are slighty worse than messers adams and paisley going to church together
However have just heard a rumour that BMI have asked airbus to take another look at the perf figs for 04/22 particulary when wet as there is a question as to whether the 321 should actually be able to op into bhd.
If it does go to all 320`s that will really screw up myself and co who kind of depend on the service to go to work
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