Ryanair haven't confirmed that the route has been dropped. There is a lot of time for it to be uploaded between now and next April. The only thing I'm saying is that all the other routes from LDY show as operating but not bookable yet but ALC does not.

Gun firmly jumped
 

90% of the Alicante flights are not loaded, for example Glasgow, Edinburgh even Stansted and Gatwick, and almost nowhere on continental Europe.

And some destinations, Doncaster for example, you can only fly one direction but not the other.

It is clear the database is still being updated. (What a time consuming job that must be).

Anyway it appears it'd be a bit early to write Derry-Alicante off just yet.:p

All ALC destinations when trying to book them show a calendar with either the available dates of travel, or all dates crossed out if not yet added. LDY is the only one which does not have this calendar screen.:{

Could RYR be planning to base an aircraft at LDY to operate the route instead and are biding their time on the decision? Unlikely, but a nice thought.:p

Not going to happon while the £12 tax is around.

Jamie, I'm guessing that Speedbird said that in a very tongue in cheek manner.

I think we're all realistic enough to know RYR are unlikely to be basing aircraft at LDY any time soon.

I had been looking at the timetable screen which seemed to give some hope as the Derry-Alicante route looked no different from most of the others but I see what you're saying about the booking screen. Ominous! :uhoh:

FR 2011
 

London STN - 1 daily
Birmingham - SUN, MON, WED & FRI
Liverpool - SUN, MON, WED, FRI, SAT
Glasgow PIK - SUN, MON, WED, THU & FRI
Faro - SUN, MON & THU

Do the good folk of Derry have some local custom that precludes travel on a Tuesday or Thursday? :confused:
NS

If this really is the schedule for next year, Derry's annual passenger count is going to be dire!

Can't believe Reus, Palma or Malaga weren't considered!

Northern,

That list of RYR flights is actually a modest increase on last year (believe it or not, and assuming Alicante hasn't bitten the dust!), with an extra PIK on a Thursday, and Faro going 3x weekly right from the start of the summer schedule, rather than just July and August as year.

Palma and Reus will be operated by charters from May onwards, with Bourgas also operating through July and August.

Having said that, I am disappointed that STN hasn't increased. Looking at booking during the rest of November, that route is quite often sold out.

On a slightly more optimistic note, Faro wasn't announced until December last year, so maybe any announcements of further RYR routes (Malaga perhaps), may not happen for a while yet.

It seems to me that LSTN needs a second flight on a FRI, SUN & MON at least. They seem to be sold out a lot on those days.

In regards to Malaga and Reus. FR are only starting to announce new routes for summer 2011 so they may be announced but the £12 tax would be a big factor in new routes form LDY. It may be a reason why ALC seems to be dropped.

I probably am being slightly pessimistic, I do remember the announcement of Faro quite late last year as I do like to keep the Wiki page on CODA up to date, I see Jamie2k9 about there aswell. So I guess we do have some time for good news to come out. My hopes for the future lay with the continuous road improvements (should they continue as planed) provided a larger sphere of influence to sway Ryanair or others to CODA.

LSTN really does need a morning and evening flight on Fri & Sun. As from experience, I've had to opt for Easyjet to Belfast Intl for Xmas as I need a flight home after work, not during it!

It makes no sense to completely axe the Alicante route.

During off peak months most people would take a short break to Alicante but during the peak months most people go for a week or two.

So if a twice weekly flight seven months of the year is not profitable (and I've no idea whether it is or isn't) then how about a once per week during June-August?

Overall the flights were 75% full, and probably a lot higher than that during July and August, so a once weekly flight would surely be filled to capacity and would command good fares (from the airline's point of view).

I would imagine that during June-August, most routes especially those to the sunnier destinations would be in higher demand, so you would need to convince FR that a peak LDY flight would make more profit than other airports across Europe that may be vying for similar peak-only summersun routes.

You would need a route that demand dies over the peak summer from ALC, to then replace with an LDY, and possibly one that is similar sector length. If FR based a frame at LDY this may be much easier to accommodate replacing a more business orientated flight maybe on a Saturday, to allow a ALC to be slipped in.

If only . . . . . . .

FR have cleaned up the booking engine, ALC axed, looks like 5 routes:

Summer 2011(weekly flights)

BHX 4x
LPL 5x
STN 7x
PIK 5x
FAO 3x

A shame. Hopefully we will hear something in the coming weeks on a replacement for it. As we have discussed on here a zillion times, AGP would be a great addition amongst others. However I'm not holding my breath.....:rolleyes:

Losing the Alicante route is bad enough but Derry City Council don't even know what is going on.

When challenged about it today on Radio Foyle they hadn't a clue and waffled on about it being a seasonal route. Being clueless is one thing but it's costing local ratepayers £4 million a year. At that price someone should care. It's not the first time they haven't known what's going on.

If they don't know, it makes one wonder do the airport know themselves. Disgraceful! :D

Speaking to a few of my ATC friends today at the airport and i assure you they all know. Came out of the blue apparently, nobody was expecting it. Looks Like DCC PR office needs a bit of sorting then, or send somebody in the know next time to Radio Foyle. Disgraceful indeed.:D

Looking bumpy up there today!

EGAE 111403Z 1115/1122 24026G40KT 9999 SCT025 TEMPO 1115/1122 26033G52KT 7000 SHRA RA PROB30 TEMPO 1115/1122 4000 +TSRA