RYR are opening new bases in Tenerife, Lanzarote & Gran Canaria. Surely to God, at least one of these will have flights to Derry?

No new FR routes. A suprise as Knock has got 3, Shannon 1 and Cork 2.

Hmmmm. What does this day about RYR's thinking with regards to Derry?

Or is it as simple as a full 737-800 out of Derry couldn't make it to Lanzarote, Tenerife or Gran Canaria?

The won't even put a second daily STN flight on, even though everybody except RYR themselves can see there is demand for it. I'm not holding my breath for any sort of announcement soon. I just get the feeling they don't care anymore.:(

It can as a A320 can from BFS. It may be bucause it might affect the Faro service.

There would be no problem. There are no restrictions on this a/c type at LDY for either landing or take off.

Jamie, a bit of confusion I think.

BFS's runway is ~2500ft longer than LDY, so of course an A320 could do it from there. A 747 could do it from there.

My point referred to Derry's ~6400ft runway and whether IT was long enough to allow a fully loaded 737-800 to fly to the airports listed above.

Speedbird, good point. What hope have we when the development of LDY is dictated by the whims of RYR?

Cheers!

Exactly cuthere, what hope do we have? Who knows though EZY or BE may come to the rescue. Stranger things have happened. BE are getting restless at BHD with Baby moving in on some of their routes. All rumours are pointing to them starting something from BFS, but who knows LDY could be on the cards too.

Were there direct ACE flights a few years ago from LDY by one of the Republic's tour operators? Sunway seems to ring a bell, but could well be incorrect.

Yeah BFS101, I think it was Slattery Sun. Not sure what equipment they used on it mind.

It was an Iberworld A320 and A321 during peak season.

:ugh: Really!?

How can Knock have 12 routes with Ryanair alone! If Ryanair or the other airlines helped out, they could devlop CODA into a sustainable and profitable destination. But yet a Derry receives another kick in the proverbial teeth. It could be worse though, we could be Galway airport... oh wait it's got more scheduled services than Derry too!

I think we just saw Ryanair's attempt at "helping out" at BHD. If they aren't getting everything THEY want....they don't give a stuff. They are NOT in it for anything other than profit.If that can be achieved from Knock(however that is achieved)thats were they will operate from.

I was more wishfully thinking, rather that actually believing that that could actually happen.

Knock
 

Knock has a brand new terminal, a massive runway and a catachment area of over 1m obviously Ryanair routes doing well otherwise they wouldnt be throwing in extra capacity for the sake of it...looks like knock is fast becoming a viable alternative for Dublin so good luck to them

Fly Bill, Connacht's population is around 500k, so where does the other 500k come from? Does NOC's influence extend into Leinster and Munster as well?

They must be doing something right on top of the hill if they're able to steal from SNN's catchment. (I've intentionally not mentioned Ulster, as the border counties are very sparsely populated).

Fair play to them, and some lessons could be learnt at CODA.

They've just axed Alicante so what would make anyone think anything is about to happen here anytime soon?

The economy locally is in an appalling state, that's why the airport is like what it is.

And we have not one but two other airports to compete with just 60 and 80 miles away. And with the weight of the services established there nothing will get a chance here.

Its not as if services haven't been tried here. They have. Look at Edinburgh and Manchester earlier this year. And Bristol. And Alicante. And Lanzarote. And Bulgaria.

Face it guys the airport cannot support any more services until the economy is sorted out and that is gonna take a political revolution!

Amelia, that's just the sort of negativity that's kept Derry and the NW in the doldrums for years. "We're screwed...boo hoo....what can we do?". Political revolution? More like an entrepreneurial revolution, where people actually support their LOCAL services.

Sure, the economy's screwed. It's screwed everywhere. Unemployment in Derry and the NW ISN'T the 14% that it is in the south, yet an airport like NOC can expand services. The imminent and inevitable job cuts coming in the south are much worse than anything likely in the North.

So, having said that, what's the difference? Sure, there's competition 60 and 80 miles away.....but that competition is 60 and 80 miles away, up a piss-poor road. MAN HAS operated successfully from LDY before. I remember flying MAN to LDY in an Embraer Pencil Jet. That was cut due to business restructuring within BA, and the chopping of BA Regional. Then RE did it successfully. They restructured after failing to win the PSO. They also did BHX which has gone on to be a well-used RYR service. But the toys left the pram when the PSO failed.

A 737-800 is too large for a LDY-BRS route, but I have no doubt an operator of smaller 'planes could make it work. The recent RE debacle was more to do with the shambolic state RE were in, rather than the excuses provided at the time.

The Bourgas route started from Cardiff, where I'd imagine the majority of the pax got on. It's loss is no odds. The non-replacement of the other charters and loss of Alicante is inexplicable.

Pax numbers increased 22% in October. Things can get better, so rather than doing the usual poor us cobblers, we should be looking to the bright side, or failing that have a read of the Blackpool, Norwich or Humberside threads to see what really being in the poo is like.

As I've said before, CODA should be looking elsewhere for services, and not depending on the RYR monopoly at the place.

As Knock is getting the 3 new routes I can see that ALC and possibly Reus been axed or reduced this summer. There is no way that Knock will be able to sustain all of this routes.

Here's another little thought. What the **** are Balfour Beatty doing to help? Anyone know out there?