EasyJet comes to Cork!
 

Easyjet began her twice daily operations to Cork from Gatwick this morning with the arrival of EZY785 just after 8 am landing nice and early on Cork's runway 35. The flight was operated by Airbus A319 aircraft G-EZMS and the first flight operated in with a strong load.

The local big shots including the Lord Mayor and airport bosses greeted the flight on arrival along with a load of press and TV types and later the inbound passengers were allowed to disembark using the rear door. A touch of typical Cork irony there leaving the most important people to last!

It being the first day the turnaround was a little leisurely. Many photos were taken of the first passenger, she being very photogenic indeed! All concerned parties seemed cheeful enough though.

The excitement of the morning occured when a slide was popped on door L1 which added to the drama of the day. That was sorted and soon boarding began, the outbound load being even stronger than the inbound. One outbound passenger appeared to be a deportee and the man was accompanied to the steps of the Airbus by Gardai (Police). A sad end to a short visit to Cork?

Runway 35 for takeoff with righthand turnout direct for Strumble and a friendly cheerio from EZY786 with the promise that we will be seeing him again!

Easyjet - Welcome to Cork! :)

Nice report Tom. Well done. But I will lay odds that Easyjet will be gone within 24 months from Cork. Ryanair are making it their mission to wipe them out of Ireland. And historically Cork-Gatwick has never stayed with one carrier for very long - even going back to the days of DanAir. There must have been 5 different airlines on the route over the last 15 years.

EasyJet should do fine in Cork with their strong brand name and good timings and Cork Airport should do fine too as long as she stays away from suicide deals.

Neidin
Is it not about time that you refrain from posting all your smug anti any Irish airport comments with the exception of Dub. You are without doubt very well connected in Irish aviation, but on this forum you constantly swipe at SNN, ORK, and GWY and little RE. My understanding is that RE do well on their UK routes and particulary GWY and ORK. Yes, they have their shortcomings, I agree but they are battling in the big bad avaition world. However, in relation to this post and back to the point I really hope this new service does well and echoing your comments well done Tom on the report. All I ask Neidin is balanced comments from you in relation to Irish aviation. There are regions in Ireland outside Dublin that have viable route potential. Let's not blow them out of the water with throw away comments. Cork - Gatwick as far as I am aware has never has a loco operator. For what it is worth I think it may just work.

I too am confident that EasyJet will do well out of Cork, and their CEO Ed Winters today stated they are here for the long haul.
I think that the people of Cork are seeing that RyanAir has no commitment to Cork whatsoever ~ Mr Cawley (a Corkman - who should actually be disowned by us down here for his previous Anti Cork comments) today stated that they (RyanAir) have no plans to open up new routes out of Cork Airport. A strange comment from him was and i quote "Aerlingus will launch a number of new routes out of Cork, and I (Mr. Cawley) think that is enough." Strange for RyanAir to have this stance. maybe they think it immoral to tread on another airlines toes - NOT

Just from another point, RyanAirs claim to be THE low fares airline does not bear out in my mind. Having to take an unexpected trip to London next Sunday, I checked the fares on EI, FR and U2. U2 were cheapest at 336, EI next at 410 and FR topped them all at 490. So much for low fares !!!

Hold the front page.....easyJet to operate long haul flights from Ireland...stop.

Well you did quote Ed Winters as saying that they were in Cork for the long haul!!!

Runwayedge - sorry if the reality of life in Irish aviation has got your back up. I worked for long enough at DUB, ORK and SNN to see the light.

BMI Baby have just left ORK - LGW as Ezy arrive. I know the ORK MGMT were much happier with BABY on LGW. They think EZY will get blown out of the water over time by FR.

SNN well it is a basket case - can you tell me any other normal airport in the civilised world that PAYS an airline 50c per passenger. Daft - and then they announce they are sacking half their staff.

GWY - well it is doomed by its reliance on RE - who are doing badly on their UK routes. Just look at the CAA figures for ORK and Derry and you will see. RE will get hammered this summer on WAT-London by EZY, FR and EI ORK. RE will get hammered at ORK by BMI BABY on BHX and JET2 on Belfast. But RE gets the double whammy at GWY in '05 from the masive amount of low fares at NOC and SNN to London, Manchester - Liverpool - a bloodbath.

KIR will get a rough time as they are surrounded by ORK and SNN and huge amounts of low fares. At least KIR makes profits - but why can't they clean their old toilets.

Aviation in Ireland is not a charity pursuit. RE gets EURO 19 million a year from the Govt. to play. They offer a very poor service. Why not tell the truth - even if it hurts.

We praise Willy Walsh and Ryanair - only because they are keeping it real. And Walsh left today. Let's praise John Smyth at ORK for getting all these great routes - eevn if operationally the place is a mess. Let's praise CityJet as well.

But let's tell the truth! Even when it hurts.

Much food for thought there Neidin. Certainly, high praise indeed is very much due to John Smyth at Cork for so many successes. A safe pair of hands there. Yes, the place is a mess at the moment but the new chairman and board at Cork have a unique chance now to better things. Let us hope this opportunity is seized well - now is not the time for poor decision making.

The infrastructural priorities for Cork are simple. Firstly, successful completion of the new terminal including airbridges; secondly, more ramp space needed, either between runway 25 and the flying club area or the less attractive option of closing runways 25/07; and thirdly, a modest increase to runways 17/35 of approximately 200 metres to make long haul (!) flights to America and elsewhere unquestionably viable technically. Including the provision of CATIII ILS to runway 17 here.

As for the airlines and holding onto present traffic and attracting new business the first lesson for Cork and any other airport set on doing business and making money is to stay away from what must now be accepted as Shannon's suicide deal with Ryanair.

This being so the markets kind of decide things. All Irish markets even including Dublin in some routes are thin and will remain so; but these thinner routes are going to be the next big thing. For example you have JetBlue buying loads of ERJ 190s and asking Embraer for longer range. This also coincides with recent deliveries of JetBlue A320s having an extra centreline fuel tank also for better range. COPA Panama have ordered ERJ 190s to improve services on thin routes around Central America and Westjet of Canada are the launch customer for their 737-600s to be equipped with winglets for their long thin routes between Montreal and Vancouver etc. The right machinery is coming on line so it is inevitable thinner and longer routes will come into their own as time moves on. Ireland is an ideal candidate for these kinds of routes. It will be all to play for the likes of Cork, Kerry, Knock, Waterford, Galway and Dublin. Shannon will, no doubt, also be playing hard for similar business but the competition will be fierce.

I highly doubt that needin waterford has enough ppl that would prefer going through there than cork!


Regards
EI-WAT

So whats the likelyhood of EZY trying to Pee on Aer Arann's parade as well as FR then? just wondering as i don't know much of whats going on over there, but surley EZY would look at picking off some of their routes? What about ORK-BRS for example? baring in mind EZY are looking at 10 based a/c in BRS by this time nxt year, surely they'd try that one? can anybody stop the ruthless barmy orange army? i don't reckon!!
Shame tho, i like seeing the old Aer Arann down here in the west country - bless her!;)

Thank you neidin for declaring your hand....your cynical side could not resist polluting this forum!

Stab em while their down!
 

Neidin,

Your comments are interesting however, I feel a tad general. I will pick Waterford as an example and comment from there.

2 Years ago, Waterford Airport was a basket case............going bankrupt etc etc.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of needing to visit Waterford Airport briefly. Aer Arann's ATR 72 was departing with I believe some 60 odd pax for the run to Luton, a load factor of 80% or more ( IN JANUARY). The circuit was full of training aircraft and some visitors. IN addition, the Sikorsky was in operation, there were a number of biz jets and other heli's parked on the ramp. Basically the place was a hive of activity.
Now, your looking 6 months down the road and the clattering Re are going to get from Easy. I don't think so. If I jump into my car and drive from Waterford to Cork, it will swallow perhaps 20 Euro of juice each way. I then have to park, possibly have a sambo and before you know it I've spent 70-80 euro for a visit to London in addition to my airfare.
Now, if I choose to fly from Waterford, I can travel to the airport on the new road, arrive not 10 yards from the door and maybe 50 yards from the a/c. Fares.........mmmmmm might be 50-100 euro more than easy but in reality I'm possibly saving money or at most handing out 20 quid extra.

I believe the above has evolved through a number of factors,

1. A new chairman and board with vision.
2. A strong, youthful management team with old heads on young shoulders.
3. A city working together, with the aid of "Da Department", new road, upgraded facilities etc.
4. An airline who simply need to operate ontime, no one expects Godron ramsey or Delia Smith on board a regional flight these days.

Now, by the sounds of it, Cork has something similar to offer. Now Galway, Galweigans will look after their own, the city is growing like wildfire, so what you loose form the South of the County will be more than made up from the city limits. Have a look at the census and you'll see what I mean.

Knock....................that foggy, boggy little place ontop of the hill. Indeed, something legends are made of. It continues to offer the Miracle in more ways than one.

In a nutshell, Arann won't get it easy, but in this industry of back stabbing, and kniving the bold and the brave will win and I don't think Pauraic lacks the "lee a rody" as Dr. Bill would say.

Chow for now.

Shamrogue.


PS. I'm not a native of Waterford village nor it's county, nor indeed do I live there, nor have I amy connection with Waterford Airport...............enough "norring for now".

Shamrogue
I think your comments are well balanced and probably more of a reflection of the reality of the situation at both airports. The road network particulalrly at Galway is poor to both SNN and EIKN. I reckon pax will pay a little extra for convenience and direct accessat both airports. I was looking at the CAA stats for both GWY and WAT and they are very impressive. Good look to Cork and hopefully Shannon can make a good go of it. It will be interesting to see how the bilateral works out for them in the near future. I wonder how many ICTs and Bio Medicals would be along that corridor only for it. And before any attacks I have views for it and views against it. Neidin's reference to both a specific airline and specific person was most interesting!

Edge - no intention to cut across you. You have to admire RE for having a go UK-IRL. But Jaysus tough as hell to compete on an ATR against a new 737 with seats for a EURO even if the road is crap to SNN and NOC.

Irish people have no loyalty - they will travel out of their way to get the cheap fares. And losing even 10% of load is a disaster.

It is lunacy the amount of cheap seats on sale NOC & SNN & ORK to London and Northwest of UK for summer 2005. Madness. Who will blink first - maybe it will be EZY and they may leave it to FR and RE to settle down. We'll see.

Neidin, not so sure about Irish people having no loyalty. Aer Lingus especially certainly do have quite a following from Cork people for their London services. Ever up at ORK when the EI A321 comes or goes from Heathrow? The Liberty Stream Balcony always jammed with relations and friends from my experience waiting for the passengers. Never quite the same sense of drama when the Ryanairs come and go to Stansted! There is still a thing in the popular Cork psyche for Aer Lingus which is now being reinforced more by their starting many newer routes over the course of last year and again later this year. On the other hand Ryanair have had little time for Cork down the years, a fact not lost on Cork people!

Don't see easyJet blinking any time soon with all the other London flights from Cork which has a funny ability to absorb as many London area flights as you throw at the place!

Hi Tom,

What happenned Aer Lingus's flight from Cork to Milan- was just on their site, and it's not there anymore?

LFB

Booking figures not so hot, apparently.

TTT

If EI didn\'t have LHR and onward connections I would be gone like a shot. Likewise if bmi started ORK-LHR or SNN-LHR and codeshared with Air Canada (although DUB-LHR would be a good start AC if you are listening!)

That\'s what the loyalty is for - slots at LHR! (Wow, it even rhymes :D )

Buy a Fiat Panda 4 X 4
 

Ned,

I'm inclined to agree with Tom the Tenor. Oddly, working in a very public business which relies on loyalty I'm glad to say I find Irish people loyal. However, that loyalty depends on the service they recieve. I would say really as to their "fondness" for the product which is everything from the paint on the plane to the person who handles your bag. I woulnd't say I'm loyal to a company such as Vodafone or Ryanair. However, i would be loyal to Galway Airport for instance.
It's the local content which carries it. So I'll know the guy or gal at the check-in, I'll know Mary who makes the tea ETC.
So Ned, I feel that on balance loyalty counts for alot, as long as people don't feel they are being fleeced.
Now I wonder which arguement will stand the test of time.

Slan a chaire,

Shamrogue

I guess the problem continues to be that maybe a portion of Irish people are loyal but in the airline game losing just 5% of load is death. Lots of pax don't care about the airline just lowest fare and getting their on time. That is all. Also for most of the IRELAND to UK routes - most of the passengers originate in the UK. They definitely don't know or care who makes the tea in an Irish regional airport. They just want a jet flight, on time and cheap. On the map SNN or NOC and GWY and KIR look much of a muchness to a UK punter thinking of a summer holiday. & EZY and FR are much bigger brands in the Uk now than EI or RE. It will be a bloodbath of low fares, quick strangulation by EURO 1 and FREE flights. Utter madness.

It ain't what you do....its the way O'Leary does it
 

It ain't what you do....its the way O'Leary does it
Indeed,

As commented earlier, nobody really cares about "Mary". However, I believe 2 levels of airline operate into a regional market such as Ireland's.

1. High Density routes such as Dublin - London/Paris and to a lesser extent Cork- London.

On these routes there is scope for both traditional airlines and lo-co's. The Lo'co's have indeed, worked hard at taking all of this market, however, a split has formed. In the case of Heathrow it satisfies a local West London market in addition to the city centre traffic and finally transiting pax.

2. Regional routes

These thin routes in the case of Ireland usually only support 35-70 seater a/c. If I once again focus on Waterford and its potential I would add the following to Nediin's comments.

Aer Arann, I believe are successful for the following reasons.
On the issue of price, if you wish to fly from London to Waterford, the chances are you'll be offered the following opportunities, fly Stansted/Gatwick to Cork, then take some form of transport to Waterford, and do all of the above again to get home. Fare £2 plus taxes = £40 total.
If you fly Aer Arann £39.99 each way inclusive of tax, you come up with £79.98, a difference of £40. This is my argument, who is going to drive from Cork to Waterford and return, or get someone to drive from Waterford to pick them up and return them to Cork? for £40. Not many?

You can apply this on just about any regional route into Ireland. When you cannot get the £2 fares into the main airports the fare comparisons get even better.

Now it doesn’t matter f you live in China, UK or Ireland, it dosen't matter about Mary and her teabags. At the end of the day, Aer Arann will continue to thrive unless they go completely bananas on their fares either too low or too high. Lo'co's keep regional airlines from loosing the run of themselves. However, even regional airlines are now realising they can have lower fares too, fill their planes and make money. Price elasticity is the term I would use.

Now going back to Neidin's comments - the "Bloodbath" as MOL would describe it is between Lo'co's and main line’s where they compete on individual routes. I.e. Cork - London. That’s where it's all going to get interesting.

I rest my case...........for now.

Shamrogue

Interesting Shamrogue. Problem is Aer Arann need to get a lot higher yield than UK£80 rtn to make a WATERFORD - LONDON route work. These are expensive routes to operate on a pricey aircraft. I admire them trying though. Maybe Waterford is the only place other than the potentially explosive Dublin-Cork market where RE is not vulnerable.

Nedin,

Oh and they do. 80 was just a figure same as getting the £1 figure.

As a figure, over the weekend I did cost comparisons on a few routes, Lingus came out cheapest and FR dearest in 8 out of 10 comparisons and not a £1 fare to be found. So I'm will to put £100 here and now on it. Arann are safe.

Shamrogue

PS. Nedin, perhaps you should join the scare mongering crew over on the EUjet postings.

Let's praise John Smyth at ORK for getting all these great routes - eevn if operationally the place is a mess. Let's praise CityJet as well.

But let's tell the truth! Even when it hurts.

Neidin
You still haven't answered my question. What vested interest have you in having a cut at Irish airports other than DUB and Aer Arann. And why the unusual reference to JS and CityJet? I think there is a story there. To quote yourself tell us the truth even when it hurts. Or are you going to go all quiet again?

easyJet ups the frills!
 

The BBC, on February 9th reports:

"The carrier, which keeps its ticket prices down by cutting overheads deemed unnecessary, operates a non-reserved seating policy.

But after checking in, passengers on flights out of Luton have been able to avoid possible queues and a scramble for seats by paying £10 for an early-boarding privilege.

"Business people might like to have a particular seat so they would be able to leave the plane quickly on arrival," a spokeswoman explained."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4249751.stm



I don't know about you guys, but I for one think that this is an absolutley ridiculous and unworkable idea.

Having experience of how low cost airlines operate I can see that this is set up to fail.

Imagine:

. . . the inbound flight arrives on stand on time (something that happens less often than not), 149 passengers get off, the crew clean and security check the cabin, then the crew get off, then the new crew get on. Meanwhile at the boarding gate, the outbound passengers are already crowding around the gate once the aircraft pulls onto stand - even after announcements by the gate staff asking passengers to take their seats and await the priority boarding announcements.

Then, the gate staff pre-board those that have paid the extra £10, who are presumably business travellers (because this is who easyJet say they want this product to appeal to) but first they have to push past all of the other passengers, including those with children and push chairs so that they can preboard. I don't think so!

Then of course you have the issue of outstations actually delivering the product - once it is fully roled out (easyJet, like any airline wants to offer a consistent product for it's travellers at all airports). Experience shows that many handling staff abroad can not even ask the mandatory security questions for UK airlines, let alone board by the current priority boarding system and NOW something else to police!

Why not get the current procedures to work properly before muddying the waters with something else?

Air Canada have introduced a system where if you pay for the most restrictive fare, you can't preallocate your seat unless you pay (C$15/sector I think).

Seems to be the way things are going, that seat allocation is no longer dependent on showing up or using online services but on paying upfront. Started with the charters and seems to be moving to the LCCs and FSCs.

So how much will easyJet pay me to get off the plane last?

http://whipsnade.co.uk/picturelibrar...r_120_wide.jpg

Allocated seating would be the fastest way to woo the business traveller.... Stops all the other ****e completely!

What if 149 passengers on a full flight all paid the £10 for priority boarding? ;) I guess they'd have to limit how many they sell on each flight?

the only way they'll impress the business passenger is if the boarding card comes with a seat number on it. Looks like they are really scraping into the daft ideas barrel now.

I have used BMI Baby's online seat allocation, unfortunately....
It's FREE :ok:
watp,iktch

chiglet

I agree. One thing I very much liked about V Bird was the free seat reservation thingy on they web-based booking system. http://www.navitaire.com/ has it all!

First experience I had with LCC offering seat allocation on internet reservation was with Jetblue. Then, as mentioned above, V-Bird did the same. It saves a great deal of hassle and with today's technology I don't believe that it increases costs in any significant way. If they want to give the businessmen a better seat option they can just leave the first five rows (or so) blocked to the cheapo fares.

Are people unable of doing things the conventional way?

Queue up!!!!

No. We are talking about the modern world, not Wales :D ;)

WARNING: This is said tonque-in-cheek. Please do not take offence.

Just how much does an airline save by not allocating seats at check-in?

I ask because Air Berlin has been allocating seats ever since they began the City Shuttle services to UK. Pre-booking on the internet costs, but everyone who has not prebooked on the web gets a seat allocated a check-in.

I would have though that giving the passenger one less thing to think about when they board would speed up turnarounds.

the benefits of free seating is a myth nurtured in the offices where beans are counted. Them behind the desks think that it forces people to the checkin and gate early. From this point of view they are probably right. This however, doesn't necessarily ensure the aircraft completes an optimum turnaround. What it does do is p*ss off the people who are most likely to pay more for their seats aka businessmen. There will always be two sides to this argument but if you watch the antics of the average passenger when they board their free-seated aircraft it would seem to unwind any of the advantage gained in the terminal.

Often on a NCE-LGW, BA is about £10 more than Easy but I check in online and print my boarding pass 24 Hours before.
Travelling with no checked bags (BA cabin allowance), all I have to do is to go straight to the gate a T-10 (ie right before closing the gate).
Brillant and I and don't have to put up with Easyjet's childish, not funny but ultimately ridiculous PA's (come one Easyjet cabin crew, try to look professional, specially if you include in your PA that you are primarily here for my safety).
I can do my flat, a taxi ride to the airport, a flight to LGW and push the crew room door in under 3 hours.

Flew with Easy a lot but I don't see them as the business airline, certainly not from a regular normal fare paying passenger.

Still they have a market...

Cork-Budapest air link to begin
 

Malev, the Hungarian airline, is due to begin flights between Cork and Budapest in April, the Evening Echo reported today.

It's believed there will be up to four flights per week to the city using Boeing B737-600 aircraft.

Malev is one of the carriers already operating a Budapest service from Dublin.


(16/02/2005 - 14:40:08)

The President of Hungary is due in Cork on next Wednesday, 23rd February arriving on a Malev 737 so guess there might be something to the Evening Echo story! ;)

I suppose it would make an evening echo story alright!!!

He is after all coming to visit the European capital........... of culture :cool:

What we need in Cork is to get "wizzed". Been to budapest three times in the last 12 months, always went via London with either EZY or wizz. Malev out of Dublin was a ridiculous price. Was always closer to €400/€500 when I priced it. And this was even flying mid week etc.

I wonder what their pricing is going to be out of ORK etc?