Carlisle
 

Can anybody see Carlisle getting any scheduled flights? I believe there was a Dundee - Carlisle - London route in the 60s but thats about it?

there was talk of an airline flying a route to Carlisle from Luton? and leaving the plane at Carlisle all day for ad hoc work. Nothing more seems to have been heard since the announcement was made.

Do you know what airline or if it would be low-cost etc?

I read that too--probably on PPrune. IIRC it was an RJ70,and fares were going to £180(i THINK return!). Can't recall the name ,but probably won't appear anyway!

I think flybe. would be the perfect airline for a London route. Twice daily with a Q400 into Gatwick.

Regards

Mike

Carlisle's biggest problems are it's proximity to Newcastle, 45 minutes down the road with more established routes operating per hour than Carlisle has operated in a year, and an insufficient catchment area to warrant any airline risking flying any route from there.

Unless someone like Aeulad actually subsidises an airline to the tune of 100% of operating costs, no one is even give Carlisle a second glance.

If Ryanair operated into Carlisle they would call it Manchester North or Newcastle East International Airport

Don't ever think this would happen thou when they have bases at Glasgow Prestwick up the road and Liverpool & Blackpool down the road, Also Not forgetting Newcastle's flights to Milan, Oslo an Dublin and Teeside to Dublin & Rome.

Best bet would be flybe. You Never Know.

You've definately got your map upside down!:p

could be a great little airport but it would just cost too much to bring it up to spec.

Scheduled services, I doubt it. Limited catchment area, and there are already much better services available from NCL, PIK, LBA, LPL, MAN and even BLK, with good transport links from the area to each of these. Only west Cumbria and maybe parts of the Solway have CAX as the closest airport, and there is neither a great number of people or money in those areas, parts of West Cumbria being amongst the most deprived in England.

As regards airport facilities, the runway may well be listed as 1800m, but it is undulating, with significant displaced thresholds, and in poor condition for any kind of larger transport a/c. IFR facilities are basic, with the NDB being classed as unreliable by the AIP, so possibly limiting commercial traffic to VFR ops. The physical facilities are laughable for a modern airline, and nobody is going to invest the money to upgrade to a useable standard for what may turn out to be a short-lived experiment by one operator on an occassional basis.

It's a lovely thought, but it just isn't going to happen. (And that's before Cumbria's legendary NIMBYs get started).

Niknak

You'll never get from CAX to NCL in 45 minutes by road by any legal means (unless it's by bike). Even driving 'enthusiastically' it is at the very least a 1 hour journey door to door given the lack of dual carriageway west of Hexham and the heavy traffic (the old military road is no faster, but considerably more fun).

Seems like developments at this airport never quite make it over the final hurdle. Are things about to change?
http://www.cumberland-news.co.uk/new...aspx?id=343916
There is allot of brownfield land available, so the creation of a Business Park as outlined in this newspaper article could take place.
As to sustainable air links to London? Based on past experiences, I would say no. Happy to be proved wrong, though.