NWI -Den Helder scrapped as predicted.

Oh dear that didn't last long, although as you say, not entirely unpredictable. Wonder what the operating unit will do now ?

Notice Loganair have been using the Dornier 328 on some of the Northern Routes from Edinburgh these past couple of days ? Could these replace the Saabs ? Must Admit I do like the Saabs though, Hard working Aircraft !:ok:

I'm booked on WIC-EDI next week and it's a Dornier.

Has certainly confused BA.com as it's operated as a codeshare.


FlyBE website
WICK to EDINBURGH BE 6896 Operated by Loganair.

TripIT
WICK to EDINBURGH BE 6896 Operated by Suckling Airways for Loganair.

So how does BA.com show this?

Well, BA-com certainly is:

Flight: BA4066
Operated by: Equatorial Congo Airline For Flybe
Departing from: Wick John O'Groats 12:35
Arriving at: Edinburgh 13:35
Number of stops: 0
Flying duration: 1hr 0mins
Aircraft type: Dornier 328 turbo prop

A route scrapped after two weeks?

Is that a record?

Pre-launch sales must have been dire.

EDIT: Den Helder response


Den Helder- There was great disappointment when Loganair announced, just a week and a half after its official start, that it would be discontinuing scheduled service between Norwich and Den Helder Airport. Despite the fact that more bookings were being made after an intensive advertising campaign.
There were happy faces all around on Monday, 4 March, during the official start of scheduled service between Norwich and Den Helder Airport. A service that would connect the offshore oil & gas and offshore wind energy sectors in the East Anglia and Den Helder regions. And would also be available for short holidays to the east coast of Great Britain, for example. The reaction of Conny van den Hoff of Den Helder Airport says it all. “Like so many others, I had very high expectations. We recently spent a lot of time and effort in setting up this scheduled service. We noticed that thanks to the intensive advertising campaign, more bookings were being made. So it was all the more disappointing that Loganair pulled the plug so quickly. This kind of new scheduled service requires a start-up period but unfortunately Loganair became impatient”, according to the airport director, who incidentally still believes that Den Helder Airport is an ideal base for a daily scheduled service to Great Britain. “We will not despair, but will continue to look into other possibilities, including an air route with Aberdeen, the Scottish offshore capital. A direct connection offers many advantages, not only for the above-mentioned sectors but for the business and leisure market as well.”

When 2 character airline codes were first established it was not envisaged there would be so many airlines in the world needing their own code. A better solution is to use a 3 character code but too many of the reservation systems of the world are hard wired to use 2 characters now. The result is that some small regional airlines share a 2 character code with another small regional airline, usually where the countries of operation are very different.

Loganair and Equatorial Congo both use the 2 letter code LC. One operates in Scotland while the other operates in central Africa. Some reservation system can't handle the idea of 2 character codes being shared on occasions like these

So one wonders which airline gets the upper hand in the reservation system if there is a controlled IATA duplicate. The one which comes first in the alphabet as this is how the CRS uses the IATA database?

Noted the use of the Dorniers on WIC-EDI as well as I am booked on that route in July. Was a bit disappointed as I have yet to sample a Loganair Saab 340.

Yes noticed it is also operating the SYY - EDI Routes as well.
Could it be because Loganiair now have a SAAB dedicated to WIC - ABZ Twice a day for the Oil Work Charters ? Wonder how long the Dornier will be operating the Routes and will they get painted into the FlyBe Colours ?
Miss the SAAB:(

Den Helder
 

CAA stats reveal just 1.45 pax per flight. I'm surprised they actually started operating the route in the first place and didn't pull it earlier.

My guess is the Saab will be doing the extra ABZ - WIC - ABZ charters until such time as the EC225s helicopters are cleared to fly again...or are replaced by another heli type.

Surprised that they don't use the Dornier on the charter flights. I suppose the Saabs are much cheaper to operate on frequent scheduled services, whereas the higher operating costs of the Dorniers do not have such a negative impact on the occasional charter flight which can also be priced accordingly.

Loganair did indeed have LC years ago but with the various franchises surrendered it and now use LOG.

With Eastern offering three flights WIC-ABZ-WIC a day that charter seems stupidly wasteful. But there you go. However, it explains the LOG-flight numbers I see on the HIAL website!

Isn't it a controlled duplicate? LC I mean....

That could explain it, perhaps like Gill Airways 'borrowing' GX for years until the airline that 'owned' GX it needed it, so Gill then used 9C.

I assumed Loganair gave up LC, as I would have expected them to use LC on their Orkney runs but evidence seems to be that both airlines are known as LC.

I would also assume that Loganair don't market any service under the LC flight number.

Loganair's IATA code - as per the IATA online database - is "LM", so they (still) have one. Maybe to avoid confusion - given their previous use of "LC" - they use the self explaining ICAO-Code LOG for charters and intra-Orkney flights.

Sealink, it will be all to do with linking up to the helicopters which take them offshore. They could use the Eastern schedules, but depends on the timings & whether they are fitting in with the helicopter flights there at the moment. Client requirements (ie. the oil companies or the oilfield stakerholder) will be driving the need for the extra ad-hoc charters and at what times they operate.

I understand - also interesting that HIAL/Wick Airport departures shows the LOG departing up to three hours before schedule, and the second Eastern departure cancelled on numerous occasions.

So, wasteful from a "bigger picture" POV, and perhaps indicative of a strange attitude to new business at Eastern?

As today was a Bank Holiday Eastern usually cancel some of there Scheduled Flights, and Richards right Oil companies want Flights at times that suit them not governed by a scheduled service. Had heard HIAL were hoping to get more Helicopters operating from Wick :D, apparently the 20 minute journey to the Captain Field is much shorter than it would be from
Aberdeen which I guess would take about 1 Hour ?

Might have been an hour from ABZ in the days when the 61 used to do the ABZ-Captain flights! The Bristow Tigers could probably do it in 25-30mins & the 225s slightly faster still. I'm sure the rotary guys could put us right. But once you coast out at the Moray Firth it isn't that long to destination. And ABZ - Moray Firth direct wouldn't take that long either.

HIAL might hope for more heli flights, but I think once the 225s are flying again the Captain crew change flights will return to a direct ABZ operation, presuming Bristow continue to maintain the contract to do so.

But WIC might see more fixed wing/heli flights from the likes of LOG & T3 if more west of Shetland comes online (eg. Clair Ridge, Rosebank etc), especially during hook-up & commissioning phases.

How long before the 225s are back in Service ?