The RyanAir view on events:

Ryanair.com - News : Cornwall’s Calamity Council and RAF Close Newquay Airport

they don't seem to realise in the current world situation one of the RAF's roles is not to provide services to 'fare paying passengers', at the expense of operational commitments. If the RAF had had it's way they would have been gone at the end of July 2008, and probably earlier if Cornwall County Council had not asked for help.

PM

Ryanair take the biscuit don't they using "unreasonable " and "expect". As if they really care about the customers ,they cut and run when it suits them, when airlines like Airsouthwest provide a consistent level of service as the South Wests true airline. The flying public will remember when it counts.

rogervisual

"In fairness to Newquay it was going to be first military airfield to attempt to transfer to civillian airport without closing"

Not strictly correct Farnborough did it, and if my aged memory is correct, so did Biggin Hill.

Ryanair have a nerve telling the passengers to seek compensation for the cancelled flights. What compensation will all the other passengers get from Ryanair for the cancelled flights up to March. B****r all.

What alternative do Ryanair have then? Agree 100% they should not be blaming the RAF for this shambolic debacle though.

Now off to get a copy of the new 'masterplan' for NQY, should make interesting reading but are the Council really capable of bringing home the bacon. I suspect not.

Air Southwest are now trying to honour Ryanair bookings by taking people from Plymouth to Gatwick where able.


Important Information regarding Air Southwest flights to/from Newquay Airport.

We have been advised that Newquay Airport will be closed from 1 December to 19 December 2008 inclusive. This is due to issues with the handover of air traffic control from the RAF to the airport authority.

We have put in place a range of contingency plans to ensure that disruption to our customers is kept to a minimum.

All Air Southwest flights will continue to operate, but will now operate from Plymouth.

If your flight was due to depart from Newquay, it will now depart from Plymouth. There are two options available to you:

1. You can choose to make your own way to Plymouth, please note that check-in will close at Plymouth 30 minutes before the original scheduled departure time from Newquay.
2. You can use the ground transport that will be provided by Newquay Airport from Newquay to Plymouth. Please note that this will depart promptly from Newquay two hours before the original scheduled departure time.

There is no need to advise Air Southwest of your preferred option in advance.

If your flight was due to arrive in Newquay, it will now terminate in Plymouth and ground transport to Newquay will be provided by Newquay Airport - this takes approximately 75 mins.

Customers may continue to make new bookings for flights to or from Newquay, and take advantage of the complimentary ground transport provided by Newquay Airport to connect with our flights to or from Plymouth. Please be aware, however, that ground transport will leave Newquay Airport no later than 2 hours before the scheduled flight departure time from Newquay.

All affected customers who provided an e-mail address at the time of booking will be contacted by e-mail to advise of the contingency arrangements.

Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience caused during this period, due to circumstances which are outside our control.

Ground transport will be provided subject to the ground transport operators conditions of carriage.

For Ryanair flights to/from London Stansted:

Air Southwest has agreed to assist Ryanair passengers booked on Newquay to Stansted between 1 December 2008 and 19 December 2008 and subject to availability, offer seats on London Gatwick flights from Plymouth Airport.

Please contact Newquay Cornwall Airport on the hotline number (01872 322002) by 7 December 2008 to check availability and rebook your flight. Requests after this date may not be honoured.

You will be required to provide proof of your Ryanair flight when checking in for your rebooked flight.

I came here for a little enlightenment on this issue. I should have known better.

Why are people blaming the council, when it is not their fault at all? Oh, it's because you have no idea what's going on beyond what is in the news media (which are known for their accuracy and thorough investigation of aviation-related stories, aren't they?) and Ryanair's self-serving press release. As far as my information suggests both are so far out as to be useless.

Groundhog and Chough

I am a staunch free market supporter, and would be the first to blame the government organisation if it was their fault. The information I heard is on this thread as well, and it is that the contractors screwed up. Private enterprise can make mistakes.

Martin

Finningley had closed to flight operations years before that. A seamless transition is an altogether more complicated prospect, and requires many different organisations to co-operate and fulfil their commitments. Lack in both factors appear to be the cause here.

Lost Man Standing..... just love your sense of humour! Well done made me laugh!!

Right ... it would be reasonable assume that if there was anything actually incorrect in my post you would have something more relevant to say than that. So I assume you agree with what i have said.

If the post you're referring to in that thread is mine then i wouldn't take my scorn for the failure to get the safety cases approved as an endorsement of the Councils role. It's worth noting that when this Project was tendered (in three lots of £10m), some very noteable companies elected not to bid due to the way in which the Council had set things up and the people they had managing it.

Lost man standing - No I have nothing to add to that already stated on this forum. Assume what you like that is your perogative.

Breaking news is that it appears we are now also funding the repatriation of Ryanair passengers from Bournemouth, Bristol and Luton, IF that is the case why should that be?. IF Ryanair are prepared to dump the pax and walk away why should CCC get them home? There is no contract between CCC and the pax. Doesn't this also mean CCC should be doing the same for Air Southwest, Skybue et al?
Exactly what is the arrangement and what are we the taxpayer liable for. It's not only Penzance that smells of fish right now?

To the future .... just glanced at the nearly 300 page master plan and thought the second paragraph was a little unfortunate under the circumstances. Now to read the rest of it and will let you know what my opinion is for whats it worth then.

PS: You can get a copy on line from Cornwall Airport website to see what I mean.....

Of course it is entirely POSSIBLE (that word emphasised deliberately) that the contract between CCC and the contractor had a penalty clause in it for this type of situation.
In which case it may well be a contractor, for failing to deliver in a set timescale or standard, ultimately picking up the bill for the delays in licensing.
Certainly when I have been involved with contracts in a different industry, but still construction related, a percentage retention figure was held by the client to cover contingencies.

.....you say and then do exactly that.

Stop and think for a few seconds. The weather was wet and miserable yesterday, he was probably fielding requests for an interview all day long from many sources, and that on top of trying to deal with a difficult and embarrassing situation. At the end of a day like that, how would you look??

I'm not trying to protect him, I just don't see the relevancy of your post to this topic.

All credit to ASW. Behind the scenes they must be mightily p***ed off, but publicly they are dealing with this in a professional way, providing alternative arrangements, accepting Ryanair passengers, and generally just getting on with it. Good for them!
Let's hope that NQY Airport get their act in gear, and whatever has gone wrong they get it sorted it good time for the re-opening on 20th Dec.

Newquay closed!
 

Ceefax reporting Newquay airport closed until Dec 19. The Council (owner) forgot to apply to renew its CAA Licence. Ryanair has moved its flights elsewhere, describing the situation as a 'farce'. An accurate assessment by Mo'L?

Damn, are they going to take it away and crush it, bet they got a new TV licence though:{

Here's a little more;

Newquay

&

More

The RAF have been covering Newquays ATC since they were also covering for St Mawgan. With the good 'ol defense cuts, at a time when the military have never been under more operational strain, St Mawgan was to be closed at the start of December to save money.

The air traffic controllers are to be re-assigned and the Cornish County Council, as usual, couldn't organise a pi$$ up in a brewery and neglected to factor in a 'lead time' for the CAA to issue the licence for the transfer to civilian ATC.

Oddly enough, local councilors tried to blame it on the inflexibility of the RAF to cover their cock-up over the intervening 3 weeks. Although they have known about the change over for several months now.

Not often I agree with MOL but, unfortunately, on this occasion, I have to! :eek:

w2p is quite correct. As, unusually, is o'Leary. It is indeed a farcial cock-up by the operator of Nookie Intergalactic.

One of the hazards in using 'minor' airports for CAT is the unreliability of service provision. Ryanair, using more of these types of airport than other airlines, is naturally more vulnerable to such vagaries of service.

Shame....... One of the better RAF aerodromes as well.

There appears to be a lot of speculation as to why Newquay did not acheive a seamless transition from a MOD aerodrome to a CAA licensed aerodrome.

Does anybody out there know the actual reason (s) why the smooth transition did not happen? Was it that the aerodrome did not secure a CAA Aerodrome Licence, or the ATC Unit did not secure ANSP Certification?

Cornwall Council has come in for a lot of flack. Was it that the staff that the Council employed at the airport did not meet their expectations, or one or more highly paid consultants did not come up with the goods on time?

I've been involved with the transition of two MOD aerodromes to civil licensed status, neither of which closed before the transition was completed. If there is anyone from Cornwall Council or the airport that wants to talk, please PM me.

Lets stop the wild speculation and start talking facts.