Yes,it is essential that if something as significant as changing the airports name is to be done, then it should be done properly.That's why a lot of people were bemused when 12 months after the change ,many tour operators were showing TEES-SIDE in their brochures, most european departure and arrivals boards had TEES-SIDE on their displays, and up until very recently 119.8 and 118.85 were TEES tower and TEES radar!
The problem with the road signs was allegedly that Highways Agency were unhappy that drivers seeing the Durham tees-valley signs would wrongly interpret then as directions to Durham City,25 miles up the (wrong) road.
I think that it is ironic that the very Airline who insisted upon Peel rebranding the airport have now pulled the plug.
For the sake of a lot of peoples jobs it is to be hoped that Ryanair or Thomsonfly get in quickand pick up some of the routes, or a cold winter will be followed by a pretty miserable summer.

bmibaby's replacement...
 

I know you never say never, but given these quotes from Philip Meeson of Jet2 on the NIA website following the launch of additional NCL flights, I don't think it's going to be LS.

“Today, with the addition of another four terrific Spanish destinations, we have set our sights on continuing to serve the people of Newcastle, Teesside and beyond by offering them low cost fares to the destinations of their choice"

“Of course, with bmibaby pulling its operation from Teesside, we anticipate even more passengers from the south of the region making the short journey north, in fact bookings are already suggesting the people of Teesside love Newcastle Airport and our low fares to boot.”

And so they should! ;) :uhoh:

Well it was between jet2 and flyglobespan.

Still have one airline in the running. Remember the airport was hoping to find a replacment within two weeks so if you dont hear anything be the middle of next week i would start to get a little worried.

There's nothing at all that I and many others from these parts love about Newcastle airport. Why should I have to drive 35 miles north, or south to LBA for that matter, adding to the congestion on the A1, when there's an airport on the doorstep.

Any chance of FLYbe? I recon you could well hear something from FR too! They could start like they have at BOH and work their way up to a base? I still think TOM could be a possibility too, dont they only offer the sun routes from NCL? They could have something similar to DSA? Just a thought.

well i dont think NCL really want FR to expand think they will be happy with jet2 and easyjet. problem with ryanair you fly miles from any town unlike easyjet and jet2.

think FR would be happy at durham tees valley

People keep on about Ryanair flying miles from anywhere, thats ok,
but dont you think thats why they are the largest european airline,
by flying those routes they dont go head to head with other airlines
and pick up alot of extra trade in europe where people dont want to drive miles to major airports.

If you all stop and think, we all rave about our local airports in the UK,
so why put down an airline that flys to local airports in europe.

Europe is far larger than the uk, so people in europe would have to travel
a larger distance to get to an airport if it was'nt for ryanair, I think other airlines in the uk are missing a trick as most of Ryanairs flights are full.

Personally I'd be over the moon of FR were to start operations from MME...or should I say re-commence operations!!

i have, however, several concerns about FR:

1) they have tried CIA from MME which was from all accounts not as well supported as believed

2) they have just reduced frequency on the DUB route from 1xdaily

i.e. surely that would make u think that FR would have to make a go of the above routes on a daily basis if they were to start operations to their other (possibly not as popular) routes on a daily basis

HOWEVER...

a) one solution for the FR management to dip their toe in the water is to offer what they do at DSA where they fly to european base airports on a 3xweekly basis rather than a dailt operation

b) added to that, I genuinely believe there is an untapped market to some of the german routes (offering flexible options for onwards travel to germany, france and the benelux countries) and ive wondered for ages why they havent ever tried a girona given theoptions to second homers, city breakers and the bucket and spades

c) finally, as other posters have pointed out, the whole 'ryanair only fly to secondary airports miles from their destination name' fits perfectly with the MME brand-which we all know is actually miles away from Durham!!

apart from TOM I really think this is the only plausible option for MME and the noises from both FR and DTV are promising!

Well, LS' additional routes from NCL up the game a bit, but this also turns up the heat on U2, who haven't had the best of summers on Tyneside.

Maybe Mr M is just rubbing salt into the situation, or could this be a bluff to squeeze MME for a deal? The economics of one based aircraft would not be so good for an outsider, but LS have already done something similar at BLK,whereas baby are now focussing on an axis which includes BHX, EMA and MAN. Should we really rule LS out completely? Or, after AH's constant bleatings about airport costs, could U2 ever be tempted to switch bases?

Interesting times ahead.

Interesting articles on DTVA
 

Flightmapping dot com (no, I'd never heard of the before, either...) have a couple of intersting articles on DTVA. The first quotes DTVA business development manager Mark Clarkson saying: “We are looking to establish these routes as soon as possible. We have had a number of productive meetings with several different carriers about starting new routes . There are always going to be a number of regional routes which an airport like ourselves can offer which will appeal to low-cost airlines.”

The second has an analysis of "Likely Contenders for Durham Tees Valley flights" and concludes "As we think it likely that Flyglobespan were already making plans to offer more routes from Durham before the BmiBaby announcement, we would still place them as the favourites. Most of the other airlines listed above would probably be much more likely to make a switch at some stage next year, rather than in the immediate future. We also have to consider the possibility of more than one airline coming in at the same time. No-frills airlines don't usually like to collaborate with each other, but there might well be some routes which will be more suited to smaller aircraft, and others where slightly larger jets would be more appropriate."

Girona
 

Ryanair are due to announce a majour expansion of their Girona base on Thursday!

Will MME have somehow managed to persuade them, at the last minute, to squeeze MME into the timetable (at the expense of somewhere else)??

I wouldn't be surprised given all MME's recent talk about an imminent announcement of new routes...

That's got to be a dead cert! I know I said I wanted Ryanair to stay away but this is good news!

i think the route is going to ncl but hope im wrong

Prepared to get shot down in flames tomorrow, but i dont think it'll go to either.

CentreFix25,

I'm not a gambling man, but I love a bit of sporting speculation.

I think you might well be right, but would it not depend on just how big this expansion is? I'd expect to see Morocco, the Canaries and Poland as priorities over new UK routes, so if it is just one extra a/c, then I'd guess no, 2 or more, then my Lira would be on NCL, partly because there might be a higher chance of attracting inbound to NCL (football, nightlife), but also because FR already have 3 routes from there, compared to the reduced DUB service at MME.

I think MME will find a different base carrier sooner or later, but not opening MME-GRO might increase FR's bargaining chips later down the line, such is the courting game of airport deals.

Will be wearing a fire retardant, bullet proof jacket tomorrow!

Girona
 

New Ryanair route from MME to Girona :ok:

(Newcastle also gets new Ryanair Girona route...)

Centrefix,

Do you want to borrow that jacket? I was expecting a close call between them, but 4 new a/c, and both to be served, together with BRS. I'm sure a bookie would have offered good odds on that! Note that they are now back to referring to MME as Teesside.

Girona
 

Looking at the start dates, the MME route does not result from the addition of any new aircraft. Rather, it will be operated with an existing aircraft, and an existing route will see a reduction from mid-February.

How bad! :}

I have mixed reactions to this, I'm happy because it's a new route for Durham Tees Valley, I hope it does well. Yet I'm unhappy because I would expect Rome to be a more in demand route than Girona, therefore why should Girona be successful if Rome wasn't?