DURHAM AIRPORT - 2
 

Here is a bit of insider info from DTV, the source is very reliable but wishes to remain anonymous.

Good news: 75% chance of third based bmibaby aircraft for Summer 07, perhaps even sooner if winter pax figures do well.

Bad news: Some staff at DTVA are beginning to fear that bmi could be about to completely chop the London Heathrow route, this is for two reasons: firstly, a third based bmibaby aircraft could see LGW going 2x daily and secondly, a mixture of bmi's new business model and continuous fiddling around with times and aircraft types has seen pax numbers drop.

One advantage of no more LHR would see DTVAs agreement with bmi that only they can fly jet equipment into London dropped, meaning LCY, LTN and STN all possibilities for the near future, but even so, I would still rather keep the LHR route.

DTV - some partial good news there but a big blow if LHR goes and a replacement cant be found for it - am guessing only BA would be able to step in here but i cant see it likely they would. I did hear from someone at BMI (and this is going back to before this new LHR Bus Model and the launch of long-haul) that LHR-MME was very profitable for BMI and the thought of dropping it just didnt come into it
I do think this agreement with BMI should be scrapped and hopefully a LCY and or STN/LTN will be launched.

I wonder where next for 07 then with Baby - Prague, Barcelona/Madrid and somewhere in Germany or back to Italy would good - and maybe some new airlines too like Flybe?! - Heres hoping.

I do believe that bmibaby will base a third aircraft here, but if it's to be as soon as next summer I'm not convinced

Unfortunately, I believe that the LHR - MME and LBA routes are both living on borrowed time really, we all know bmi are short of slots at LHR and want more for their long haul routes. They will presumably cut some domestic routes to make up for this :ugh:

However, one thing that I think might happen, is, if bmi do cut the LHR, then KL (or LH?:confused: ) will seize the opportunity to grab all the connecting traffic and that might well see the NCL-AMS route suffer too :p

In other news it would seem that the troop flights are back again, with Excel B747-300 TF-AMK going out to Qatar this morning, and I am reliably informed that there will be another next week

mmeteesside

I'd expect them to gain pax off the MME-LHR should it close, but not the NCL-AMS.

This is very true, remember a recent winter where it was 4x daily with all A320s???

DTV Airport - I do remember indeed, its odd because on the face of it BA which has adopted the opposite to BMI (low-cost model in the regions, full fares and service at LHR/LGW) appears to be working, so much so that GB Airways is now going to be re-branded BA Connect in the regions. I think BMI have missed the point of the "premium" status LHR has - i wonder if BMI had adopted a similar strategy to BA, the Pax on LHR-MME would not have dropped and the thought of this service going would not even be considered. I remember full pax flights to MME on BMI and people paying £200+ for Business Class tickets. Last time i flew i actually went from LGW on Baby, there were at most 60-70 of us on board and we landed at the same time as the LHR BMI and that had similar numbers, so it would seem both routes are a bit diluted.

Some of you may or may not of noticed that the DTVA website has been down the last couple of days. Well it's back up and running now and the reason it was down was because they were giving it a brand new look! Check it out: www.durhamteesvalleyairport.com

An improvement :ok: , looks a bit more business-like, but am sure more could be done on it as time progresses.

Something interesting, a SAS flight from Oslo is due in tomorrow morning but can't see when it is going out. Any ideas what it could be doing?
Also sure i saw a 747 this morning, could be wrong though, was it the trooping flight?
Rumour on another thread is Globespan to start operations out of MME.
Still the airport needs a Belfast and a Southampton/Bournemouth. With Flybe announcing a DSA-Belfast route maybe Flybe will announce a MME-Belfast, it shows they are not scared to dilute there own markets with hem already doing a LBA-Belfast. Regarding the Southampton/Bournemouth maybe bmi would like to start a MME-SOU seeing as they plan on the SOU-AMS. They could get revenge on Flybe for starting SOU-AMS by taking some of there business from SOU to the north of England.

Yes the Excel B747-300 was on another troop flight, here are the approx times
Thu: a0900 d1100 BZZ/Gulf
Fri: a0830 d1000 Gulf/BZZ

bmi to SOU would be good but I can't see it happening really. One possibility for a new route would be Wizz from somewhere in Eastern Europe, or SkyEurope, presuming neither of these decide to go to NCL any time soon. Wizz have a strong partnership with Peel though, as they serve I believe 6 routes from LPL and just started to DSA as well.

mmeteesside

SAS Braathens are operating a series of flights from & to Oslo over the next couple of weeks. The next flight is Wednesday 28th.

Aviance have been informed that the bmi LHR service will be 20 flights per week for the winter with better timings, presumably back to last winters programme, and the recently released bmi baby programme is just version 1 with an expected 7 more weekly departures and possibly a new destination but no PRG, Germany or Italy.
They are also hopeful that the third baby aircraft will arrive at MME for next summer although baby are having problems sourcing the additional three aircraft.

It's also rumoured that Eastern are looking at the SOU route.

What's the purpose of the Oslo flights?

A Brass Band championship in Scarbrough, apparently. You did ask ! :eek:

Yes the SAS flights from/to Oslo are only a one-off, it brought a kids orchestra for the music festival in Scarborough. They are due to go home on Wednesday and then that is the end of it, no more flights from SAS (for a while anyway)

mmeteesside

Has anyone got a full run down to MME's Charter programme for next summer yet?

Regards

Mike

I'm working on it but it's near enough the same as this summer other than a few additions to the MYT programme, heres what I have so far
Alphajet
Larnaca 1105 1005 --3---- AJY0505/0504 1745/0700 MYT/TCX
Iberworld
Arrecife 1510 1400 ---4--- IWD3450/3449 1930/0950 MYT/TCX
Palma 1710 1610 -----6- IWD3440/3439 2040/1425 FCA/TCX
Pegasus
Dalaman 2120 2025 1------ PGT0464/0463 0350/1730 FCA/TCX
Thomsonfly.com
Ibiza 0735 2135 1------ TOM1243/1244 1120/1955
Alicante 0710 1355 -2----- TOM6821/6822 1055/1155 also FCA
Tenerife South 1525 0125+1 -2----- TOM5067/5068 2005/2105
Paphos 0900 1925 --3---- TOM4153/4154 1535/1635 also FCA/MYT
Varna 2100 0500+1 --3---- TOM5213/5214 0225/0325 runs 30/05-26/09
Palma 0700 1330 ---4--- TOM5073/5074 1040/1140
Dalaman 1500 0025+1 ---4--- TOM4683/4684 2105/2205
Corfu 0850 1635 ----5-- TOM1931/1932 1405/1505
Bourgas 1805 0205+1 ----5-- TOM6253/6254 2330/0030
Mahon 0705 1320 -----6- TOM4733/4734 1040/1140 also MYT
Reus 1450 2035 -----6- TOM2147/2148 1810/1910
Palma 2205 0435+1 -----6- TOM5137/5138 0145/0245
Malaga 0745 1450 ------7 TOM2241/2242 1150/1250
Palma 1620 2250 ------7 TOM2901/2902 2000/2100
Others (TBC)
Corfu 0000 0000 1------ (????) MYT
Reus 0840 2110 1------ (FLT?) MYT
Ibiza 2255 2155 ----5-- (JKK?) MYT
Tenerife 0000 0000 ----5-- (????) MYT
Palma 2020 1155 -----6- (JKK?) MYT
Alicante 1250 1925 -----6- (JKK?) MYT
The 0000/0000 are just times that haven't been entered into the system yet
mmeteesside

Looks good MME but nothing as yet, we hope, of anything excitingly new in place?
There seems to be a few rumours of new routes from new carriers flying about ( if u will excuse the pun) but is there anything semi concrete known?
Ive heard Flybe, Flyglobespan ( although it looks as though that was a typo error on a marketing mailshot), even heard Wizz possibly? and possibly Southampton with Eastern or BMI Regional mentioned - but i guess most if not all is just hearsay

Of all the rumours going around the one thats nearest to being the truth is probably Flybe to BHD, my contact mentioned Wizz to the marketing department about 2 years ago but they don't seem to do anything after that! :ouch:

Hopefully there will be something else, maybe First Choice will finally add Arrecife, they planned it for this summer but it got pulled, it was to be run by Spanair. Other than that the only other thing I can say is look out for some more from Thomas Cook for next summer. Possibly MyTravel but I can't see them adding too much more without adding a based aircraft once again (they are only 2 destinations short of the number that Thomson have next summer! :) Nice to have them almost back to full strength here)

One good piece of news is there is another Oslo flight with SASBraathens on Sunday in addition to tomorrow's flight!

mmeteesside

Wizz might be a possibility with them operating from both Liverpool and Doncaster and both airports under Peel. Maybe MME could be next?

So are there any real MyTravel flights? I mean with MYT flight codes and MYT aircraft? Not just sub-contracting flights out to the likes of Spanair?

What ever happened to Air Europa? Sure they have a single flight in the winter but they used to have four or five in the summer?