It's all wishful thinking Guys. The truth is, taking the C.I. as a whole there are simply not enough people wanting to travel on a regular basis to make European routes viable. I used to fly the BRS-PLH-JER-CDG route. It only worked because it was multi-stop and we picked up CDG pax en-route (also picked up CI pax en-route as well, of course). Multi-leg routes have their own problems in terms of duty hours and plain old economics so it's unlikely that anybody would start one up again. If you use a small a/c then you have to charge high fares to have any chance of making a profit and if you use a large a/c then you pretty much have to fill it if you want to charge low fares. There is also the problem of what do you do with an a/c when it's finished the one-round trip per week on a low-demand route? Sitting on the ground is not an option, as a sweeping generalisation an a/c on short haul ops needs to be flying about 9-10 hours PER DAY.
Pleasant though all the islands are, tourism is on the wain so as far as a plethora of routes is concerned, these may well be 'the good old days'. No operator is in the game for altruistic reasons, they're in it for the money!

From UK Airport News

CDG isn't hapenning. From UK Airport News
Flybe's proposed Channel Islands to Paris route has been scrapped. After talks last week, Jersey has decided not to increase its offer of funding of the new route.
Flybe wanted £800,000 from each island to subsidise a link to Charles de Gaulle Airport, later reducing the sum to £750,000 as the price of oil had fallen. Initailly Jersey offered only £150,000, but increased the sum slightly with incentives including marketing assistance and reduced landing fees.
Both islands agreed that whatever the subsidy, it needed to be proportional to the number of incoming passengers. It was predicted the route would lose £1.5m in the first year of opertion.
An airline spokesman has said: 'Flybe would like to express disappointment that, despite the Paris route being identified by politicians in both islands as a vital transport link, it has not been able to come to fruition.'
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This saga wont help JER attract airlines in the future if it cant even sort out funding for a route like CDG

For the sums Guernsey and Jersey are obviously willing to fork out, wouldn't Aurigny be interested ? Certainly a 30seater would be more appropriate than a Q400 and require less funding.

White tail ATR
 

Could be route route for one of the white tail ATR 42s.


The shed would take to long, and the shed has been to CDG before now with the old Flybe (Jersey European).:D :D

the less seats you have in an aircraft, the more expensive will cost the ticket.

Sure a 30/40 seater (forgot that Aurigny have dumped the Saab 340, so it would be down to an ATR42) is more expensive, but I do not think that GCI and JER exactly need a 0.00 GBP*-fare type operation to CDG that flyBE offers (and needs to have subsidized with a rather hefty sum obviously). Why are the islands after a low cost operation for a route that, me thinks, is more important for the business clientele that needs access to an international hub ? Charge more realistic fares that require less funding - and also save business travellers from having to pay for putting stuff in the hold, checking in at all (soon to come), having a cup of tea etc.

FlyBE wanted 1.6m GBP for the route. Over here in Germany, you get a twice-daily route with a 34/36seater for a subsidy in the range of 500.000 GBP - 900.000 GBP, depending on the conditions of the contract (numbers quoted are for the routes KEL-MUC and RLG-MUC which are much longer than JER-CDG). The islands should put out the route to tender.

TBH Who cares about a link to CDG etc!!. A few business types might use it but not many tourists coming to the island. What has always been missing from the island is a decent low fare airline as Jsy has become a very expensive destination to potential visitors and residents trying to get off the Rock!!!. If Ryanair can serve Newquay!!!! they can also serve Jsy and if Flybe or BA don't like it thats TOUGH as heat and kitchens spring to mind. Anyhow when the dreaded GST comes in tourism will never be the same as visitor numbers plummet,

noflybywire
 

You seem to be new to all this??

If you are an anorak yes would be differant to see the odd harp tail wingleted Boeing poping in on the odd occasion if you like that sort of thing.

Commercially people like Ryanair are not good for the Island if you have not read in the aviation world articles Jersey is not that type of market you open the door to them on an area of forty five square miles and the only flights you have in a couple of years time will be Ryanair and nobody else.

The island needs to look after the all the other connections they have at the moment before they lose any more.

To be honest, I'm just as happy that Flybe didn't do it; what is needed, as I've said before, is interlining. There were a few AF partner airlines with 30-50 seat commuter aircraft - Britair (CRJ) and Regional (Emb 135/145), for example. They could plug into AF's network at CDG; OK, one can't build a route on connection traffic alone, but there are increasing business links with France and as a tourism destination, people always love Paris (not only in the Springtime!) and furthermore, in AF, you have an airline with the incentive to market Jersey right around the world.

AF has a huge network out of CDG and through CDG, you can access every major European market (much more than can be accessed through LGW, which doesn't even have a CDG link anymore). Given the significant numbers making that bus journey between LGW and LHR every day, the attractiveness of a straight through, interline at CDG must be high indeed.

OK, the route may well lose money, but I think this goes beyond mere profitability; this is something the states should be financing and facilitating. If a particularly destination is difficult and inefficient to access (as Jersey is now), that automatically undermines its competitiveness and its attractiveness as a business destination; a route by an AF partner would be a significant boost for the economy and I am sure, in due course, it would become very popular with islanders.

I guess the problem with subsidised routes is pretty much that those who pay the piper tell what tune has to beplayed. So usually they expect to have an aircraft based that operates to the most desirable schedule etc. Not sure if Air France would be that co-operative. As the potential customers would probably mostly have rather deep pockets, maybe some interlining would be sufficient. Works quite okay over here with some of the subsidised route which serve MUC; they are all not operated by the Lufthansa group, but by independent regional carriers that are quite willing to base an aircraft if the subsidy is big enough.

One other thought - if Air France isn't interested, couldn't Atlantic Express offer something subsidised ? Like JER 0630 - 0830 CDG 0900 - 0900 JER 0920 - 1020 STN 1050 - 1150 JER 1540 - 1640 STN 1710 - 1810 JER 1830 - 2030 CDG 2100 - JER 2100.

As we just at it - how about the ZRH link ?

GBALU53

I have been in the Aviation game for 32 years and hold a CPL/IR with 9k+ hours so if that makes me an anorak then so be it. The states of Jersey have far better things to do with their!!! money then waste it on a route that has never been a success and IMO never will be. In fact if it's such a money spinner why haven't VLM applied for it,

By the way, isn't there a French outfit that operates to Paris with a Beech 1900 ? What's the problem with them - only suitable for inbound traffic ?

Twinjet. They fly Cherbourg-ORY in the morning then ORY-Cherbourg-JER. The plane spends the day in JER and then does to the reverse to night stop in Cherbourg

Yes, Twin Jet has been operating for a number of years now. It is not a substantial operation, carrying fewer than 200 passengers a month. I would imagine that it is supported mainly by business passengers, hence the high fares.

On a separate note, there are some summer 2007 schedules available. Atlantic Express has some schedule changes as follows:

AEX21 JER STN 07:30 08:40
AEX22 STN JER 09:10 10:20

AEX23 JER STN 12:20 13:30
AEX24 STN JER 14:00 15:10

AEX25 JER STN 17:00 18:10
AEX26 STN JER 18:40 19:50

The midday flight seems to be operating only on Su.M.F.Sa, but changing the morning and evening flights by 30 minutes/1 hour does make Atlantic Express a more convenient option.

Moreover, Aer Lingus will be operating 3x weekly from the end of May - the schedule normally begins at the end of March.

I've heard from another source that EI will only be operating 2 weekly flights next Summer - Tues and Sat, obviously with A320s. The flights will stop in September, so a significantly shorter season.

Perhaps Aer Arann would consider the route; there's certainly demand, given the significant Irish population in Jersey. Having to fly through the UK is becoming increasingly tiresome, what with the extra security, additional taxes etc; with more ATR72s coming in the near future, perhaps it's an option RE could look at. ORK could prove a useful mini-hub for such a route, with onward connections to Belfast, Galway and Dublin?

Flybr Summer Schedules 2007
 

With some of the Fybe summer schedules not being released yet what do they have up the sleave.

From information received there may be a second Bristol for the summer, it might not be every day but a second rotation is on the possibley on the cards??

Yes, I’m quite eager to see the full Flybe. summer schedule. The routes have been slowly released but there are still quite a few extra routes and frequencies to be added like Bristol, Edinburgh and the Saturday tourist flights. Also, maybe there will be some new services?

If the rumour about an increase in the frequency of the Bristol flight is true then where would the aircraft come from? The current schedule with the based aircraft is quite full and there is little space for extra rotations.

Well, the Flybe. Bristol flights went on sale today and are still 1x daily.

The other news I have is that there will be yet another addition to the German charter destinations for summer 2007. Along with Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Hannover and Stuttgart, Wolters Reisen, the German tour operator, will be offering Saturday flights from Munich. The flight will be operated with Lufthansa Cityline.

Good to see Jersey expanding its European tourist market. :)

Manchester route
 

With the take over of BA Connect how is this going to benefit the Island how??

The only thing so far quoted was a second rotation on the Manchester meaning three flighst a day, 2 by Flybe and the Baby flight.

Going back to when British Airways operated the route there was a morning and afternoon flight with the ATP but it routed via Guernsey so how long will this last if they think the route can support the best part of three hundered seats a day by the two carriers.

Interestimg Points Ref Takeover of BA Connect
 

There has been and may still be talks of British Airways bringing the Heathrow back, the reasons could be a number of them.

!. With the Boeing 737 fleet slowly being dispossed of no suitable aircraft at Gatwick to operate the Jersey flight.

2. With B.A. having a 15 per cent of Flybe would they carry on in competition on the Gatwick or give it all to them and open up the Heathrow??.

3. Aurigny could be in a position to operate a Jersey Gatwick in competion as per the Guernsey Gatwick flights.

4. With B.A. selling Connect due not making money will W.W. be looking at cutting routes that are not producing the revenue, but to keep the valuable Heathrow slots, operate a bus down to Jersey just to keep them.

The Paris route from what i can make out is not dead yet.

The main concentration over the last few months has been the talks and planning for the take over.

Now this major hurdle is over, Flybe quoted two dates for more things to happen the first of January and then the twenty seventh of March this must be the end of the winter timetable when Connect will be fully gone.

From what i understand the Connect fleet of Dashs and Embs were on a lease bases so they will not be able to trade them in for more 400s and 195s shame:sad: .

Once Flybe start operating the Jersey Manchester in there own right there will be two a day and the fare structure will be a lot less than the B.A.Connect fares good for the travelling public.:ok:

Interesting year ahead for what flybe have up there sleeve

Jeresy and Guensey will be the last places for the BAE146 to be based before they leave the company, Jersey will have there EMB195 but i think things dont look good at the moment for a Guernsey EMB195 unless they can sort out there runway length, if they can't then it would look like a two Dash 400s based in Guernsey.

Really good news here; Jersey will be regaining its scheduled route with Durham Tees Valley. Flyglobespan are to launch Saturday flights as of 30th June 2007. Flights are as followed:

GSM047 MME JER 14:05 15:30
GSM048 JER MME 16:00 17:25

Great to see a new low cost airline for the airport. The flight operates 1x weekly (compared to baby’s 3x) but that is more than sufficient for tourists. The loss of bmibaby was unfortunate considering that the route performed well so hopefully Flyglobespan can make a success of it.

Good news - and always welcome to see a new airline; possibly 737-600s? I'm surprised that they'd operate from MME; wasn't sure they had a base there. If they start with MME, they might try EDI and/or GLA direct?

As for LHR, as much as I'd love to see it, I still have my doubts - particularly as far as BA is concerned. OK, the 737s aren't getting any younger, but the -500s operating to JER always seem to be in pretty good condition, but more to the point, there's no way (as far as I can see) BA would use a slot for short haul when they could use it on long haul. Any available slots will be used for this purpose and if/when Open Skies comes about, BA will need every last slot it can get it hands on. Indeed, at that stage, I can see a lot of mainland domestic routes losing access.

Similarly for Bmi; even though they don't seem to be getting things quite right at the moment, they too will be waiting for O/S and the opportunities that will bring (assuming VS hasn't bought them out before); I see BD being a better chance than BA, but that's really not saying much. While access to LHR should remain a long term goal, I believe that other hubs such as CDG provide a better opportunity for plugging into worldwide networks.

New base opening next summer

Good news to see GSM moving into operate down from Teeside or what ever one likes to call it now Durham Tees Valley or the good old days of Middle St George down to Jersey it might only be once a week at least it is a start.

Would the next move be operating once a week from Glasgow as this must need some support looking back many years ago British Midland operated a big programme in the summer months especially the months of July and August many a DC9 would be seen trucking its way down the airways to Jersey:ok: :ok: .

LHR and MME
 

Good to hear Flyglobespan are going to operate the MME service, its true that with baby these flights were almost always full. (and had the nicest crews lol).

As far as BA goes, I've heard on good account that JER is one of BA shorthaul's most profitable routes (and with regularly 30+ in club on a 100 seat A/C its understandable why), so if LHR takes on one JER is a likely candidate.

I, however do agree that it is fairly unlikely over the next few years but as GBALU states it isn't impossible that BA could leave BE to take over LGW and for BA to take LHR, and would give JER back its 'real' link to London which would be great to see.

Good luck to flybe and all BACON crews for the future, I will miss the daily Dash 8 300 we see here, but understand that its for the best of the business as a whole.

However great it would be to re-establish the Heathrow link, I agree it is still very unlikely. Jersey’s efforts to gain new access to European hubs are of increased significance nowadays and are more viable, long term options.

The entrance of Flybe on to the Manchester route is welcome. Along with bmibaby, Flybe should be able to reduce fares further and generate passenger growth. The amount of seats available to Manchester will, of course, be an issue, especially out of season. Nevertheless, Flybe’s schedule is likely to be more accommodating for day returns, which I have always thought was needed to a major city like Manchester.

But again, really looking forward to seeing Flyglobespan. Hopefully one of a few more routes to be announced for the summer!

And the good news keeps on coming...

British Airways will launch an additional service between Jersey and London Gatwick for the beginning of the summer season following successful negotiations with Jersey Airport. The extra afternoon flight will bring flights up to 6x a day during the week and 7x at the weekend. Flights are as followed:

BA8045 LGW JER 12:55 13:55
BA8046 JER LGW 14:30 15:30

By the way, I noted the other day that BACON had applied for slots for a saturday flight to FRA between 05MAY07 and 08SEP07.

Good News
 

Good to see another rotation to and from Gatwick for the summer 2007 although not a new route, there must be the passengers or is it to protect a slot or two?:ok: :ok:

With Flyglobespan starting the Durham-Tees to Jersey from the end of June due not having an aircraft until the second aircraft is based a Durham they will be able to see the public demand for some route before they start and might have to add a second rotation a week on some route hopefully the Jersey sectors:ok: :ok: .

From what i understand the loads when Baby operated were good so you would think there must be the demand.

With the application of Bacon applying for a German slot on Saturdays, this must just be an end use chater type opperation ,which i think Eurowings operated on behalf of Lufthansa last year so it might be a smaller aircraft on the German weekend charters for all of them?????:sad: :sad:

Would this explain why the Jersey-Southend service has (apparently) been ditched for 2007?

Always wondered why Jersey doesn't get alot of passengers looking to make duty free savings.

I know for example that say on flights from Ireland you can save about €45 each way for 200 cigarettes because of duty free - so if you smoke you're €90 up if you use your allowance each way - more if you save on drinks or whatever. Does the same apply on flights from England - presume it does.

With that alone there should be a good demand for flights as long as the frequencies are OK.

The extra British Airways Gatwick flight is certainly good and a success for the airport authorities and their attempts to build partnerships and offer incentives to airlines.

According to an earlier JEP article, airlines that add additional flights on existing routes will receive a 50% decrease in landing charges, so no doubt BA must have received a good offer. Certainly, this is the first major signal that the new strategy is working and hopefully there will be more developments in the future and cause for more optimism.

Would the slot application not have to mention Guernsey as well considering all German charters operate to both islands? Also, the tour operator dates conflict with those mentioned in the slot application. Wolters Reisen states that flights begin on 28th April and end on 22nd September, whereas the slot application suggests that flights begin on 5th May and end on 9th September. It is still early but there are some conflicts in the information.

Last year was FRA was offered for the first time by TUI Wolters with a Contactair aircraft. Don't know if the BACOn application was a replacement for that, but I doubt it as TUI Wolters is quite keen to sell all their flights to the C.I. as "Lufthansa" flights (it is Eurowings and Contactair).

In 2007 there will be a bunch of saturday charters operated by Cityline for TUI Wolters. A new addition to the destination list is MUC, this on top of FRA, DUS, STR and HAJ. in the past, there have been BA flights to Germany, I remember a regular saturday service to DUS in the 1990s with Dash 7s or ATPs.

BAC !-!!s
 

Virgin Blue

If we go back a bit further British Airways operated a German Flight in the summer a long time ago.

Could we be seeing a bigger return to German traffic for the summer of 2007???:ok: :ok:

The are plenty of towels available.

Sorry, I just keep on posting the news :ok:

New for summer 2007, daily Thomsonfly flights to Luton operating a 'W' pattern from Doncaster, except Wednesdays when the flight seems to be on a Luton based aircraft. Flights are as followed:

TOM 4134 JER LTN 09:20 10:20
TOM 4133 LTN JER 11:00 11:55

Also, Cardiff operates 5x weekly, Coventry daily, Doncaster daily.

This is turning out to be a bumper summer for Jersey. I had a suspicion that Thomsonfly would launch Luton; the Airport Director sort of hinted it in a radio interview a few weeks back.

Great news, BE's once weekly service (for the past few years) has never really been enough; hopefully we'll see a few more developments in the near future.

Perhaps RE might increase the ORK frequency and (given EI's reduction on the DUB route) consider that too; there really should be a year round Irish route.

If I may add to J-Guy's comments, the CWL flight not only operates on an extra day in Summer 2007 (4x weekly Summer 06, 5x weekly Summer 2007), but the aircraft operating the route is a Thomsonfly Boeing 737, compared to the Aer Arran ATR-72...therefore well over double the capacity on the route.

Summer 2007
 

Good news does Jersey have enough beds if all these flight are full??

What else is up Jersey Airports sleave for this comming summer 2007.

With only four and a half months before the summer schedules come into play it is look a lot better for 2007 so far, as they say, bring it on ,it is good for Joe and his public?:ok: :ok:

Will FlyBe retain the Luton route in competition with Thomsonfly?