Looks like Thomson Holidays have dropped Sharm and Alicante for next winter 2011 / 12 and just kept Tenerife as a winter hot spot

Things are not looking good at EGSH. The offshore helicopter operation they thought they could take from North Denes is not going to happen and now Longmint/Sterling are about to fold leaving bills and empty space.

On top of that passenger footfall through Norwich has declined The airport development fee has been a big mistake.

It appears that Thomson will also drop Mahon for summer 2012.

Controlled Airspace has been approved.

It appears the management at Norwich have decided that as the passengers number drop they will extract more money from them. (The Durham/Tees business model?)
The airport development fee has been doubled to £10.00.
Norwich airport development fee to double - News - Eastern Daily Press

Interesting logic from the MD

Good news!

Norwich International Airport unveils 10 year vision to create 1,000 new jobs with aviation business park scheme.
Source: Eastern Daily Press.

FlyBe / Loganair are suspending NWI-DHR after just ten days of service. Loads apparently never more than six, and presumably that was reflected in forward bookings.

In Dutch: Vandaag.nl - Luchtlijn tussen Den Helder en Engeland nu al gestaakt

Now there's a surprise, Air Anglia then Air UK then KLM have held the NWI/AMS/NWI monopoly for some 40 years and some smart@ss operator comes along to offer alternate services to/from a Dutch airfield the majority have never heard of and have no idea where it is.

I still recall the days of "Holland Aerolines" trying their RTM/NWI/RTM services with a Gaff "Gomad", they even tried it with an ATR42, their operation lasted something like 10 days also.

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviatio.../4/0246447.jpg

Some of us would queue up to fly in something like that, but then again Geek Airways was never much of a starter....
NS

One could argue that if the same airline (via various mergers / takeovers) has held the monopoly on a route for 40 years and can sustain 21x weekly service, there might possibly be room for another airline to offer a slightly different product (eg a related airport, different timings or alternate ticket pricing model), and take a share of an enlarged market.

On paper, at least, NWI would seem like a good candidate for regional carriers. Instead it has only seen services and numbers plummet in the last few years. What do you all put that down to? What makes NWI so seemingly unattractive?

Because on two sides it is surrounded by water, on t'other side (west) it is covered by less than ideal roads and on t'other side it is surrounded by STN, LTN and SEN.

Norfolk has a nigh on b*gger all catchment area by itself and nobody in their right mind is likely to travel there on slow roads to catch a flight that they can catch from a more ideally placed airport.

Personally I love Norwich, the quaint little streets, the Colman's Mustard Shop, the "oldie worldie" of the place but it's out the back of beyond.

Went MAN-NWI on 6Feb via Flybe/Loganair/Suckling, Dornier 328, Only a few, maybe 5 empty seats. First time in a Dornier, nice aircraft, imagine it is great fun to fly.
Norwich was looking very tired and unloved.

GGR

Insufficient catchment has always been a problem for NWI.

Locals are quite used to travelling to STN for holiday departures and I've spoken to people who use LGW and now also SEN. The Airport Develpment Fee at £10 per departing passenger doesn't help either.

Could someone enlighten me about the public transport options from Norwich Centre to the airport (the airport site is unhelpful as the link provided there is dead...)?

Is my understanding correct that one has to take a "Park & Ride" bus from the city centre to a place somewhere near the airport and connect from there to a shuttle bus to the airport? Can a "foot" passenger without a car get a ticket at the wrong end (i.e. at the city centre to which P&R customers are supposed to travel to) for a journey to the airport? I am slightly confused as the park & ride bus rules appear to be rather strict (eg personnel may check if someone using the bus indeed has a bike etc.).

virginblue - I think you want the number 37 bus (or 38 if the 37 doesn't show up)

Current Timetables | Norfolk & Suffolk | FirstGroup plc.
http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/suff...ps/Norwich.pdf

Thanks for your help.

I had checked traveline, but could not believe that an airport has a bus service that drops you off somewhere in a residential area a ten minute walk from the terminal....

Options are...

1. Around £10 for a taxi in to the city. Rank outside the terminal.

2. £2 for a return Park & Ride ticket to the city. Bus terminal is less than 5 mins walk from the terminal. Don't tell them you don't have a car.

3. 5 minute walk to the main road bus stop. Buses every 15 mins, not sure what they cost though.

Hope that helps. Enjoy your trip!

Cheers,

LXGB

No bus pulls into the airport any more. The Airport Park & Ride car park is one of five park and ride sites serving the city; its five minutes walk from the terminal (exit the building and follow the access road to your right).

Buses run every 15-20 minutes from about 06:30-19:00 Monday to Saturday, £2.40 day return. A ten round trip ticket is a bit cheaper per trip and has no expiry date.

Info: Norfolk County Council - Park and Ride

A few rural buses run past the airport on the main road but they're less frequent and a bit pricier.

It's at least an hour's walk to the city centre (I've done it once, don't ask...)