I heard a Lufthansa radio advert on GWR-fm this morning; it's the first time I've heard Lufthansa adverts round here, so is this a sign? (BRS-KUL for £449 - now that would be nice).

M_V : you are certainly our Statto; thanks for those numbers. They're just a factor of ten below EZY, so it's easy to understand why BACon couldn't get into the black.

I wonder what the numbers for those routes out of BHX look like, running larger planes (A319/320) and with transit passengers?

I thought it was funny when I read in a trade mag last week that Aer Rianta are selling their stake in Brum cos they have identified Briss as one of the main reasons why their operation is not growing as well as they would like. Now however, with the demise of BaCon and no one to fill in most of the gaps til at least winter 07, Brum could claw back a bit of business.

The FC/TUI meger could prove possitive for both BRS and CWL passangers, now instead of a rumoured TOM pullout at BRS there could be a possibilty of 3 or 4 company a/c at BRS and the same at CWL, both bases are strong for both companies for diffrent reasons, how about increase of LOCO at CWL to provide a proper alternative to EZY at BRS, and a concentration on mid-long haul packages from BRS where both TOM and FCA carry more than TCX/MYT anyway.

WATABENCH,

TUI seems to have 51% of the new grouping so might it not turn out to be a bad thing for Bristol in the long run?

TUI is bigger at CWL than at BRS and seems to be increasing its presence there with rumours of a BRS pull-out altogether.

If the new group had major programmes from both BRS and CWL would it not be competing against itself?

Flybe seems to be think this about BRS and EXT so perhaps TUI/FC might come to the same conclusion about BRS and CWL.

TUI/FC might think EXT was a better bet to service the south west without diluting CWL too much.

Furthermore, it seems generally accepted that easyJet's major presence at BRS was also an influence on Flybe's decision. Might this not also come into TUI/FC's thinking?

I hope this does not happen but there must be a possibility.

It would be particularly galling after Boeing told the BRS management that the 787 could operate out of BRS non-stop to a number of transatlantic destinations with a full payload.

Getting to CDG
 

I've had a disappointing day today. Much as I don't/didn't say it often, I'm missing BACon.

I have to do an afternoon meeting in Paris on Wednesday afternoon, and the old BACon schedule was ideal; out first thing, back early evening. Now I'm stuffed. One EZY flight a day, and surprise surprise, it's right in the middle of the afternoon. I can't travel out Tuesday afternoon for a Wednesday afternoon meeting and then back Thursday afternoon. I want to support BRS, but there are limits!

So it's off down the motorway - but I'm bypassing LHR to try Eurostar.

I'm rather hoping to get a warm fuzzy feeling at the airport tomorrow; that there isn't a scrum at security, and that the EWR flight pushes back on time. (And I'll look down from the Cabot at the seething crowd, navigating their way round Starbucks and Claire's Accessories).

MV its way way to early in the deal to tell or even speculate anything my old fruit, however the new company is being headed by the FC Chief Exec Peter Long and I imagine he will see the FC side get a fair deal, if you look at the situation TUI are 4 times the size of FC currently, however FC shareholders are getting half the business(so who's share holders are better off?) also FC profit margin is just over 5% whereas TUI's is just under 2.5%, so in theory FC is the more profitable on a like for like basis, this may not spell the end for all things First Choice or all things Thomson in the UK, they may end up being 1 company but why get rid of 2 strong brands(let alone other strong brands such as Hayes and Jarvis, 2wentys, island cruises)?
I believe that Thomsons only has 20-30 BRS based crew, where as FC has 130, in CWL its the other way round, and I honestly dont believe that the new company being the size it is will want to consolidate at airports, lets not forget the rumoured TOM pull out was not because they couldn't get bums on seats, it was because they weren't making enough profit, a company the size of this is will be able to adapt to the local market a lot easier.
Also lets not forget that this is going to be the biggest tour operator in the world, a fleet of 160 aircraft plus an order between them for 23 B787s, it will also be a FTSE 100 company with 23 million customers a year between them currently.
This company is going to be a MASSIVE HOLIDAY MONSTER! there really wont be a need to consolidate in the regions, they will see where they're strong together (SW & Wales being 1 area) take aim at MYT/TCX and fire!
If Thomsons still pull out of BRS thats still a Thomsons decision, the 2 companys will not become 1 to the naked eye for at least a year, but as the airport grows so does the figure of people wanting to holiday, so give it time, however with TCX haveing their own a/c this will leave room for Thomsons pax to jump on the FCA's,
Lets not forget this partnership was formed as a direct "Up yours" to TCX/MYT, with a large portion of "bring it on" to the likes of EZY/FR.

Bristol_Traveller - why not fly from Exeter? Flybe go out in the morning and back in the evening? It's not that far down the M5:ok:

I had a pretty event free BRS-EWR-BRS last week, so my karma is a bit lighter. Loads were pretty good, even up in C. The real benefit of landing at BRS at 09:15 (55 minutes late to air at EWR) is being back at my desk for 10:00.

Air_Hop; you're right about the EXT flights (and indeed, a colleague flew AF from SOU to CDG), but EXT is surprisingly hard to get to and from without a car. I would have had to go down Monday night anyway to get a morning flight, or taken a horribly expensive taxi. It was just cheaper/easier to go to London Monday night and take Eurostar from Waterloo.

I did fly back with EZY6224 from CDG to BRS, which made me grumpy again. T3 at CDG is not a place I'll be racing back to, and I can't believe how tight the seat pitch on EZY is. (I did do gate->home in 25 minutes though).

"and I can't believe how tight the seat pitch on EZY is. (I did do gate->home in 25 minutes though)."
At least you didn't bump your head a la Barbie Jet though.:)

Been told today that EZY are looking at possibly 3 new french routes, any guesses? Lyon would surely be one, but cant really think of anywhere else they'd be intrested in or they aren't already covering.

Easyjet have put on sale BRS-MXP until end of october.

From 1st october timetable change and will be operated by a BRS based plane.

From 23/4 to 30/09:
MXP-BRS 7:25-8:35
BRS-MXP 9:00-12:05

From 1st October:
BRS-MXP 18:50-21:15
MXP-BRS 21:50-22:55

So, what route will be reduced at BRS to make free space for BRS-MXP?

Perhaps none if it heralds the arrival of an 11th aeroplane ,and do you have o information other than the schedule change to suggest that it will be a BRS based plane that operates this service?
cheers Silvertop

I was always lucky enough to get 11A on the old Pocket Rocket. I lost count of the number of concussed pax in the C seats. I'd prefer that to having my knees cracked by the trolley as it goes past.

More EZY to France?! Twice a day to CDG might be more helpful than Brest or other places less visited.

It' s on sale on Easyjet website!;)

Easyjet have dropped to one rotation per day on the Amsterdam route :confused:

Easyjet will fly to Warsaw 3xWeek from October (source - FlyCheapo website)

New Longhaul FCA
 

BRS-CUN with FCA from summer 08(not released for another 2 weeks, so hope i'm not wrong)
Unsure if it's weekly or fortnightly, will advise soon, VRA(Cuba) looks as if it is going to be dropped though, SFB will stay weekly, i'm unsure about POP for next summer, although it is on sale for next winter(weekly) so hopefully it will stay.
But CUN should sell a lot lot better than VRA, holidays to mexico are usually much cheaper than Cuba, i would think if the business is there for POP weekly then most probably CUN aswell :ok:

Easyet new route BRS-WAW 3x week from 2 october:

BRS-WAW 09:00-12:40 2
WAW-BRS 13:10-14:50 2

BRS-WAW 06:50-10:30 4
WAW-BRS 11:00-12:40 4

BRS-WAW 15:00-18:40 6
WAW-BRS 19:10-20:50 6

On sale now!

The Warsaw route is not a surprise given the number of Polish nationals living and working in the Greater Bristol area and indeed in the wider South West.

The Krakow route seems very successful since it started last summer with monthly average loads invariably 90% and above, and the fares are not cheap, which suggests it might be providing a decent yield.

The morning AMS flight is stopping in early May, leaving easyJet with just the single daily evening route.

It seems the aircraft will be used to operate the second weekdaily CDG flight that has been brought forward from the autumn to commence in early May.

The Mon to Fri departures from BRS to CDG will be at 0730 and 1400; Sat and Sun will remain single daily.

On another topic, ITV West local news this evening carried an item about eighty Sunderland football supporters being refused carriage on the easyJet flight from BRS back to Newcastle on Saturday evening following Sunderland’s win at Cardiff City.

This was reportedly because of the fans’ boisterous behaviour.

The Sunderland chairman, Niall Quinn, then paid £8,000 for the supporters to return to the North East in a fleet of 18 taxis from Bristol Airport.

Why this reduction? Bad load factor?