CYM - A load factor of 87% isn't good? sorry have to disagree with you CYM, lets not forget this is the first flight, and Premium was full, I imagine the bosses at FC and BRS would count that as a success, lets not forget that the average CO load factor is less than that and according to MV's brilliant post with attatchment earlier in this thread they're very happy with it.
CO took a little while to become established and so will FCA longhaul, I expect you'll find the load factor will be less on quite a few of the winter longhauls, but at the end of the day it's paving the way for FCA 's 787 to come to BRS.
I dont understand how you would be dissapointed with a load factor like that especially when your money making cabin is chocca :confused:
Crackling Jet - Just to clarify your post, the POP goes out fortnightly starting next week, not next month and the VRA starts in May not March me ol mukka :ok:
MV - Spot on post as usual but the winter flights werent released til bout Sept, 2-3 months after the initial launch, not leaving very long to sell it :ok:

watabench,

thanks for that, misread the schedule, must have got carried away with exitement :ok:

Just to add to my earlier post, the FCA EMA-SFB going out today, 1st of season but an established route for FCA and has been flown for 3-4 years now has a booked figure of 217, the EMA-CUN that went yesterday had a booked figure of 222 and again is a well established FCA route, so I'd say the 1st BRS longhaul route held it's own even with going via MAN, also the 1 off BRS-CUN in OCT went full :ok:

Wanabench
 

Yeild / Load Factor Management paid my mortgate for most of my professional life for one of the largest UK Tour ops so am very familiar with this field.

Comaprisions with schedules carries are largely invalid in this area. Inclusive tour combines cost elements, hotels, transfers etc as well as substancially higher cost of sale, eg brochures, higher agents commission etc etc that do not apply to the shed sector. Margins on premium seats are 'icing' not 'cake'

In winter, in my experience with long haul you need to be looking at load factors of 90- 92% (on the flight element) and acceptable yield levels for a route to be viable in the long term. New routes that attract high levels of (free) publicity tend to be forwarded loaded so would have expected a high lf on this service - especially given that as the CWL services dont start until late Mar so FCA have a captive ex CWL market too. Once direct flights ex CWL are available how attractive will a via MAN service be?

Time will tell, the CAA route stats will be interesting......

CYM, I agree the stats will be interesting reading and yes charters do tend to need to keep a higher yield than schedules, but lets not forget that 87% load factor on a flight thats only been on sale for only 5 months and ops via MAN, and was the first of the season isn't bad at all, the premium pax will be paying approx £180 extra per person on SFB or £300 on a VRA which equates to an extra £11k on a SFB or nearly £19k on VRA a welcome boost to any charter operator.
Once the CWL flights start it will be interesting, I personally think that it will hold its own, however we know that some of the flights from BRS will have shared loads with MAN/EMA so the stats will not prove very conclusive, the only way we will really know is to wait until April when next summers brochures come out, if they still have BRS-SFB/VRA/POP we'll know its been doing good enough for FC.
I've been management in a travel agency as well as worked for a BIG charter airline, in my experiance I dont recall (and this is the gods honest truth) ever booking a passanger from the south west from CWL-SFB/MCO, most people in the BRS/South west dont see CWL as an option for the US, although some must for the flights to be maintained in CWL, people that i've seen over the last 10 years would rather go to LGW and hop on VS or BA as apposed to MYT OR TRAVELCITY as they know they will get a far better service.
The FCA economy inflight service is now being hailed as better or as good as economy in VS/BA, both by passangers, reporters and pruners, coupled that with the strong FC retail influence in the South west it has the hallmarks of doing well.
248 booked on SFB this week at the moment, 8 from being full, PREM full again.
Did the TOM longhaul not ops via MAN? I'm 99% sure the CWL-POP did, what abouth the others?
200 booked on POP operating next week so far.
Watch this space i guess :ok:

....most people in the BRS/South west dont see CWL as an option for the US.

WATABENCH

That will put you off the Christamas card list with our friends over the Mud! :}

In the words of our greatest Bristolian symbol of the future (Vicky Pollard) Shaaauut Up, Yer but No but Yer but I ain bovered and aint dun nuffin or nobody, oh my god soooo cant believe you just said that! :} :}

i think for a first flight those loads are good considering it's out of season as-well and if star class premium cabin is full thats a great start!.one of our crew been working for fca travel shop in winter said bookings really strong on this route for the summer so long may it continue!
crackling jet i'll see if i can get exact date for you!:ok:

Snow clearing at Bristol (BRS)
 

Having watched snow clearing operations from the terminal at BRS this morning, I was amazed to see how long it took to get the runway clear of snow and back to the blacktop.

Is it simply my lack of patience, or did anyone else feel it took an extraordinary length of time to get a fairly small runway open?
ugh:
SW

Well you have to remeber that the runway will need to be de iced and checked for FOD. What would you rather have a quick job not done well which leads to a plane skidding off the runway or a well done job that gets it open and all flights running safley.

I operated into Ivalo (Finland) about a month ago.......in far worse conditions than at BRS today..the RWY took 10 mins to clear:ok:

UK airports as a rule struggle with adverse winter weather because they don't make the investment in adequate equipment. Thats the problem in a nutshell.

For the amount of snow that the southern half of the UK sees each year, can it really be justified to have snow equipment parked up and doing nothing during the rest of the year. Surely the money is better invetsted in equipment that is used all year and then retain minimum snow equipment.

So long as the job can be achieved and achieved safely that MUST be the essential.

Snow gear has a use when its not snowing. Use them for Boxing in an airlines aircraft that havn't payed there fees to the airport. Flyjet for example last year with there 767.

Care to back the Flyjet part of that quote up with some facts Lukeylad....?
For starters.. date, place, nature of debt, and size of it...

The second Sanford departed today; with a load factor of 99.22% (just 2 empty seats).

I have heard from Airport Ops that one of the senior airport management team has resigned - but no names given.

Anyone heard anything or have I been spun one...?

The BBC are running this about the runway issues:

"Seven incidents concerning Bristol Airport's runway were reported this winter before it finally shut after an airline boycott, the BBC has learned."


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/6353065.stm

Just reverting back to the earlier problems of the newly resurfaced/ungrooved section of runway (yep, I appreciate it was not necessarily the final top coat...etc), can I ask how the runway resurfacing is now progressing?
Are they pressing on with the night time work and how well is it going?

Thanks

EGCA

Indeed, only six more weeks of resurfacing to go, hurrah! Still, taxilane Z is up and running again, ahead of expectations (glad I've been on leave for most of that.) Maybe we can start shifting some planes at our normal rate again, but not too many, don't want to be giving BIA's marketing people carte blanche here!

Thanks for the info.

Appreciated

EGCA