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PLYMOUTH -2
The other PLYMOUTH thread has closed so:
Skybus are to carry out some one-off Chritmas flights from St Mary's, article below: CHRISTMAS SHOPPERS TO FLY IN FROM ST MARY'S Be the first reader to comment on this story 11:50 - 08 December 2006 Plymouth City Airport has teamed up with Isles of Scilly Travel to offer the 2,000 residents of Britain's most southwesterly islands the chance to do their Christmas shopping in Plymouth.Over the next two weeks, a number of special Isles of Scilly Skybus flights will operate from St Mary's to Plymouth, giving Scilly residents a full day's shopping in Plymouth. Jeff Marston, chief executive of the Isles of Scilly Steamship Group, which is operating the special flights, said: "We are delighted to be able to offer islanders the chance to take advantage of Plymouth's unique range of department stores, independent retailers as well as the new Drake Circus Shopping Centre for their Christmas shopping. We've even made a special allowance for the extra weight that the plane will be carrying back." Mike Coombes, head of commercial development at Plymouth City Airport, said: "Plymouth is a great place to come for Christmas shopping, with the more choice than anywhere else in Devon and Cornwall. We are looking forward to welcoming these special pre-Christmas flights to Plymouth City Airport." |
A small piece of good news for PLH. Unfortunately this is not going to prevent the decline in passenger numbers this year. PLH is going backwards in terms of pax numbers and destinations.. can't see this changing with it's present runway contraints and flybe 70km up the road in booming EXT. There are no international routes from the airport anymore.
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Devonair - don't be so quick to write-off Plymouth! Yes, according to CAA stats pax are down on last year, but that's due to Air Wales shutting up shop. ASW are, by all accounts, pretty busy ex PLH with the routes to the north (Manchester and Leeds) doing well. EXT may be quite busy in terms of pax going out to the Med, but a lot of the scheduled growth is coming from pax coming off the former charter flights to the same places. PLH is developing quite a nice niche in offering flights to/from UK cities. Also the GA side is growing nicely (including a booming air-taxi operation, which Capital Aviation are apparently spearheading, including a big promotional bash on Friday at the airport for local businesses).
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I don't think I'm knocking PLH, I just don't think it has much real scope to expand that much more with it's current runway length. It is a shame the city council seem quite ambivalent about it really.... I know you can fly to LBA and MAN from the city but the routes are not direct. Indeed the latest CAA figures for October show MAN is down 52% on 2005 to less than 1,900 per month. It's a pity for a city the size of Plymouth that if you want to fly to Scotland or Ireland there are no options. I hope ASW continue to do well from the city and the niche they have carved out for themselves can be maintained.
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Its a shame about plymouth Airport. It could have so much potential expand runway so you get a 737 in and when they close newquay due to close as the RAF pulling out all those flights go to plymouth. Plymouth is a fantastic ciy and apart from Exeter the whole southwest has very few fight connections. Get the low fares Airline in and plymuth would improve its toursism trade.
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Just out of intrest, how long is the Runway down there??:ok:
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According to Wikipedia it's 1,161m!
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Due to the restricted runway length at Plymouth the airport has only ever supported niche business routes along with leisure routes to Cork & the Channel Islands. I can't really see this changing.
Air Southwest may be able to develop additional direct routes - Eire, Scotland, Newcastle etc but I suspect that the majority of services from Plymouth might have to be feeder flights to a larger hub - say Bristol. |
Just for info just read that Newquay has just received/or about £8M to help keep airfiled open
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/6169995.stm G-I-B |
I can categorically state that NQY will not be closing.
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I did read in the letters section of the local press that in a reply to a letter to the council they had said there would be an announcement on the expansion of the runway before the end of year. Well its getting close and nothing yet.At least give CCC credit they have got off there bums to try and fund Newquay unlike PCC at this time.:rolleyes:
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I agree, Plymouth City Council do nothing for the airport, really. They seem to just push it to the side. Many complain about the aiport in thr local press, yet they still nothing.
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PCC commisioned yet another report in the middle of this year which gave good pax numbers in future years if there recomendatioins for the airport where carried out. I might be wrong but there seems tobe a conflict of interests. ASW and Sutton Harbour Holdings wanted the smaller expansion of where as i believe the report was calling for the longer one. One factory is already empty and the other one wouldnt take much to move the occupants out. So the land is there to accomodate this. But I dont just believe it is this council to blame for Plymouth not having an airport for the size of population they are no different than previous ones they are frightened to stick there knecks out and go for it. Instead they have allowed the land around the airport tobe built on. They keep saying its important for Plymouth to have good airlinks so stick your Knecks out PCC forget about the nimbys and get on with because it may already be to late.Sorry for getting on my soap box but all we keep getting is talk from them which is cheap instead of action.
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Its incredible that anyone would think it worthwile doing any serious work on Plymouth Airport. Just look where it is - a major road at one end and a huge drop at the other. Land is valuable on the outskirts of Plymouth and the engineering costs would be huge. Air Southwest are quite happy leaving things as they are they operate STOL (ish) aircraft and extending the runway would leave them open to competition something which a company like ASW could not survive.
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Whilst I agree with you the PCC have said that land at the 06 runway end of the site would be sold off to partially pay for the extension and it would be a case of bringing in fill material to build up the 31 end of the runway for the expansion. Just to put another slant on the subject does anyone think that maybe ASW are quite happy with Plymouth as it is because when St Mawgan is mothballed next year there might be a chance of negotiating the lease of hangars from the Ministry of Defence and them moving there main base to Newquay.
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footster
To be honest i couldn't see them moving the whole abse over to newquay Sutton Harbour Holdigns is largly based in Plymouth etc... But storing aircarft in NQY is agood idea, for them. But operations and main base would be shocking if they moved! |
Atlantic Airways ATR-42
AAG ATR parked on 06 threshold when I went to MARJONS gym the other day.....23/12 - covering WOW flights or a charter??
G-RHUM I think? Looked pretty clean and smart! |
The ATR on 23/12 was for an Argyle match.
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Runway Expansion
I have read this in the local press it would be interesting to see what people think.
http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/disp...entPK=16596752 |
Close Plymouth, Newquay, Exeter, Bristol and even Cardiff and build a new south west airport top replace them all with a high speed rail network that connects to major centres.
Sorry this is a Plymouth thread, how about some affordable housing or a new business park with a high speed rail connection from the City centre to Exeter airport? |
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