"Well folks I pointed out sometime ago, as it came from a reliable source that GSM were going to reduce frequencies and drop down to one based aircraft from October"

I am not sure when you have claimed to of stated this but it has been known for some time that GSM will only operate one aircraft from the end of October aka the winter season.

The recent cancellations are in line with overall demand and the end of the peak holiday season, look at what EZY& LS do at NCL & LBA etc with fequencies outside of the peak holiday season... they drop frequency.

:ugh:

blahblahblah -T"The recent cancellations are in line with overall demand and the end of the peak holiday season, look at what EZY& LS do at NCL & LBA etc with fequencies outside of the peak holiday season... they drop frequency",

Sorry to burst your bubble but they dont, EZY drop frequency on some routes when they move from summer to winter schedules ie the end of October but not partway through a summer season which is when the beginning of September is. Indeed last year from NCL they increased frequency from NCL to CDG, STN and BRS when they moved from summer to winter ops. Lets see what happens. I suspect ill be back next summer telling you I told you so!!

At the moment though it certainly looks like folks from MME don't want a loco operation as they are certainly not supporting it if they have to drop frequencies at the beginning of September because of 'low demand' GSMs words not mine.

Continuous bad luck such as the type MME is experiencing tends to last around a decade, so I think I'll bury my head in the sand until at least 2010.

UK Airport Stats Well I was castigated somewhat for being negative in commenting upon Period 3 stats published May 07, but unfortunately a month on & for Period 4 published 25 June 07 it is difficult to take an optimistic view. When considering a league table of UK airports DTV has even dropped out the top 25 & at 31st position:{ with 48,477 pax (down 35.3% on 2006 P4), then one really has to start asking questions as to it's long term viability particularly when noting the previous concerns as to GSM's future op's.http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?ca...d=3&fld=200704

Of course in the yearly stats, MME is at 24th position and for the month of May it is in 26th position, so 1 month, ie April, doesn't really tell the whole story.

Skyman yes MME is performing poorly at the moment in terms of pax figures but to suggest that the place is no longer viable is just silly. I wish some of you would get it into your head that pax figures are not the be all and end all. MME has many other strings to it's bow and you all seem to forget it. Also by Skyman's reckoning all airport with less pax figures than MME must be struggling as well.
I know that MME is struggling at the moment in terms of pax numbes but the place lost a large chunck of their business over night and it is going to take time for it to recover even though GSM came in, this recovery period could take another year.
On the GSM front I wouldn't be too concerned about dropping frequencies, at least they are trying to maximise profits, in the long run this is better for MME, means they are less likely to do a bmibaby. Regarding GSM next year I have heard rumours of a Sanford and maybe a Toronto. So there are many rumours about GSM flying around.

While I agree that talk of MME's demise is premature and it will be awhile before the 'bmibaby' effect can be discounted from the stats, I think the pulling of flights by GSM is a concern. While I can see the point of dropping flights if they aren't making money, this doesn't augur well for next year when there are plenty of other airports out there who would like a couple of based GSM units for next summer (BHX, CWL, etc).

With regard to long haul, to put it mildly GSM have been on a steep learning curve this summer - it would be logical if next summer they looked to consolidate their existing programme rather than looking to take on more untried routes.

Well we may be doing poorly in terms of PAX, but we continue to perform on the cargo front. We handled 57 tonnes in, June I think, compared to NCLs zilch (and I'm not talking about mail, I'm talking about pure cargo).

Wish all this :mad: between NCL and MME supporters would stop.
Yes, NCL is doing miles better than MME with regards to pax numbers.
However, this does not mean that MME is not doing well itself.

Lets take a look at some of MMEs good points:

FlyGlobespan seem to be doing well.
Many troop charters out to the Gulf.
FRA Aviation
Many private flights as well as General Aviation
Freight with TNT

The list could go on and on...

Now, can the MME and NCL supporters agree that both airports are doing well in their own respective ways?
If not, then I hope it doesn't end up in the same way as GLA vs EDI debates tend to... :(

"Sorry to burst your bubble but they dont, EZY drop frequency on some routes when they move from summer to winter schedules ie the end of October but not partway through a summer season which is when the beginning of September is."

NCLE flights.... can I refer you to the NCL timetable and the EZY flights to IBZ and MAH which by my reckoning operate from July to 1st week of September and then cease completly. Accepting that this cannot been classed as 'cancelled' but the point te point I was making is that GSM do not have the experience of operating out of the North East for 5 years like EZY do and their 'cancellations' would on the face of it be sensible and a reflection of reality.

Graham K - agree with your point, the above posting is simply designed to correct what is in my opinion an incorrect statement

Firstly my posts as to DTV make no reference to "up the road" that is the domain of others & I too do not wish to see this thread reduced into an us vs them. Anyhow to pick up on a few of Onion's points. It is the long term viability I was questioning, not stating that DTV was not currently viable...in the absence of financial data how would I know? It's obvious to all that low pax figures don't necessarily mean 'not viable',:ugh: if an airfield has low overheads and sufficient profits are generated to provide a return on capital employed then all well & good. However at DTV two specific factors are of note: a) it has a large infrastructure which has to be supported by a contribution from all activities whether pax dependent ie flights & retail, or freight, fire trainining or whatever. b) the majority shareholder, Peel who will be looking at the returns that are currently being generated on what is to them an investment as opposed to a responsibility to provide a public service. None of this is being negative or gloating it's fact. I'm sure there are many positives to be taken, but it is their significance in potential contribution to the overall 'pot' that is most important. GSM 'may be trying to maximise profits' yes! along with every other aviation related business.....:D Their growth at DTV along with the introduction of further carriers & routes is clearly a very significant & current issue.

oh...have I started something?, what else was I going to say?
GSM have c***ed up my holiday and "hundreds of others" I suspect.I won't be going back to GSM, nor will the "hundreds of others" if they feel like me.
I know the Airport and I know Peel holdings,and I know that number one priority is investment returns.If GSM don't make it work,and regretably its starting to look that way, then some of Gordon Browns 3million new homes
could very well end up as an annex to Middleton St George!!
I don't want to go to Newcastle any more than anyone else on Teesside but I don't intend spending any more hard earned cash on tinpot airlines run by a bunch of half trained schoolboys with "marketing degrees " from the University of:mad:
And if that offends anyone from Globespan or the Airport
I really couldn't care less:*

Well we may be doing poorly in terms of PAX, but we continue to perform on the cargo front. We handled 57 tonnes in, June I think, compared to NCLs zilch (and I'm not talking about mail, I'm talking about pure cargo).

What planet are you from?
NCL Freight Village probably do more that that a day - might not be flown, as most is trucked to the freight hubs, but it is air freight and it does generate income for the airport. When EK start they will proabably be looking for 3 - 4 tonnes at flight.

Airport viability - if this were a requirement in fiscal terms I doubt either would still be operating as both have had really dark financial periods in their pasts.

Cargo and Mail
 

Quote:

"Well we may be doing poorly in terms of PAX, but we continue to perform on the cargo front. We handled 57 tonnes in, June I think, compared to NCLs zilch (and I'm not talking about mail, I'm talking about pure cargo)."

Oh go on then, I'll rise to the bait - what are the figures if you do include mail??

As a passenger this morning waiting for flight KL 1354, finding the flight was cancelled, we were told to expect a wait of three to four hours in the queue for customer service!! before we could even try to re-book our flight!!
I'm an ex calibrator pilot with flight precision and got talking to the Globespan flightcrew who were having a cuppa, they said that there plane was also tech, god help the check-in lounge and the always under staffed help/ticket desks!!

It's not just a matter of people having the start to their holidays spoilt, but not dealing with and clearing the queues quicker is a huge security problem!

MME is not good at this, and instead of trying to improve its reputation, they do the opposite. But we're fed the usual crap about, "oh but we are investing for the future", rubbish! it's now the changes need to be seen. It's like an airport saying that they opened up a new terminal and all of a sudden more planes an passengers started to arrive!! but we will invest to make sure it is catered for in the future.....crap

Get your finger out DTV, or become a business park with a nice long straight car park.

Northern Bloke could you explain to me how an airline cancelling a flight due to tech reasons and an alledged 3 to 4 hour wait to re book is the airports fault. The airline appoint the handling agent that deals with rebooking passengers not the airport so dare I suggest that your gripe is with the airline and not the airport

Was traveling Last week to Dalaman on the TOM Flight and The Alicante que was Massive And Quite a phew People sounded quite interested in the Pula
Flight, So i thin they must be Doing Quite Well now But i suppose when the peak holiday Season Ends PAX Numbers will drop, Nothing really that Abnormal there.

:confused:

Last night's Mahon flight had 120 onboard so looking good (736's are 130 seaters I believe). Had a few reliability problems recently (especially with CDKD) which has lead to delays but they'll be back on track by monday morning.

A colleague has just been e-mailed to say his Globespan flight to Nice has been cancelled, due to travel on 5th September.
This really helps build confidence in the Airport.