|
Houston
What's happened indeed?
Still on the website (news) following its announcement, but you can't book anything, it's not in the booking engine. No sign of any 757. No sign of slots at IAH. Supposed to start in Jan08. Hope Stewie can update, but it's looking doubtful it has to be said. At least for a Jan start. |
X9 are the lead story in Hicksville paper this morning.
Claiming the IAH route is still on (but it doesn't say when it will start - I would suggest it WON'T be Jan). Also that the AES/SVG route dropped/suspended in the meantime, putting it down to the incident with the steps hitting one of the a/c, putting it out of commission (6mths - must have been a heck of a prang). Say they tried every which way to avoid axing AES & making redundancies, but unavoidable. They apparently contemplated bringing in another aircraft, but decided against compromising quality. |
City Star Executive Aberdeen - Houston
I see City Star is planning a route Aberdeen - Houston with B757.
http://www.boarding.no/art.asp?id=29632 Isn't that a lot of weight on a short runway? Any 757-drivers care to make a calculation? |
Except it's been delayed from Jan to "later in 2008".
Fuel costs & credit crunch being mentioned by Arnason. |
cub71
752 will be 50 seater luxury liner so weight/runway should not be an issue. |
Anyone got any more info on the situation with Citystar?
Have any flight crew actually been made redundant? :eek: |
Yep, estimates range between 15 and 19 flight crew received their notice and have now finished flying and actively seeking new positions!
|
There is no way a B752 could make it non-stop from ABZ to IAH, with or without winglets, not even empty and the seats taken out. The fuel tanks just aren't big enough, it's as simple as that.
Flying on M.80 takes about 9 and a half up to more than 10 hours to fly, so no way hose :ugh: In current winds aloft, a B767 would have a EET of 10:05 flying on M.80. :hmm: |
Runway at Aberdeen is too short as well.At M.8 there is a chance of not getting a favourable cruising level as all the faster stuff whizzes past above.
I used to watch Qantas 767/300 depart every night out of Hong Kong to Melbourne,Brisbane,Cairns which was about a 9 hour sector.They took about 2500M to start rotating,and on a bad night a whole lot more.Aberdeen has 1830M. Mind you a few people are saying that even a refuelling stop in Gander,or wherever, is better than Heathrow. |
Hmm.... I'm not so sure as the 752 is quite a hot performer.
A couple of months ago one departed SEN direct to Bangor, Maine empty and that's from a runway with a TODA of 1,591m, whereas ABZ has a TODA of 2,030m. Don't know about the aircraft's range though as far as a possible direct ABZ-IAH is concerned. |
"Yep, estimates range between 15 and 19 flight crew received their notice and have now finished flying and actively seeking new positions!"
Thats not good news, especially at this time of year. :( I know a few guys up there in ABZ. It all seems to have happened very quietly and without fuss. Are all the redundancies going to be at ABZ? |
Seems X9 have found also that (presumably from their own soundings) the demand isn't as strong as they thought, or as businesses hinted at.
Another example of either the region claiming perhaps that demand exists for a flight when it does not, or businesses preferring the perks that using the big airlines gives them, & they would therefore rather route via LHR, AMS to connect to IAH. :rolleyes: |
Richard I don't know of any businesses who have supported a £2.5K flight to Houston for the privelage of flying "direct" from ABZ since it was first bounced around. I simply don't know who did City Star's market survey. Yes there will be the odd exec for whom money is no object but 200 seats a week?
If you ask someone who travels to Houston on business if they would prefer to fly direct from ABZ as opposed to via Heathrow / Ams the answer would of course be yes if you call that a market survey. BUT .... with the caveat of two and a half grand for a business class seat well thats a different matter entirely for many businesses. |
Suspect the demand was there...UNTIL they found out the price!!! :E
|
Suspect the demand was there...UNTIL they found out the price!!! I agree that 200 seats a week would be a very tall order, anyone got any thumb in the air ideas of what the break even load factor may be (of course there are a lot of variables)? |
Take Maxjet out of that, they have just gone bust I'm hearing?
|
I'm just getting the feeling that things ain't getting any better for X9.
I know they've cut back recently due to a/c unavailability (& the IAH news is well documented) but even their remaining routes (OSL & KSU/SVG) they seem to be struggling with? If they keep canx flights or running very late they will for sure lose clientel. Plus on their website they allude to the high costs of operating at ABZ which, along with rising fuel costs & the "credit crunch" seem to be stalling their plans. Are the BAA helping or are they just content to collect their pound of flesh until such time as the airline goes out of business? I hope the Star doesn't implode & that they can get back to better times soon...but I am just not sure & it's not the impression I'm getting. :uhoh: |
Sadly now gone
From the website City Star Airlines cease operations January 30, 2008 As of 00:00 on (Wednesday) January 30, 2007 City Star Airlines is ceasing all operations until further notice. In the aftermath of the incident at Aberdeen Airport on November 25, 2007 involving City Star Airlines Dornier 328-100 aircraft TF-CSB and mobile passenger steps from SGS Ground Handling Aberdeen, we suffered the immediate loss of an aircraft which required us to take emergency measures to secure continued operation, explained Runar Fossadal Arnason, managing director of City Star Airlines. Unfortunately the incident has had a major knock on effect and we have simply not been able to recover from this and as of midnight tonight have ceased all operations. All passengers with reservations are asked to please contact their credit card company or relevant booking agent. Ex |
Ex:
The loss of one a/c results in total shut down of airline. You're right, I DON'T believe the reason stated. :suspect: |
OH, but plans for the ABZIAH link are UNAFFECTED as that's City STAR EXECUTIVE, you see.
:rolleyes: |
| All times are GMT. The time now is 08:50. |
Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.