Carnt really see a PIA Operation, not with LBA anounced today.

Centre cities

Ewr/ncl/dxb
 

Just a dream but didn't EK codeshare with CO for a while on there LGW/IAH. Maybe EK amd CO could cooperate at NCL and offer connections to DXB via NCL missing out the oversubscribed London Airports.

Why does everyone at NCL always think about EK serving DXB-NCL-USA? I'm sure there is about 50 other airports in Europe that would come first!
I'm also pretty sure CO won't start NCL-EWR soon, it would work nicely but this is not the time to be taking risks on marginal new routes.

Who do you mean by jumped ship? :confused::confused:

Seeing as EK recently stopped their DXB-HAM-JFK service and now offer only a non-stop service (which I would assume is much preferred by pax), I seriously doubt that the DXB service from NCL will be extended over the pond at any time, ever! More likely you will get a second daily DXB some time in the next year or two

Brad,

er, NO

GH

Skyman771 – Being cynical is one thing, being plain rude is another entirely. You don’t know me from Adam so please don’t make assumptions about my character. I was absolutely clear in my original post that I too was sceptical about this.

A bit of courtesy shown to someone new to this forum wouldn’t go amiss but judging from the usual tone of your posts I won’t be holding my breath.

Back in the days of the old terminal at BHX we used to have a name for these sorts of stories - "Buffet Rumours".

They were usually started by spotters and seldom came to anything!

As previous posters have said, with oil prices as they are and the industry fighting for it's own survival a new marginal route to a UK provincial city is about at like as stepping in rocking horse do. In fact, I think it's more likely that some marginal UK transatlantics may bite the dust unless fuel drops in price, and the credit crunch miraculously solves itself - fat chance of either I reckon in the short to medium term.

I feel I must register my thoughts with regards to the rumours on long haul expansion at NCL. Looking at the current stability of the industry, with soaring oil and fuel prices, together with a global financial downturn (well in the US and partially in the UK) the chances of an established legacy carrier atrting services from what is really considered a small provincial UK regional airport is somewhat slightly slim. IMHO it would be commercial suicide for the airline - not only would they loose money, a short lived service could very well deter future operations.

PIA do not have suitable aircraft (unless A310 could do NCL-Pakistan non stop with a full load) to operate such a service and a PIA 777, whilst a nice thought, would be too big for such a specialised route. This is not taking into account the relatively small asian community in NCL area - maybe only enough to support a bi-weekly service?!

And I aint even gonna get on the NYC topic - it has been done to death!!!:=

We only have to look at low cost services, probably the most popular type of air service, to see that the industry crunch is pinching everyone, with visible cutbacks from LS and EZY. God even FR are grounding aircraft!:(

transwede :DYes ! and why also do you keep on about PIA:sad:. The only place they were ever going was down the road, PLEASE give it a rest particularly as you are stating nothing new !:ugh:

ncl1966 I guess that your being new to the site what I should have done is welcome you, & for such an omission I apologise. However to make such an entrance was always likely to cause some comment, & I can not apologise for my cynical nature it takes all sorts to make this and indeed any forum work. I trust that you will continue to contribute and there is indeed always a chance however remote that you may have the last laugh.

Ops guy, :suspect:

what i was saying is that i know of several people from a ground handling company at NCL leaving to join another company at NCL which is about to start up (if they havnt already) from what i know(which may or may not be a lot) mainly dealing with tea and coffee:rolleyes:

PIA gimme a break
 

Ginga Worm

bit harsh that, just the sort of thing jornos would love to read about on here :mad:

The contents and biological purposes of dreams are not fully understood, though they have been a topic of speculation and interest throughout recorded history. Sound familiar ??? :rolleyes:
Open only in reality: http://www.iloveny.com/home.aspx

I suspect that the reason for this was more to do with AA having seen off the low cost, long-haul challengers Maxjet and Eos. Long-established airlines like AA do not like usurpers on what they consider to be their territory. Remember Laker Airways and the efforts of 12 major airlines to undermine them?

ncl1966 - Welcome to the forum. Good to have you on board.

New York - I personally think Newcastle would be well down any US airline's list of potential destinations on this side of the Atlantic. That said, I understand both the airport and regional players have been pulling out all the stops to maximise the volume of their interventions in favour of a link. My guess would be that any meeting with CO would be a part of post-fuel-crisis-price-peak planning, and they're doing groundwork for potential route expansion as far away as 2010. We shall see.

for anyone interested:

some May pax figures

Dubai....9,233....quite a drop from the 12,000 level
Copenhagen....2718 the extra flights paying off for Cimber
Dusseldorf....3234 (growing steadily.. LH must be very encouraged by this
Stavanger....794 slowly increasing
Newquay....1071 good noting that May is very early season
Plymouth....1976 good showing for the first full month
Gatwick.....8712 good bearing in mind there were 2 bank holidays

Fishy goings on
 

Can I just have a quick moan please about the shopping and retail experience formerly known as Newcastle Airport departure lounge?

Every time I fly from Newcastle they've moved the shops and cafes around. The latest addition is a huge seafood bar, charging £15 for a couple of prawns. I was amazed to see as many as two customers actually shelling out (pardon the pun) for a meal there.

It's just rather depressing that everything free or cheap has disappeared and been replaced by expensive perfume stores and upmarket eateries. I miss most of all the soft play area, which my young kids loved. There's now nothing for kids - I'm certainly not letting them near the vast banks of slot machines now parked in a bookies.

I know airports make a lot less money from airlines now, and rely on retail/parking/taxis etc, but surely there is a limit. They'll be charging people to use the toilets next. Bring back Greggs, that's what I say!

Dubai....9,233....quite a drop from the 12,000 level

EK June pax figures will also be quiet. May and June quietest months of the year for EK.

EasyJet to Bristol Sat 14 Jun
 

Mrs Inglebyboro flew on then above route earlier this morning, taking our 4 week old son. After check in she carried on through to the departure gate, taking the baby in the pushchair. At the gate, there was a load of steps to go down (which was not advised at check in - if so, she would have got rid of the pushchair then). She asked one of the staff at the gate if they could help her with the pushchair down the stairs, only to be told that they would NOT help her. My wife then asked how was she supposed to get the pushchair down the flight of stairs, to which the reply was "Its not our problem, but if you need help then you will have to ask another passenger"

She then had to wait at the top of the stairs, until she could find somebody to help, whilst the "customer service asssistants", or whatever they are called this week, looked on, with the occasional laugh, when the first few pax refused to help.