All of which emphasizes the importance of the train station and as many direct connections into MAN as possible from outlying areas. The 3rd platform helps but more could be done to improve services.

Most people in the industry these days would accept the catchments are the same, then comes down to other factors where a route should operate from, below a quote from Oct 09 Airline Network News & Analysis:- “Surprisingly, neither Berlin nor Madrid are served from either Birmingham or Manchester though both destinations are served from Liverpool which shares much of Manchester’s catchment area” 7 years ago it was very different.

Catchment Areas
 

'Catchment areas' are actually a very complex and subjective topic. There are different types of catchment areas and they are influenced by many varying factors. Firstly, catchment areas vary by destination: an individual customer residing in Middlesbrough may select MAN for a flight to Philadelphia, but NCL or LBA for a flight to Dublin. Budget-conscious passengers (eg. stag/hen parties) may bypass geographically close airports to secure a low fare from (say) STN (an example of the economic catchment area overriding the geographical catchment area).

Some customers will fly from their preferred departure airport every time, considering (when required) an en route transfer preferable to the hassle of surface travel to a less convenient UK airport. Public transport fares, car parking charges, possible overnight hotel charges etc may need to be factored in also. And every wise traveller should remember to place a value on their own precious time (you only get to use it once!).

This is why I personally prefer to change flights en route from MAN to offline destinations such as Berlin or Madrid rather than mess about getting to a glorified bus station of MOL's choosing. If MOL and his ilk want me to fly with his company he must offer me a convenient product. I flew 22 Ryanair sectors last year (all MAN); next year the figure looks set to be zero. But I will still travel by air just as much. If Ryanair picks up other customers from elsewhere in my place then good luck to them. But I will not vary my travel preferences to accommodate Ryanair's tantrums.

The truth is that airport catchment areas are the function of every individual customer. One neighbour may find a less convenient airport acceptable for their needs whilst another will always opt for their first choice gateway.

There are regular contributors on here who claim that because there is a link from Liverpool to (say) Madrid there is no case for a parallel service from Manchester. Not so. Because those customers who currently use the LPL-MAD service do not represent 100% of the market from the Greater Manchester (or wider northern) area. Many of us change flights at AMS, CDG etc. in the absence of a dedicated flight. It is a mistake to suppose that the portion of Manchester area residents who choose the LPL-MAD option represent the entirety of the available market. An airline cannot get away with telling its customers where to go (although we all know one which tries very hard to do that!).

Certainly, all destinations are not created equal. A destination such as Wroclaw may not justify multiple departure points from the North, whereas arguably a more mainstream route such as Madrid can. Each potential service must be considered on its own specific merits.

So a catchment area cannot be simply dismissed as the geographical space which falls within a distance-based boundary line drawn on a map. Neither can it be defined only as the area from which 'Airport X' is the cheapest or quickest to reach. For every individual, distance from the airport is just one factor to be considered alongside financial cost, time expended, convenience, ease of access (availability of public transport?), personal preferences and so on. One person's catchment area is another person's no-go area.

This is why we could argue about "catchment areas" on here till the cows come home. But its best not to. There is no one correct answer. So we will never agree on one!

Cheers to all. SHED.

Very logical post SHED.

Aircraft on the VOR approach to 23R again this morning, and the Flight Calibrator B200 making several approaches on what looked like the ILS approach.
Is there a problem with the ILS again, or is it routine ahaead of going from CAT I to CAT III?

I noticed that EZY don't seem to use the air bridges at MAN T3 anymore. I'm sure they used them when they were operating the old GT fleet! Is this a new cost saving measure?

Air bridges slow down the turn round time and Lo-cost airlines try to avoid them if possible. It maybe the turn round times at MAN have been too long with the bridges and they have decided to go the way of LPL and other airports where lo-cost dominate.

Servisair - Aviance as One!!!!
 

Servisair, the UK’s leading ground handling provider, is delighted to announce that it has exchanged contracts with Go-Ahead plc to acquire their Regional ground handling business at 11 airports in the UK.
The Agreement encompasses Aviance ground handling operations at Aberdeen, Belfast City, Belfast International, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London Luton, London Stansted, Manchester and Southampton Airports. Servisair will also acquire the Aviance cargo handling business at London Stansted as well as Aviance lounges at London Gatwick, Birmingham and London Luton. This acquisition excludes the Aviance London Heathrow and Jersey ground handling businesses.
Abderaman El-Aoufir, CEO of Servisair comments: “Servisair is delighted to have the opportunity to expand its UK network to a total of 24 airports with the potential acquisition of Aviance UK’s Regional business. We are confident that this opportunity will give Servisair the ability to develop further economies of scale and offer airlines safe, competitively-priced, high quality ground handling services throughout the UK.”

"develop further economies of scale "
Is that job losses in management speak?
Good luck to all

Rgds Dr I

EZY Airbridges
 

Easyjet @ MAN have never used airbridges unlike GB Airways. It can speed up boarding by not using them but it's not really a cost cutting exercise. There are many airports across the network where Easyjet routinely use airbridge equipment.

Unlike a lot of 'neutral' correspondents on here, I do like MAN a lot. But my only criticism would be how long it sometimes takes the airbridges to be put in place. Over the past five years, I'd sat there was at least a 5-10 minute delay on about 15% of the flights I arrived on.

Perhaps bad luck and purely subjective I know (and a lot less inconvenient than having to embark/debark onto a bus - that's only happened once) but I think this is one area MAN could improve; so I could see why locos with 25 mins turnaround would be reluctant to use them (do they pay less also?) if there is a reliability question.

johnnychips..... the airbridges at MAN are positioned by the handling agent ... i.e. directly controlled (sort of :rolleyes:) by the airline...

Thanks, I didn't know that: I assumed it was under some sort of central control. So if EZY or FR wanted airbridges they would pay their agents to do it and hold them responsible if they weren't up to scratch.

And by the same token, do they therefore pay their handling agents to put up the steps to the back of the plane and direct passengers across the tarmac to the building then?

A scratch is the least of their worries. :};)

Yes. :ok:

anyone know when the T3 apron expansion will actually start? I'm thinking with Easyjet expanding, will it be needed pretty soon?

Boarding time is hugely speeded up if you can use front and rear doors instead of just one with an airbridge attached. Few airports have airbridges that can reach the rear doors - seem to remember that AMS has / had some which were cantilevered out from the pier over the wing. :eek:

Are they planning another one? The eastern extension of T3 apron which opened I think earlier this year is hardly used during at least during the day. Is it busy there at night?

Suzeman

"anyone know when the T3 apron expansion will actually start? I'm thinking with Easyjet expanding, will it be needed pretty soon?"

I agree with suzeman, with pax levels back to where they were almost 8 years ago surely,there must be loads of capacity for sometime to come


1997 15,948,454
1998 17,351,162
1999 17,577,765
2000 18,568,709
2001 19,307,011
2002 18,809,185
2003 19,699,256
2004 21,249,841
2005 22,402,856
2006 22,422,855
2007 22,112,625
2008 21,219,195

but has the distribution of airlines across the three terminals changed such that T3 is now busier than before and requires extension whilst others are less busy?

T3 is a very busy terminal with FlyBe,BA,BMI, Easyjet and American to name a few
many of which have a very fast turn around

Ian

Another award for MAN
 

Manchester have done it again. Below is a news item from the BBC website.



Passengers wanting first class service at Manchester Airport need go no further than the public lavatories - rated five-star by a "loo watchdog".
It scooped the best airport toilets at the annual Loo of the Year Awards Ceremony. An army of 300 toilet attendants regularly tackle the 1,015 U-bends, 464 urinals and 1,021 sinks to keep them the some of the cleanest in the UK.

Secret visits were carried out by toilet-checking judges.

The airport deals with 20 million passengers each year, who go through 43,930,000 metres (27,297 miles) of toilet roll over the course of 12 months. If "unrolled" this would stretch the equivalent distance of flying Manchester to Singapore four times.

Head of customer experience at the airport, Sarah Barrett, said: "We are absolutely delighted to have earned this recognition because in order to meet the expectations of our customers, we must get the 'basics' right.
"The award extends to all of the cleaning staff - they are among the many unsung heroes of Manchester Airport."

The various categories in the competition received more than 1,500 entries, and each toilet was graded against 100 different criteria. The annual Loo of the Year Awards started in 1987 and focuses on 'away from home' toilets throughout the UK. McDonalds was voted as having overall best toilets in the UK.
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Some observations. The Loo of the Year Awards site says it is for T1 Concourse toilets, not the lot. Best Scottish airport ones are at INV, with no winners declared in Wales and NI, so doesn't there need to be a flush-off between MAN and INV for UK champion status? :ok:

Obviously the airport have put out a press release but it has yet to make it onto the Airport website - perhaps they are too flushed with their success to have done it yet :)

The amount of bog roll used annually is the equivalent of flying MAN-SIN 4 times, so that would take more than a week to unravel at the moment :}

And finally, I wish the organisers would use a word other than loo. Toilet, bog or convenience, but loo - nah

Suzeman