"Air China Cargo on Saturday 06MAR10 launched 2 weekly Shanghai – Beijing – Copenhagen – Paris CDG – Shanghai flight, with Boeing 747-400 Freighter."

Guess we're not getting our flight back then :*

Well, in the absence of Cathay serving the largest Chinese community in the UK, and Chinese using any route ex MAN except CX codeshare via LHR, maybe Air China are thinking of a pax service from MAN which could also carry substantial cargo too.

Air China and Cathay Pacific have just launched a joint venture cargo operation, hard to operate both on the same route.

Passenger flight will return when equipment is available in the right config. :ok:

Trams extension back on track in £26m deal - Manchester Evening News

Metrolink is moving a step closer to the airport with the money allocated today.

Whatever makes you say this? They have B747-400s, B777-300ERS and A340-300s, what's missing?

400's phasing out to freighters, 340 uneconomical, no 2 class 777 yet!

David Ottewell's Politics Blog Archive Manchester the new Heathrow?

and

Manchester Airport 'to be as busy as Heathrow' - Manchester Evening News


Is it April 1st ?

Some idiot produces a report predicting that "an airport" will basically operate with the same aircraft using exactly the same fuel some 40 years hence...assuming I guess no changes in technology, design etc

..some prat is then stupid enough to comment on it..........!

..AND then lo and behold the idiots at the M.E.N then report on it !

I need a darkened room !
:ugh:

bagso
agreed nearly fell off me chair and choked on me cornflakes this morning when i read this,
and to think they get paid to come out with this nonsense:ugh:

What makes you think the A340 is uneconimical? It even operates the off peak LHR until the summer. Is this another route that is just waiting on the 787? Dear me....

I won't waste too many column inches seriously considering the fanciful notion that Manchester will ever be as big/busy as Heathrow - clearly ridiculous. On a different note though, how long are they going to be faffing around with the escalators from Terminal 1 to the Station? Strikes me it took less time to extend the Station.

I too laughed at the prospect.

Facts.
UK population to remain at similar levels.
Holiday entitlement to remain static or reduce as economic realities bite and peoples pensions are affected.
Other airports would expand in direct proportion hence lower growth at Man if LBA, LPL didn't have competing users.

Long Haul??? The 787 isn't the answer.

I personally quickly dismissed this article as a standard attempt by climate change believers at getting more people onside with their campaign through their usual medium of exaggeration and scaremongering.

For once, the comments in the MEN article are *generally* quite sensible.

Manchester Airport 'to be as busy as Heathrow' - Manchester Evening News

It is being replaced in May with a 777. 340 is uneconomical with a tag in europe, don't worry it won't be happening soon, 2-3 years down the line when we have 2 class 777's available.

Absolute and utter garbage.

BA1502/03 was one of the highest yielding flights in the BA network.

Walsh is the one who killed the regions, coupled with absolutely inept managment.

I don't know how you can specifically say that you know it was 'one of the highest yielding routes.' Unless you work within the department then there is pretty much no way. Unless Company House has gone a lot more in depth!

I also doubt it is one of the 'highest yielding routes' when you compare it to some of the others.

If they win against the Unions (which is looking very likely!), they can perform an integration with IB as efficiently as Delta has done*, get ATI with American, Finnair and Co. and turn the company back into a profitable machine (which no doubt these processes would do), then I doubt his leadership and management team will go down as 'inept.'

If all those processes take place, air travel across the pond will never be the same again...

*I know the BA/IB deal is different to the DL/NW, being more of an AF/KL merger, but I was commenting on the superb process in which Delta were able to bind the two almost perfectly.

Ex cargo clown

Having a single Int route remaining in the regions
MAN-JFK (no matter how successful) was obviously
a cost that BA management thought not economic
(enough!) for them. ie: it was an operational
decision - a bit like BMI took a year down the line.

MM

Manchester February Traffic
 

Feb 2010 Pax - 1,047,855 down 10.57%
Feb 2010 Movements - 10,710 down 13.56%

12M end 28.02.10 Pax - 18,545,721 down 11.79%
12M end 28.02.10 Move - 168,380 down 15.46%

Feb 2010 pax figures
 

Down 10.5%... probably to be expected considering the weather conditions

Manchester Airport passenger numbers fell 10.5 per cent in February - Crain's Manchester Business

Yes, but >11% over the rolling 12 months suggests a more structural problem than just bad wx one month.

If we assume better weather would have brought better pax numbers, then perhaps a recovery is underway? :ok:

I'm not surprised by the figures, this part of the world is struggling like hell at the moment.
I for one will not be taking any long haul flights this year.
Add to this the demise of XL and merging of Thomson etc. I can't see an improvement until the end of this year.

E.F.