PIA relocation to LBA
 

In a word....No! There is some evidence that PIA were considering an increase in frequency on their ops from LBA this winter, however nothing materialised. However there is no chance of them leaving MAN as to do so would be to forget the whole band of Pakistani origined communities in Lancashire etc. Likewise all the points re MAN operational capabilities for the 777 are valid; however for the A310, LBA is just about right, but don't mention LVPs!

Update please!
 

Flying ams-man on 1 January and man-anu 2 January, staying overnight at the Radisson Sas what is the best way to get to T3 as I understand that the skylink is gone.

Any info would be welcome, thanks in advance,
Simplestuff

Walk from the Radisson in the Skylink to "The Station" Train & Bus station, go down to the groundfloor & exit at the front of the station,there is an MA bus that will take you directly to T3. It only runs every 15 minutes though.

Thanks Mr A Tis it is much appreciated.

Simplestuff

Thanks, EGGC, for the update. I seem to recall that there used to be some PIA flights to Canada refuelling at Manchester as well up to a few years ago - they must fly non-stop now from Pakistan if those flights are still around?

Otherwise, two 777-200 and two 777-300 flights from Karachi to JFK. What do you think - will those flights continue to be safe or could PIA be persuaded to send a 777-200 to Dublin first and clear US Immigration?

I'd still prefer the Air Blue A321 coming to Cork from Pakistan and doing that refuelling in Turkey!

Don't forget PIA left SNN for MAN

Is there an airside transfer facility in terminal 2? Apart from the airbridge gates how many other gates are there in T2 ie bus gates?

Yes manchester has a transfer facility in T2, Gates from 202-215 are bridged, gate 201 has no bridge. Busing gates: there are 4 and are labled as gate 300A,B,C+D.

BA to reduce MAN -LGW services
 

From UK Airport News

BA is reducing daily domestic services from Gatwick - Manchester from seven to five for Summer 2009. They are also reducing LGW -Edinburgh from six to four and LGW -Glasgow from five to four.

Suzeman

i feel the demise of so many manchester based flights,ie BA's MAN-JFK,BMI relocating it's longhaul routes to heathrow.perhaps now is the time to re-launch manchester airport.as the competition seems to be liverpools john lennon airport,with no frills operations the main source of revenue.how about manchester's "noel gallagher" international airport.the infrequent flight announcements could be made in a real "mancy" accent over the tannoy.possibly a bronze statue of the oasis singer could be positioned in the check-in area of terminal 1 ?....any suggestions.

Stop all this nonsence about the re-branding and relaunch of Manchester with all this talk of minor celebs.

Everyone knows that if the airport does re-launch it would be called 'Frank Sidebottom - Timperley International'. All retail outlets would be closed to free up room in the terminals apart from one shop 'Mr Lakes Sky-Lard Emporuim'.

Steve

If it’s going to be re-named why not go all the way! Was briefly toying with the idea of David Beckham regional hub but I just thought this was too 1990s so I have decided on the obvious choice:

"Jack and Vera Duckworth mega national hyper market (with 2 runways)".

A shrine to all Corrie actors past and present could be set-up in the airport, the passing trade from flocking fans alone would keep the airport going!

We could even re-name all the SID's/STAR's. The Deirdre Rachid 1A would be a particular favourite of mine!!!

Beckham Intl
 

Would landing aircraft have to carry out a DME Arc approach, thus they too could "Bend It Like Beckham".

You could buy all your perfume & fashion at the Vicky B Duty-Free.

Oh, plus an hourly shuttle to LA...& (at the mo) Milan.

:ooh:

Well done Suzeman for posting some news :D

Even a 50/50 rumour would be appreciated on this "rumour network" but all this msn/facebook type chat is mind numbing.

Though most of your post was unhelpful, bermudatriangle, I think you may be on to something. There is a reason BA/BMI can't make as much money outside London and that reason is that they are too expensive for most economy passengers and need to be cross-subsidised on Long Haul by business fares. It says something of BA and BMI's operating structure if they are too incompetent to turn a profit outside of the world's largest business centre (and please nobody bring up the fact that Heathrow is a hub, these two airlines are extremely dependent on London based passengers).

The fact is that Jet2 and FlyBE can make a profit at Manchester because they offer what the public wants whereas BA/BMI are old airlines that offer the public what they "should" want. That mentality is now dead in Europe and it is why BA struggle to cope outside of their comfort zone. As a non-British person I have no pride in Manchester although it is a lovely city where I attend many meetings so this post is nothing to do with a pro-MAN bias.

To sum up what I am saying: yes BA/BMI pulled MAN because they couldn't make money but that isn't a fault with MAN and its passenger base, it's a fault with BA/BMI.

Low-cost is the future in Europe, why can't people embrace it as a fantastic commercial opportunity? Why whine for the legacy carriers to return when Low cost can do the job? Even on long haul a relatively low cost model could work if it was done right (i.e not Zoom).

I can give you 2 50/50 rumours from within the walls of Olympic House...Mexicana and Royal Brunei.

We shall see....

Royal brunei have expressed interest in MAN on a 4x weekly basis, but have no aircraft at the moment.
Mexicana, id say no. They have only just announced London and I doubt there would be a demand for MAN-MEX markets

Who said anything about MAN-MEX....there are certainly two more profitable destinations in Mexico...CUN/ACA for example.

Neither of which are Mexicana international bases