Well, as most airlines only lose money when their aircraft are flying :} it's probably better to keep them on the ground. At least until the operation is properly established.

I know of two profitable "niche" European airlines that keep their costs under control by doing just that. One flies just 4 hours a day (double rotation on a single route).

It's a shame that Minoan aren't starting a daily route to Dublin in time for the trip I have to make in early April. It's only 20 min to the airport from home and the flight would have saved me about €90 for one less night in an hotel.

I wish them well and will be keeping a close eye on their success. But whether Kidlington has the right level of infrastructure to support further routes, particularly to European destinations, I'm not entirely sure.

Oxford to Köln/Bonn would avoid Heathrow Hell and would be very welcome!

Arrival of the Fokker 50's ????
 

When are the Minoan Air Fokker 50's due to arrive, bearing in mind that there new services to Edinburgh and Dublin commence a week tomorrow.

Rumour suggests Wednesday I heard?

Minoan
 

Minoan arrives OXF Friday late morning

It's now Friday (well, gone midnight in the UK at least), and one-way fares for all Minoan flights next week to/from Oxford remain at about £50 or £55
Compared to the cost of flying from Luton, Birmingham or Heathrow at short notice and at peak times, and assuming flights operate reasonably close to on schedule, then Minoan's tickets now look like being a bit of a bargain...

This could indicate a general lack of passengers wanting to fly Manoan from Oxford or an opening offer to stimulate demand.

Are they there yet?

There is something that looks very much like an F50 on the OXF webcam:

London Oxford (Kidlington) Airport EGTK/OXF - Airport Webcam, WeatherCAM, Web Cam, Live Camera

With regards to suggestion that flying from/to Kidlington, whilst taking in to consideration rural public transport and taxi service expenses or travelling by private car at circa £0.40 per mile plus any car parking charges, to save a quid or few on, merely, the air fare(s) versus planning more than a week in advance to fly from/to one's doorstep airport ... Well I know which I'd prefer!

Perhaps the only reason the fares from/to Kidlington remain at the levels they do is because nobody wants them ... were nobody to want the DUB/EDI fares out of LON, BHX, BRS etc. then, just, perhaps those fares would be equivalent or less than the fares from/to Kidlington!

Still curious, mind you, as to what's going to operate Kidlington's New York services? :)

Routes Online report that a second carrier is due to announce flights from Oxford next week: Routes News - Oxford lands second carrier

My money is on a Saturday JER flight from Blue Islands, Flybe or Manx2.

And? Have they started? If so what loads?

Minoan
 

First flight to Edinburgh departed on sched at 0730

The Scotland on Sunday newspaper yesterday ran a competition to win flights with Minoan and hotels in Oxford.

Come on ... How many fare paying punters were there on it?

In summer 2012, Manx2 / Citywing ran a IoM - Oxford - Jersey route. CAA stats show the 2 routes out of Oxford each managed a summer peak of about 110 passengers per month - that's 55 people in each direction. Allowing 4.3 weeks per calendar month, a once per week flight would achieve less than 13 passengers per flight. If Oxford is to get a new route to IoM or Jersey, it will need some good marketing to be a success.

Spoke to a couple of chums over the weekend who live south of the city. They were completely unaware of Minoan's new services - they've seen/heard nothing in their local press or on Oxford's commercial radio stations.

Sounds like there's more promotion going on in Scotland.

Howsabout:

Reaction Engines Ltd - Space Access: SKYLON

...based just down the road at Culham Science Centre

Costs
 

I wonder if Minoan included deicing costs in their calculations? Not a lot of de-icing required in the Greek Islands, unlike Oxford!

2nd morning - 5 or 6 pax - nearly outnumbered by Hi-Viz jackets!

MINOAN
 

With a huge demand of 100,000 per year, the gap in the middle of the day could be filled with a rotation from bournemouth.positioning would only take 30 mins and could even take pax