OXFORD/KIDLINGTON
 

Air Southwest are to operate every Saturday from Oxford to Jersey from July 11th until September 12th. First commercial route from Oxford since the unsuccessful Oxford-Cambridge link.

Could there be more?
 

Could this be the start of something bigger for the region?

Does Kidlington have a proper passenger terminal building? Customs?

Has an Eastern to Newcastle or Flybe to Edinburgh route been considered ?

Cambridge was a nice idea, but students (and some academics !) will put up with 3h15 on a much cheaper coach. Relatively few biotech firms have offices in both of the science parks.

my old cub used to operate as a crop sprayer for farm aviation services operating ex kidlington in the 1960's and 70's. A bit of useless info....cub still going!!

Oxford (Kidlington) Airport EGTK/OXF - Air Transport Solutions For Oxfordshire, Thames Valley & The Cotswolds - Fly Oxford

Just built a new terminal with all the trimmings.

Kidlington Jersey service
 

Well the fares had better be cheap or else everyone will still go down the road to SOU with Flybe!

Seems to be a flat fare of £75 each way all in. Could work. There's limited potential at Oxford for services to MAN, GLA, EDI, and NCL I think. Suprised Eastern or Flybe haven't really made a go of it yet.

Oxford-Manchester being viable by air would be tough. There's a direct train every hour taking 3 hours. Allowing for a single change at Birmingham, there's a train every 30 mins throughout the day. Oxford likes to spin itself as being part of the south-east and close to London, but geographically it's just as close to Birmingham

It's a charter for Channel Islands Travel Service

Well it happened! Oxford (Kidlington) Airport EGTK/OXF - News - First Commercial Flights from Oxford in 20 Years

And yes - more to follow.....apparently:oh: First though, a sizeable apron extension

They'll be able to handle jets of a similar size to the A318!

Interesting potential - OXF
 

They seem to have spent lots on the infrastructure to be able to take the Air Southwest Dash-8-300s with the new runway,ILS,terminal,fire and rescue, security etc. but that was all for business aviation. Looks like the business aviation ambitions may have stalled so they are getting into scheduled stuff. If they had a proper terminal, going up and down the M40 makes it a better bet than another runway at Heathrow!

With a 1552m runway you can get in the Q400 easily and some of the Embraer jet family,RJs, 146s etc. even the A318, Sukoi Superjet etc.

All the VFR pilot training side was moved to Arizona so they are dead quiet now, so masses of capacity and no restrictions on commercial traffic like Farnborough or Biggin Hill.

Twice daily to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dublin, Amsterdam, Newcastle etc. would seem to make sence with anything from 19-seaters to Dash-8s or ATRs. Summer charters to Jersey and winter runs to the ski resorts and at the heart of the home counties and Thames Valley area they've got an affluent catchment area.

Makes quite a lot of sence? Next stop would be global hub at Upper Heyford with high speed rail doing 45 minutes into Marylebone. Forget Heathrow and Stansted runway - go west (O.K. north-west-ish).

Note this is in David Cameron's back yard?!

Wasn't Oxford - Cambridge tried a few years ago by Rangemile Aviation? Would some form of Air Southwest style Plymouth/Newquay setup not work using B1900s or J31s, for example Oxford-Cambridge-Edinburgh or Oxford-Cambridge-Newcastle etc?

I trained in Oxford at the very beginning of my training for my ATPLs etc and the airport seems to have a good catchment area and a lot of potential. Someone like Manx2 or Eastern would be a good starting point, maybe with Flybe coming along later?

I think Oxford may well have potential for limited scheduled/charter services in the future using Q400/ATR type aircraft, although remember that it's declared distances are limited to 1319m due to its runway width of only 30m, so the full 1552m is not useable for PT ops.

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Dream on. Just as well you don't work in an airline's planning department.

RADAR
 

One thing OXF needs to consider is adequate radar coverage. Brize will cover you down to 3000 ft but that's it 'most' of the time. There are many issues with regard to the proximity of other airfields and the large amount of non 'mode c' traffic.

Airvanman

Purely because, other than the Jersey service - which is good news but hardly rocket science and, I suspect being operated at a significant cost to the airport company, it's all pie in the sky.
Common business sense dictates that Oxford will never be able to sevice such markets.
Amsterdam is a non starter because there isn't an airline with an interline agreement with KLM which operates an aeroplane capable of operating from Oxford.

Additionally, Oxford does not have the terminal or handling facilites to operate more than one aircraft such as a DCH8 at any one time - assuming that a 1319m runway will alow a fully loaded DHC8to operate anywhere (I think not).

Oxford should stick to what it's good at - GA and executive aviation, anything else will never make them money and will, without a doubt lead to significant financial pain.

Not so difficult to do a few more routes - OXF?
 

Goatface - so what if they can only handle one rotation at a time? If they can only do one at a time, that's what they'll do. In one day they could still comfortably do say four or five rotations of 50-seaters, spread through the day. Stick a few Portakabins down like say Coventry and bring in a few more staff and you could easily do more.

Clearly, the fact that they are doing one 50-seat rotation already today means they are already there, all the infrastructure for that to be legitimate is there now. There are no obstructions to them doing more other than manpower and elbow room.

OXF is at least an hour from any other option be that BHX, LHR, SOU so the catchment area is good, prosperous, business-oriented etc. If the experiance is hassle-free at the airport, there are people living on Heathrow's doorstep that would drive 45 minutes up the M40 to travel from a 'regional' airport. People in Swindon, Northampton, Reading, Oxford, Milton-Keynes etc. would give serious consideration to going there instead of say Luton, Bristol etc.

I can't see what the problem is - the runway is exactly the same as LCY and now they've got all the boring stuff sorted - RFF, ILS, Security etc.

Good luck to them - got to be good for UK aviation in general, a new commercial opportunity? Otherwise it will be a housing estate in 10 years - probably the direction Coventry is going in - sadly!

Avioactive. Let's start Morse Air. I like Dash 7s. Going cheap and very juicy but what the hell!! ;)

Is opening OXF up for commercial routes really for the best? Granted its a feather in the cap for the management/local government for introducing the 'first commercial flights in 20 years', but unless they get continued guaranteed business, it may just prove to be a waste of time/money.

Whichever way you look at it, 10-12 flights over the course of the summer isn't going to cover the cost of setting up security, terminal improvements, runway extensions etc etc.

It doesn't even benefit the Oxford economy either; the pax are all locals going TO Jersey for their holidays. Very few, if any will be Jersey people travelling to Oxford (the aircraft was certainly empty on JER-OXF last week). The airline isn't local either. Therefore all money from the operation is drained into Plymouth or Jersey; especially if (as mentioned above) the route may be subsidised.

Remember what we're seeing in the UK at the moment is a contraction of demand for air travel, and the consolidation of routes to major airports. Very few airlines will be willing to branch out in to new markets in the near future to bring OXF the scheduled service it would need to carry on as a commercial airport.

That said, GLO is coming along succesfully. And if OXF manages to attract Manx2, Blueislands or similar; there may be a future in it.

As a passenger I would be more concerned about flying outside Controlled Airspace in an area 'thick' with light aviation on any nice day during a summer weekend!

I did my training at OAT and we didn't have an ILS up and running? So what's the latest on that?

With the Pipers moved to Goodyear, AZ, there should be no problem with apron space. Just upgrade the bus link from Oxford to the airport rather than once on monday and once on friday. ;)

Cat I ILS on RWY 19 and the runway has now been enlarged to 1319m x 30m. Large extensions to current apron space are planned, and the bus now goes to the airport several times a day :}

Hi guys - just a few facts to enlighten the debate!

I'm afraid you are miss-informed: True, the VFR side of OOA has moved to the states but that still leaves a dozen or so PA34 for mixed IFR and VFR training (flying 3 to 5 times a day) coupled with a sizeable clutch of GA & GA training and an increasing fleet of based Biz jets. Just ask the OOA instructors; getting an IFR slot at Oxford is becoming increasingly difficult. Due in the main to App Procedural - radar would provide significant extra capacity.

With its increasing growth in business/commercial traffic Radar is a serious consideration at this time. BTW - Brize work some, not all, of the Oxford traffic within the hours of LARS (7days a week 0900L-1700L!)

Not so - it's the airlines that choose the routes not the airport. And there will be others.....

Absolutely - you'd have to be a fool to run 2 commercial flights a day and have them at the same time thus doubling resources - give management some credit:uhoh:

OR you could look at it the way it actually happened and say some clever person/company saw the potential; had the balls to fund some capital expenditure and provide the upgrades/services upfront and then saw what that attracted.

OR The first flight (the only one before your post jerboy) was one way only (positioning into Oxford). AND, the local population having the choice for the first time in many years to fly from their local airport for a quick week away choose to do so. And let’s not forget its being marketed as Oxford to Jersey and not the other way round:ugh:

Quote from Jersey Airport - New Air Service from Oxforddated 8th July.

The future: With up to 5 new phenom based at TK by Christmas.

Quote from ainonline dated 12 May.Oxford Airport steps up investment in London-area bizav gateway: AIN Online

Not much to add to that really. :ok:

Source:
Oxford Airport ready for take off with new euro holiday destinations (From Oxford Mail)

Looks like it's actually going to happen anyway!

I'm well aware the flight positioned out to OXF empty... I was directly involved with that flight. The only point I'm trying to make is; with no Jersey residents 'holidaying' in Oxford there is no benefit to the Oxford economy, especially if OXF are offering reduced rates or even subsidising the service.

I don't blame people living around Oxford for taking advantage of the service, its just at the moment I can't see it making any financial sense.

That's great, but the facilities required for business aviation are completely different to scheduled services (check in, security, 'mass' baggage handling for example.)

It'd be great to see OXF flourish develop into a niche airport. GLO (and PLH) is a nice example of how it can be done. However on the flipside there are many smaller airports which have either seen a reduction in services, or are losing a lot of money. MME (loss of WW a few years ago), LBA (loss of BD LHR service), DSA (never really 'took off' in the way it was planned), NWI (closure of BE base) are just a few examples. Many of them rely on the bucket-and-spade charters to bring in the money which OXF won't have the luxury of doing.

For new business flights small a/c would have to be used (due to the short runway). Fares would therefore have to be pretty high to make such services pay... At the moment its a pretty risky strategy. I think OXF management will have a tough job convincing enough people away from the hour(ish) drive LHR, LTN or BHX and the greater range of destinations and cheaper fares offered there.

I would hardly put GLO in league near PLH - which is near the bottom! Wick has as many flights!

In terms of business aviation yes GLO has a much higher number of movements. But for scheduled operations PLH would by far have a higher number of pax: 2 based aircraft rotating through PLH throughout the day, 50 seats per flight compared to 19... it all adds up.

Its true that business aviation brings in more cash, but wouldn't SHH have pulled the plug on the ASW base and PLH itself a long time ago if it were that unprofitable?

If OXF can model themselves on GLO with the right mix of business aviation to scheduled ops they could do well... But as I mentioned above it is a very niche market that they will have to fight for.

All to do with geography and demographics
 

Can’t help feeling some people are missing the point here – Oxford’s arguably in a fantastic location, wealthy area (relatively), halfway between Heathrow and Birmingham with a pretty substantial population within an hour’s drive. No competition in fact for an hour or more in any direction.
A handful of flights a week (not 10 a day, more like two or three say?) are easy to handle so long as you have the amenities and the resources – which clearly they do now. They’ve got a mix of GA, some business aviation and now, potentially a couple of commercial flights a day too. If they have about 45,000 movements a year (according to their website - Oxford Airport EGTK/OXF - Annual Movements) that’s about 60 landings a day – for any aircraft types, that’s just nothing compared to what they used to have, used to be thre times that ten years ago.
If you are benchmarking potential against models elsewhere, if you can fill a handful of flights a day out of say Plymouth with Newquay and Exeter down the road, Oxford has absolutely no problem whatsoever doing the same with more people with more money and more businesses on it’s doorstep.

What's the biggest bus you can get into/out of Oxford?

There's 1319m TORA/TODA/ASDA/LDA but 1552m of actual paved runway to play with.

Q400 ought to be no problem, but what about the Embraer family of jets or for that matter the A318, Fokker 70/100, Bombardier CRJ family etc?

Presumably, one could take off pax and/or fuel to get some of the jets using it practically? If so what's max range on some of those jets with full pax?

The paved length of 1552m is really irrelevant as you're talking PT movements so the declared distances are what count. So you've got distances the same as at LCY but without the performance gains that the 5.5° glideslope gives you LDR-wise. Restricted payloads due to limiting runways are not popular with operators unless there is some other imperative for using a particular airfield, and that won't apply at Kindlington.

I reckon it will be limited to Q400/ATR types and below, although that still doesn't rule out limited passenger schedules and charters. I also wouldn't underestimate the appeal that small airports have for some travellers who hate the hassle they normally encounter.

Mind you, not a good time to be launching new, untried routes I wouldn't have thought.

Could Oxford not be the perfect place for a J31/B1900 type setup operating to a limited number of destinations? Maybe Edinburgh on a daily basis plus a couple of times a week to Dublin/Paris/Amsterdam etc. Beyond that I can't see it really having the potential to be the size of Exeter in terms of scheduled operations, but there is certainly some money to be made on niche routes.

Have you seen the website? They're called 'London Oxford Airport' all of a sudden!

I think there's a bit more to all this than meets the eye?

How long has our airport been called 'London Oxford Airport' - it wasn't last week??!!

No word of a lie, Romaro is right! What the heck?! Surely Oxford is a big enough city to sustain it's own airport, it doesn't need to be another London airport!! Would it not make more sense to call it something like Oxford Thames Valley Airport if they are going to insist on going along with this stupid name changing. Oxford is no where near London! It's a good 55 miles away!

Gerona, Reus, Hahn...

All Ryanair destinations! Oxford cannot accept 737-800s, Ryanair and easyJet are never going to come to Oxford, nor are any other LoCos. Oxford is a business airport, it doesn't make sense to associate it with another airport nearly 60 miles away. Plus Oxford is a well known enough City to merit it's own airport.

I wasn't meaning to make any relation to the low costs but I understand your point - Oxford is a business airfield but when LTN, STN, LGW, LHR, LCY etc. all fill up - London traffic is going to have to go somewhere and although passenger numbers are falling, there will come a time when there is simply no more room at the big five.