Wold it be mostly business people using the 0700 and other people using the 0820.

could be business people or just people who want to take advantage of cheap fares at that time of the morning, however the 0700 depature disappeares in winter, which is replaced by a (mon-fri) 0700 depature to EDI from BFS using a base aircraft... then the aircraft will return to BFS at 09:05 and depart to ALC or KRK depending on the day of the week*

*subject to change no doubt..

from 21st Sep LGW-MUC will be increased from daily to trice daily (Oktoberfest starts 19th Sep ;))

Orange versus Green.
Round 2.
Fight!!!!


My money is on the Orange corner.
Aer Lingus will end up coming off the route and replacing it with a as of yet unserved route, which should have been their strategy on day one, but ya, not everyone learns from their mistakes [i.e. Belfast].

Charlie Roy

LGW-MUC was unserved until Aer Lingus announced it, then a short while later easyJet followed suit. I don't see any threat to be honest.

Until Aer Lingus opened the LGW-MUC route or, for that matter, Ryanair opened STN-FMM, the only LCC route between London and Munich that really lasted was Easyjet on STN-MUC.

Given the distance and even the airport types (i.e. big airports near big cities), fares on this route were very much on the high side compared to other LCC routes.

From TTG website:

EasyJet in deadlock with Luton airport


Friday, August 21, 2009


Chris Gray



Negotiations between easyJet and Luton airport over landing fees for next year are understood to have reached an impasse that could threaten the size of the airline’s presence at the base.

EasyJet, which is the largest airline at Luton, is understood to be refusing to pay higher landing charges proposed by the airport and debating whether to move aircraft to Stansted and Gatwick instead.

The airline started at Luton and still regards it as its “spiritual home” but has been at odds with the airport over several issues, including a £1 drop-off charge, as well as the proposed increase in landing fees.

Sources close to the negotiations suggest airport charges already make up about 10% of the average easyJet fare from Luton and the proposed increase would force it to raise ticket prices for passengers.

It is thought that if easyJet does not get the deal it wants, it could drop plans to expand at Luton and move two of its eight aircraft based there to other airports.

A Luton airport spokeswoman said: “We are in negotiations with all of the airlines and as we renegotiate contracts. We are always discussing new routes and growth with the airlines.”

EasyJet spokesman Andrew McConnell said: “Talks are still continuing between easyJet and the airport about airport costs and the future growth strategy, which would allow us to invest at the airport to create much needed jobs.”

last time I was down there Luton was 11 737, 6 319's

18 B737's left in fleet now so they must be based here :
11 @ LTN
6 @ BFS
1 @ NCL

In the Winter 1 B737 will be removed from BFS and an A319 will come and will do ALC in morning / afternoon.

MAN - LGW is only 176mi with an initial heading of 149o (SE) So I doubt it very much.

Hi ib16uk; I cant see this happening unless BA withdraw, however, with BA having a shareholding in Flybe I imagine Flybe would be onto it so quickly!

Re the German domestic routes, Easyjet wanted to have a major presence in Germany in recent years but there were hurdles to this for one thing going say into Frankfurt there were no slots. Besides that they only have a base at Berlin in Germany now that Dortmund is closed, so the likely markets that they would look at would be ex Berlin... and with limited other airports served within Germany at a significant distance these are limited. Check the map at easyjet.com

As regards Barcelona Madrid this route is apparently the busiest in Europe. It it hottly contested, Vueling say that they have 23% of the passengers with 18% of the capacity, this was an interesting statistic that i read somewhere. With so many airlines on this corridor it is unlikely that Easyjet would go in. There are plenty of routes from Madrid only served by Iberia that they would find rich pickings on?? What do you think?

EI-BUD

Pax numbers are down 25% I believe following opening of the high speed rail link and will follow what happened between London and Paris once Eurotunnel started.

Slot problems? EZY would surely like to fly SXF-DUS or SXF-MUC maybe HAM-MUC and SXF-FRA but they don't get enough slots at FRA, MUC and DUS (domestic flights - you need to fly double/trice daily).
I looked at the winter departures of CDG and MAD and it looks like there are each 7 a/c based. :ok:

Internal German flights are subject to VAT. Also I doubt the German airlines would let Easyjet build up a large internal German network without a price war.

Manchester
 

anyone have more news on when the 4th based unit for MAN is due?

Just an update on the German routes. It looks like that all of the FRA flights have disappeared off the waitlist. From DUS all have disappeared apart from the Gatwick rotations.

So I would say a lot of German expansion is got going to happen for the moment.

Easyjet in reverse-gear in Germany ?
 

Yes, Berlin has lots of domestic flights already, this is not a gap in the market. TUIFly I think still holds the special contract to shuttle federal government public servants between former capital-city Bonn (using Cologne CGN) and Berlin (used to be a really cool flight from Tempelhof, now Tegel). Some 20 departures per day from Cologne to Berlin. 4U connect Zweibruecken, Cologne, Stuttgart, AB for Duesseldorf, Saarbruecken and Munich, FR for Hahn and Weeze, again TUIFly for Memmingen. Not even mentioning LH's network. Plus fast trainlines (esp in East Germany), making e.g. Hamburg-Berlin pretty pointless by air. So yes, EZY is just too late for domestic German routes, in general apart from the new Dusseldorf-Basel flight they seem on the retreat from Germany. 3 flights a day from the whole of London to Berlin this summer - how poor is that ! While both AB and 4U actively market connecting flights from UK via their hubs. EZY's Dortmund and Cologne operation cut back sharply. Sorry Stelios, looks like you've lost the game in the biggest EU economy. OK, I admit I'm personally unhappy as they cut EMA-CGN and were too scared to open BHX-SXF (leaving me with FR EMA-SXF), and run BHX-GVA only in the ski season. All there other routes make money, while these apparently wouldn't.

To return to Madrid-Barcelona, I'm not convinced that the success of high speed rail in Spain will hit low cost carriers as much as legacy ones. Ave fares in Spain are high (as were, traditionally, and still are today to some extent, domestic air fares) so I'd expect the primary targets of high speed rail are business and affluent leisure travellers.

I think that Ryanair knows this. High speed rail is due to arrive in Valencia, for example, fairly soon, with Alicante following, yet Ryanair has chosen to start flying to both from Madrid. Either Ryanair doesn't think more than a season or two in advance (possible, I know!) or it sees little long-term threat from high speed rail in Spain.

In general, I agree with the observation re German domestic flights. However, a window of opportunity could open once TUIFly has disappeared as a serious competitor as a result of the planned co-operation with airberlin. I guess much will depend on how much effect the growing number of Ryanair's domestic flights have on the domestic travel market that, until now, is only served LCC-wise by TUIfly and Germanwings (although in all honesty, airberlin and Lufthansa are not much more expensive if flights are not booked a year or so in advance).

I think easyjet's biggest problem is that they do not have a serious base in the Rhine-Ruhr area which is the largest European conurbation. DTM did not work out, they shied away from CGN because of TUIFly and Germanwings and apparently they are not patient enough to built up a presence at DUS slowly by adding flights whenever slots become available.

Manchester
 

I'm not sure when the 4th aircraft is scheduled.......I'm not even sure if the company know yet. However, the vast majority of tempoary cabin crew are being kept for the Winter.