Ah and theres the monthly troll post

Tehe just being a pure wind up merchant ;)

In all honesty these days I am neutral to which airport I use , both have pros and con! Although 25 is getting a Tad bumpy!

The first BFS-MLA will depart today 156 booked out, helped by half-term no doubt.

With the previous comments about performance to Malta on the A319, did all bags and passengers go?? I take it that the A319 will be operating the Malta route right through the summer?? Good to see a full load!

Press release from the airport website:
Take off for new easyJet route to Malta - Belfast International Airport

Yes BFS, All bags (just over 100 i believe) and passengers went without any issues, not sure how they got around the problem but it was a big enough concern at one stage for them to consider restricting flights or using the A320.. as far as im aware the A319 will be used throughout summer

edit - G-EJAR was used today, not sure if this is a 64T,66T or 68T but im guessing one of the last 2.

Using an A319 with 68t mtow. It's still tight even with that. Given that last summer 68t airframes were like rocking horse sh*t in bfs its only a matter of time before this gets cocked up. The ski charter last week had to tech stop due to using a 64t aircraft. Repeated use of 64t aircraft last summer caused many woes.. Let's see if any lessons have been learned :ugh:

Using an A319 with 68t mtow. It's still tight even with that. Given that last summer 68t airframes were like rocking horse sh*t in bfs its only a matter of time before this gets cocked up. The ski charter last week had to tech stop due to using a 64t aircraft. Repeated use of 64t aircraft last summer caused many woes.. Let's see if any lessons have been learned :ugh:

Any news yet

BFS-BHX 2nd largest British city zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
BFS-MAN 3rd largest British city zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
BFS-EMA zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzz
BFS-CWL (their bosses own both these airports) zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
BFS-LTN (their bosses own both these airports)zzzzzzz
BFS-TORONTO zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
BFS-SANFORD (full program) zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

If BE are talking to LDY then they are talking to BFS.
If FR are expanding at LDY, is that a sign of no more negotiations with BFS? (will EZY now expand at BFS)

EI V's FR
 

Will we see EI TFS pax fall again this year with the addition of FR from LDY? Surely a huge amount of pax who use EI will have been from the north west and will use FR as they will probably be a lot cheaper? Then again have FR announced TFS a little late with most people booking early etc?

Who knows!!!
I don't about you and your circle and I say this honestly. Most people I know refuse to fly with FR. Some however have to on occasion as they have no choice. Those who are strapped for cash would also avail of their mad fares. I for one would not book my holiday with FR I would choose EI any day, even if FR operated out of BFS.

I love FR as they get you to where you want to go at a fraction of the cost that other airlines charge. EI fares are ridiculous at times! I think in the economy at the minute most people will be happy to fly with whoevers cheapest?

No.....for a lot of people there is the comfort factor and the feeling that if it goes wrong there is a backup plan.

I have flown RYR on a few occasions and I can honestly say they were fine. No more no less. I think that the folks who were having bags measured and weighed before boarding may have felt differently as they parted with significant sums. It left a feeling of "cheap and grubby" in the mouth. The sectors I flew(to places I had never heard of but I figured why not try a weekend?)left me with the overwhelming feeling that I would not like to be wedged on this for any longer than possible.Hence price is NOT the overall driver for me.

What I have noticed though, if you don't book an offer fare, FR can actually be pretty expensive, never mind adding the baggage charge. I fancied a weekend in London maybe mid July, checked all the airlines from BFS and BHD to the London airports. FR seem to offer excellent offers on flights within maybe two / three months of departure, but when planning ahead they actually don't seem that fantastic on price, as you'd be lead to believe.

Just out of curiosity I checked prices to London from Dublin with FR (not that I'd consider hauling down to DUB for a domestic flight), and they turned out to be more expensive and that was cabin baggage only (plus the petrol to DUB, or LDY considering)!!!

Well, I booked flights home from London for my Birthday on the 2nd April (put that in your diaries!) And I thought I'd "treat2 my self" and fly with Aer Lingus from Heathrow to BFS. What I noticed though was if I payed for a train to get from West London to Gatwick and fly with Easyjet, all the added costs put them at the exact same price. And you have the convenience... if you live in the West of just hoping on the Piccadilly Line! Let's hope there's no engineering works though!

But to give Ryr it's credit, when I used to fly from BHX to LDY whilst at Uni... without any planning, I'd sometimes end up with a return flight that was cheaper than the taxi from Derry Airport to my house. (I don't use the airport taxi stand though, they robbing sods!)

Last time I flew with Easyjet I was so frustrated with the handlers at LGW... rude and very unprefessional. A guy I spoke with/moaned with, that used the route every week couldn't believe it!

Like you say Northern Counties, it depends on ground transport costs also and perceived convenience. Base fare to LHR with BD seems about £82, and then just get your underground pass that covers Heathrow. Base fare to STN seems about £48, but then add about £30 return for the STN Express (think there's a coach option too). My eyes the BD is better value and free checked baggage thrown in.

Same in regard to the Gatwick Express (although Thames Link do run into London Bridge or Blackfriars), not sure the current train fare from Luton Parkway into London. For me if booking ahead BD is the best value for money and most convenient for hotels around Gloucester Road tube.

Gate 22, in regard to your post, number of routes may add status to an airport, but I'd imagine passengers through the door is more important to the business. A Cardiff link may look good, but if the same passengers are already using say Bristol, is it a huge advantage to the airport, and does sufficient demand really exist?

Like the recently announced TFS from LDY. Excellent news for the passengers and the NW, but from a business point of view, what's the difference between 189 passengers going to TFS, or an extra rotation to say FAO. As long as the airport is getting the people through the door, however that is acheieved (route choice is obviously a part of this), and the airport is profitable, the number of destinations served in my opinion is purely status. LHR handles many more passengers, but I believe has far less destinations than AMS, FRA etc, does that make it less successful???

CARNMANORLAD, im not sure that 1 flight per week from LDY is going to make passenger numbers drop dramatically, with most people booking holidays earlier it could be too late to steal sufficient traffic from BFS for the summer anyway, what you will find is there will be people who usually wouldn't travel now taking the opportunity to get themselves to TFS. Remember that people will fly with whoever is the cheapest, better timing and their preference for airline.. i know people who would fly BFS-LHR-CDG as transfer passengers just to fly with EI as they prefer them to EZY...

Hopefully people will have more money available this year and both airports can sustain the route and frequency throughout winter, lets hope for no snow. Do we know if LDY-TFS will be year round, or does it depend on how it goes over summer? Only bookable until the end of the summer schedule and the BBC news article states summer months.

BFS released (2 weeks ago) a promoational video on the new facilities, if you can stand the dodgey music in the background, it will give you a chance to see some of the newly refurbished shopping areas... can be viewed here (no sign up required) - Videos Posted by Belfast International Airport: New airside facilities at Belfast International [HD] | Facebook

Lets see if Uel Hoey and the rest of them can deliver on what he suggests in the video with the domestics and potentially Dubai in the future:zzz:

Dubai from Belfast?! Using what? An islander with a few dozen tech stops on the way? If DUB can't support a DXB route, what chance BFS (or any other NI airport)?

Perhaps Uel should be concerning himself with the here and now. Pax numbers below 4million for the first time in God knows how long? BFS needs a new operator that will realistically bring new pax now, not pie in the sky pax in the future.

Whether the Spanish owners are to blame for the recent problems at BFS or not I don't know. However, the place obviously has issues that won't be sorted by the (non-)arrival of Emirates.

What BFS needs is the devolved government of NI to have the authority to set its own aviation tax regime independent of the mainland reflecting NI island status, you can't get on a train or indeed drive to elsewhere in the UK from NI.

By dumping the APD on flights departing BFS, then long haul flights from BFS would become viable with people transiting from the UK mainland.

It is grossly unfair on people who live in NI that they have to pay more in APD to travel to the UK than someone in the UK would have to pay to AMS or CDG internal flights (from NI) to elsewhere in the UK should be exempt it is this that is doing damage to overall numbers.

WW moving to BHD was a big loss and will be difficult to replace, many have written WW off as irrelevant in the airline industry as just a bit player, but forget they are now a LH company.

I cannot see anyone going on BHX/EMA from BFS given that both are served by both WW & BE, MAN may be different.

BFS main problem is the same as CWL or MME, poor catchment area and competition from other more local airports with better road links.

Lets start a campaign to dump the APD:ok::ok::ok::ok:

Remember the business supplement in the Belfast Telegraph, maybe about 4 or 5 years ago, front page headline, Emirates to Belfast, and reporting how the deal was pretty much done. Think at this stage EK at Belfast is total pie in the sky.
I think BFS rested on their laurels when they believed that BHD was capacity restricted, had a strict curfew and the shorter runway. They felt that most if not all expansion in NI aviation would be theirs.

Fair to a point, BHD will never handle the cargo, long-haul or late night charters, and LDY too far from the large population centres in the East of the province, however BFS really need to step it up; lobby for fair ADP in this part of the UK, really connect with their airline customers and to the public at large to ensure they are offering what the public and airlines want.

I agree with that.

I also believe that the current owners are not committed to expansion.

They seem to want to "nickel and dime " people to death. That is no way to attract business pax.

Can you imagine AMS or FRA stiffing you for coin just to drive up to the front of the airport? Can you imagine what american pax must think? Used to kerbside checkin? Forget that.

Disabled and need to be brought close to the building...give us a quid!.

Main runway closed for almost a week for widening of an access road....please.

I don't blame the current management.They are merely the servants of the Spanish owners.

Good luck Mr Hoey.