Apparently she flew in by BMI Diamond Class according to one of our local politicians. Apparently she was fully clothed:O

BBC News - George Osborne confirms NI air passenger duty cut

Will we see the return of some long-haul operations next year i wonder?

a very positive message. Could have a very significant impact on the number of passengers interlining over other airports at a time when the airlines operating these routes can ill afford a further reduction in passenger numbers.

We shall await the CO/UA verdict on this one then, as for other longhaul routes well lets no run before we can walk. Lets see if the BFS-EWR lasts but im guessing that this reduction would apply to sesional services too maybe eg BFS-YYZ and what constitues LONG HAUL. Would just for example, BFS-AUY be long haul or even BFS-SSH?

just wondering if ADP affects european routes? and if so have they reduced this from belfast, could this mean some expansion into europe for maybe next summer?
or a longer season for orlando?

Infact what is the governments definition of long haul for APD?

CO is the one who pushed through for this cut, they've got that cut so i doubt we will see them exit. If for some reason CO does pull out, BFS is now more attractive for other carriers to consider long haul. Time will tell i guess

This is very positive devlopemnt for NI aviation. :)

I believe the reduction in APD relates to Band B which covers destinations between 2001 - 4000 miles (calculated from London)

The treasury statement says that the discount is for "direct long-haul", so I would guess routings via other UK airports will not attract discounted APD -interesting what other airlines will say about that, would seem to give CO a big advantage.

I'm not sure what happens for CO connecting pax though? Does a pax travelling for example BFS-EWR-ORD get the APD discount, after all, that's not a direct flight to BOS.

All traffic on the CO flight will only pay the new lower rate tax, regardless of the final destination. The second leg of any journey was never subject to taxation anyway. The potential advantage over flying to another UK airport, £12 APD and then to the States, £60 APD is obvious. Well done all involved, I'm sure it wasn't easy but for CO, Passengers and NIPLC it is a great result.

APD Only part of the equation
 

The APD question is only one of many considerations in the contemplation of CO (United) about this route, but has certainly been a headline grabber for some of NI politicians. The question which has not been answered by Jeff Smisek is simply this "Was APD the only factor influencing the retention of this route?" I suspect the strategic rationlisation that is currently being undertaken includes a number of other factors which will result in this route having a very short lifespan.

It will be interest to see whether BFS sees an increase in "connecting" passengers from GB: first flight in on a cheapie U2, LS, EI flight and then onwards with CO. An 11:15 int'l departure shouldn't be too tight for many domestic arrivals.

I doubt there will be any.

CO/UA recently stated they were paying the APD to prevent price increases from Belfast, making it cheaper to go from Dublin as a result. All this reduced APD will do is help CO/UA reduce the loses and hopefully encourage them to keep the BFS-EWR route open.

After a quick look on the continental website, would appear that the flights are daily, rather than 4/5 per week as last year. Now I only checked November and January, but did show flights operating daily. A change in frequency due to the tax reduction????

As EGAC is Better stated, I think the average passenger will not notice any difference to price on the route. This will just allow CO to get an extra £48 per passenger, that CO had been absorbing, and so hopefully making the route sustainable in the longer term.

I see there is a swift air plane sitting down in cargo, could this be the Fedex aircraft?

Tampa
 

Any idea why the route map on BIA website shows that there is a direct flight to Tampa??

Cruise charter maybe??

Atlantic Holidays have Madeira on sale for summer 2012. Not sure of the dates, season long, peak season or just sporadic departures.

Magnificent Madeira on sale for 2012 - Belfast International Airport

03-31st October 2012 departures will be every Wednesday.

Monarch Airlines again: MON5844/5845

just wondering if all the development with the dept area is now complete? has o'briens and boots been renovated? and has anything happened to the intl dept pier? last time i was down thetr it looked very tired.
i only ask because i have not used the airport in almost a year as i travel more from the city now as a find it an easier airport to use and i have had to follow bmi baby down to fly on their routes which makes me wonder why all of the routes lots by them hasnt been taken over by a different airline (i know easyjet has took on manchester)