Blue Air haven't long left, so a good move by TAROM to get them off the route to cosy up next to Ryanair ~ I understand a lot of connecting traffic thanks to SkyTeam partners for them as well as Romanians going to/from Bucharest and within Romania.

I could see it being re-introduced for Winter operations by Aer Lingus, it done well back in Winter 2008/2009 with Topflight using some seats, didn't do well in the Summer months, and Aer Lingus preferred to use there aircraft elsewhere wisely.

Etihad to go double daily
 

Etihad to go double daily on Dublin-Abu Dhabi July 15

Wow, competition is really hotting up between Turkish, Etihad and Emirates all going double daily this year!
Wonder how long before we see Qatar or will they go for Cork or Belfast instead?

Dublin - Sofia
 

Hello,

Referring to Sofia & Bulgaria skiing.

Is there any tour operator serving ski holidays to Bulgaria from Ireland? The only crowd I found balkan.co.uk serving Belfast only. They list Dublin however no flights are loaded or are they full? It is a terrible website.

Bulgaria ski conditions are known to be quite erratic, having poor snow rattles the confidence of skiiers, damaging the seasonal demand. I plan to go this season but I will not book until snow conditions improve.

If EI or FB team up with a willing tour operator plus considering changes to the immigration laws perhaps a weekly A319 could work next season 2014/15 ? (Assuming there is no ski charters from DUB)

Think it`s quite likely for Dublin to Sofia to be relaunched in next winter`s schedule by Aer Lingus or some other airline.

Jet2 operate charter for ski company to Bulgaria from BFS every Saturday during season.

EY double daily from 15 July, extra B777 and 3 A332 weekly.


There was annual ski flights to Bulgaria until this season when they stopped. I believe ski holidays are much stronger this season so it could be returned next year or year after.

EY & EK now both double daily, when you consider EI couldn't make DXB work back in the Celtic tiger it just goes to show the amount of transit pax they must get.

I appreciate a lot more people now living in AUS etc but who is suffering from these guys gain? BA via LHR? Is 4xdaily sustainable?

EI pulled out of Dubai because it could see significant demand for US flights. At the time they'd have us believe it wasn't anything to do with bad timings, bad service or poor onward connections.

Island of 6.5 million served by only 4 x daily flights. SQ and QR must kick themselves at a missed opportunity.

You're comparing apples with pears. Aer Lingus can get you to Dubai, just like Virgin do from Heathrow. Emirates however connect to many, many destinations going East from Dubai. DUB is a spoke on the Emirates hub and spoke network, EI was mainly point to point. The same applies to Etihad.
Singapore took a major hit at MAN when the ME3 went big time, that's at the extremity of the range of the B777-200ER, nowadays MAN routes MAN-MUC-SIN on a B777-300ER. I reckon that ship has sailed for DUB, the desert carriers are just too strong.

You know you could be right Skip. One day Europe will probably transit through the desert.

Windavia will begin a weekly service to Funchal, they will be replacing Sata who have reduced fleet. Flights run from 13 April to 12 October on Sundays.

Maybe might bring the price down a little as well for hols to fnc

Reported on another site that ET (Ethiopian Airlines) is looking at ADD-DUB-LAX from next January. Presumably 787s.

Would mark a return to LAX (presumably traffic rights would be awarded), but also first direct African route from DUB - and ADD is a very good hub for the continent.

ET
 

Mm hope it happens but not a chance USA will allow traffic rights IRL LAX
What's in it for them , USA I mean ?

What was the other site and please guys lets not make an Air India out of thus story please!!

It's on Travel Extra, you could say its more than a rumour considering the CEO announced the plans in Dublin and said discussions are going well at the minute.

Seems a strange one. Their 787s have the range to do direct flights to LAX, and the runway isn't long enough at DUB for their 777s to do it. Still fingers crossed, first 787 scheduled Dublin service maybe.

However do Ethiopian's 787's have the range to do it from ADD's 7,656ft elevation runway? Even if it is over 15,000ft long.

In the audio clip on the site, the CEO clearly says they plan to use 777s. Maybe he hasn't checked the runway length? :cool: