If this is right it is a backward development for Belfast especially on international connections, when Northern Ireland is trying to build greater investment and tourism.


It just seems that IAG are focussing all their effort on Dublin now that BA and Aer Lingus are basically one entity. And the way the air tax system is skewed to favour flights out of Dublin it is hard to blame them for pushing business in that direction.


I wonder just how big an issue the continued burden of two way air passenger duty between Belfast and London, alongside high Heathrow airport charges, has been to forcing these reductions from BA?


Surely if brexit means brexit the UK government has to waken up soon to the continued damage that this policy of negative and uncompetitive taxation is causing?

So a cut by BA from 7 to 4 a day on BHD LHR equates to as much capacity as the BHD LGW EI route had, potentially more depending on aircraft size, ie 319/20 etc. A big hit to BHD, unfortunately.

However, on a commercial basis load factors in the 60%.
'S are not likely to be most attractive in the long run, KLM are picking up good numbers on AMS, and as a guide based on Dublin mix, potentially 70% of them are connecting, potentially at a loss to BA/EI via LHR.

The sheer and amazing growth on LGW ex BFS is bound to be having an impact on the route too, i'm convinced that APD is the cure for all ills , remember if it was removed, BA would likely still have a similar differential in pricing to FR/EZY who serve LGW...

As an aside the pax numbers on bhd lhr would suggest that ei/ba have not picked up the slack for UA's absence on LHR BHD...

I'm curious if BA's "Buy On Board" has an impact on passenger numbers?

Tbh I would say yes as people think why bother with BA as all the airlines the same. It was the last bastion of customer feeling wanted. But dont forget BA pulling in the money ex BHD as C class is proving a massive hit. Nearly all flights c class well into double digits and many of these going on in c or f ex LHR

But they are obviously not pulling in the money from C class though as the route has been cut severely.

Wasn't 6 not 7 daily before?

Last winter's program was a mish mash of timings and frequency. This winter it all makes more sense and the yied per pax from Belfast is one of the highest in the BA network. They fill a market as do EZY BE FR EI and every other airline that operates. BHD has bigger fish to fry just at the moment

"BHD has bigger fish to fry just at the moment", in what manner? The only fish Harbour has to worry about are the airline ones that just are not biting at all! For Harbour to have a London service to only Heathrow and London City shows just how much they don't chase the leisure market. I personally haven't used Harbour now for a few years for any London trips, business or pleasure, purely because the offering from Aldergrove is much superior in choice of airlines, airports and timings.

The general consensus that I am getting is a feeling that Harbour management has slowly lost its way a bit over the last few years, the entire operation has become stagnant. Its the same old faces and jobs for the boys, theres no fresh skill and talent coming through but rather staff that have been promoted way beyond their ability when things were easy and now its beginning to show. Aldergrove on the other hand have proved that they can attract business which in turn attracts further business and expansion, this appears to be mostly at the expense of Harbour!:eek:

I know the aviation business is a cyclical beast but at the moment Harbour is at the wrong part of the curve.:uhoh:

I would have never before have agreed with Pan, however his post is extremely sensible. Very well informed also. Alteagod, it's obvious that the BHD/LHR certainly isn't the golden money pot it was years ago. IAG group load factor not to good across BA/EI. EI using the former Shannon timings which are horrendous. As for yield, I would also suggest this is far from high. As for BA, they are probably back to their old trick of allocation the smallest proportion of through fare to the domestic sector in order to show a loss. If I completely wrong then BA would not be taking a hatchet to their Belfast services.

May CAA stats
 

Not a good month for City, overall down 9%, international looking particularly bad with the exception of AMS.

You need a new username.

Pointless trying to be positive on hear about BA or post any good or positve points as so many have already made there mind up. I am not permited in an open forum to discuss but shud amyone which to pm me feel free. The world is not just orange nor does it have a golden harp or does it even be purple. It is demoralizing knowing how anti everything this thread has become regarding BHD. Some of us actually work there and enjoy doing so please just give it a rest

Alteagod, I absolutely marvel at how you can possibly come on to this forum and suggest that one of BA's highest yielding routes is BHD. It is laughable. The airline sees no more than 60's in terms of loads, and is almost cutting half the schedule, these indicators do not point to one of the highest performing routes, and as somebody who claims to work at BHD, you are most unlikely to know that kind of information.

As for people being negative on here about BHD, some of it is warranted, sorry to say that. It has come to a point where virtually none of the BFS operators could warrant flying to/from BHD, in terms of operational restrictions, there are too many, it closes too early this making the unit costs of operating a base there impossible, car parking costs are an absolute joke, making holidays from the place unrealistic for anybody who doesn't live reasonably near. At this stage the best they can hope for is to attract a selection of Easyjet flights which could be operated from other bases e.g. CDG, BCN, GVA, PMI - but most unlikely....hence drawing on the BFS competition is not easily accessible.

If the figures for BHD were positive then everyone would be posting about how wonderful the airport is. However, the facts show that BHD is in decline at a time when other airports are experiencing double digit growth, so quite frankly, the negative comments are completely warranted.

If we have a quick look at Aer Lingus' sun routes from BHD, passenger numbers fell substantially compared with May 2016.

FAO - down 24%
ALC - down 58%
AGP - down 24%
PMI - down 40%

Last May Aer Lingus carried 33,194 passengers on their sun routes - this May they carried only 22,558. If BHD was a lucrative base, they wouldn't have slashed flights.

Meanwhile at BFS, passenger figures for these four routes are up between 22-100% since last May.

In the last year Aer Lingus, Flybe and now British Airways have slashed capacity from BHD - this completely bucks the trend so BHD must be doing something wrong.

The only piece of good news that I can find from the May figures is that AMS numbers are up 22% to 4,383 - that's 71 pax per flight so maybe in the mid to long term we'll see a second daily flight.

Honestly, unless BHD can attract a) several legacy carriers to offer high frequency hub connections, or b) low cost airlines to establish a base at the airport, then BHD's passenger numbers will continue to collapse.

Maybe because they dropped just under 11,000 seats with less flights.......

You're right Jamie. EI planned in a reduced capacity on every route, not least because FR has appeared on 3 out of 4 of them. Also worth bearing in mind last year EI operated an increased schedule on every route, 9 times a week to FAO and AGP for instance.

Not long ago people were on here calling for the closure of BHD because it was taking all the business from BFS, it's like BHD is doomed in the plane spotters mind whatever it does. Fact is I've used BFS a lot this last while, mainly because of the abundance of cheap flights and its not a bad facility, picking people up from there is an embarrassing experience, the pick up zone is crowded out to a stupid degree, the front of the airport is quite dirty and run down, and really the arrivals hall is yes functional but it too is like something from a by gone era. Compare this to BHD.....

the front of the airport is quite dirty and run down, and really the arrivals hall is yes functional but it too is like something from a by gone era. Compare this to BHD.....

I have to say, I would never choose to use a particular airport based on architectural merit....

The coffee at BHD is better too.

BHD would be well served, if it is to maintain international aspirations by doing something to improve the access by train. Bus access is well served, albeit by having to go into the city centre, but the train halt is just far enough away that people wouldn't think to want to use it. Two city airports I have used recently, Newcastle and Edinbrough both have brilliant public transport links into town without too much faffing about. A halt immediately opposite BHD would do well. I'm from Bangor and the public transport hassle/ higher costs would make me default to BFS for a flight to Spain.
I also suspect many people don't really know about the international destinations from BHD, despite some advertising, but I would say they don't seem to be very well supported with media campaigns and seat sales to raise interest.
A runway extension, despite the objections of the NIMBYs would be a big boon too, allowing a further breadth of destinations to be reached.

Haha whatever. I know and love BFS despite its shabby appearance. I just wonder what people think that land there for the first time from abroad, given they have a choice and so many arrive at DUB