God forbid that there would be an accident as in Cork. No CAA regulated AOC holder to go after -just try your luck with a 'ticket provider' or some unheard of airline based wherever. It's frankly amazing the Welsh government allows this situation to continue.

Seeing as this set up is explicitly prohibited by the UK CAA and wouldn't be allowed in the UK it does surprise me that just by being based in the Isle of Man they are allowed to get away with it, especially selling tickets on routes solely inside the United Kingdom.

Knowing people involved in the Cork accident and then reading further about it when the report came out, it shocks me even more that this sham 'airline' hasn't been shut down. I'm sure Van Air and their counterparts are all very reputable airlines but operating old, small aeroplanes on the opposite side of Europe to their maintenance bases with differing and sometimes conflicting instructions from their company and the ticket seller was a contributing factor in the Cork incident. I would hate for that to happen again.

Personally, I wouldn't be booking myself or any of my family through Citywing and I wish they would be a bit more open about the actual operation they are running.

PSO contracts have to be awarded to a 'European Air Carrier'. The Welsh Government cannot refuse to award a contract to a 'European Air Carrier' just because they choose to use a ticket seller called Citywing.

They don't have to accept the lowest tender either.
The Welsh government are already forking out millions to subsidise a train - complete with restaurant car - from Holyhead to Cardiff to give access from North Wales to the capital - why do both this and the PSO?

Different markets. Most of the passengers who fly would drive if the air service wasn't available.

I am confused now, who has been awarded the new tender, Citywing or North Flying? If Citywing can't be awarded the tender because they are not an airline (or even an EU company for that matter) did Links Air hold the tender before the winter 2014 renewal and just chose to use Citywing as a ticket seller? I am very much in 2 minds about Citywing, I have flown with them VLY-CWL before with Links Air and everything was great, but equally having watched the Air Crash Investigations episode about *that* Belfast to Cork flight there is something unnerving about their operation. Having said that, Links Air must have done something wrong to have their AOC suspended what with the landing gear failures and all.

Adam :)

An interim report published by the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly of Wales in July 2014 described the arrangement as a consortium bid with the two companies 'joint signatories' to the contract. The tender documents published for the most recent contract award specified that the bidder should be a licensed air carrier.

I stand corrected, yes it was Van Air Europe. I bought the tickets from the Citywing website.

By "incident" you're referring to the fatal crash in Cork which killed six people and for which a significant causal factor was the gross operational negligence and incompetence of Manx2 and their subcontractor?

That was quite an "incident". Remedial action: change the name.:rolleyes:

I think this is one of the scandals of the offshore ticket seller. It is easy to leave any potential liabilities with the old company and restart operations the following day in a new company. You cannot do that with a company that holds a licence.

Does anybody have any revenue or profit figures of citywing? Are they profitable?
Just wondering how you can offer one way tickets for 20 or 50 GBP with an 19-seater LET.

Aren't Citywing just a ticket agency with flights operated by Van Air Europe. So not sure how revenue and profits are shown for this arrangement.

Yes, but they are two different companies and I guess Van Air Europe gets a fixed amount from Citywing for operating the flights and Citywing gets the money for the sold tickets. So Citywing can determine the ticket prices.

q) egtt/qfalc/iv/nbo/a/000/999/5405n00437w005
b) from: 17/02/23 10:00c) to: 17/02/23 13:00 est

e) aerodrome closed due blocked runway

From Citywings twitter:

Some BE flights also cancelled. BA and U2 not cancelled yet.

23rd February 2017

STATEMENT ON INCIDENT ON THE 23rd OF FEBRUARY AND FLIGHT UPDATES FOR THE 24th OF FEBRUARY

Citywing can confirm that Van Air-operated flight 502 took off from the Isle of Man destined for Belfast on Thursday morning but returned due to deteriorating weather conditions in Northern Ireland.

Citywing have been advised by Van Air that the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has requested to speak with Van Air following the incident. Until such discussions take place, hopefully within the next 24-48 hours, the UK CAA has asked Van Air to stop flying. Unfortunately this means that all Citywing flights will be affected until further notice.

David Buck, Managing Director of Citywing said, “Passenger safety has to be the first priority and all such incidents are rightly investigated as a matter of routine. We are working with the flight operator Van Air and relevant authorities to resolve the situation as soon as possible.

Due to this operational disruption Van Air has chartered in a Stansted based Titan Airways 737 to operate the following flights.

V9514 IOM-BELFAST STD1400 STA1430 to accommodate all Isle of Man to Belfast passengers for the day.

V9515 BELFAST-IOM STD1510 STA1540 to accommodate all Belfast to Isle of Man passengers for the day.

V9814 IOM-NEWCASTLE STD1620 STA1655 to accommodate all Isle of Man to Newcastle, Isle of Man to Glasgow and all Isle of Man to Blackpool passengers. Passengers for Glasgow and Blackpool will be provided with surface transport to their destination.

“We apologise in advance for the disruption this will cause to travel plans. We will do our best to keep passengers informed and would ask for your patience and understanding as we deal with this difficult situation at short notice.”

In the first instance this only affects flights for the 24th of February. Citywing will endeavour to contact all passengers but this may take time so we request your patience and understanding. If you have an urgent question please contact our Reservations on tel no: 0871 200 0440 who will be available between 0900 and 1700.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:
Citywing Aviation Services Ltd, “Citywing”, is an Isle of Man-based company arranging air services from the Isle of Man to Belfast, Blackpool, Glasgow, Newcastle, Gloucester and Jersey. Citywing and its partners employ 50 staff on the Island and carry in excess of 70,000 passengers per year.

Issued by Citywing.

Martin Norbury
Isle of Man Advertising and Public Relations Limited Tel: (01624) 620440

That's not going to be cheap.

One can only imagine the conversation between the operator and the ticket seller after today's incident.

I wonder if we'll be starting a "Manx3" thread.

Citywing themselves will probably be ok, but methinks NorthFlying metroliners may well be about to return in numbers :P

Without Citywing, Gloucestershire, Anglesey and Blackpool airports would have no scheduled commercial traffic. After the losses of Plymouth, Sheffield, Manston, Cambridge, Oxford, Sligo, Galway and Waterford recently, the UK/IE regional airport scene is becoming a bit depressing. DTV's struggles are well documented, I suspect Prestwick will be freight only within 10 years, Derry would be in real trouble if it was not so politically sensitive, Dundee is just miserable after the Amsterdam debacle and Humberside would likely cease to exist without Eastern, who are acting in a deeply unsettling way with regards to crew.

I would love to see Citywing start using Eastern J41s, but Eastern seem intent on forcing out all of their staff so is unlikely to happen.

I can't imagine Cardiff will continue to subsidise Anglesey flights forever, and if CItywing disappear, I am struggling to think of anyone else who would operate the flights.

Metro OY-NPE just landing at Ronaldsway now...