Citywing
 

With routes from the Isle of Man Airport seemingly disappearing one at a time, week by week - does this increase the chance we will see more routes from this ticketing agent?

Citywing
 

Hopefully not

Citywing
 

I hope so.

In November 2012, Manx2 rebranded as Citywing and picked a new logo with a strong similiarity to that of Tame in Ecuador. It ended up with Citywing agreeing to change their logo to something else.

Both companies still seem to have a very similiar blue pseudo-bird logo. Anyone know what's happening with the matter ?
https://www.tame.com.ec/
Citywing - Cheap flights with Citywing
Citywing to modify logo after TAME objection

New Glasgow route
 

I see citywing are to commence the Glasgow route from March 31st after talks with the Alex Salmond in the summer,


Flights between Scotland and Isle of Man take off | Citywing News

What was the reason that heads of Govt needed to be involved in the es?tablishment of an air route ?
Is Citywing beholden to political pressure, or did Govt have to provide some sort of cash subsidy ?

there's no show without Punch?

Interesting that the Citywings press release uses the description:

Probably less irritating for the travelling public than "citywing is a Czech airline registered as VAN AIR Europe a.s"

City wings
 

And carefully not mentioning previous company name and this weeks report,
,

New Glasgow routes and subsidies are a bit vague these days, seems their chambers of commerce can offer cash incentives to lure airlines from other Scottish airports. I doubt Government subsidies are involved. One must of course also suspect similar IOM business involvement.

Really?
 

"seems their chambers of commerce can offer cash incentives to lure airlines from other Scottish airports". I'd love to see the evidence behind this claim Mr Curry.

Here we go again.... and one with familiar common denominator....:yuk:

Yup, common denominator indeed. Any opportunity to disparage Glasgow is this poster's raison d'etre. Even route announcements at his "beloved" airport are twisted to be a dig at Glasgow.

The IOM government identified a market that isn't currently served. Get over it!

Troll.

Was Gordon Dewar 'trolling'?

Edinburgh Airport chief claims public purse used to lure services to Glasgow - Scotsman Tablet

And you reckon Gordon Dewar hasn't spoken to the various public bodies in Edinburgh about doing similar? Get a life. If he hasn't looked at all sources of available 'support monies' both public and private then he is naive and incompetent, both of which I doubt if he is. You really want to remove that huge chip from your shoulder.

Anyone know if City wing are using Van Air let410 or links air j32 for their new Glasgow route? Did notice a j32 buzzing down the Ayrshire coast, past few days around the time the flight is due

Its the Jetstream, although I don't know which is worse.
Let was operating to GLA today though !

Pity Citywing don't operate something slightly larger than a J31, they'd be perfect to take on the now vacant IOM-LTN route

Citywing don't operate anything, they are a ticketing agency pretending to be an airline. The nature of that veneer is evident from a perusal of the accident report on the Manx2 Metroliner accident in Cork.

The fact that they are allowed to continue this pretence is down to a loophole in the CAA regulations relating to aircraft with 19 seats or fewer. If Citywing operated something "slightly larger" than a J31 they would have to become a real airline, with the oversight and safety systems that go with that. :cool:

This is not to cast any aspersions at all on Links Air, who fly for them and who by all accounts are a reputable carrier. But as the Manx2 report made clear, the "ticketing agency" wasn't carrying out any meaningful oversight or auditing of the carriers who flew for it. For the passengers it was therefore the luck of the draw whether you got a good carrier (e.g. Links Air) or you didn't (Air Lada/Flightline BCN).

Manx2
 

Went to manx2.com and the detail on the page made for interesting reading. Stated that Manx2 ceased trading end of 2012 and all queries should be directed to Spain. Clearly little changed except the brand on the aircraft and the metros were gone ... They did a good job of distancing themselves from the reputation damage that was manx2 and the cork crash ...

PRESS RELEASE



CITYWING EXPLORING OPTIONS FOLLOWING ANNOUNCEMENT

OF BLACKPOOL AIRPORT CLOSURE



Following the announcement made last night (07 October 2014) by Blackpool Airport that the airport will close to passenger traffic as of 15 October, Citywing will temporarily suspend its flights to Blackpool from that date for a period of four weeks.



It is in the interests of the communities of both Blackpool and the Isle of Man that services are resumed as soon as possible, and Blackpool Airport have stated that they will continue to work with the independent aviation businesses currently operating from Blackpool to develop a sustainable future for aviation services at the airport. Citywing will be taking an active part in those discussions to bring back this lifeline air-link as soon as possible.



The local council and many local businesses are now actively seeking a way to ensure Blackpool Airport will re-open with a sustainable new business model and we are pleased to be a part of those discussions.



Citywing Managing Director, David Buck, said: ‘Unfortunately, our discussions with a nearby airport to provide temporary facilities while Blackpool Airport’s issues are resolved proved unworkable. In order to minimise disruption to our passengers, we have reluctantly decided to suspend flights to Blackpool for a period of four weeks.



‘We apologise for any inconvenience caused by Blackpool Airport's decision and we will keep our customers fully updated on progress over the next few weeks. Citywing remains committed to serving its customers and maintaining the vital route between the Isle of Man and Blackpool.



‘Citywing Reservations will contact all passengers in due course and we ask for patience during this process.’



Passengers booked for travel up to 15 October will be unaffected. Passengers booked for travel between 16 and 22 October will be offered a full refund or alternative travel arrangements. Passengers booked for travel between 23 October and 16 November will automatically be given a full refund.

So where could Citywing go next???? Surely they could not go toe to toe with Flybe/easyj on their existing Liverpool/Manchester routes?? Now Blackpool is no more other options appear thin on the ground. Could Carlisle be an option? Would re opening a Leeds route be viable??

I note that flights to/from Anglesey are not bookable beyond December 9, 2014. Did I miss something? Could not find anything in the general media why flights appear to end and nothing in the Cardiff thread here on PPRUNE.:confused:

Can't find any myself. Have made enquiries to Citywing on Twitter.

Wales Air Forum have replied to my tweet:


"there should be a new contract awarded soon. Flights maybe operated by someone else #staytuned"


"it is a PSO route awarded by @WelshGovernment. It had to go back out for tender and should be announced any time after the 3rd. It may be awarded to @Fly_Citywing or another operator."

Thank you for you inquiries. Tells a bit about the route if it goes virtually unnoticed that flights are no longer beyond early next month...:eek:

When they say 3rd, they meant this month, so announcement should be anytime now apparently.

With Links Air now offering scheduled flights themselves and having the necessary IT infrastructure in place, wouldn't it be a no brainer to tender for the flights themselves - given that Citywing apparently earns money by having the flights operated on its behalf by Links Air, the latter should always be able to make a lower offer than Citywing without having to operate for less than at the moment.....

Seems as if Citywing is sort of between a rock and a hard place. They will need to find anohter operate that is so much cheaper than Links Air that Citywing can pay them and still earn some money on top of that.

On the Wales Air Forum, member Gerallt Marsh has listed the key points of the contract which must be adhered to by the operator. The document is on the Welsh government website.


"PSO Term from 10th December 2014 - 9th December 2018
Annual Budget allocated between 1m & 1.3m per annum
Flights must be non-stop
Max Single Fare of £60 one-way for tirst 60% and max £90 for remainder.
Timings must be scheduled within RAF Valley‟s opening hours of 08:00 to 18:00 on Monday to Thursday, 08:00 to 17:00 on Friday. Note
First departure from Cardiff no later than 08:00.
First departure from RAF Valley no later than 09:00.
Last departure from RAF Valley no earlier than 17:00 Monday to Thursday and no earlier than 16:00 on Friday.
Minimum of 2 x Daily flights on a aircraft no larger than 19 seats (however scheduled flights are only allowed to operate during blocks at the beginning & end of Valley opening times due to RAF Training."

Seems odd not to have the contract sorted only just a month away from the end of the old one :eek:

On a previous contract renewal, Citywing (in its former guise) kept services on sale whilst contracts were being sorted out. I can only assume that it not doing so on this occasion is a sign that contracts aren't being sorted out and it's therefore going to another operator. May be wrong, but I can't see this as a good sign.

Further tweet from Wales Air Forum

"We have heard of two operators that have applied for the route so should be pretty safe."

The word "safe" when discussing Citywing (or its former guise) really does fill me with fear. No matter what the intended context.

Any idea on who these 2 operators are that have applied ? What aircraft will they be using ??

Interesting to see if Citywing are one of them too ?

The tender documents are in the public domain and specify that the bidder must hold an Air Operator's Certificate.

So Links Air have taken over the Cardiff-Anglesey route from Citywing. Not great times for Citywing with their loss of the Blackpool-IOM link as well (although that couldn't be helped from their point of view).


Fingers crossed they start a route from Carlisle in 2015. Maybe expand to other regional airports too?

Not sure if Carlisle would be a goer, is there really a need to fly to Carlisle. I wonder if there is options to look at Belfast-cork or are the numbers their to increase the Newcastle route. What about linking Gloucester direct with Ireland?? How would an Edinburgh route do. All viable options for City wing to look at. They have 3 lets operating their current routes at the moment

A lack of loo on board resticts somewhat! I'd hate to be going around the hold during fog in a desperate need of a pee!

Rob, go and read the accident report from the last time Citywing (then called Manx2) flew from Belfast to Cork. Six people died as a result of a chain of events to which a near-total lack of oversight - or indeed operational management competence - on the part of both Citywing/Manx2 and the Spanish subcontractor were significant contributors. I (and probably quite a lot of other people in Ireland) would not trust Citywing/Manx2 to fly a kite on the beach, let alone a scheduled passenger service, and IMHO the sooner the CAA amends the ATOL regulations to eliminate this "sub-20-seat" loophole which shamefully allows them to stay in operation, the better. Let them stay far away from Belfast-Cork, and RIP those who lost their lives.

(For the avoidance of doubt: I am not casting any aspersions whatsoever on Links Air, who are a reputable airline (=AOC holder) which does some flying for Citywing/Manx2 among other business. My gripe is with pretend airlines who are unable to provide the level of safety oversight a passenger is entitled to expect from a real airline.)

Virtual Airlines
 

Cyrano,
I couldn't agree more. It's a scandal that such operations can exist under the nose of the IAA/CAAand EASA. The relatives of those that perished in Cork have yet to see any form of recompense for their loss and still these 'operatirs' fly on.