not many fans travel to the early rounds and on most of the inbound
there seems to have only been 1 or 2 charters and that included
the teams so those figures seem very high, the CSKA match bought
1 Aeroflot for inbound and for return so about 150 seats and therefore
hardly worth counting so most must have come by schedule flights
or be residential in the UK.

CSKA will undoubtedly have a lower away following due to visa issues. I would have thought that PSV will bring a lot more when that match happens.


Also worth understanding the demand for United home games in general from abroad though. There will be fans travelling in from Ireland, Scandinavia and more to support the home team so that needs to be considered when looking at the impact of extra United games.


A friend of mine worked in hotels for years and he always told me that when United played at home hotels were very hard to come by in Manchester and when they played at home when a big act was on at the Arena you were basically looking at every room full in every hotel.

A lot of spanish teams also take very few away fans until last stages
of competition and actually tends to be the smaller clubs who almost
treat it as their cup final playing at OT

Ian

Well, I honestly thought that the Hainan group of airlines would be the main growth of Chinese flights in the UK regions. (Hainan at MAN and Beijing Capital at BHX, with possible Hainan flights in Scotland too).

However, it seems Air China are getting in on the action too, and according to the CAAC, intend to start a 4 weekly Manchester-Shanghai on A332 from March 2016.

Interesting times ahead!

4 weekly Manchester-Shanghai on A332 from March 2016.

Great news Lax.

The demand for stands is at breaking point!

Is this an application to operate the route?

As I recall, Air China had rights but wasn't that for MAN-PEK? Can they switch them to PVG or is it more complex than that?

Let's not get carried away. Whilst the news of the 'intended' service is really good news, maybe we should wait for it to be officially announced and loaded onto systems.

Anyway it certainly is good to hear the rumour and LAX_LHR is one of our best sources for reliable information.

Whilst it is just a route application at this time, I'd like to clarify its not a rumour, as the application is fully viewable to the public on the CAAC if you use google translate too.

CA
 

Excellent news on CA if it gets approved. A Chinese carrier in a proper alliance, probably has more connection opportunity at PVG than HU has in PEK.

And in another strange twist today, Etihad have said on Twitter that they 'hope to use the A380 to Manchester soon, so please stay tuned'

This is a completely different format to previous messages where they have said 'not at this time'.

Strange indeed.Only Stand 12 can feasibly take an A380....I know they can be parked remote but that wouldn't wash with Etihad. Stand 12 is taken by Emirates almost full time if they put the fourth daily on.

Unless this is just a one-off promotional or football related upgrade????

Since I have some J bookings with EY already, I will be thrilled if this happens!

Heck I will settle for any aircraft with F!

Great news re Etihad...but would a desk person on social media be aware of anything concrete or is it more a case of just being seen to be positive, that said it would seem odd to declare on twitter unless somethng is in place but I guess you never know.

Will Emirates now up gauge to a 3rd 380 as they are in the box seat simply to keep them out ? Effectively keeping the single stand occupied for most of the workable day ?

Re China let's hope MAG and Visit Britain are in talks with Caissa !

Re: Etihad

After giving it a little thought it does seem likely that this is just the social media agent being positive in their reply. MAN makes no sense for EY's super premium A380 considering that they don't even offer first class regularly as it is.

I am sure MAN is a big market for them but they seem to consigned to a lot of low yield traffic (kangaroo route etc) hence the 2 class 77W's.

Or as it is currently is, the 2 class 77W morning and the A346 on the afternoon service.

Etihad are currently selling first class fares from Manchester while the A340-600 is used. I'm not sure what the uptake has been though given it is a limited period of operation.

I don't believe the A380 in the Etihad layout would be suitable for MAN based on the residence suite at the front, but, let's face it, stranger things have happened, and when it comes to the MEB3 at MAN, rationale often goes out of the window!

i am thoroughly impressed with MAN's performance of late though.

To think in 2016, we have the 'prestige*' routes of Los Angeles, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Phuket, Mauritius and so on?

*when I say 'prestige' I mean the fact that 'West Coast USA', 'China', 'East Asia' are considered long term targets by many airports in Europe.

Fully agree LAX_LHR, MAN is booming. Can't remember such a string of new routes, many of them long haul and long awaited - 2016 is going to break all records. BHX aswell, both great news for regional flying. Let's hope these routes stick around for the long haul, so to speak ;)

The only time I might envisage Etihad using an A380 would be a one-off upgrade in connection with a major football match at the Etihad or a significant anniversary for PR purposes, when they need lots of premium seats.
Or if in future they get some A380s in high density two-class seating like Emirates. Normally with the MEB3 where one goes, the others follow....

When does the Air India start?:E

Next week Turin.

BTW, can't message you back as it says you have reached your storage quota.