Porlamar: I believe First Choice B763's used to do the runs over there. Unfortunately, as economic difficulties increased in the latter days of the nutty Chavez regime there were increasing reports of problems with petty crime against tourists. I walked around Porlamar for a day during a cruise ship visit, but our itinerary was altered (to a very boring shopping centre) to avoid areas which had been dropped. Basically, Venezuela just became a bit too risky for mainstream package tourism at that time.

I remember flying to Porlamar for 2 week all inclusive holiday with First Choice in Margarita in about 1996. Great place for a holiday as it had a real South American vibe to it. You could walk around in safety then with no problems. Lots of Latin American history and you could do a day trip flying to Caniema on the mainland taking in a view of Angel Falls as well. From memory the flight used to depart from MAN and stop to pick up from LGW on the way so it felt like a long haul, especially in economy!

Thank you both very much - one learns something new every day.

Who operated that flight? AMM didn't get their 763's until the very late 90's with the LEI takeover. 98?

More than the personal safety, many businesses packed up dealing with Venezuela simply because they were/are unable to get their money out of the country !

American 787
 

Chicago confirmed as the 787 per airlineroute.net 2 June - 5 October.

This was rumoured in the week as an internal memo confirming was received (In the US allegedly) although I realise LAX mentioned this before Christmas.

Also now showing in the airline booking engine.

Pete

Also reported on routes online...

American Airlines in this week’s schedule update has revised planned operational aircraft for Chicago – Manchester route during summer peak season.

From 02JUN16 to 05OCT16 (ORD departure), the oneWorld member will be operating Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft on daily basis, replacing 767-300ER.

AA054 ORD2155 – 1125+1MAN 788 D
AA055 MAN1315 – 1520ORD 788 D

Great to see the AA B787 confirmed after a few weeks of waiting for said confirmation.

In other news, there is now a picture circulating on other sites advertising the Shaheen flights, supposedly originating from Shaheens Lahore office, although they remain unbookable.

It also looks like Pegasus won't be operating SAW and have taken Bodrum off sale. Bookings to Turkey are up to 60% down from the UK so it's unsurprising some flights would fall victim to cuts.

Those AAL54/55 timings look interesting. The flight arrives well after the morning gate capacity issues have passed peak. The Philadelphia service always arrived a bit later than the other two anyway so missed the T3 crush. AAL210 still shows 07:25 arrival so that will remain in the thick of things.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shed-on-a-Pole View Post
Porlamar: I believe First Choice B763's used to do the runs over there. Unfortunately, as economic difficulties increased in the latter days of the nutty Chavez regime there were increasing reports of problems with petty crime against tourists. I walked around Porlamar for a day during a cruise ship visit, but our itinerary was altered (to a very boring shopping centre) to avoid areas which had been dropped. Basically, Venezuela just became a bit too risky for mainstream package tourism at that time.
I remember flying to Porlamar for 2 week all inclusive holiday with First Choice in Margarita in about 1996. Great place for a holiday as it had a real South American vibe to it. You could walk around in safety then with no problems. Lots of Latin American history and you could do a day trip flying to Caniema on the mainland taking in a view of Angel Falls as well. From memory the flight used to depart from MAN and stop to pick up from LGW on the way so it felt like a long haul, especially in economy!
DomyDom is offline Report Post


Just happen to have an airport timetable from September 2004 to hand, Porlamar shows as an 11:00 departure on a Wednesday flight number XLA830 B767 300, return Thu 07:10 flight XLA831.

Job for Bagso in your spare time?

M.A.G - Press Office Intern - Manchester NA M901QX

PRESS OFFICE INTERN £15k :ooh:

Many thanks Beteblocker but sadly i'm already fully employed as chairman of the Mancunian Branch of M.O.G. (Miserable Old G##s) as opposed to M.A.G.

...plus the position my entail doing some PR for STN !

...well you can stick that up your ..............(Editors Note ; unfortunetly the following expletive was removed so as not to cause any offence)

Bagso
Something for you to cast your eyes over
Taken from Northwest Business News
Home / News / MPs fly the flag for Manchester in aviation debate

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MPs fly the flag for Manchester in aviation debate

4th February 2016

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http://www.thebusinessdesk.com/asset...ss=313T300T840 By Chris Barry - Editor, North West


http://www.thebusinessdesk.com/asset...ss=604T013T840 Manchester Airport


MPS have said it is "shameful" that capacity at regional airports is unused at a time when there is a log-jam at Heathrow and political indecision over future aviation policy.

A special debate took place in Parliament on the subject of regional airports in the wake of the government delaying a decision on whether to build a new runway at Heathrow or Gatwick.

MPs from both main parties discussed how a strong Manchester Airport was key to realising the Northern Powerhouse vision.

They heard how a high speed east-west rail link is key to unleashing the full might of Manchester Airport.

And Transport Minister Robert Goodwill heaped praise on the airport’s network of long haul flights to key markets, set to be bolstered by a direct service to Beijing with Hainan Airlines in June.

Sir Alan Haselhurst, former MP for Middleton and Preswtich, who now represents Saffron Waldon, pointed to the fact Manchester Airport handled a record 23 million passengers last year but actually has the potential to deal with 55 million.

He added: “We are beset by the division between the capital city and the rest of the United Kingdom, and I find that the term regional airports somehow implies second division.

"I am a northerner and at one stage I represented a Greater Manchester seat. I was very pro the development of Manchester Airport but we have never yet exploited the regional airports to their full. At the moment, there is an urgent need to do so, because they have usable capacity.”

Wythenshawe and Sale East MP Mike Kane said: "With 23 million passengers a year, which will rise to 45 million a year by 2025, Manchester Airport is a serious world international airport.

“It has the capacity, with the two runways, to go to 55 million passengers a year. A total of 100,000 tonnes of goods are exported out of Manchester Airport and it generates 21,000 jobs.”

He added: “There was a Mancunian entrepreneur and industrialist called Daniel Adamson. In 1860, he saw the north developing a continuous economic regional powerhouse, as he described it from the banks of the Mersey estuary to the banks of the Humber, to create a single economic market.

“In 1886, he then decided to build the Manchester Ship canal. He got halfway there, but there is now an opportunity in the years ahead of us to create that single market. Current rail access to Manchester airport means that the population within a two-hour catchment of it using public transport stands at around 8 million.”

He added: “We estimate that if we put in the right transport links from east to west we would create a catchment area for the airport of 18 million people, bringing in Liverpool city region, Sheffield, Liverpool itself and Leeds, with all of them being within around 30 minutes of Manchester and Manchester Airport.

“It would widen the airports catchment area massively.”

Kane concluded: “We can connect our airports and our cities more effectively if we have the right vision, guts and gravitas.”

The Westminster Hall debate had been secured by Newcastle North MP Catherine McKinnell, who said government indecision over aviation capacity had the potential to harm regional airports, adding: “Those decisions are not new and include where to build the new runway to provide the capacity we need for the future and how properly to support regional airports during a time of considerable upheaval with devolution.”

Manchester Airport achieved its 23 million milestone in November. Growth in passenger numbers has been driven by it building a route portfolio of more than 210 destinations served by more than 70 different airlines.

Long haul traffic has grown by around 10 per cent year-on-year, with there currently being 52 weekly flights to the Middle East, as well as a host of services to parts of America, Hong Kong and Singapore, among others.

Julian Knight, Conservative MP for Solihull, said the fact there was spare capacity at airports like Manchester was "shameful."

And Labour’s Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner added: “Improving surface access is the Airport Operators Association’s No. 1 priority in 2016.

“So will the government recognise that too, and endorse Labour’s call for the National Infrastructure Commission to prioritise a review into rail and road access into all airports?

“In the meantime, let us commit Manchester airport to joining Birmingham International and the HS2 line, and commit to include upgrades to links to Stansted in the next rail investment period.”

Concluding the debate, transport minister Robert Goodwill said: “It is heartening to see that many of the airports that were impacted by the economic downturn a few years ago are now, like the economy, seeing real growth again.

“Manchester Airport, as mentioned by the Hon. Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East is now the UK’s third largest, handling more than 20 million passengers a year.

“It has the only regular A380 service from a UK airport outside London and its routes are expanding further—Cathay Pacific is operating direct flights to Hong Kong and, starting this June, Hainan Airlines will operate four flights a week to Beijing.

“Those are the first direct scheduled flights between mainland China and a UK airport outside of London, worth at least £250m in economic benefits to the UK.
“Indeed, my big new shiny railway will be coming to Manchester as well as Birmingham airports.”

Manchester Airport managing director Ken O’Toole said: “It is pleasing to see politicians from across the political spectrum and from various parts of the UK recognising Manchester Airport’s role as a national asset based in the north of England.

“With no new runway capacity likely to be provided in the south east for 15-20 years, Manchester Airport can play an important role in the short to medium term and it has already proved to be an attractive option to long haul carriers like Cathay Pacific and Hainan Airlines."


Ian

Heartening but a more robust attack should have been made during the airport commission enquiry!

Plus MAN is labelled with that stereo typical regional tag yet again!

The sooner those shackles are loosened by more forceful debate at "national" level the better !

Mentions of any Air China service to Shanghai were conspicuously absent. Is this dead or are we about to be surprised?

It was mentioned in the latest Greater Manchester Business Week.

Exec Director of Manchester China Forum states "Air China's intention to operate a Manchester-Shanghai route provides another exciting prospect"

So it's still out there.....

Reading the full text of the debate in Hansard here: Regional Airport debate Sir Alan Haslehurst, Conservative MP for Saffron Walden would appear to agree with you (he was previously MP for Prestwich I think).

All names taken
Funny you should mention PVG as I have just heard today talk
of a start on 25th June on another site and from someone who
is quiet reliable.

Ian

Chaps

Yes my previous post was a bit of a fishing trip as I'd heard something similar yesterday face to face from someone who might be considered a sensible person but I wasn't sure whether he really was 'in the know' or just passing on conjecture. Such is the stuff of rumours I suppose.

The optimist in me hopes that something might be announced in conjunction with the forthcoming Chinese NY celebrations...which of course are fairly significant in Manchester.
Still - like everything else, it's only real when the wheels hit the runway on the first flight :ok:

And should we be in any doubt of our place in the pecking order, note we were included in a Regional Airport discussion but crucially not the UK airport debate, despite having more in common with the London airports than Say Newcastle or Bristol.

I do wonder whether part of the blame lies with MAG themselves, do they push enough ?

Clearly it's Manchester which is picking up the long haul routes although I have this nagging feeling they would have preferred this tsunami at Stansted.

#spoiler alert I'm loathe to suggest this but would some BA services change things for Manchester ?

Maybe some routes might provide the kudos required?

We live in hope that the former Heathrow spin doctor now working for MAG can come up with a strategy to influence opinion at ministerial level and with business leader writers which thus far has been sorely missing !