BA going back to the regions as per the 90's full stop!

Let's not get carried away now! Although we would all love to see this, don't think it is going to happen I'm afraid.

Does anyone know of any routes that Wizz should realistically be operating?

I think MAN -JFK could happen. It was operated for many years BOAC/BA using aircraft crewed and operated from LHR so didn't need any air craft being based in Manchester.

Well within crew hours including deadheading between LHR and MAN.

With their well known in the area brand, and with several proven markets still unserved from Humberside (HUY), Jet2 with the following;

Summer
HUY-Alicante
HUY-Corfu
HUY-Dalaman
HUY-Faro
HUY-Ibiza
HUY-Malaga
HUY-Palma
HUY-Tenerife

Winter
HUY-Alicante
HUY-Fuerteventura
HUY-Geneva
HUY-Gran Canaria
HUY-Lanzarote
HUY-Malaga
HUY-Tenerife

Kind regards

Aeulad

MAN is not particularly well served by routes to the Baltic/Eastern Europe regions compared with some other airports as the current absence of Bucharest shows, so there are possible opportunities there. However, given that Wizz seem to be established and focused on LPL, DSA and now BHX, I doubt we'll see them at MAN anytime soon.

BA back at Manchester,now there's a thing.

Well there is little doubt they must be aghast at how much business they have lost and are continuing to lose from the N West.

Quite odd seeing there recent "national" BA holiday ads.

Other than London the regional demographic is to say the least narrow, unless of course they set up shop in the centre of they country with a FlyBe code share? Now that would hoover up a tremendous number of passengers.

If they did comeback would it be on a genuinely competitive basis with say 5 long haul aircraft based or a short term #spoiler.

And what routes for the card carrying regulars ?

I'll leave the list to others.

Trouble is there are too many of us still alive with long memories ��

I agree with this and surely MAN would have been a bigger market to serve rather than LPL for Wizz. I also agree that we won't see Wizz at MAN anytime soon.

If anyone was going to start flights to Bucharest, it's looking like Ryanair. What other Eastern European/Baltic destinations are MAN missing that could be a winner?

LBIA

Surprised that you include Jet2 to Berlin in your wish list. They have already tried this once and withdrew from the route. I suspect that FR are more likely to give it a go if it is to reappear.

I would not be so sure about MAN and Wizz, nothing confirmed obviously...but it does no harm expect the unexpected :)

Alicante-Aberdeen
Alicante-Heathrow (BA)

British Airways dos operate a 3 weekly year round Heathrow to Alicante service a couple of years ago, but it got discontinued. I think they could make it work seasonally in the summer.

British Airways will tell you that they already serve MAN-JFK daily: the flight numbers are BA1552 / BA1553. Of course, this flight is otherwise known as AA210 / AA211 operated by BA's Oneworld partner American Airlines. Given that this codeshare operation already exists, would BA consider potentially diluting the market with a second (or replacement?) schedule on their own metal? With MAN neatly functioning as a spoke for AA but representing a bit of a logistical headache for a 're-based' BA long-haul aircraft, maybe AA would still be viewed as the best Oneworld solution for the MAN-JFK market.

Wizz Air. This airline is gradually evolving from its earlier model of sticking to backwater airports. BHX is a recent beneficiary of this and it is not alone. It would therefore be worthwhile for MAN to make a pitch. If MAN can offer a pricing-structure acceptable to Ryanair then they can do so for any other ULCC.

A certain pink and purple airline is actually well aware of demand derived from the Manchester area. Some years ago I was puzzled to note advertising posters in Krakow (Poland) promoting their scheduled flights between Krakow and Manchester. However, the small-print revealed that the flights in question were actually Katowice-Liverpool! Giant porkie-pies at both ends of this claim! I guess that Poland didn't have an effective 'Advertising Standards Agency' at that time. However, somebody had certainly recognised where the underlying traffic demand actually lay!

Birmingham-Porto (Monarch, Ryanair)
Birmingham-Helsinki (Finnair)
Birmingham-Stockholm (SAS, Norwegian)
Birmingham-Vienna (Austrian, Eurowings)
Birmingham-Oslo (Norwegian)
Birmingham-Lublin (Wizz Air)
Birmingham-Kosice (Wizz Air)
Birmingham-Timisoara (Wizz Air, Ryanair)
Birmingham-Cluj (Wizz Air, Blue Air)
Birmingham-Iasi (Blue Air)
Birmingham-Riga (Wizz Air, Ryanair)
Birmingham-Pisa/Florence (Monarch, Ryanair, Flybe)
Birmingham-Orlando MCO (Anyone please)
Birmingham-Las Vegas (As above)
Birmingham-Cuba (Thomson)
Birmingham-Vancouver (Air Transat, Westjet)
Birmingham-Chicago (American)
Birmingham-Boston (Norwegian)
Birmingham-Mumbai (Air India, Norwegian)
Birmingham-Tehran (Mahan Air)
Birmingham-China (Take your pick)
Birmingham-Abu Dhabi (Etihad)

Cardiff - Berlin (BE)
Cardiff - Bordeaux (BE)
Cardiff - Murcia
Cardiff - Prague
Cardiff - Istanbul (TK)
Cardiff - Dubai (EK)
Cardiff - New York (DL/UA/AA)
Cardiff - Cape Verde (TOM/MT)
Cardiff - Toronto (AC rouge)

Just a few wishful hopes....

It's actually a bit difficult to come up with "good" future destinations for BA from Heathrow, as pretty much all the worthwhile ones have been done.

Regarding the old "BA from the provinces" proposals, those times have been and gone. When you look at the other European operators they likewise have hunkered down to just one, or for a few, two, hubs, and that's it. Legacy operators have just become hub operators. BA have a sizeable operation from different London airports to Nice, Air France don't even bother with the route, although they have substantial operations to Paris at both London and Nice. But spoke-to-spoke flights just seem destined to be left to the LCCs.

Ryanair are going to base another two aircraft at BFS in the autumn. Anyone have any ideas as to routes
They did have BFS to Milan on mobile app for a while then removed.

Liverpool or Manchester to Toulouse with EZY or FR? Currently only served twice weekly on a seasonal basis with LS. Seems rather underserved from the North West.

With Broughton just down the road too, surely Airbus could generate some traffic here?

Don't Airbus operate there own private shuttle from Chester?

The IAG group and other BA joint ventures are slowly but surely increasing their presence at MAN, currently roughly 10/day to London (BA), 8/day to Ireland (EI), 3/day to USA (AA), up to 3-4/day to Spain/Italy (IB/I2/VY), Billund/Helsinki (EZ/AY), so arguably up to nearly 30 flights a day.