Ah yes, but what did he say on Twitter, you know, the real world?

Thank you Andrew for that clarification.

Ah yes' oh course....... "The Hansard Evening News"
A best seller in terms of news media !

Give it a rest Bagso. Just because something doesn’t appear in the Bagso/Navpi Daily Bugle doesn’t mean it’s not happened or been said / reported.

Now, now no need to be tetchy.

Not sure which of the topics you wanted thoughts on so I will offer some on all three.

On a coordinated restart: nice idea but impractical as different nations are at different phases of the pandemic, not to mention governments with vastly different approaches to managing it. You also have Spain and Greece talking about opening resorts this summer with social distancing measures in place whilst Argentina bans flights until 1st September.

Delta have publicly expressed an opinion that it will be several years until aviation returns to 2019 levels. They along with BA / LH are in the "long recovery period" camp whilst Wizz Air are planning on being back to capacity by the end of this year with new aircraft and their Abu Dhabi offshoot still planned to launch. Then there is the different positions being taken by different countries that I mentioned earlier. No clear picture yet and still too early to foretell the outcome but if governments go ahead with 14 day quarantine periods for arriving passengers as has been suggested by some (UK included) then any hope of a return for the overseas holiday industry this summer would be dead. I suspect it is already due to recessionary impacts on peoples spending alongside the nervousness people will understandably feel initially about travel particularly among higher risk groups.

Seats and fares: the middle seat issue is madness. Average seat is around 18 inches wide so leaving it empty doesn't achieve the 2m social distancing requirements (if they remain.) As 2m is around 78 inches you would only be able to occupy the window seats on a narrow body aircraft. Plus seat pitch at 33 or 34 inches (I think?) you would need to occupy every third row. OK - family groups would reduce this requirement and increase the loads a little but it is reasonable to assume this approach wouldn't be financially sustainable.
Without a significant scaling back of social distancing, I don't see this being practical either.

Purely my thoughts and I would be happy (indeed hoping) to be proved wrong!

Bring back Alf Morris I say

For younger readers, he was the Wythenshawe MP from 1964 -1997 and was always very supportive of the opportunities it gave his constituents and the positive economic impact of having the airport on his doorstep. He was however concerned to minimise the environmental impact of the airport and was very interested in the airport providing adequate provision for the disabled.

Particularly in the 1990s, the airport had almost universal support from local and regional MPs across the parties, although some were more enthusiastic than others of course. That was in the days when all lobbying efforts were focused on Manchester as there wasn't such a beast as MAG where the needs of individual airports would be diluted to arrive at a common position.

....and Gordon Sweetapple as airport director. A man who was always so approachable.

My apologies for any thread drift.

I would echo the sentiments re Alf Morris.
A quiet revolutionary who put Manchester Airport on the map.
Certainly more vocal than our current incumbent !

Not forgetting the remarkable powers of persuasion of Sir Gil Thompson who succeeded GJS in 1981 and drove the airport forward until he left in 1993...Watching and listening to him "work the floor" at meetings with politicians and business people on one level and with the public on another level was a joy to behold. And he knew every single member of the MA staff by name too.

Surprised there's been no mention of the launch of an air cargo operation by Manchester based "The Hut Group" - with two based aircraft from October and a charter operation before that from Singapore Airlines Cargo serving THG distribution centres in USA and Asia. They've been utilising chartered cargo aircraft across Asia already apparently

GVAST just positioned in from LGW unusual manouevre after not moving since the 24th March, now 4 of the 7 Virgin 747s at MAN.

I suspect that is because the news was only officially released yesterday and is now starting to hit the media...

https://www.thg.com/blog/2020/04/30/...aunch-thg-air/

Not entirely clear what type of aircraft and routes that THG Air will fly and whether this will be a stand alone airline or one run in conjunction with someone else, possibly SQ? But I assume it will mean new jobs and business to the Airport in the medium term and let's face it any positive story is a bonus at present.

I expect Adola 69 will be along shortly with some comments . :)

See message #3914 !

Just to second the comments by Suzeman and others about Alf Morris, Gordon Sweetapple and Sir Gil.
Some of us are old enough to remember them all and the contribution they made in their own way to the promotion and development of Manchester Airport.

The remark about Sir Gil being brilliant at 'working the floor' is so apt, as he was with the personal touch. I didn't work at the airport but took a keen interest, and on one occasion I wrote to him on some issue (possibly to do with diversions). Imagine my surprise a couple of days later when I walked in from work and the wife telling me there's a Gil Thompson on the phone for you. I imagine he would have been pleased with how the airport had continue to grow until this crisis, particularly on international long haul routes.

There's a complete thread on it here....

https://www.pprune.org/airlines-airp...8-thg-air.html

THG

At least its not being diverted to EMA.

We hope that’s the case !

Had a tweet today to say Air France restart 7th May 3 weekly and from 22nd daily

easyJet launching MAN-ABZ daily from 31st August.