Genuinely torn...one chuffed that someone is giving the route a go but can’t believe we don’t pause all this, and save the public purse, until the market recovers.

I suspect the problem is, when the market recovers, the slots won't be. Caught Between a rock and a hard place.

Worry is...Eastern eat away at very small markets,using the mayors purse.
KLM decide ..hey! That’s it guys..going to concentrate on the bigger markets?..We live in strange times.

I thought that KLM had done a five year deal with MME.

There would definitely be a force majeure clause in the contract.

https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/t...d-due-19032230

Now confirmed. Back in Feb as things stand.

Apparently the airports FB person feels that Olly Murs appearing at the Darlington Arena is of greater significance to it's followers :ok:

SeanM on Twitter is saying the Easter has secured more slots for Teesside-Heathrow. Treat with a bit of caution but he is normally pretty reliable.

Doubtful. They’re struggling to get anywhere near reasonable numbers on the existing services without adding even more. Mind you, this is Eastern we’re talking about, so nothing would surprise me.

Surely it's a bit chicken and egg - numbers are low because the schedule isn't particularly useful? I think we have to see this route as a long term project (with some significant losses to start with) while the customer base builds up. Diving in now at the bottom of the market presumably is an attempt to get access to slots for the long term? Needs a decent schedule and interlining agreement to build up creditability.

Or it all could be just extreme electioneering! :ok:

I ‘give it 6 months’ in any shape or form.

Still uneasy about the amount of money being pumped in to this “project” while the region..like others could put the cash to better use?

Factual that some flights are departing with..shall we say ,not many folks on board..while businesses across the region are suffering big time.
Both will only get worse over the winter while the mayor continues to use up valuable awarded resources..Suppose Eastern are not too bothered as it covers their losses during the quiet winter period.When the money runs out..so will they!

Indeed. It all smacks of some grand showboating by the Mayor undoubtedly in a bid to win support, but at great financial cost to the taxpayer. Perhaps this would have been easier to overlook during normal times, but right now, when in ordinary life elsewhere, throughout the length and breadth of the country, where every penny counts, it’s a little distasteful and inappropriate. Going forward, I think this has a danger of tipping the balance with regards to KLM continuing at MME, with the potential in more stable times to eat away at the their load factor.

As a finance guy myself, the question I always ask is would I do this if it were my money? Of course, I’m not privy to all the facts, but I suspect my answer would be ‘no, not for now at least...’.

In normal times I would agree, however, I don’t think this factor is particularly important to the few travellers around these days. I think it’s more a case of just getting there however possible at whatever time.

Agree re the interlining, however I don’t think it will ever get that far.

To be honest, I'm inclined to agree but there is always the counter arguement that this is exactly the right time to be maintaining/improving access to the region and Mr Mayor has been consistent in saying the area needs greater connectivity.

You do have to wonder though, if things are so bad that even KLM are losing too much money (I'm assuming nobodies making any at the moment...), whether this is the right thing to be doing just now.

Or maybe we should just have the discussion once it's confirmed....:E

Eastern Airways is expanding MME to LHR flights, On Heathrow website to 3x daily from 25th October

LHR arrival times:
09:10 Mon-Fri
10:05 Sat
15:20 Mon-Sat
16:00 Sun
17:20 Mon-Fri & Sun

LHR departure times:
09:40 Mon-Fri
11:00 Sat
16:15 Mon-Sat
16:55 Sun
18:10 Mon-Fri & Sun

Could the expansion perhaps be delayed instead until maybe spring 2021, when there might at least be some semblance of passenger demand for this service
It seems a bit like a bus company deciding there is huge demand for buses from suburbs to a town centre at 3 am on a Tuesday, convinced that if only public transport was good enough, the shops would all stay open 24/7

We should not be measuring the success of routes at all in the current environment. That said, I know there are widespread concerns over marketing (or lack of) and as such awareness of services is likely quite low, has anyone seen any advertising of any kind for any of our services? And is it true we are the only airport in the UK to be cut by KLM - if so why are we standing for this??

Alan1987 - which website?

DJ6 - would slots be available (and the election is May!)

N-M-B - agreed

N-M-B - yes, the airport is all over the local press and social media.

N-M-B - no Inverness has been cut. And what would you propose, a march on Schipol? Maybe support the launch of a route to a rival hub.... :ok: