As they did last year.

RYANAIR have now loaded CHANIA into the system at 1 weekly for Summer 23 from 24th April, ZADAR 1 weekly from 7th June. FARO 1 weekly from 7th June

Flybe cancelled today. Poor loads like other airports?

Only one regional is working.

Healthy loads on LHR to what I’ve heard… consistently 30-50 pax.

WHen I am on duty next week, I.can count the loads accurately on a day to day bases for the week. I will be accurate as I do see the Dash.

But if I want to buy a single economy ticket for tomorrow they still charge £404.

Flybe don't operate to LHR from NCL on Saturday. It's £57-99 for this afternoons flight.

The £404 single for tomorrow (Saturday) is on British Airways.

So we have the choice of a silly priced airline or an unreliable one to get to our capital city.

Most people use the train - its faster centre to centre and a lot less standing inline

Me as well.
I'm off long haul next week.
I live a 20 minute drive from NCL.
I'm flying from Heathrow.....

Silly price is for short notice. And if you want to get a train to London from Newcastle this Saturday there are more flights with seats than trains. No trains with seats between 06.00 and 11.58.

​​​​​​​and potentially a lot more standing on the train...

​​​​​​​I've never seen that.

On the train I don't have to stand around, go through security, stand around, board, arrive and then stand around waiting for luggage etc teh seats are better and you can upgrade to First using SEAT FROG for as little as £10 somedays

LHR-EDi is just about equal, LHR-ABZ definitely favours the plane but within England unless you are connecting at LHR the train wins every time IMHO

And some days you're standing for half the journey, there's nowwhere to but your luggage, and your seat is covered in...

Checked in on line…30 mins to airport..arrived airport 45 mins before departure.Dropped off (£4)
No issues at all through security..
Left on time arrived Heathrow 10 mins early! 45 mins flying time..
Connected on schedule for a long haul..

Total time from leaving home to arrive at connecting departing gate was..just under 2.25. (1 hour delay on departing flight sadly 🙁)

Ok I was lucky? But still..if you are connecting..through terminal 5 ..no real complaints.
Plus I realise the costs..but an interline ticket..no brainier really!

Tried to edit that strange total time line..no idea what it means!


Flying onward..no comparison..and you do get a seat!

Sometimes it's not the fault of NCL for losing passengers.
I'm flying from LHR as I've had it with connections.
With my last 3 trips, 2 of them involved running as fast as possible through connecting airports and hoping there were no bolshy staff at the x-rays which are becoming more and more common to catch a connection, and the 3rd, at AMS, had a cancelled flight due to weather so can't complain about that, but the KLM staff at AMS said I would have to wait 9 hours for the next flight as the midday flight was fully booked.
When I complained and made a fuss a seat miraculously appeared. No-one like being lied to.
So now 1 long flight which can be as late as it wants with no problems attached.

A lot(most) airlines will hold or delay departures if a number of passengers(baggage) are delayed due to late connecting?

British Rail..doesn’t do that? 🤪

No real need when the next train will be 30 minutes later and nothing to pay if it's a late connection.

If this is true Flybe will paying a lot in compensation given they’ve cancelled quite a few of the flights from NCL now just a week in.

ash….true…if not on on strike..maybe you should start a non airport/airline positive thread ?…bit like Timmy at Doncaster😀!

Newcastle to Heathrow..at least double time required humping bags…good luck to that!

Worth it for reliability.

It works out at about two thirds of the train can be reserved, a third of the train left unreserved for walk ups. Over the last few years this might have changed towards four fifths. So still seats available but on a first come first served basis.

Can we at least try and keep things in proportion?
If you roll up the day before a flight to almost anywhere, you are going to be paying well above the fare most punters pay. I flew to Hamburg and back last May with BA. Four sectors for £153 return I think it was.
Having said that, point taken on flybe. They aren't covering themselves in glory.

I have never understood that pricing structure. Do people actually buy those £400 tickets?
I would have thought selling off any remaining seats as cheaply as possible would be better. Better to get something than nothing.

Airlines have various “booking classes” and as more seats sell and the lower fare classes sell out, prices increase. This is all part of their business model and it does work. If the flight is half full, they might release lower fares in lower booking classes to attract further bookings. But if the flight is almost full, with 6 seats for example, then why would they do this? If they had 6 seats left at £400 a pop they’d only have to sell 1 to make as much money as 4 seats at £100. And it’s highly likely, someone will need a seat at short notice especially on routes like BA where business travellers are frequently using the route.

The above model isn’t a one size fits all as low cost carriers and leisure carriers don’t always adopt the same approach. Use Jet2 for example in peak periods, such as the school holidays, and their prices will usually start pretty high and then 6 weeks before they’ll progressively lower the fares for any seats available. In leisure and low cost carriers markets, you’re far more likely to book in advance and the need for a last minute trip is less likely meaning the fares would probably go unsold so better to attract a small
minority into a late deal.

Sorry anyways, I didn’t intend for it to be or sound like a lecture! But the top and bottom of it is that different strategies both work and it’s dependent on the market and type of carriers.

Thanks for that JonnyH, appreciated.

Yeah - when the Boss says you have to be in X tomorrow then cost cutting goes out the window. I can remember a case where we flew a member of staff to Amsterdam with a paper hole punch one evening - some weird US/Canadian folders HAD to be submitted at 08:30 next morning and the risks of not finding the right punch at that time in Amsterdam was just too risky - they then spent half the night stuffing papers into folders but it was an 8 figure contract .............. just got them on the last flight

British Rail haven't done much at all since 1996

That's not even close to the truth, half of coach C is unreserved which equates to about 35-40 seats

but a lot of seats marked as "reserved" aren't filled on some departures - probably people with flexible tickets changing the minds - so you an sit in them until someone asks you to move

I was told, pre-covid, from someone working in the buffet coach that the coach next to it could not be booked.
No idea if that is still the case but it would be useful to know.

But we are getting away from NCL.

or you end up standing for 2 hours - either way, lovely way to travel.

That was true with the MkIV stock but not the Azumas, I work very closely with our reservations team ;-)

Thanks.

Please get them to give us useable wifi!

If only.

Another day another Flybe cancellation.

Does the airport itself have any clout in this respect?
ie, "You are giving us a bad reputation, either run your flights or stop them completely".