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Quote:

Originally Posted by jmdavies86 (Post 11587996)

Well, it's obviously not going to happen overnight, but there's FlyAtlantic who are looking to offer transatlantic flights from/to BFS:
; and if/when the facility has been built, perhaps AA, DL, UA or possibly even JetBlue may consider offering flights from/to there?

This is delusional. The US sets out its criteria for preclearance (see http://www.cbp.gov/travel/preclearan...ance-expansion). First, there needs to be a US carrier operating BEFORE preclearance is considered. Second, the host country has to to pay for the building modifications to accommodate US immigration officers, and a substantial share of the annual running costs. So (a) why would BFS be ahead of e.g. LHR (or MAN or EDI) for preclearance, and (b) how could the NI Govt justify paying x million quid per year for this service when that money could be spent on the health service or on public sector pay?

My impression is that the "BFS is in line for preclearance" story was made up by FlyAtlantic in their attempt to raise funding, with absolutely zero basis in reality.

See post 551 - it's in the government document with proposals to support the implementation of the Windsor Framework (I thnk...). I doubt FlyAtlantic have that much influence!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Jetlag (Post 11588809)

This is delusional.

(b) the NI Govt.

There is your answer. 😂
The NI Government and common sense are distant bedfellows. These are some of the people who paid farmers to heat barns.

Is this story on Lisbon correct?

Or is it a reference to the Porto route and has been badly written?

You may well have a point...

Quote:

"We are delighted to announce the world's largest line-up, where we continue to grow and have opened 14 new routes," said Michael O'Leary, the CEO of Ryanair. As for the new routes, they will depart from Faro to Stockholm (Sweden), Budapest (Hungary), Krakow (Poland), Marrakech (Morocco) and Norwich (England). If you board in Porto, you can go to Belfast (Northern Ireland), Ibiza (Spain), Pisa (Italy), Tangier (Morocco). If your starting point is Lisbon, you will be able to travel to Alicante (Spain), Madrid (Spain), Rome (Italy), Fiumicino (Italy), Tangier (Morocco), Poznan (Poland).

Source

Jet2 doing Christmas market flights to Krakow for Christmas 2024. Mondays and Fridays between 29th Nov to 16th Dec 2024.

With sunwing now gone has it been confirmed what aircraft will be based in Belfast this summer? Will it be an actual TUI aircraft or a charter ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cozy F (Post 11588118)

Assume this idea about US Clearance has come from the U.K. political discussions.

I have ties and connections to Belfast and would love to see travel and tourism really flourish there. Alas I really don’t see any legs in this 😏

I’ve used Belfast Int a lot over the years, mainly because I favour easyJet and all their flts were there. But as ezy have started to serve City airport I’ve used it some more and I have to say it is a really simple and pleasant airport.

i’ve also been to and thru Dublin on a couple of trips in the last year and I hadn’t been there in years. It is frankly mind boggling how much investment and development there is in Dublin airport. There are so many airlines and flts if now compares well to any airport I can think of in the world.

I went through Belfast just last week and there does seem to be some work and construction taking place but overall it is a depressing experience. Ther place looked shabby and dirty and there were untended weeds growing out of the building and that was before you drive out along the road with all the cars jostling to park among the potholes. I’m afraid it does not offer a 21st century welcome to visitors and with Dublin so well served and not very far away down a good road if is really difficult to see how Belfast Int could ever really develop any major services unless it was rebuilt and a huge amount of investment put into it to make it appealing.

to be honest it might be a bigger benefit to Belfast if ezy continued to add more service at the City Airport.

I can't understand BFS prioritising the building of a new "arrivals building" - you just get your bags and leave, either with hire car keys or to the bus, taxi or car park. Who wants to hang about? Maintenance has been neglected for years because the previous owners were fattening the accounts to sell it, but once inside the publ areas aren't bad. Its the lounges that are a joke. The old shuttle lounge for 180 people on a 757 now has three cattle containment areas for 3x 320 with more than 180 seats each. When they get a bit full they open the gate so you can stand on the stirs for 15 minutes. Utterly shameful. Then there is the longwalk to the aircraft in the wind and rain. The could easily have extended the first floor out to the aircraft stands, leaving room underneath for baggage trucks etc. and created some big gate lounges with lots of seats - Bristol gate lounges are pretty good size.
The cars all parked up on the approach road are because the airport wants to milk them for parking like every other airport, the only way to stop it is to ban parking, better to have a waiting area tarmacked if there isn't room in the car parks. They could charge £1 and put in EV chargers. But common sense never prevails.

That's only if you count the aircraft based there. What about the flights to/from BFS from, say BRS which use a BRS based aircraft? Loads have declined on the BRS/BFS route as BHD has been started and now the 4xdaily BRS/BFS frequency has been reduced, making day trips impossible some days.

Has easyJet dropped BRS BFS (and BHD) or is their winter timetable not yet on sale? Nothing on the app from 27 October.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SealinkBF (Post 11602182)

Has easyJet dropped BRS BFS (and BHD) or is their winter timetable not yet on sale? Nothing on the app from 27 October.

Don't think winter schedule on sale yet?

Quote:

Originally Posted by BHD2BFS (Post 11596330)

With sunwing now gone has it been confirmed what aircraft will be based in Belfast this summer? Will it be an actual TUI aircraft or a charter ?

Avion Express (Malta) A320 which possibly may be in a kind of hybrid TUI livery.......

EasyJet to Krakow will go year round with Winter 2024/25 Holidays now bookable on their Holiday page.

Flight only not on sale yet for W24/25.

https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/air/...d-from-belfast

Ezy must be doing well on Bhx. 3 of 4 flights tomorrow are full, 2 of them have been full for a few days now. First flight on Monday also full. Time for more capacity on some days, or will they just milk the higher fares restricting capacity brings?
I think it was either last Sunday or the previous week every flight Bfs - Lgw was full. 6 flights.

Quote:

Originally Posted by True Blue (Post 11607682)

Monday and Friday in summer BFS-BHX is back to 5 daily and Friday 28 June to 30 August it is 6 flights. There was a rumour that another airline was going to join them on the route but that has not come to pass....as yet:).

Emerald despite its aircraft issues seems to be doing okay on BHD-BHX and that will be 6 daily on some days in summer 24 making a high summer Friday 12 daily between the two cities. With the orange lot opening a base soon at BHX I wonder if BHD will be on their winter 24/25 agenda :oh:

Pete

Graham Keddie leaves Belfast International Airport role after decade in charge

Graham Keddie has stepped away from his role as managing director of Belfast International Airport after nearly 10 years in charge.

It is understood he informed staff of his decision to retire on Friday, and left with immediate effect.

Keddie (60) replaced John Doran in the top job at Aldergrove in September 2014.

He arrived with 25 years’ experience in the aviation industry, having held roles in the UK, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain.
He joined Belfast International from Hermes Airports, where he was commercial manager for Larnaca and Paphos airports in Cyprus.A spokesman for the airport said: “After 35 years in aviation and almost 10 years at Belfast International Airport, Graham Keddie has decided to retire as managing director.

“Dan Owens will assume the role of interim managing director until a replacement has been appointed.

“We wish Graham well in his retirement.”

In February the airport’s French owners Vinci announced that 5.96 million passengers passed through its terminal in 2023, which represented a 95% recovery to pre-pandemic activity from 2019, when a record 6.28 million passengers flew in and out of Aldergrove.

The increase in numbers during 2023 followed the return of Ryanair, with anchor airline EasyJet also running its biggest ever operation at the airport.
https://www.irishnews.com/news/busin...AER7ZU36BG7IA/

So the CAA stats for Jan 24 are out. The 12 month rolling period shows the airport had 6.031m pax, getting close to its all time high again. The airport added about 74k pax between Jan 23 and Jan 24. In spite of this success, Ezy did manage to reduce the total carried to Lgw by 19% or about 6k pax. They did increase Bhd - Lgw , but overall pax carried from Belfast(both airports) to Lgw was down. Their excellent scheduling on both routes is obviously having the desired effect. Stn was the larges domestic route out of Bfs, that used to be the preserve of Lgw. Shows the impact of FR.

Winter 2024/25 now on sale, up to March 2025. KRK not showing but available through Easyjet Holidays?

Quote:

Originally Posted by GAZMO (Post 11620825)

Winter 2024/25 now on sale, up to March 2025. KRK not showing but available through Easyjet Holidays?

Think today was just easyJet loading the same schedule from Winter 2023/24. New routes and also routes being extended into winter will likely be added soon, as Enfidha was announced as year round but isn't bookable yet for Winter 24/25.

TUI - Summer 2025

Dalaman and Antalya no longer on sale for TUI for Summer 2025. Hopefully they are just updating the system and they aren't dropped!

Looks like Ryanair is dropping the 3rd weekly ACE flight (Saturdays) that was due to start in August using a ACE based aircraft.

In July FR seem to have 166 arrivals and departures per week, an average of 24 per day. Not sure what the total would have been last year, but seems to be a bit of an increase. So should pax records fall this year?

Quote:

Originally Posted by BFS BHD (Post 11620906)

Dalaman and Antalya no longer on sale for TUI for Summer 2025. Hopefully they are just updating the system and they aren't dropped!

Dalaman seems to be loaded in 2-3 times weekly for S25. Its being operated by ‘Other Carrier’. Assume Freebird will do it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AVGEEK7812 (Post 11626906)

Dalaman seems to be loaded in 2-3 times weekly for S25. Its being operated by ‘Other Carrier’. Assume Freebird will do it.

Appear to be a gap now on Monday mornings for S25. Won't be to long of a route as Heraklion has moved to a 1500 departure on Mondays. Maybe Ibiza or Mahon?

Quote:

Originally Posted by BFS BHD (Post 11627014)

Appear to be a gap now on Monday mornings for S25. Won't be to long of a route as Heraklion has moved to a 1500 departure on Mondays. Maybe Ibiza or Mahon?

Palma now showing on Monday mornings for S25.

Stats out for Feb 2024

6.149 million for 12 months rolling

easyJet - Summer 2024

3rd weekly flight added on Tuesdays to Nice (NCE). Operates from 23rd July 2024 to 10th September 2024.
Flights will be operated by easyJet Europe (EJU).