Jet 2 / EZY
 

Jet2 have put on extra flights to Tenerife in October (24 & 31 Oct) - Source NI Travel News

EZY flights to LBA and EMA now bookable to 25 March 2022 - Source easyJet Website

Flew out of Bfs Saturday 2nd, mid afternoon. It was good to see that the airport and other parties had lots of concern for our Covid safety. Lots of recorded announcements about social distancing etc. All the usual stuff.

Wait!

Only 2 security lanes open, so we queued for 20/25 minutes to get through. No social distancing now, we are all on top of each other in those lanes. So why was this? Was the security company not prepared to put enough staff on, or is it the fault of the airport? This is when you realise all the announcements, posters etc are just paying lip service.

We flew to Lgw. On arrival, it was like a ghost town. Not much better on the Sunday morning. However, later, at Istanbul and Izmir airports, it was almost full steam ahead. It is distressing the harm being done to the UK aviation sector.

Sun Express has stated that they will soon be announcing 2 new airports. They have now added that one of those will be in the UK, the other in Ireland. (Leaving aside any issue as to what exactly is the UK). They already fly into Dublin, so that leaves Cork, Shannon, or could they be considering Belfast? If they just considered the island of Ireland as one land mass, could, from their point of view, that include Belfast?

I am travelling through Bfs on Sunday. I was checking and the business lounge is still not open. It is run by a third party. Can anyone here say if it will open at some future date, or has the current operator taken a decision not to open it again? This would mean Bfs would have to find a new operator.

The Northern Quarter/Buiness Lounge are ran by the same company,the problem is as with other companies who operate here they are either in the middle or having problems getting staff,staff need security clearance and that alone takes time,my bet the lounge will open again when they have the staff to run it.

Anybody know the figures on first Veuling flight to and from Paris Orly

Apparently there was 8 on the BFS-ORY

That many! Advertising as good as the BHD/BCN then

Single figures in and out 😮

Should have started before the Halloween break to a boost.. we are now in the lull before Christmas when numbers drop across all flights, nevermind COVID impacting numbers travelling and people using credit with easyJet / Jet2 / moved flights from the last 18 months etc for holidays..

If the route survives until things recover, it should do well in the busier months... year round.. that could be tricky unless they get competitive with pricing, but then that impact the yield... EI previously tried BFS>CDG at the same time as EZY and the numbers weren't great, that was in better times for travel as well.. I know Vueling is ORY, but not overly sure it being a different airport will do much for swaying people on that front.. both reasonably similar in distance to the Centre of Paris and Disney.

Time will tell I guess

I could be wrong, but I don't think Vueling sell the route as a BA or EI codeshare. It is a missed opportunity for IAG to cross market, as there must be lots of people who use the Belfast airports who book via the British Airways or Aer Lingus apps. IAG don't seem to be that great at joined up marketing, as it is only very recently that the Aer Lingus flights form BHD to EDI and MAN have become available to book under a BA code on the British Airways app.

That seems strange as the Vueling ORY-BHX service just started too carries Iberia and British Airways codeshare.

Belfast - Paris Orly carries an Iberia flight number. I suspect that these flight numbers only show up at airports if anybody has booked on those flight numbers/ airlines. IB5747, operated by Vueling.

NEW ROUTE - easyJet
 

New route on sale for easyJet for Summer 2022 to Menorca (Mahon) at Two Weekly flights (1 Weekly in April). Flights start 2nd April.

Is BFS-MAH a new route or a former route being re-instated ?.............

New route for EZY
think MAH still operated by Jet2 as well

See how long that survives with two operators! Probably more a case of EZY wanting it to themselves.

easyJet
 

Disruption to easyJet flights today at BFS

Major security alert takes place onboard easyJet flight at Belfast International Airport - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

188 pax flew to/from ORY with VY in November 21 according to caa statistics. Averages 5% LF or 11 pax per flight. Can’t see the route lasting much longer with loads like that.

I am not local to Belfast or Paris, but I don't see how any new route can be judged for the long-term on bookings during covid exclusion periods. Even if routes like this need to be suspended for a while, I hope that carriers will give them a fair chance once 'normal' travel resumes and regular visitor activities again become possible in destination cities.

I only travel over from Manchester, but even I am waiting for covid-circus rules to recede before visiting Belfast again. Last time I looked, I needed a covid test even to go there. And the rules are like quicksand, changing from week-to-week across the home nations. Hoping for more travel stability after Easter.

Yeah, having to take a lateral flow test before travelling within the CTA really is so prohibitive to travel: https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles...on-travel-area


Also, the ten seconds it takes to show proof of vaccination to gain entry to pubs/restaurants would really ruin a trip away.

As for the rules: they’ve been pretty static since before Christmas.

Be as sarcastic as you like. It DOES put travellers off booking. That's the reality. Especially with additional rules at destination, such as those restricting access to restaurants etc. Destinations which cling to covid theatre will lose out to those which return to their senses sooner.

To answer that argument, since the rule change announcement easyJet bookings up 200% and some destinations 400% up, Virgin Atlantic 150%, BA holidays 40%.

If the rules weren't affecting bookings then why the sudden uplift?

Apples and oranges - the discussion was about the rules on travel from GB to Northern Ireland.

ORY in UK now ?

Testing on domestic flights was only ever recommended, never compulsory but during lockdown travel was only allowed for specific reasons.Since then only a recommendation, not compulsory.

Ah, good point, well made - I was thinking only of the MAN-BFS spat. :ok:

No spat here. Just pointing out that underlying demand for routes will only become apparent once covid barriers are removed completely. There is a substantial cohort of travellers who will NOT book travel until they're no longer a concern.

Nice response too!

On the point of ORY I have to say this is the third attempt at a Belfast route from Vueling, and again not a lot of awareness, and the timings are poor, although not entirely useless.
I daresay the French ban on the majority of UK inbound passengers last month won't have helped.

Domestically I've only seen airports and airlines enforcement of mask wearing really plus hygiene, hand sanitizer etc - no other checks.

“Covid barriers”? A lateral flow test which takes 30 minutes, and is advised rather than being mandatory? If you’re bimbling around your day-to-day life without regularly checking if you’ve asymptotic Covid-19, then it’s probably best you stay off planes.

Cuthere - You continue to attack the messenger rather than the issue at hand. A substantial cohort of customers will not book flights until covid theatre is completely swept away. Tests, masks in airports and aboard aircraft, extra paperwork, fiddly phone apps (particularly worrisome for the elderly) remain major stumbling blocks. That's a fact, and if you don't believe it, take a look at the stats.

Since you seem keen to dismiss me personally for "bimbling around" etc., I'm happy to confirm that I flew eight times as SLF in 2021, but chose from destinations which presented the least covid hassle and risk of late rule changes. BFS didn't make the cut on that score, and Northern Ireland DID change their rules again - so I was right. Meanwhile, I had several other flights booked in 2021, but the eight I did get to fly on were those which survived cancellation by the airline. So I personally will take extra measures to ensure that I can travel, but many others will not. I've very recently had MAN-ORK-MAN flights cancelled by Ryanair for next week. We're not out of this yet.

I also book flights on behalf of a neighbour who regularly visited friends in County Antrim; she has chosen not to travel for over two years now because she fears the hassle implied. Her friend has not flown the other way either. I ask her when she wants to book again, and she says "not yet".

I have now set up covid-pass phone apps for three different near-neighbours to enable them to fly out to visit grandchildren etc (word gets around that I have done this for one, and others come forward to ask!). They're very apprehensive, but they're prepared to go through with it to see the kids again. But ask them about a discretionary holiday, and they don't want to know. Too much risk of things going wrong. They'd be "too nervous to enjoy it".

That's the reality out there. Be as dismissive as you like. Being in denial doesn't change it.

I am sure there are passengers like me who were tiring of the airport experience already, and adding testing to the list of things to remember was the straw that broke the camels back.

My last trip to Scotland, normally by air, was by train even though it cost more. The day time services by rail were fully booked.

"Rail and Sail" to Ireland was already broken so was never that much competition but I can confirm that I know lots of people who won't fly until the experience is easier

No need for any tests to fly England to NI. I do BRS-BFS monthly. Just book, turn up and fly with mask on. That’s it.

Mask-on and the hope you don’t infect a vulnerable member of the populace with Covid.
Christ. I think I’ll stick to BHD-EXT rather than BFS-BRS when I can, Blackfriar.

Sealink: “adding testing was the straw that broke the camel’s back”. I mean…..the balloons on this thread. YOU SHOULD BE TESTING BEFORE YOU LEAVE YOUR HOUSE, NEVER MIND BEFORE YOU GET AS FAR AS FLYING.


Almost two years later…….if you guys can’t be arsed with experts, I’d suggest you ask the guys and girls up front to let you have a go flying the plane next time you’re on one.

easyJet put flights on sale for S22 to Leeds but only at TWO Weekly (Fri & Sun). Plus no flights in April.

Jet 2
 

Jet2 Offers Once-In-A-Lifetime Route to Iceland | Northern Ireland Travel News (nitravelnews.com)

Jet 2
 

The Air Finance Journal conference is taking place in Dublin in May. This is a big conference for leasing companies and airlines. It normally happens in January but I think it was postponed because of COVID.

Apparently I am not allowed to post URL links but if you google "Airfinance Journal Conference Dublin" you can easily find the agenda.

You can see from this that on May 5 there is an "elevator pitch breakfast" with Conor McCarthy, CEO of Emerald Airways, and Andrew Pyne, CEO of Fly Atlantic. It says that Andrew Pyne "started the Fly Atlantic project in early 2021, with the goal of launching the airline in 2023."

When you search for "Fly Atlantic" on the Companies House website, you find that its registered office is "Medway Building, Belfast International Airport, Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, BT29 4AB" and its business is "51101 - Scheduled passenger air transport".

Anyone know what this is about?

I'm fine with experts. Who said I wasn't? Testing before you leave the house is a no brainer, you seem to be angry about something you imagined I said.

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Jet 2
 

Jet2 Boost Summer Capacity On Popular Route From Belfast | Northern Ireland Travel News (nitravelnews.com)

Jet2 says that they have more capacity on sale from Belfast in 2022 than they had in 2019. So do they go back to 4 based units this summer? I see they are still operating 3.