Gibraltar-3
 

Inaugural arrival of Wizz Air into GIB on Friday evening:

I assume the weather was out yesterday as BA diverted to AGP and the return cancelled. Wizz got in but doesn’t appear to have left?

Reported on Aviation Herald that the inbound Wizz flight received a bird strike. Should depart today.

Appears EasyJet have quietly dropped the LTN-GIB route and this will not operate in 2021.

I wonder if this is because of Wizz coming on the route or if it was planned otherwise?

Easyjet holding their powder dry is more likely. The battle for passengers and growth will start when millions ready to fly again.

To be fair I did find EasyJet's Luton schedule a bit odd. Wouldn't run at all during the peak summer season where you could argue the demand was the highest, and not operating it at a high frequency compared to what Monarch offered. Anyway hope they will bring it back once demand rises again.

Edinburgh continues to be bookable from March 2021, although it isn't bookable after October unlike the other 3 routes they operate.

As reported on the Eastern thread, it appears Eastern will be starting up a route to Southampton, with potential of others as well.

EasyJet's route to EDI has had its start date pushed back to 4th May 2021, initially operating weekly until June where it will go to 2 weekly. Subject to change of course.

Eastern launching Birmingham as well as Southampton.

Good news on paper - however Eastern are not known to always give routes a full chance before pulling them, so let's hope bookings are strong!

Now confirmed that Eastern Airways will be starting routes to Southampton and Birmingham. Fights will operate on a W pattern except for the first Southampton service which is due to start on 24th May. Birmingham will start on 28th:

Mon/Fri:
T3874 SOU-GIB Dep. 07:05 Arr. 10:55
T3975 GIB-BHX Dep. 11:40 Arr. 13:35
T3976 BHX-GIB Dep. 14:25 Arr. 18:20
T3877 GIB-SOU Dep. 19:05 Arr. 20:55

Flights are operated by an Embraer E190

I think Easyjet is missing the boat this year by not offering a LTN-GIB service which doesn’t operate in the peak summer months anyway and not at all this year. Gibraltar could well be seen as the only destination on the Med that is safe to book but the issue is the lack of suitable holiday hotels with the facilities people want. Also many hotels that are listed under Gibraltar are across the border in Spain so could still be subject to travel restrictions despite the summer months.

Aren't Wizzair operating LTN-GIB?

Not too sure about Gib. I was denied boarding by BA on 23rd December, after being told the night before that the flight would operate (which it did) and I that I wouild definitely travel (which I didn't). BA blamed Gibraltar for implementing new rules at the last minute.

Volotea are to start a 2x weekly route (Tuesday + Friday) between Bilbao and Gibraltar effective 02 July

interesting development and route.

wonder if the Basque region are by any chance funding this a bit? Twice weekly seems to be tourist orientated.

This is more of a Spanish domestic route now that Gibraltar is part of the Schengen Area.

A political route, i suspect.
Gib needs better UK link's.
And a flag carrier. GIB for GIB.

If its a political route then all the better, as it means the ice is melting and others could flow from it. Handy for a lot of Spain, now Schengen is a reality for them. This Spanish Government seems better disposed to Gibraltar than has been the case for many years. Monarch was the de facto flag carrier after the long defunct Gib Air. One to keep an eye on.

So do aircraft on approach and on departure still have to stay clear of Spanish airspace? It always made for an interesting approach.

I think finals are dictated to be in Gib air space but civvy flights come down through Spanish airspace and are handed off to Gib from Seville Centre. Likewise if they abort they get handed straight over to Malaga. Its the Military flights that cannot overfly Spanish air space (Nato) if too and from Gib. Although to be fair this is being discussed at high level to resolve it.

Page 2 says otherwise in the notes http://www.europlanet.de/vaFsP/charts/LXGB.pdf

When I flew to Gib a couple of years ago the pilot hinted this was the reason for the late turn onto finals

I see the Foreign Secretary turned up in Gibraltar yesterday for a political visit and arrived in a 146 of Jota rather than one of the RAF`s ..Obviously the Northolt aircraft wouldn`t have received permission to overfly Spain, enroute to and from Gibraltar, so the Government had to charter a civvy jet to get him there and back quicker...

So how do the A400m, C17 and C130 get to Gib then from UK if not allowed in Spanish AIr Space? I thought the use of the 146 was because the RAF ones were pretty much finished.

This has been a running sore for decades. The Spanish have always denied military aircraft the right to use their airspace, whilst travelling to and from Gibraltar. So they all route eventually through Portugese air space and sometimes even into Morocco in order to get to their destination. A similar situation exists with the Royal Navy whereby their ships are denied entry to Spanish ports if they are travelling to or from Gibraltar. Its true that discussions are going on with the present Spanish Government to try to resolve this problem..

Re the 146`s they are being phased out but still ongoing afaik..

I sailed with the Royal Navy from Cadiz to Gibraltar on Hms Cumberland in the early 90s.

Has been routine since 1989. Its all to do with Spanish sovereignty claims over Gibraltar

Off message, I know, but I've always found it a slightly ironic case when you think about the Spanish enclave on the tip of Morocco which is in the same position and could be claimed back.

Yes it is ironic...also I always found it mildly amusing that at AGP the airfield was pretty much dominated by British registered aircraft flying to just about every major and not so major city in the UK...gotta love the Spanish hate us....love us...hate us again...🙈

They have two of them of course, Ceuta, just across the Strait of Gibraltar in Morocco and Melilla, directly South of the Sierra Nevada, across the Alboran Sea, also on the Moroccan coast. Then, whilst not an enclave, there’s also a Spanish Navy base on a small Island just to the North of Melilla, Alboran Island.

There has been much reporting in Spain of Gibraltar’s vaccination campaign, which is now almost complete with 10,000 Spanish workers also being vaccinated.

It might be that this summer only Gibraltar will have unrestricted access to U.K. holidaymakers seeking the Mediterranean but Gibraltar’s hotel availability is very small which will stifle demand at the airport.

For me Gib is only worth a one night stay, but you can cross over in to Spain as Gibraltar is now in the Schengen area - for how long no one knows - but the catch is you can only go into Cadiz province. So if you fancy a visit to Marbella etc your going to be unlucky. I have a very close friend who lives in Malaga province but works in Gib, she is allowed to travel across the border into Cadiz province and vice versa. So be aware if you are caught you will be fined heavily. I found the Spanish police friendly and helpful, but if you step out of line - you have been warned!

Can you still fly from GIB to Tamgier?

Royal Air Marco operated both CMN & TNG with ATR72 aircraft but both are currently suspended due to the COVID pandemic

Alteagod

I would imagine that's the worlds shortest intercontinental flight

Helity operate Algeciras-Ceuta... and there is (or used to be) a helicopter route between the 2 sides of Istanbul

At least if you on your holybobs in GIB you could two centre with Morocco when flights resume

I was under the impression Gib’s entry to Shengen was not concluded yet. There are some wrinkles to iron out first with respect to Frontex and Spain.

Yes that issue is starting to look very drawn out. They did a deal on the back of a fag packet last New Years Eve but its all stalled since then. GBC is now reporting local controversy re the Volotea route from Bilbao with queries being raised whether or not the route licences are actually in place. The, rather incredulous response from the Gib Government was, its ok by us, we presume Volotea has sorted it all out their end....hmm
Watch this space eh

I don't think the Volotea route will happen any time soon...