Would they be able to, performance-wise? Genuine question, I'm not sure how performance limited they would be on a hot calm day, but the current A320 flights only go as far as London.

BHD - PMI
 

Hi all,

I went to PMI from BHD last Saturday and I have to say it was a fantastic experience and 1000 times better than using BFS. I really wish it had the capacity to accommodate more european flights as it’s a great little airport.

The airport is clean, fast and convenient for people living in Belfast and the lounge is fantastic for the price you pay per head. If more people had the experience of going through BHD it would appeal a whole lot more.

A limited amount of european flights would work really well, as I do think too many would probably make it lose the appeal of a quick and convenient airport. I wonder if there are any airlines that are tinkering with the idea of adding more European destinations. They always seem to fail when attempted and I don’t see why ☹️

I returned from PMI through BFS and it was a depressing experience. I would pay extra to fly through BHD and I am sure a lot of passengers concur with that view.

Thats Eastern gone from those routes I would imagine.

Belfast Telegraph reporting at its finest...

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....fe4df9b70d.jpg

Flybe
 

Flybe reducing schedule for summer

Flybe suspends three Belfast City Airport routes over summer - BBC News

Shame the State broadcaster couldn't manage to use photos of the present incarnation of Flybe in their online report!

KLM looks to have slashed the AMS flights down to 4x weekly for Sep/Oct. days of operation all over the place.

It appears Flybe has also dropped Manchester and further reduction in frequency to Glasgow and Leeds.
Does this mean they are struggling to compete with Aer Lingus or is the demand still not there ?

No. It means they haven't got the aircraft they thought they were going to have.

Why not cut it when they cut the other services then?

That brings the total number of routes cancelled from BHD to 4. Newcastle, Aberdeen, Inverness and now Manchester? Are they moving their concentration away from Belfast ?

I thought BE had enough money in the bank to run near empty aircraft for nearly two years...according to what they told everyone at BHD prior to launch. How come BE can't get planes or parts and Emerald apperar to be getting aircraft like they are picking up shopping in tescos.

Looks very much as though going for the cheap option in the Dash 8 was a poor decision that is now costing them money.

Because they thought they had an aircraft coming on 25Jul that has been delayed by the lessors

They aren't cancelled but postponed until they get the aircraft delivered. There's a difference.....

Not so much the choice of aircraft, more the choice of leasing companies

Q400 absolutely guzzles fuel vs the ATR. In the current environment, that’s bound to be hurting. When fuel is cheap, the savings on lower lease rates on thirstier frames often exceed the cost of the excess fuel burn. Quite the opposite when fuel is expensive.

Same leasing company as Emerald are using, Nordic Aviation Capital.

Keep in mind who owns Emerald, a very well known and respected aviation professional, who also owns two large MROs, they're in a different league to Flybe and have a lot more weight behind them.

Flybe should have gone for the ATR but De Haviland may well have offered some perks to taking the Dash that on paper made it the sensible choice even though Flybe would have had everything needed to operate the ATR from its previous flirt with the type in the north of Europe.