The first rotation of the day (Monday to Friday) on the Jet2 Blackpool/Belfast Int route has been axed from 4th June.

That therefore gives Jetstream Express a monopoly on the day return Belfast market. I'm not suprised Jet2 are reducing the frequencies on their BLK-BFS service. From what I hear they are not seeing anywhere decent loads for a 733.

With regards to the BLK - LON services will we see a replacement carrier? I've travelled on the STN service a lot and very rarely has it had over 100 onboard. This could be an ideal route for the likes of Euromanx with a Dash 8? Or maybe even Jetstream Express could introduce a LON service?

I'm sure its been said before, but Ryanair should have based an aircraft at Blackpool. That way they could have set off to Stansted in the morning at a reasonable time to capture the business market. And correct me if I'm wrong, but surely that aircraft could do all of the other routes out of Blackpool as well. Sad day for the airport. Hope its not a permanent chop for the service.

Blk - Stn
 

This is my first reply - hello everyone - but felt I had to comment on the loss of the BLK-STN route. What a shame! I have used it regularly to visit friends and family 'down south'... I know that the airport will be actively seeking to recruit another airline to take on the route - it is much needed especially for business users - and hopefully it will be with someone who can offer better times - more conducive to arriving in London during office hours! Good luck to BLK its a great regional airport which we do not want to loose.:ok:

Cumbrianboy ..... you are obviously in the know !

I have used the BLK Stansted route on numerous occassions , and planned to use it very soon again , it saved me lots of time and was most convenient.

Whilst I and other people in the local area wish the airport well , after a recent article in the "Gazette" praising Ryanair on its services from Blackpool
this would appear to be a major blow.

Fingers crossed that someone can come and fill the void and quickly.

:ugh: :ugh:

Ryanair pull out
 

For those of you that are unaware the BLK-STN route was initially a BUZZ (AirUk ) route and I'm surprised it has lasted as long.
The 738 is far too big to support this route,having said that, if the Casino was coming this route would not be dropped.
I personally would like to see VLM with a F50 or 146/RJ doing a daily return to LCY.
But what this Airport and Operators should be doing is bringing people into BLK it should be a destination airport,get together with the area tourist office and promote it.:ugh:

I too have used the STN route on a few occasions since its introduction with the 146 4 yrs ago & in fact was booked on the service again in July, still to receive an e mail regarding the cancellation of the route. As has been said already in previous posts the timings did not suit south east originating passengers with an very early departure ex STN & a late evening arrival after 22:30, I hear that there was sometimes only 40 -50 pax on these sectors? The flights I travelled on normally had in excess of 100 pax, I guess yields must have been low? LS to LGW with a BLK based 733 could possibly work with better timings for business travellers but as everyone knows morning & evening slots at LGW are as rare as hens teeth!!
Pity that LS are withdrawing the early morning BFS leg, I am doing a day return to BFS next week with them, will be interesting to note the load on both legs.

Regards

BUDGIES on the move
 

It is good to see that some of the Emerald 748s are finding new homes, with two of them G-BGMN and G-ORCP on there way to Bangledesh, yes it is some way from there home land, if the aircraft are flying that is good news.
We can only hope there will be more to get back in the air shortly.
There has been talk about one going to Duxford one being G-ATMJ and another G-BEJD a series one Budgie.
Hopefully some will return to operate in the U.K. skies again for a number of years to come we can only hope.:ok:

Nick b

With Jet2 dropping the BHD route in the mornings and rumours still abundant about the evening rotation as well in another month or so, will you try that new Jetstream Express Airline with the or is Manx2 a better bet albeit via Fraggle rock ?

Also, on the Stanstead route was that Bucket and spade type or were they Business type of Pax ?

Not to be doom and gloom but how are the 'Bucket and Spade ' flights doing?
Is a daily to alicante pulling in enough pax? HOpe these routes are doing ok for them as it would be a shame to loose any more routes, Do have to say though , I think the airport needs to be doing more with local travel agents, especially outside of blackpool(e.g preston/southport) most holidays advertised were for manchester/liverpool.. It may not be as glamourous an airport as man/lpl in style but alot of people like the ease, as a side note mentioned on early postin that work m8s had booked tenerife in nov from man mainly because they were available and not with J2 either, who seem to be slipping behind others with bringing out any winter flights, TOM etc.. have alot of theirs out. I know J2 have somefor winter out from man i guess to compete with the others but surely releaseing some from blk to would be an addded attraction for pax to flywith them, rather than someone else...well enoughramblings from me..any thoughts?

Blackpool train service to London
 

Airhumberside wondered about the train service.

From Euston to Blackpool there is an hourly service, changing at Preston, which takes usually 3h 8m. If you travel from Liverpool St-Stansted-BLK you could do this in 2h 40m but this does not allow for delays on the train or for airport security; there are only two flights a day.

Perhaps the route suffered from the increase in reliability of the WCML since the maintenance work has been completed. MAN-LHR has similarly suffered.

As for price, if you booked well in advance, Train+Ryanair would be cheaper. Virgin Trains do do cheap deals but it can be hit and miss if you can find them.

For immediate travel there is not much difference. Yesterday, I looked up prices for a single today. Train - £62. Train+plane c.£52.

Its not all 'doom & gloom'....BLK has grown massively in the last 4 years...routes do have to be tried & tested to see what works & what doesnt work....I would hope that everyone that lives & works in and around Blackpool are supportive of the airport and should get the message out to as many people as poss...you can't beat word of mouth and personal recommendation....I think a lot of negative thoughts are that BLK takes people away from Blackpool but of course it also brings them in!! If Blackpool town and its attractions and accommodation could pull themselves together and not rely on a casino bid for regeneration then more people may visit as a holiday destination...I LOVE Blackpool but seriously would you take a holiday here??!! :confused:

You are quite right STK123 It's not all doom & gloom.
Lets just remember where the Airport has come from shall we.
Prior to May 2003 their annual passenger figures were 46,000.
That figure is now being surpassed in a MONTH.
This is in only 4 years which has earned Blackpool International the title of the fasting growing regional Airport in the UK.
So yes there will be some routes gained and some routes lost along the way to get to a point where the Airlines know which routes will work from and to Blackpool.

And yes STK123 maybe Blackpool itself isn't everyone's cup of tea but what about the rest of the Fylde coast, some of the best golf courses in the UK and then there is the Lake District.

Blackpool is the Gateway to the North West, let's all support it

How long has it taken Liverpool to get to where they are today?

CAA Stats for April are out and we can see why FR dropped BLK-STN. During the busy April month which included the entire Easter fortnight they only carried 9,249 which equates to a load factor of just under 49% and that was on a busy month! Comparing to other FR routes, Cork-Gatwick is only once per day yet it carried 9,892, 7% more passengers with half the number of flights! Going by those figures makes me wonder would a 146 be too big for a London route.

And the rumours begin:

AB - STN - F100 - 2 Daily
U2 - STN - 319 - 2 Daily
LS - LGW - 733 - 2 Daily
JXT - ?LTN? - J31 - 3 Daily?

I'm not sure, but with 10,000 people per month using the service, it needs re-instating!

For me the Ryanair service was always a cheaper option than catching a train but for it’s 6:30 departure I had to leave home from Luton at 3:30. Only did it once as it felt like I was leaving home in the middle of the night so the more expensive trains always won. If the aircraft had been based in Blackpool the Stansted departure time would have been more reasonable so maybe I would have used it more.

AB will not work as their flight timings would be even less attractive than Ryanair's. They do not base aircraft in the UK as they feed their STN from Germany. That said, the first flight from BLK southbound could not depart before 10:00am. Additionally, if Air Berlin would add some more domestic services I am pretty sure that there are more lucrative destinations (given that their schedule is mainly targeting German pax inbound to the UK), e.g. EDI or LBA.

I think this is now BLK's number one priority. They need to get the LON connection back before thinking about expanding anywhere else.

They were on about Long haul flights a couple of months ago, forget them, more important matters at hand.

Calling all airlines!;)

Can somebody tell me a link or where the CAA stats are listed for April please as I can't find them on the CAA site.

Thanks

Blk - Lon
 

Hi,

Don't get your hopes up too high. In recent years Ryanair have abandoned a number of routes where a sizeable passenger demand clearly existed, but no-one has stepped in to take over. Examples include STN - Erfurt, DUB - Humberside, MME - Rome, Rome - Brescia.

Unfortunately, STN-BLK has been running for 4 years now and passenger numbers are getting worse, not better.

The general rule here seems to be: If Ryanair, with the lowest costs and one of the largest brands in the industry can't make a route work, no-one can.

I hope that I am wrong.