Its a share with BMIbaby now that they are owned by the same company. If you go onto the website to look at the flights it directs you straight onto the BMIbaby website. Should help fill the aircraft.

Ah thats a shame, but as you say will help fill the planes, any ideas on the Eastern flight?

Connection on Eastern via NCL. That site has a tendency to show connections and other new routes that aren't actually new (such as the Germanwings ones) so you need to be careful before you believe everything (though often it is a reliable source)

Bigger planes on North – South Wales route

18.10.09
Larger planes are to be used on the north-south Wales air link to meet growing demand for seats. The news came as it was announced that the service between Anglesey's Valley and Cardiff airports will be extended until 2014.
Welsh Deputy First Minister and Minister for the Economy and Transport, Ieuan Wyn Jones said the Assembly Government will be re-tendering for the service, which began operating two years ago, to run from May 2010, and it will be expanded to provide at least 29 passenger seats on each flight. Currently the service uses 18-seater aircraft.
In the first two years of operation over 28,900 passengers used the service. This exceeded expectations so that, with an 18-seat aircraft, load factors have been consistently high. The next contract will have a maximum ticket price of around £56, including the Air Passenger Duty which is applicable to a larger capacity aircraft. The maximum ticket price will apply to 75% of the minimum seating capacity, allowing the operator some flexibility in setting fares for the remaining seats.
The service will operate to a similar timetable as at present, with two flights a day in each direction from Monday to Friday.

Return of the J41's to their ancestral home?

ttfn

Be good to see if Highland Airways will use their Y29 J41 on the CWL-VLY route - it so needs a bigger aircraft.

Maybe Eastern Airways would also be interested in it.........

Well as it is a new tender, anyone could apply for the route.

Highland Airways has 2 x J41 but not sure if they allready have contracts for them.

Obviously if they have tech problems like the J31's have then there maybe an issue with no replacement aircraft available leading to more cancellations and more inconvenience to the pax. etc.


Eastern Airways - Large Fleet of the J41's - 29 seats
Loganair - Saab 340 - 34 seats
Aer Arann - ATR 42 - 48 Seats (Depending on current contracts maybe no spare aircraft available.

Anyone other idea's on who could tender for the contract?

Scot Airways DO328 29y

Valley
 

I'd be surprised if Loganair didn't have a crack at this - with their flybe codeshare they could slot in a thinnish route in the middle of the day.

MB

Any new bidder would have to offer a morning and afternoon departure as Highland do now. Single rotation even with a bigger aircraft is not what the AMs are looking for they want to commute daily from north wales. That's why the 4.5 hour each way "sustainable" (if you think Diesel isn't a fossil fuel) train option that the enviro loonies were wanting to block the renewal of the contract with didn't win the day !

When is the confirmation of the new tender to be announced?

Great. So now the poor bloody taxpayer has to pay even more for the subsidy. More than 19 seats means the APD cuts in, so that adds to the Treasury's burden.

Kill this route, or make it stand on its commercial feet. It's a complete offence to common sense and the airline industry.

Nice to see TA here. Agree with the route becoming a commercial operation in fact the original consultants document said that within 3 years the route should build in to a stand alone commercial operation.

Well the idea behind this now is that .

Maybe the Welsh Assembly Government is financing this route through the challengin times we still have ahead of us before letting it go alone in 2014.

Allowing the succesfull candidate to charge their own fares on the last 25% of the seats may be a step in making this route become financially viable.

The questiona is what steps will the Welsh Assembly Government take next in order to improve the infurstructure of the air network in Wales?

I'd read that again. The only way the other 25% of seats can go is down, not up. So they will STILL be cheaper than the train, no doubt. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

So the maximum fare is now £56. APD has cut in, so after the Darling Hit, £44 remains. And that's a MAXIMUM fare. Does this count as the most subsidised route on the planet?

Heaven help the Welsh taxpayer. And heaven save us from crap politicians. And bad PSO.

TA

A J41 would be well suited to the CWL-VLY route, more spacious inside than the J31's currently in use.

Highland have also been very good on this route but as stated maybe Logan Air would have a crack at it or even Eastern Airways.

Let's not rule out Air Southwest too with their Dash 8-300's - could even carry on DUB, routing PLH-CWL-VLY-DUB or something along those lines as if I recall VLY want to add another route.

Nothing should fly this route, until it either stands on its own two feet commercially, or starts to follow the standard rules of PSO.

A travesty, funded by idiot politicians to fuel their own egos, and to make them feel important.

Can the route. Save the Welsh taxpayer.

Unfortunately, there isn't a Welsh taxpayer; the mugs are UK taxpayers - the WAG gets its funding from Westminster:yuk::yuk:

What I don't understand is why the need for a bigger aircraft. As I understand it from people at Highland they very rarely fill the J31. As TA says pure Ego. If it is a prestige thing why stop there just stick a Taff Force 1 Jumbo on it. BA have got a couple hanging around at CWL I'm sure they'd be happy to get rid of. You could even paint Vote Plaid on the side and fly it low all the way.

Why not get Ieuan Wyn Jones to fly it too :}