easyJet expand from Bristol

[Buster the Bear]

I am not too sure if this has been previously announced:

Source BBC.

More routes for easyJet


easyJet now has six planes at Bristol. Budget airline easyJet is launching three new routes from Bristol airport.
From Thursday, passengers can travel with the airline to Amsterdam, Bilbao or Copenhagen.

There will initially be one flight each way per day, with the actual flight times still to be confirmed.

easyJet now flies to 15 destinations from Bristol.

Ray Webster, easyJet chief executive said: "easyJet now carries over 150,000 passengers a month from Bristol, and the demand for our services are increasing.

"The people of the region have been very supportive of easyJet, which is why we are expanding and introducing three new routes."

[MerchantVenturer]

Today is the first time that this news has been announced officially, although Amsterdam and Copenhagen have been amongst the new destinations rumoured strongly for a little while.

There is a pop-up on the Bristol Airport official website announcing the new routes will commence on 17 December but nothing as yet on the easyJet website.

I wonder how the Amsterdam service will impact on the KLMCityhopper BRS-AMS route - currently five flights a day on F 70s and F 50s, although many of these pax fly on from AMS with KLM and partners.

Bilbao seems a somewhat strange choice - I wonder how it will work out from BRS. Madrid was thought most likely to be the new Spanish destination, if there was to be another from BRS to join ALC, AGP, BCN and PMI.

[willywick]

wonder why they didn't start Geneva. Seems as if easyJet isn't expanding from GVA anymore. Anybody know why?? or if any other new routes are planned to pop up soon?

[MerchantVenturer]

I wondered about GVA. I suppose it would be a winter only route (although I would use it in summer having had to go via AMS with KLM this summer), mainly for skiing and it might be too late for this winter. Also BRS is usually well provided for in terms of ski charter flights - 14 or 15 each week in recent winters.

The new destinations are now posted on the easyJet website.

Timings are:

To CPH - dep 0730 arr 1035, return dep 1100 arr BRS 1215
To AMS - dep 1240 arr 1510, return dep 1535 arr BRS 1600
To BIO - dep 1645 arr 1930, return dep 2000 arr BRS 2050

Plenty of recovery time (as the GWR drivers used to say) in these schedules? For instance it is usually less than an hour in the air on a F 70 from BRS to AMS.

[willywick]

It's pretty surprising that easyjet are ignoring BRS-GVA. I would have thought that as well Bristol as Newcastle and/or Stansted would have gotten links to GVA.

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

Working out new routes is an extreme black art practiced by sallow faced men from behind enormous computers. There's rarely any guessing them in my experience.

I thought Rome, Paris and Madrid myself - and I'm driving the aeroplanes.

Copenhagen a suprise but a welcome one as I like flying there.

Bilbao a suprise and not a welcome one as I don't like flying there.

Amsterdam a suprise as KLM seem to offer a lot of service on the route already - 5 flights a day?!?

I just hope they stop advertising East Midlands flights on billboards in and around Swindon! :rolleyes:


Cheers

WWW

[Tom the Tenor]

WWW, what is the story about flying to Bilbao as she is one of my dream destinations from Cork. The reason being that most people from Iberia that live in Ireland are those from the Basque region. Now, did I not put that politely keeping everyone happy!

It is to be noted that EI are to start Dubling to Bilbao next spring.

[MerchantVenturer]

WWW

I have a feeling that you were originally with Go - if I am wrong please accept my apologies.

The reason I say this is that if you were you will remember that in Go's first summer at BRS they tried Rome but pulled it because the route was not a success. It was only scheduled to operate from mid July to mid September, which it did before being pulled. That's not long enough to gauge a route's potential is it? However, I wonder if this fact will make it very difficult for Rome to be tried again from BRS.

Yes, there are five weekday flights by KLM Cityhopper to AMS (slightly less at weekends). You mentioned Paris - would slots there be a problem? Also there are six flights already from BRS to CDG each day - 3 BA and 3 AF.

Taking myself as a Mr Average Consumer I would be quite happy to sample all of easyJet's routes from BRS (I have done several already), but Bilbao is the first that does nothing for me. I would have preferred Madrid if it had to be Spain.

Swindon in East Midlands' territory - I could have understood it if it had been Ryanair. At least there's plenty of Orange advertising on the buses in and around Bristol.

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

Yes, I was at BRS on day one and I remember both Rome and Ibiza that didn't work.

We'll just have to see how many people want to go to the Geuggenheim http://www.guggenheim-bilbao.es/ingles/home.htm and sample the delights of the admittedly wonderful and classy Galician coast. It is a really nice part of the world - yet overlooked by the masses.


Cheers

WWW

[nonemmet]

Let's not forget the excellent surfing to be had on the Galician coast. It will take roughly the same time flying to the waves there, as driving to Newquay or Croyde, but don't expect the water to be any warmer. Bilbao airport is 30 mins drive from Mundaka.


MV. There needs to be plenty of 'recovery time' on the AMS route, taxying at Schipol can take 10-15 mins, and holding on the way in is quite common, although we should be alright in the early afternoon.

It is interesting that the three new routes only use the 6th aircraft for 13hrs 20. The other five are used for +2 hrs longer per day. Like WWW I thought Paris was a likely route, it would be possible to squeeze it in at some later date.

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

I hadn't realised that Bilbao was such a choice destination for surfers. That being the case I can see the logic. The SouthWest has been styling itself on the surfer dude theme for many years now. Must remember to look up the standard weight for surfboards...

I wonder who is going to want to go to Copenhagen and why?

Cheers

WWW

[MerchantVenturer]

WWW,

easy will be assured of at least two pax for Copenhagen - my wife and me.

We almost booked to go with KLM via Amsterdam a couple of months ago.

Copenhagen is a beautiful, historical city with an enchanting hinterland - castles and seascapes. It must be potentially as interesting as somewhere like Prague, except that it may not attract so many of the beer crowd. Don't know though - Danish lager and all that!

I often wonder how the likes of the Nice and Venice services do from BRS in the winter months. Presumably ok at least.

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

Both Nice and Venice have skiing related traffic in the winter and as both are eye wateringly expensive in season there are still people keen to visit in the quieter cheaper months.

Prague just rakes them all in, your stag parties, your culture vultures, your backpackers, your couples and it goes pretty strong all year. Plus there are a suprising number of Czech citizens coming the other way. Particularly on a Friday night there seems to be a trickle of highly glamorous leggy women travelling alone with nothing but hand baggage. Creates quite a distraction on the glass airbridge I can tell you.

Cheers

WWW

[Lite]

With all the growth currently being made in Newcastle and Bristol when will Liverpool and East Midlands get some new routes?

I dont recall either of these bases having any new routes since last November.

[redfield]

Rumours abound at BRS that Easy will start Madrid and Berlin (Schonefield) from the end of next March.....

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

Berlin?!? Not an EZY or ex-Go route and started out of a regional base - sounds unlikely. Is there anyone else running a profitable BRS - Berlin scheduled route at the moment?

Cheers

WWW

[stalling attitude]

i think Munich is a more likely destination from BRS than Berlin

[MerchantVenturer]

The only scheduled routes to Germany from BRS at the moment are the daily (except Sats) BACx ERJ 145 rotations to Munich and Frankfurt. One starts and finishes at GLA and the other at EDI so they are really shared routes with the Scottish airports. I don't know the proportion of pax who start and finish at BRS.

bmibaby tried a Munich service ( 4 days a week I think) from CWL last summer but presumably it didn't work because it has been withdrawn.

Would there be enough pax for a daily B 733 from BRS to MUC?
Don't know is the short answer.

Is CPH a more attractive destination than Berlin?

Now that most of the main EZY destinations (apart from GVA, and that might only work in the winter) are or are about to be flown from BRS, what does it leave? Paris I suppose - already flown by BA and AF, but the fact that KLM does AMS has not stopped EZY getting in on this route.

If EZY is to add more routes from BRS they will inevitably be the riskier ones commercially from such an airport, so Berlin and Madrid might be on the menu next year. Milan and Zurich might also be theoretical goers, given their potential business and leisure mix.

I would also think that AMS might become twice a day. If BRS can support 490 daily seats to DUB (3 x FRs 732 and 2 x BACx ERJ 145) I can see scope for an increase in seats to AMS. At present KLM provides 340 daily seats (3 x F 70 and 2 x F 50) and the EZY rotation will increase it to 488. With it's huge hub potential as well as the massive attraction of Amsterdam as a tourist city, I don't see why the number of seats to AMS should not surpass those to DUB.

My rider is that I don't know how many of the 490 seats to DUB are filled each day.

NB. When I say daily, I am talking about Mon-Fri. The services described to AMS and DUB are slightly less at weekends.

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

I doubt Munich would be a runner - its only a small route out of STN as it is. GVA has the skiing, some business pax and its also a hub for onward travel so maybe. South of France seems ill served with only the Nice at the moment so maybe a Lyon or Toulouse in the future.

Is there a maritime connection between CPH and BRS - both are major ports and centres for all things maritime... we shall see.

Where is Bristol these days in the top 10 of UK airports?

Cheers

WWW

[SFP]

see: www.easyjet.com
for news of the the new base and routes to several destinations, including Liverpool Capital of Culture 2008

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

Just goes to show that Pilots know nothing. Bristol - Berlin daily service now on sale!

Cheers

WWW :rolleyes:

[MerchantVenturer]

WWW,

In response to your questions.

There is no particular connection between Bristol and Copenhagen as there is, for instance, between Bristol and Bordeaux and between Bristol and Oporto, two of the west country city's twin cities.

The latest annual CAA figures I can find (12 month period up to end of July 2003) puts BRS at number eleven in the UK airports list according to passenger throughput. All these airports carried over one million pax in the 12 months in question:

LHR 62.5 million LGW 29.8 MAN 18.9 STN 17.4 BHX 8.5 GLA 8 EDI 7.3 LTN 6.7 EMA 4 BFS 3.8 BRS 3.7 NCL 3.6 LPL 3.1 ABZ 2.5 BHD 1.9 LBA 1.8 CWL 1.7 PIK 1.6 LCY 1.5

As to the southern part of France, flybe has just started a daily rotation from Bristol to Toulouse. They are also to start daily flights to Bergerac and Bordeaux next spring.