Air Wales flies CWL-NCL/LPL and LPL-NCL

[Uncle Monty]

From Air Wales website

To start daily CWL-NCL / CWL- LPL, and NCL-LPL from Dec 8

[dwlpl]

I have, after a bit of detective work, found the timings for the routes. Note all flights are listed to run Monday to Friday, at present, and not daily as various sources have stated so far.

6G1856
dep CARDIFF 1505
arr LIVERPOOL 1550

6G1855
dep LIVERPOOL 1100
arr CARDIFF 1145

6G1850
dep PLYMOUTH 0700
arr CARDIFF 0730
dep CARDIFF 0750
arr NEWCASTLE 0910
dep NEWCASTLE 0940
arr LIVERPOOL 1030

6G1851
dep LIVERPOOL 1620
arr NEWCASTLE 1710
dep NEWCASTLE 1740
arr CARDIFF 1900
dep CARDIFF 1930
arr PLYMOUTH 2000

[MerchantVenturer]

An imaginative set of routes from Air Wales which might work.

BA have tried CWL-NCL and Air Wales have tried CWL-MAN in the not too distant past, neither of which was successful.

I though bmibaby might have tried CWL-NCL given the apparent success of easyJet's BRS-NCL (third daily rotation being added from December).

This triangular set of routes might cut the mustard. The only weakness is that the timings do not make a daytrip from CWL to LPL possible unless you travel via NCL, if that is allowed, and in any case that way is a bit of a jaunt for a day trip.

Good luck to them. I shall watch with interest.

[transwede]

Does this mean that Air Wales have abandoned plans to start NCL/GLA service and are replacing it with LPL/CWL/PLH?

Have they not thought of a NCL/LCY service? Good for businessmen who currently have to travel to LHR for a days business in the capital!? ;)

[dundoniandean]

I believe both NCL/LCY and LPL/LCY are being looked at by 6G. Fingers crossed!

[DanielP]

Just a quick question.

Does anyone know if the aircraft on this little rotation will overnight at Plymouth, creep back to Cardiff for the night or A. N. Other?

....the reason I would like to know is that I am a Fl*gh* S*mm*r and 6G fan living round the corner from EGFF. I like to keep the AI at my home airport as realistic as possible.

If anyone could help, that would be great and I will leave you to get on with more important matters!

I must say, it's nice to see EGFF is doing so well with the Babies and Air Wales at the mo. Long may it continue! And today, there was even the Atlantic Electra parked at one end and a Tu154M parked at the other. Happy days! :ok:

Daniel, Wales, UK

[reverserunlocked]

Daniel, I think it overnights in Plymouth, although one of the AW guys will be able to clarify that.

I used the Air Wales service this morning to NCL, having flown with EZY from NCL to BRS yesterday.

My thoughts:

We were a bit late getting out due to fog and the resulting late inbound arrival of the aircraft but that couldn't be helped.

I thought the ATR looked fab in the Air Wales livery although the seat I sat in was a bit grubby and the side panel had what (I hope) was coffee stains running down it. Other than that the cabin seemed clean enough if a little 'lived in'.

Cabin crew was just one pretty youngish blonde who was very efficient and perfectly friendly. Nice uniform too!
Couldn't hear a flamin' word of the skipper's pre-take off chat but I did make out something about 'apologies for the delay' which was nice.

The flight itself was uneventful, there was a good selection of drinks and snacks on board and I liked the fact that used glasses and cans were collected on a tray, unlike the big orange bin liner that EZY drag down the aisle!

Flight time from CWL to NCL is bizarrely only a couple of minutes longer than EZY's 737 from NCL to BRS...
We had a good landing in NCL and a cheery goodbye from the hostie on the way out.

So AW nearly checks all the boxes and I'll give them my business again. But worryingly there were only 9 of us from CWL on the flight so I hope it works out. EZY's NCL-BRS flight is always packed so I don't see why not!

[symphonyangel]

Been on their website to check booking availability and you can't book these services for flights after January 16th. If they really want to make a success of them they better make them available when people want to book them. Other Air Wales flights are available to book on the website after that date. Availability of website bookings well in advance seems to be why some operations do well and some others end up failing. Hope they get on top of this before its too late.

[runawayedge]

Air Wales have all the ingredients for success bar one...management...

[Stud3]

I have my doubts over the continuation of Red Dragon at Newcastle.

The passenger figures lately have been appauling, best day we had was one in december when 29 disembarked on the morning flight, and 5 returned to LPL/CWL/PLH.
The evening flight gets around 20-30 pax in and out of NCL, usually on the lower end of this figure, however the morning is lucky if 5-10 get off and back on.

All of todays flights have been cancelled also, presumably due to lack of pax?

I do wish airwales all the success at Newcastle as the crew are extremely pleasant, flight deck and the cabin staff, however, i have seen no advertisement from air wales around the north east lately, only on the Newcastle airport website. Surely a bit of advertisement and possibly the online booking facility would help promote airwales in the north east?

[reverserunlocked]

Maybe advertising's the key ingredient here. Like I said EZY's BRS-NCL is almost always full. If EZY can fill 3 NCL-BRS rotations a day with a 737 surely Air Wales can fill an ATR from CWL?

[johnwalton]

...and maybe its the price, just putting in some random dates for NCL-CWL and NCL-BRS

out Jan 15
ret Jan 23

Air Wales cheapest £124.80
EasyJet £30.98-60.98 depending on time selection

6G are twice as expensive if not more

[MerchantVenturer]

Has Air Wales reviewed its CWL-LPL-NCL routes already? The CWL-LPL and CWL-PLH routes appear to have been discontinued.

I ask because I notice that the mid morning and early evening arrivals at CWL from LPL/NCL are shown on today’s CWL Ceefax arrivals page and CWL airport website arrivals page as only NCL.

I tried a few test bookings on the Air Wales website for CWL-LPL over the next couple of months that brought forth a ‘no flights available’ notice during the periods in question.

The early morning PLH/CWL flight is not shown on the CWL Ceefax page or website arrivals either, neither is the evening departure to PLH from CWL on the website departures page. Test bookings for these flights on Air Wales website over the next couple of months produced a ‘n/a’ response.

I also note that the Air Wales CWL/BRU commences today although it appears that there will be one rotation a day instead of the originally advertised two.

Perversely, the Air Wales website schedules page still shows all these flights as operating over the next few months, which is at odds with the booking page.

Does anyone know whether these changes, if changes they are, are for the winter only?

I have a reason for asking in that I have an elderly relative (older than me even) who uses CWL from time to time and relies on me (probably foolishly) for information regarding services at that airport.

[tugdriver]

air wales will be pulling out of lpl in the next week.

just not enough punters on it. no advertisments in the press they have left as quickly as they arrived.

[glynn-kayes]

just like they did at BHD then?

[jetstream7]

Not new news, but I thought I'd post the following found on the BBC news today...

If Air Wales is reallocating aircraft and slots to Newcastle, does it mean more frequency for NCL from Plymouth / Cardiff?

Perhaps most importantly, when is Air Wales going to get their marketing and planning together so the routes they start are operated with some consistency and longevity? I hear the start of the Brussels service has not been supported with any visible marketing in Belgium... will this go the same way as Liverpool and Belfast City? I hope not, but I have my concerns...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Air Wales drops Liverpool flight

Chairman Roy Thomas launched the Liverpool flight last month
An airline has axed a service from Cardiff to Liverpool less than six weeks after it was launched.
Air Wales says it has made the decision to stop the Liverpool service after the newly- launched Plymouth-Cardiff-Newcastle route proved so popular, outperforming its other domestic routes.

In contrast, the 45-minute Cardiff-Liverpool flight, which was launched on 8 December and stopped last weekend, had a "lower than average take-up rate," said an Air Wales spokesperson.

The company had decided to reallocate the aircraft and time slots to the Newcastle route as a short-term measure.

"We're hopeful that we will be able to re-introduce the Liverpool service as part of the summer scheduling when additional aircraft and personnel become available," said the spokesperson.

Leisure

Air Wales, which describes itself as Wales' national airline, operates services to and from Swansea and Cardiff airports.

On Monday it launched a four-day-a-week service from Cardiff to Brussels, a route operated by British Airways until a year ago.

The service is seen as helping business people and government officials move between the two capitals.

Air Wales chairman Roy Thomas said: "It's a major step for us as we look to grow our major European routes."

The company spokesperson said the Brussels service had been incorrectly advertised as a twice daily service on its internet site, but that was being corrected.

Air Wales also flies to Dublin, Amsterdam and London City airport.

Although targeting their flights at the business traveller, the airline also has an eye on the leisure market.

Last year the company linked up with a hotel and surf school to offer luxury surfing break in Gower, south Wales, aimed at high-spending customers.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/3412593.stm

[MerchantVenturer]

Thanks for that jetstream.

The statement from Air Wales still does not make a lot of sense.

The Liverpool flights from Cardiff were combined with the Newcastle flights anyway. The morning flight was PLH-CWL-NCL-LPL-CWL and the afternoon/early evening flight was CWL-LPL-NCL-CWL-PLH.

Despite what Air Wales have apparently said the CWL-PLH legs seem to have been discontinued in both directions. It is impossible to book PLH-CWL or PLH-NCL on the website because although the flight is shown it is endorsed 'n/a'. Furthermore, the PLH-CWL and CWL-PLH legs are not shown on the CWL website or on Ceefax.

In summary the original pan England and Wales service appears to have been reduced to CWL-NCL and back, but still only twice a day.

I also noticed that yesterday there were no London City flights to/ from CWL shown on either Ceefax or the CWL airport website arrivals/departure pages. Have these flights been reduced in some way from a daily weekday schedule?

I cannot believe that this airline is blaming its own website for the confusion over the number of Brussels flights each day. I have just checked and they are still showing 2 rotations per day (M-F) on CWL-BRU with one on Sundays.

They really must get their house in order quickly. It will be a great shame if they don't because Wales is crying out for decent and reliable services.

[johnwalton]

Two seperate dates checked, and Plymouth-Newcastle available on both, with a stop in Cardiff.

Sun 25 Jan
Air Wales
6G 1871
Plymouth (PLH), Plymouth, United Kingdom 14:50
Newcastle Int'l (NCL), Newcastle, United Kingdom 17:10
1 stop(s) AT4 2h20min Economy Restricted

Mon 26 Jan
Air Wales
6G 1851
Newcastle Int'l (NCL), Newcastle, United Kingdom 17:40
Plymouth (PLH), Plymouth, United Kingdom 20:15
1 stop(s) AT4 2h35min Economy Restricted


Wed 18 Feb
Air Wales
6G 1858
Plymouth (PLH), Plymouth, United Kingdom 07:00
Newcastle Int'l (NCL), Newcastle, United Kingdom 09:10
1 stop(s) AT4 2h10min Economy Restricted

Wed 25 Feb
Air Wales
6G 1851
Newcastle Int'l (NCL), Newcastle, United Kingdom 17:40
Plymouth (PLH), Plymouth, United Kingdom 20:15
1 stop(s) AT4 2h35min Economy Restricted

[runawayedge]

Well at least they operated it for a few weeks....seem to have a history of making announcements then withdrawing.....GLA GWY in November of last year....think their main problem is a complete lack of management especially commercial...need to get their act together quickly

[MerchantVenturer]

john walton

I emailed Air Wales this afternoon and asked them whether the CWL-PLH segment was still operating. They did not give a direct answer, but asked me to 'phone their booking office.

My interest is more than academic because I have an elderly relative who lives near CWL and who will almost certainly make use of the CWL-PLH sector later this spring if it is operating.

When I know the actual dates of travel I will contact Air Wales again.

I note your test bookings for NCL-PLH but their web booking site still shows 'n/a' for the CWL-PLH sector on these dates, but if you ignore this and go on to the next page the service does appear to be available as your post shows.

I think you are a Newcastle man. I flew there with easyJet last autumn. I enjoyed the airport and convenient Metro to the city centre, and the city is marvellous. My wife and I will return!

[johnwalton]

MerchantVenturer,

I know what you mean. But it seems as if (for now) they have only withdrawn the LPL service, as if you try to book CWL-LPL you get a "No available flights were found" error message. The load factors on the PLH/CWL/NCL flights being markedly better than those through LPL.

The twice I've visited Bristol have been by train, mainly because EZY didn't fly the route back then, and Virgin were much cheaper than BA! Enjoyed both my visits though, despite the marathon train journey.

[GROUNDHOG]

Luxury Surfing breaks to a Surf School on the Gower.... now there IS a contradiction in terms.

I live in a surfing area and surf myself and can assure AW that the numbers of luxury passengers generated who wish to go to a surf school on the Gower will be about the same as Winter Sun in Baghdad.

It will be interesting to see if Air Wales now pull off the Plymouth to Jersey Summer route since Air Southwest are starting this one in the Spring.

[The Flying Lip]

I rarely comment about Air Wales or anyone else on PPRUNE - just a silent watcher - but a few thoughts go thru my head....

1. Given the rumors about the former MD and his seeming desire to run the place down for a fire sale, are the current management on the same kick? They:

a. Only put out bad news press releases (eg, zilch on new service to Brussels, loads on dropping the Liverpool)
b. Jump on and off routes seemingly for the hell of it
c. Don't try and sell any tickets - the website sucks, it is way out of date, and the call centre seems to be run by monkeys
d. Change prices and policies all the time - what happened to the flat rate tix?

2. Is anyone running the airline? All the news seems to be about departures, not arrivals.

3. Customer service is laughable - all the comments about not answering phones etc etc

I'll give them three months at this rate. Can only assume that the chairman has VERY deep pockets and long arms, cos it just can't be doing anything other than bleeding money out the door.

If they have got any management, why do they all seem to be sat on their hands? If they haven't, why don't they get some, before the whole shebang goes down the toilet???

TFL

[TwinAisle]

Anyone from 6G care to comment on this? As an observer of the airline, I can't argue with what TFL has said - could only really add to it!

He/she forgot to mention the shambles at SWS - it seems to be NOTAM's closed two days a week, flights originating from CWL instead, and resignations (?) all round....

Wither 6G?

TA

[Friio4]

Am booked LPL/PLH in May.
Emailed their customer services last week asking if the flight was still on. Was told to ring reservations, who said the flight was still running.
But this flight comes in from CWL then goes onto NCL, so who knows?
Cant see it happening though as Air Southwest start MAN/PLH in May, its cheaper and quicker!

[MerchantVenturer]

Well, I certainly hope Air Wales prospers.

I hate to see any airline go under and, with my aviation aficionado's hat on, I loved seeing the strikingly-coloured ATR 42 on her evening approach into Cardiff from London City last summer as she passed in the vicinity of my house on the edge of south Bristol.

If I was in my garden on a sunny evening I would look out for the ATR in the same way I used to look at Concorde going in the other direction into LHR, albeit a teeny bit higher. I have now lost the one, I should hate to lose the second.

But of course there are far more important reasons for Air Wales to prevail than providing me with a pleasant backdrop to the evening summer sky.