Britannia Express comfirm it’s CVT

[U/S President]

Britannia Express comfirm it’s CVT.

That’s it really.

[mad_dog]

what is CVT?

MD

[U/S President]

It stands for ‘cold vein thrombosis’, which affects dwarves and guinea pigs on low-cost flights :uhoh:.

No really... CVT is the code for Coventry Airport, or West Midlands International Airport as it likes to be known. Just announced as the base for Britannia Airways’ low-cost offshoot.

[M.85]

U/S President,
LMAO:E :ok:

M.85

[Michael O'Really?]

I think Wellesbourne Mountford is the only airport left in the Midlands which doesn't have a low cost carrier based there. But for how long?

[egnxema]

U/S President

Can you tell us where they have published their confirmation, is there a web site we can read a press release on?

Thanks mate

[LTNman]

So how long is Coventry’s runway now. Looking at my little black book, which is out of date the TORA for 05 is only 1615 m ( 5300ft) long. Has anyone told Britannia this? Summertime blues me thinks :D

[brabazon]

OK, we've got U/S President and WWW claiming that the news is out, but nothing so far in the "media" or even on Britannia's or TUI's website or even Coventry Airport's website (thought they are offering discounts on training flights!!!)
Come on guys where did you hear it?

[VCR]

Or could it be a rumour?.......................:confused:

[HOODED]

Coventrys runway is 05/23 5986ft/1825m long with a TORA of 5026ft on 05 and 5988ft on 23 LDAs are 5889ft and 5299 ft respectivley. Long enough you would think for a 737 operation. I wish them well, just hope they show more comitment there than they have at LBA.:O

[U/S President]

I believe the media lanuch will be on Friday 12th December.

[chiglet]

Just where is the lake? For the Media "launch" Sorreeee
watpiktch

[BoeingMEL]

West Midlands International? Don't think so..... known within Ryanair ranks as Edinburgh (South)! BM

[fiftyfour]

I doubt that it's the best airport for regular 737 operations. About 10 years ago Air Algerie parked a 737 a few miles short of the south west runway while on sub charter for one of the local Coventry air cargo companies. Aircraft ramp is a bit tight -maybe its been upgraded since I was last there in the early 90s.

[Buster the Bear]

fiftyfour, check your facts PLEASE prior to posting!

I think you will find a QNH/QFE error on final approach from memory737 was empty and on an SRA?

It was being used for Veal exports at a time when folk were anti the methods used by road haulage firms.

Fcuk all to do with runway length!

Now you all know how rumours start!

http://www.gifs.net/animate/bear3p.gif

[maninblack]

Luton is currently tighter than a camel's rectum in a sandstorm, I can't get any info as even middle management have been told that the low cost operation is a marketing tool for Britannia Direct rather than an autonomous airline with a dedicated fleet.

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

Its an autonomous airline with its own full time fleet. Flightcrew currently undergoing type conversions and command courses.

Cheers

WWW

[U/S President]

Travel Weekly have now caught up:

www.travelweekly.co.uk/tw_news/article.asp?ID=19551

[brabazon]

WWW

If it's autonomous who's going to do its PR and marketing?

[PPRuNeUser0215]

And the flight crew are on the same seniority list.

[Buster the Bear]

Why Coventry? Who is advising?

Well the fares must be totally cheap, but will Twilite make any money? Sorry, TuiLite. I am only a bear and TUI does not spell TWI.

Will Coventry airport make any money. Passengers need car parks, quick check in, shops (Loads of em), places to eat and buy magazines and newspapers. Quick access to their baggage and for a good few, excellent rail/coach and train access. (Even the Harps supply a web bookable coach to Frankfurt from Hahn).

These facilities are available at Birmingham, East Midlands and Luton, and probably serving the same destinations.

From my own view point, why Coventry?

I am sure that the infrastructure will ALL be in place for the first flight.

Now on a slightly differing note, how the heck is the surrounding airspace going to cope with a 'Zero' cost operator operating 4 based airframes from Coventry? Answer:?????? Well ask Birmingham ATC and TC operting the Midlands airspace close by, I am assuming Twilite have already assessed these potential delays which are no fault of ATC, but based upon available capacity?

Anyway, I am only a bear so what do I know?

http://www.gifs.net/animate/bear3p.gif

[LTNman]

10 reasons why not to set up a low cost airline from Coventry


No Terminal
No Planning permission for a terminal
http://www.warwickdc.gov.uk//dev60cgi/rwcgi60?plankey+report=wssr102.rdf+paramform=no+param_app_re f=W20030473
No public transport
No infrastructure
Only a Cat 1 ILS on runway 23
Only a Cat 1 ILS on runway 05
TORA of only 5300ft on runway 05
Airport closes at 19.00 on Saturday and Sundays
Birmingham Airport just down the road
mmm can't think of reason 10, can anyone help?

[Hood]

Rumoured to be starting with bmi baby's 737-500's that are going in New Year.

[alterego]

I maybe putting 2 + 2 together and coming up with 6 but has anyone else noticed that a German company is trying to but TBI. I think they are called Hochtief (or similar).

TBI own LTN,CWL & BFS airports. Britannia's main base is at LTN and they want to start low cost ops. TUI (Britannia's owner) are also German.

Does anyone know if the 2 German companies are linked?

CVT could just be dipping their toe in the water, before they start ops at their main base that they own!

[almost professional]

Ltnman
Reason ten could be leaving controlled airspace at DTY and routing towards the CT past Husbands Bosworth, Bruntingthorpe and just about every light aircraft routing north and south through the midlands (not to say that ATC will do a good job but its not ideal)

[egeebee]

It definately is at Coventry. Goes public this week. Low cost operation to be known as "TUI Express". Starts ops on March 29th. Four B737 aircraft to be based there on the south apron. New terminal currently being constructed, runway WIP and grading over the winter. Bet it will be bad news on the existing freight operation and car parts at COV as it will suffer as there will now be a permanent RZ on the south.

Hope CVT know what they are letting themselves in for...

[LTNman]

Planning permission has been applied for but no decision has been made yet for a new terminal or infrastructure. See my link in previous post. If planning permission were granted in say January the only thing that could be erected in 2 months would be a marquee or some bolt together portocabins which would also need a planning application .:D :D :D

[jmc757]

I have heard that CVT is building "Temporary" buildings which they don't need planning permission for! So thats the answer to no planning permission, and remember temporary buildings have come a long way from Portakabins. Sure it won't be a BAA Shopping Mall, but isn't that all part of the loco experience. The people want the low fares....;)

[U/S President]

LTNman: No terminal
You’d be surprised what they’ll be able to knock together before operations start in April.

LTNman: No public transport
It won’t take much effort for Britannia Express to lay on a bus into Birmingham city centre Ryanair-style, leaving every 15 min after one of their flights arrive, and charge pax for the privilege.

LTNman: Airport closes at 19.00 on Saturday and Sundays
I’m sure when you’re negotiating to become the first airline at an airport, you have enough leverage to pursue the airport to extend its opening hours to whatever you like.

LTNman: Birmingham Airport just down the road
That’s the whole point isn’t it? Birmingham is just down the road but is served by an airport that won’t offer deals to low-cost carriers. So base your airline 20 min down the A45. Plus you get all the benefits that come with being at a airport with zero congestion.

[larry walker]

Replying to the previous thread. Birmingham does do deals with lo-cost carriers. It has one based, Mytravellite, is a main base for flybe, and a third Ryanair operate three routes.

If my understanding is correct BHX have very favourable deals for any operator, lo-cost or full service, wishing to commence flights to destinations not currently served from the airport.

If the logical arguments are considered surely BHX should win hands down.

Perhaps the aspect that puzzles me most is that TUI have a major base at BHX and now the lo-cost offshoot of the same group is replicating all of the facilities at Coventry.

For those that don't know CVT and BHX are only 15 miles apart by road.

Larry Walker

[LGS6753]

The tenth reason is the real killer - no cash machine.

[Halcyon Days]

According to todays Times the name is going to be Thomsonfly.
Official announcement is expected on Tuesday but believed to be between two and four 737`s based at Coventry(dont know which version).

[Buster the Bear]

HaHaHaHaHa!!

ThomsonFly!!

Can you get an injection to prevent it?

So this is what happens when your Germanic masters mess with the UK airline industry.

I am so glad that I am a bear, what chaos can TUI cause you next!

Mr Jeans, Mr Webster, Mr O Leary, Mr Meeson and Mr Bishop must be laughing all the way to the Bundersbank!

Coventry, I ask you. A real passenger orientated airport (If you are sealed up and have a stamp on you, then you are okay!).

Good luck to all at Thomsonfly!

HaHaHaHaHa

http://www.gifs.net/animate/bear3p.gif

[jetstream7]

Buster...Messrs Meeson, O'Leary, Webster, Bishop may be laughing their way to the bank, but I'm not so sure about Tim Jeans - Today's Sunday Times also reports wind down in My Travel Lite ops with a reduction to 4 aircraft, and more likely to be a 'virtual' airline - i.e selling tickets on My Travel charters.

[BoeingMEL]

Must be April 1st! Can't wait for the R/T.... "LiteFlite 202..cleared to taxy northside on the grass... then park between the Shackleton and Puss Moth" A coach from CVT to Birmingham City.... mmmm... through the south Birmingham ghettos at 10 mph or via the M6 at 15mph? Ah well.... if it only provides a few jobs for 12 months, what the hell? Good luck to 'em.bm

[Flabbawhar]

A search of domain registrations tends to support the 'Thomsonfly' name (extracted below). Will the callsign be Tsetse Fly?

Organization:
TUI UK Ltd
Columbus House - Westwood Way
Westwood Business Park, Coventry CV4 8TT
GB
Phone: 44 2476283346
Fax..: 44 2476282835
Email: [email protected]

Registrar Name....: Register.com
Registrar Whois...: whois.register.com
Registrar Homepage: http://www.register.com

Domain Name: THOMSONFLY.COM, THOMSONFLY.CO.UK

Created on..............: Tue, Jul 29, 2003
Expires on..............: Fri, Jul 29, 2005

[U/S President]

Okay, so I was a bit premature saying the media launch would be on Friday. I’m now going for Tuesday 16th.

On the subject of domains, britanniadirect.com has now been set-up to redirect automatically to thomsonflights.com. When thomsonfly (which now seems to be the name, rather than Britannia Express) is launched, will thomsonfly.com be separate or will they be merged to give the low-cost and seat-only charter flights in the same place?

[U/S President]

And they’ve launched!

www.thomsonfly.com (http://www.thomsonfly.com/)

Coventry to:

Valencia, Málaga, Palma, Marseille, Ibiza, Nice, Venice, Pisa, Rome and Naples and Jersey.

[volrider]

I live between Birmingham and East Midlands Airports, I often travel to Coventry and despite it being only "15 miles" down the A45 from Birmingham, a Formula One driver would find it hard to do the trip inside 30 mins during normal day time hours and thats just to BHX!!! Sadly the road and traffic light system between the two cities is cr@p. Coventry is a quaint little ramshackle airport with some great old aircraft sitting on the grass probably never to have the sky beneath its wings again. I just think that its incredible that Thomson will be running from 31st March 2004!!!Bring your own bucket to pee in and forget about any terminal building facilities for food or similar.
This has to be an early April 1st???
Surely operating out of here BEFORE any decent facilities will be the death knell for this airline...Hope I am wrong but the "talking cargo" expect standards and they will be wanting more than this airport can offer at the time...even with "prefabs!"
btw they could try and find the M6 to Birmingham... if they do add another hour on the journey!:O :8

[U/S President]

Press release from www.coventry-airport.co.uk (http://www.theaviationwebsite.com/cvt/paxflights.html):
The latest programme of investment has largely been triggered by the airport's well-publicised wish to reintroduce scheduled passenger services and follows on from today's announcement of the airport's new alliance with partner Thomsonfly.com which is launching passenger services in the Spring of 2004 to 11 destinations throughout Europe.
And some lovely pics of the new terminal:

http://www.theaviationwebsite.com/cvt/Air_Atl_Departure_Bldg_2.jpg

[jmc757]

Well its really happenned!! Strange day to launch though, as all the aviation news today will be about the new runways/airports plans. This news would usually get a look in on Midlands Today/Central News, but today I would guess they'll just be banging on about the new runway at Birmingham??

Good News anyway!

[Ian Farquharson]

Well it is has been announced, ThomsonFly will offer direct flights from Coventry to 11 destinations, 2 aircraft from 31.03.03 then additional aircraft from 22.04.04 and again from 20.05.04:-

Dept 0615 TOM191 Nice Arr 1050 TOM192 - Daily 22.04.04-30.10.04
Dept 0635 TOM101 Jersey Arr 0925 TOM102 - Daily 31.03.04-30.10.04
Dept 0640 TOM201 Rome Arr 1245 TOM201 - Daily 31.3.04-30.10.04
Dept 0720 TOM209 Naples Arr 1400 TOM210 - Daily 20.05.04-30.10.04
Dept 1005 TOM037 Valencia Arr 1545 TOM038 - Daily 31.03.04-30.10.04
Dept 1135 TOM003 Palma Arr 1715 TOM004 - Daily 22.04.04-30.10.04
Dept 1335 TOM205 Venice Arr 1850 TOM206 - Daily 31.03.04-30.10.04
Dept 1510 TOM207 Pisa Arr 2035 TOM208 - Daily 20.05.04-30.10.04
Dept 1640 TOM015 Malaga Arr 2240 TOM016 - Daily 31.3.04-30.10.04
Dept 1800 TOM195 Marseille Arr 2240 TOM196 - Daily 22.04.04-30.10.04
Dept 2000 TOM035 Malaga Arr 0200 TOM036 - Sat Only 12.06.04-30.10.04
Dept 2210 TOM007 Ibiza Arr 0340 TOM008 - Fri & Sat from 11.06.04 & Sun from 08.07.04
Dept 2320 TOM025 Palma Arr 0500 TOM026 - Fri & Sat from 09.07.04


Good Luck to Coventry and Thomson !

Ian

[Electric Sky]

Website says they will be operating 131 seat 737-500 aircraft. I was under the impression they were to use 737-800s (don't know why??:confused: )

I am not sure that a low cost based at BHX and at CVT and 2 at EMA can possibly all succeed but hopefully they can.

ES ;)

[Pitot Heater]

Yet MORE work dumped on the remnants of an overstretched and overstressed Ops dept at LTN no doubt.

Now where’s that repellent gone??

[fueldump]

There is no OPS Dept at LTN anymore. Its all handled from GOS Hannover:uhoh:

[Pitot Heater]

Is it really?! :eek: Bare in mind that by defination 'Ops' relates to more than Flight Watch and ATC :ok:

[LGS6753]

This is real low-cost!!

An unknown airport so close to the Heart of England that you need surgery to find it.
An "interim passenger facility" (Portakabins).
"Designed for our needs" (No-one else wants it).
Perhaps a couple of Daks borrowed from Atlantic!
Or a DC6 on a busy day?

[larry walker]

Replying to Volrider, CVT is about 15 miles from BHX, NOT
Birmingham city centre, this is about 23 miles from CVT.

[Caslance]

Perhaps a couple of Daks borrowed from Atlantic!
Or a DC6 on a busy day? Well, they've got my business if that's the equipment they're going to use! Where can I buy a ticket?:ok:

[volrider]

Cheers Larry yeah got my sums mixed up! But I do hope they do well however I wonder what will happen if My Travel Lite do scale down?? Why use CVT when all the facilities are in place at BHX..Ok cost may be a factor, but how much will it cost to devlop Coventry??? Plus there is no planning permission for the terminal yet! Must admit I was tempted by the prices to book a flight to Jersey in June... will I need to get to the car park early.. I mean should I start out now as I think they have about 26 places :D

[Courtman]

Pitot Heater
Flight Watch and the ATC Cell have indeed transferred to Hapag Lloyd Operations in Hannover. As Hapag Lloyd Ops now handle BAL UK, BAL Nordic, NEOS, White Eagle, Hapag Lloyd Mainline and Express they've given Hapag Ops the catchy title GO Centre, although you'll find that the Germans working there all seem to still answer the phone "Hapag Lloyd Ops". The ATC functions started transferring in the spring, it finally all went east on October 3rd when a new system was implemented in Luton for Crewing (the same system used in Hannover which is not a patch on the system we used in Luton). Not many Brits transferred to Hannover, and all the Ops guys have now left BAL. Crewing and Rostering remain in Luton, for now...

Anyway, back to the ThomsonFly thread....

The aircraft will be 737-500 aircraft, initially two are coming from Maersk and at least one from BMI.

[Charles Web]

Still no terminal I hear, it looks like portakabins for this summer at least. The decision on the application may be delayed again. With the firemen doubling as the baggage handlers etc, its gonna be an interesting start-up.

Its rumoured the TUI safety guys had some real concerns with the 737's on the short runway and the airspace.

Parking may be offered at Peugeot Ryton plant to ease the shortage, as the Buses will probably attract abot 0% of the pax.