Why is HUY so unpopular?

[Lite]

I do not have any figures to back this quote up, but I am just going on what I have seen on PPRUNe and just from general industry snippets, but I am really interested to know why MAG's Humberside Airport is so unpopular.

From what I can see the airport is close to a number of towns and cities, however has virtually no scheduled airline links.

Any reasons why HUY is unpopular, and why the low-cos havent landed yet?

[MEFLYBE]

I don't think it is a case of Humberside being unpopular. Humberside deals with 2 main activities, scheduled business flights and holiday charter flights.

Lets start with the scheduled side. Aberdeen and Amsterdam have been there from day 1 and continute to be profitable for Eastern Airways and KLM cityhopper respectively. There is a proven market for other scheduled destinations such as Paris, Dublin and Jersey, all three routes have been proven in the past. The problem with HUY is the surrounding market, the areas of Kingston-upon-Hull, Grimsby, Cleethorpes, S****horpe and Doncaster are not particularly wealthy. Business destinations are therefore limited.

I think the reason no low-cost airline has opted fro HUY is simply because it is next on the list. It seems as though the low-costers go down the airport list and whoever is next on the list gets the flights. For example, Exeter and Bournemouth are smaller than HUY, but are comparable and so logic would have it that HUY is next on the list, along with Norwich. I am still amazed that Ryanair have not started flights to either HUY or NWI from Dublin,
however, HUY does have fierce competition from LBA and EMA, both of which have developed low-cost networks. There is certainly a market for Alicante, Malaga, Palma, Faro, Dublin and Belfast low cost flights, but i honestly think the low cost airlines' aircraft are too bog for HUY, something around the ARJ/F100 bracket would be more suited to HUY to grow the market and then in future upgrade. The only low cost airlines I see as having a chance at HUY are Flybe. because of their appropriate fleet, or Jet2 because they have established brand recognition in the local area, however I fear they would be reluctant because of the possible impact on it's nearby LBA ops. Ideally someone like Eastern Airways would start a fresh 100 seat low fares airline out of HUY, but the market is already saturated so to be honest, as much as it pains me to say it, I dont think there is a large enough market for a large investment.

Holiday Charter flights are flourishing, from having 2 a week 10 years ago to having 33 planned for next summer, HUY performs very well in this sector. The issue of having a based aircraft, Mytravel/Airtours in particular has been rumoured for years, but airlines continue to operate 'W' patterns with LBA, EMA, MAN and MME based aircraft. New destinations for next summer are Rhodes, Varna and Bodrum, so the range of destinations is ever growing. With passenger numbers approaching 520,000 pa, this is where any immediate growth is likely to come from.

I have to say, i have been using HUY since I was 4 years old, and I love the place, it is friendly, small but big enough, cosy and easy to get to, and I would bet on the fact that most first time HUY users return again and again!

Regards

Mike

[Andy_S]

"From what I can see the airport is close to a number of towns and cities"

Possibly a bit on the optimistic side. The nearest town, about 10 miles away, is Grimsby, with S****horpe a little further away. Reasonably sized but hardly huge towns. The nearest major city, Hull, is 15 miles away across a toll bridge. And thats about it. All the other major population centres in North Lincolnshire / South Yorkshire are probably closer to other airports.

And, of course, Finningley waits in the wings.......

[dada]

to sum up meflybe

because it's a dump.

[MEFLYBE]

Well, full of seasonal cheer are'nt we!

I'm not sure what you are saying is a dump? The airport itself certainly isn't, it's a very pleasant, friendly and stress-free way of starting one's journey.

Hull, Cleethorpes, Grimsby, S****horpe and Doncaster are not the wealthiest of locations, but thats not to say that the people who live there are living in a dump, In a time where we are all supposed to be thinking of others, your comment is misplaced.

Regards

Mike

[charterguy]

Perhaps HUY is unpopular with locos due to its restrictive opening hours and the fact that the airport has no taxiway. Having to backtrack the runway or waiting for other aircraft to backtrack doesn't exactly help if you are looking for fast turn-rounds ?

Finningley has already had discussions with locos wishing to operate from there. So it looks like MAG will only have another 18 months or so to get some return on their investment at HUY.

CG

[Flightrider]

I see the PPrune moderation system subscribes to the old saying of "who put the Grim in Grimsby but don't ask about S****horpe".

MeFlyBe, I think the UK majors are looking to base fewer charter aircraft at regional airports rather than increase. I suspect HUY will continue to be serviced with W patterns or overseas-based aircraft for some time yet.

[loveJet]

I can tell ya why HUY doesnt have low cost

Cos they wont get any Route Development Funding like they do in N.Irleand, Scotland etc.

No airline is gonna care about 'demand' from HUY when they can get assistance launching other routes.

HUY also wouldnat have any inbound, much like Durham Tees Valley, so not ideal for Low cost apart from AGP, PMI, ALC etc.

Jet

[GrahamK]

Thomas Cook are offering Antalya from HUY next summer, albeit for only 4 weeks. Probably operated by SunExpress or someone like that

[Capt BK]

When people talk about catchment areas I always wonder how Teeside airport (Durham Tee or whatever it is) has marketed itself as apposed to Humberside. as far as I can see there isn't a great difference however Teeside has always done better?Prehaps it's that HUY is closer to EMA, LBA etc however surely it's no different to Teeside been close to Leeds and Newcastle?

HUY could definately do with a parallel taxiway but I doubt MAG will se it as good investment unless a loco came in. Much as I love the airport I just cant see it happening.

As for living in a dump? Well thats what happens when I come home after a hard day down the mines, with my 13yr old daughter pushing the coal wagons up to the surface while my wife and her mum wash the clothes in a bucket in front of the fire and feed them through the mangle:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[DC10FAN]

I can think of an ideal carrier to operate low-cost flights from HUY; EUJet. They operate F100s which are the right size for the market and go to destinations that should be popular ie. Barcelona, Palma, Malaga, Ibiza, Dublin and maybe Edinburgh/Glasgow.

[aeulad]

I would agree that EUjet would be a great airline to have at HUY. However, with the event of Thomsonfly at nearby DSA, the market would be even smaller than before. I think even a 100 seater may be optimistic. Something like the EMJ170 or the Fokker70 would be more appropriate, considering the competition from DSA.

A market exists for cheap flights from HUY to Dublin, Belfast, Jersey, Amsterdam, Paris, Barcelona, Prague, Alicante, Malaga, Faro and Palma at least with an outside chance of smaller frequencies to the likes of Nice, Venice, Murcia etc.

Unfortunately, I fear it may be too late for Humberside, in the face of DSA.

Regards

Mike

[Ballymoss]

This would be due to it's close proximity to such s%#tholes as
Immingham and Goole:p :p All that fish and oil makes me want to:yuk: :yuk: :yuk: :yuk: