Thomsonfly @ Robin Hood - 18 new routes

[682ft AMSL]

Tickets on sale from Christmas with a spring 05 launch to:

Alicante
Amsterdam
Barcelona
Belfast
Ibiza
Jersey
Malaga
Marseilles
Naples
Florence
Nice
Palma-Majorca
Pisa
Prague
Rome
Salzburg
Valencia
Venice

4 based aircraft to operate all of this, so presumably quite a few will be flown at a fairly limited frequency but nonetheless an impressive line-up.

682

[Avman]

:zzz: :zzz: :zzz: same old boring destinations. No wonder I hate most low cost carriers in Europe, they never fly to my destinations :{

[Silvertop]

Avman

"No wonder I hate most low cost carriers in Europe, they never fly to my destinations "

So where would your destinations be? just curious.

Cheers

[MEFLYBE]

I am very surprised there are no DUBLIN or PARIS flights.

Regards

Mike

[serko]

Are these confirmed routes? if so what's your source?

[egnxema]

Why is there no mention of anything about DSA on www.thomsonfly.com?
:suspect:

[willywick]

I'm surprised there isn't any Geneva route, normally all LCC's flock there during the winter. Especially seeing how much of any operation Britannia have over there (about 11 flights per weekend).

[big.al]

Local (TV) news last night listed eighteen destinations and mentioned routes... "from Jersey to Geneva" so perhaps they will be flying there.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/south_yorkshire/3641671.stm makes no mention of Geneva and only shows seventeen routes. As of last night there was nothing on Thomsonfly's website.

[no, no, no]

I guess they would only consider GVA as a winter destination - most of the others would perform better in the summer months, especially for a spring start!! Likewise, I guess that some of their list may be summer only, or operated less in winter as they don't attract the volumes.

MEFLYBE - I guess there are no Dublin flights as Ryanair op to Leeds and NEMA - and they would be the last ones the would want to show any signs of upsetting - especially when they are still getting themselves up and running - you saw what happened when My Travel Lite attempted that tactic!!!!!

And who knows - maybe Ryanair are alreday looking at Robin "stolen" Hood Doncaster "nowhere near-Sheffield airport"

For Paris - the couldn't have got slots at CDG or ORY, and maybve they thought, BVA wouldn't be as attractive ???? just a guess!


The only thing I can't work out is why they have announced these SOOOOO early - the usual lo-co way is to announce late on so minimal competitor response can be put in place - unless of course they want to 'baggsy' these routes before anyone else does!!!

[serko]

I think one of the reasons they've announced their base early is because they will be offering charter flights from Robin Hood in the summer 2005 brochures which are out soon. I'm not sure if the destinations mooted originate from the thomson itself though.

"Thomson Holidays to use new airport


Lyn Barton
HOLIDAY company Thomson is to fly out of Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield Airport, formerly RAF Finningley, when it opens next spring.


Airport managing director designate David Ryall said: "We are absolutely delighted that the airport\'s first airline operator is such a major player that will bring additional choices in aviation services east of the Pennines.
"We look forward to welcoming the thousands of in-bound tourists to the region."
The contract will mean five aircraft being based there.
The naming of Robin Hood airport this week brought protests that the historical character\'s link with the area was tenuous at best, and that Sheffield is some miles away and has its own airport.
But Thomson\'s chief operating officer Alex Hunter said: "We believe the new airport name is absolutely fantastic and it has given us the confidence to decide upon the airport as our next base."
Mr Ryall said: "Robin Hood is a very strong brand name with an international identity."
It would generate interest from the tourism industry and attract overseas customers."

[no, no, no]

The thing I really want to know is whether this new airport is really worth it in terms of the British economy. I know local economies benefit, but how much INCREMENTAL business will it bring.

If the only thing that this airport does is steal both flights and traffic from EMA, HUY & LBA then there should have been some governmental force to prevent it happening.

The chances are now that the other airports in the region will only suffer from this, which obviously results in the end of the day in job losses and loss-making airports!!!! I mean, is HUY really going to have a sustainable future??? Can it survive on an AMS & ABZ service alone if every other charter flight goes to Doncaster airport (does anyone know if it has a code yet by the way?).

I sometimes just feel that the larger picture is ignored in retrun for local prosperity......

I know many will not agree with my thoughts, and say that it is better for competition and for pax not having to travel, but what happens to the HUY pax if their airport reduces - won't they have to travel in future as well??????? And if the competition results in less money, this will result in less, or more expensive, services to keep them in existance!!!

[serko]

Apparantly bookings for Thomson's charter lights will be taken from the 29th of April.

[MEFLYBE]

The whole debate about whether or not HUY will survive :(

In terms of scheduled routes, ABZ and AMS are successful money making destinations, and whilst there is undoubtedly a market for more scheduled services, particularly to the typical low cost destinations such as Dublin, Alicante and Malaga, I think HUY have not done enough to attract more scheduled services. The size of the market would make aircraft such as the 737 or even the F100 too big for what is left of the HUY market after THO start ops at Robin Hood. A 70 seat low cost airline using maybe F70s or Embraer 170s would be better suited to HUY in the future.

Robin Hood gas gained the kind of flights that would have been ideal for HUY, unfortunately, I don't really see much chance of a loco going into HUY now that THO are in at Robin Hood.

I don't think HUY's flights will suffer, I think it is just now more unlikely that services will be expanded in the future.

Early indications from the summer 2005 brochures show no decreases in the number of flight operating from HUY, in fact, the First Choice brochure has new flights to Fuerteventura and a FCA operated THU Faro flight.

Regards

Mike

[colegate]

I am not surprised about Thomson going to Finningley. I know that Britannia were interested in the place as soon as a civil airport there was first mooted many yeras ago now.

The destination list looks to be a safe bet financially and certainly relatively low risk.

Good luck to you Thomsonfly.

[Avman]

Silvertop : Either BRU, CGN, DUS, EIN or MST to/from BHX. Fortunately, SN Brussels does a good fare on the off-peak flights with the added bonus of very good service. No recognised LCCs on any of these routes though.

[DC10FAN]

I agree entirely with MEFLYBE's comments.
I suspect that in 2-3 years time, as holiday flights develop at DSA then HUY's market share will be eroded. Here's my prediction for ops by 2006/2007:

HUY

AMS/ABZ flights as today. Holiday flights reduced from current level @35/week to 20/week.

DSA

Locos; Thomsonfly with @4 based a/c. Also some inbound flights..maybe Ryanair from Dublin, Stockholm and a German carrier such as Germanwings/HLX as Germany not well served from EMA/LBA. Also 2-3 based a/c operating IT holiday flights e.g. Thomson/Mytravel/Thomas Cook A320/757. Possibly a daily US flight..... Continental 757 from/to EWR?

[Buster the Bear]

So what incentives as the launch customer, did TUI get from Peel?

[ILS 119.5]

Can anyone shed any light on where abouts peel are getting all thier qualified ATC Staff from. I have only seen an advert for Head of Operations so far. If they are going to start operating next year then they must start employing now, Even if the Radar was to be done from Liverpool then they will require more controllers/assistants there. They have just lost two controllers from Liverpool. A far as I am aware the MER for each rating is 90 hours for pre validated controllers and 180 for the first rating. If staff are not employed quickely then no one will be operating next year.

[garethjk22]

OK points in turn, DSA (being the offical IATA code for the airport) has received many unsolicitored applicstions from fully qualified air traffic controllers, without advertising a job yet!

Now, points in turn:

Thomsonfly routes: Not yet confirmed, depends on slot conference but list is likely to be 'grown into' as the base expands.

Economy: I wonder how many people thought LPL should be closed down and let to rot. I wonder how many people thought LPL would only dilute the exisitng NW economy and hence would bring no overall benefit. I wonder how much Humble Pie Sainsbury's have sold to all of these people? I guess Sainsburys should double the order for humble pie next year - DSA will be a successful airport., It is not miles away from Sheffield, it is closer to Sheffield than most London Airports are to London.

The airport is located ina region of the country with one of the lowest propesnity to fly figures. The addition of a well located airport with good facilities will boost the propesnsity to fly figures by stimulating the lesiure market, and opening the business market to allow South Yorkshire /North Notts to attract much higher levels of inward investment.

If the propensity to fly figure for Yorkshire raised to the same level as the NW it would generate an ADDITIONAL 4 million passengers per year - now who is going to say this is not a benefit to the overall economy.

Their may be a small amount of realigning of capacity between the airports - it's called supply and demand, but the other airports will get things DSA wont and DSA will get things the others wont - this is only a good news story - stop being so cynical and backward looking!!!!

March 2005 - first flight - come and have a look at a brand new airport, world class facilities, wide ranging destinations and the start of a maor change in the Yorkshire Economy!!

[symphonyangel]

A couple more answers - Garethjk22, i agree the major effect easyjet had going into Liverpool was to stimulate the market not substitute for other airports - the northwest to places like Barcelona, Geneva, Madrid, Amsterdam etc have 2 or 3 times the volume than when there were only services at Manchester. Yorkshire shows the lowest 'propensity to fly' in the country (CAA research), therefore the greatest opportunity to generate more traffic.

no, no, no - you should be aware there was a full length public enquiry which added 3 years to the process and addressed all the points you raised. You could easily have said your no, no, no at the enquiry as a few others did but the vast majority said yes, yes, yes

Buster the bear - I should think the deal is competitive but not loss-making for Peel knowing how they operate