Easyjet to quit Schipol?

[eastern wiseguy]

Heard a rumour that Easyjet are quitting Schiphol in the near future over unfavourable terms with the operator of the airfield .The rumour mill then goes on to say that Jet2 will be taking the BFS-AMS route on......anyone heard similar?

[Doug the Head]

I heard a simular story. Nothing official yet though.

[jabird]

There was a release out a few days ago about changing terminal / concourse, so presumably negotiations must have been going on in the run up to this. There are other threads saying they've axed routes from AMS to other European cities.

That may suggest moving away from using AMS as a base, but I'd be surprised if they were to pull all their UK to Europe routes alltogether, they must have a pretty big slice of the market. The type of customer who wants flights to AMS is also likely to find EZ far more appealing than other airlines such as KL, unless they manage to bag a bargain flight with KL.

I suspect the usual "give us better terms or we'll pull out" kind of bargaining has been going on, the result of which may have been the shuffling around within the airport & removal of some intra-European (non UK) routes, rather than a complete pull out.

[suppie]

All I know at this stage is that they will stop BCN and NCE during
the winter...

[bmibaby.com]

Transavia (owned, if only partially by KLM) have recently began to merge its Basiq Air brand of low-cost scheduled flights, with their low-cost charter flights all under the Transavia name & brand, which is well known and respected in Holland, having been an established airline in Holland for a few decades.

I wouldn't be surprised if Transavia biting back from Amsterdam and Rotterdam is perhaps influencing the Easy decision?

[Doug the Head]

I wouldn't be surprised if Transavia biting back from Amsterdam and Rotterdam is perhaps influencing the Easy decision? Must also be the reason why they don´t have any flights to and from BRU. Too much competition from other LoCo´s. With Transavia ´going LoCo´ the same ´strategy´ could apply to AMS: --> throw in the towel!

Oh well, at the end of the day who cares! It´s only AMS we´re talking about! Maybe they now have the extra airplanes available for that BCN base everyone´s been dreaming of! :)

[Navy_Adversary]

I flew Easy LTN-AMS last week, on time and very good flights, it was my first time to Schiphol and on the return journey we seemed to taxy for ever and ever.
It may have been 36L but the taxy form D8 was a very long way.

A shame if the route finishes, good times and £50 return.

[Arkroyal]

Good point NA, that 15 min taxy in from 18R and out to 36L plays havoc with a 25 minute turn round Loco operation.

Anyone else noticed the CDG-like favouritism creeping in here. To get 18/36C you need a light blue and white colour scheme!

[Navy_Adversary]

On one of the turns on the Taxiway i looked behind and saw a Twin Prop following behind us, guess what?
He wasn't behind us when we reached 36L!:hmm:

[flapsforty]

Arkroyal, let me tell you a secret; 18R/36L plays havoc with a 45 mins turnaround as well. ;) As for needing a certain colourscheme to avoid the 'polderbaan', come fly with me for a week and you'll see that it's on the menu so frequently for us that I have fallen into the habit of welcoming the pax to Haarlem instead of Amsterdam. :rolleyes: It's our home airport, and we do it more often than anyone else.
Regrettably enough but not unreasonable.
Funnily enough, our pilots are always bitching about how local carriers get favoured other airports, while they never get favoured at home.
Exactly the same pitch I have read many times here on PPRuNe from about every other nationality.
Which has lead me to the conclusion that you guys are a bit like housewives in a supermarket check out line; you remember every time you got stuck in the slow line, and forget the many times you were lucky and in the fast one.

:p

[Arkroyal]

Fair point flaps, and to be honest I've been given the option to change to 18C a couple of times.

I too welcome the pax to Hollland and invite them to enjoy the drive to the airport!

[LTNman]

Find it hard to believe that EJ would pull out of Amsterdam. It has been one of EJ’s most successful routes out of LTN for around 8 years. Better to fly to a place that people have heard of and where there is a big demand than use the aircraft for some iffy East European destination that no one has heard of even if the landing fees are cheap and turnarounds are fast.

If a base was to close then look no further than Gatwick. Being stuck in the stack does nothing for the timetable or the bottom line and once on the ground it is a slow crawl to the stands followed by a long queue to get airborne again. Competition from the likes of BA at Gatwick is also hurting.

[Powerjet1]

Agreed. LTN-AMS has always been highly succesful and has carried nealy 3.75m pax since its inception, but for the future, who knows what's in the orange minds of the Powers of Be.

[Doug the Head]

Succesful in pax numbers (3,75 million?) is one thing, profitability is another...

[LTNman]

Lets not forget that LTN has the second biggest catchment area of any UK airport after Heathrow. Many of easyjet’s passengers are more than willing to pay a high fare just for the convenience of not having to drive past LTN on the M1 or surrounding roads for the 2-hour journey to Heathrow in the rush hour.