Northern Ireland Happenings

[RT_060590]

I had a look and there doesnt seem to be a thread for any Northern Ireland airport, and we are about the only place that doesnt have one, so here it is, anything tha involves news & happening in EGAA, EGAC AND EGAE.
Belfast Int, Belfast City and Eglinton

happy posting

Firstly, is BWIA coming back?
and also Easyjet also announced Faro as there 9th european route to begin in July,

[JIPPO]

BWIA service is definately cancelled sadly

JIPPO

[eastern wiseguy]

Paging Mr McCullough ...Mr Allan McCullough to the forum please....:E

[BFS/BHD]

Faro is there 10th european route:ok:

Alicante
Amsterdam
Berlin
Faro
Geneva
Malaga
Nice
Palma
Paris CDG
Rome CIA

New BHD website.

www.belfastcityairport.com

[brabazon]

So what's the latest on LDY? How are the Aer Arann routes doing and what's the latest on the Ryanair service?

[ALLMCC]

EW

It's a pity you couldn't be a little more constructive and a little less cynical when someone has the foresight to start an NI thread - I'll put it down to tiredness after the graveyard shift at busy BFS.

Perhaps we should look at the routes BFS has lost rather than gained in recent times, Barbados, Durham Tees Valley, Cork (oops sorry that one never got off the ground) to name but three.

Looking decidedly dodgy are Manston, Bournemouth (loads frequently high teens low twenties!), Aberdeen and Inverness. The Faro only runs until September.

Hardly room for complacency!

[LBA]

I heard that Inverness was doing really well ?

Why do you always have to be so negative about BFS?

You dont say 'lets have a look at the routes that BFS has gained', no straight in there with 'the routes it has lost'.

[Hawk]

RT..there has not been a collective thread for Northern Ireland in the past. Looks like you're the one to start it. :ok:

[Tom the Tenor]

Sure, it is very early days but what have the first few loads been like on the CO EWR-BFS?

Forgive me but what is the frequency to SXF? Am interested in that one a lot! ;)

It is a shame Jet2 lost heart and failed to try Cork. Belfast Cork will always be late bookings and I cant help thinking it would have been certainly worth a go by giving it a few months. Looks like it would have done better than BOH?

There is a bit more there too that would stand a fair chance I think but Mum's the word for a while so we can get back to that one at a later date!

[RT_060590]

Shame about BWIA :( , was nice having a 340 in for a change, apoligies Faro was the 10th european route for ezy, i heard a rumor on this forum that ezy were considering LDY, that must be ringing alarm bells with Ryanair! and also any info on BHD getting any emb 195s based there now that its in concrete they are getting the jungle jet,

Cheers,
RT

[Kestrel_909]

Not sure about based EMB195s but it's highly possible, and we're bound to see them in regularly at least.

I see ALLMCC still living up to his name:E
How's bmibaby's move to City coming along?

Strange world, if you only had BHD to fly from and didn't have a choice, I'm certain you'd still be complaining.

Edited to add:
Not sure on any recent loads for EWR, but I know the first was all but 4 seats sold.

[EGAC_Ramper]

Bound to have 2 EMB-195's at least based at BHD to replace the 2 based 146's.


Regards:ok:

[BFS/BHD]

SXF ops on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

[RT_060590]

Myt still using 321? Heard the canaidians have invaided!

[BFS/BHD]

I think its 2x A320s. G-DHJZ was there last Sunday.

[eastern wiseguy]

Hi Allan ....why are BMI now sometimes using a320's on the bhd LHR route(early morning departures)? Shame about Bwia...I suspect that tells us more about the company than the people from NI and Scotland's travel plans.EU jet ..?? are they advertising? hanged if I see any...

Baby pulled out of Teeside...well wrong aircraft, too small a market..it NEVER worked before even in the days of BirmEx with a J31 .

The rest of the traffic from BFS is doing very well ta !!:ok: Continental seems to have a steady amount of punters through the door.
As for awaiting routes which work ...well lets not get this thread off to a my runways bigger than yours thread...NI PLC awaits the arrival of more INTERNATIONAL connections ...in the shape of TORONTO with Zoom Faro ...Rome ...Berlin ...Geneva ...all excellent news for the good people of NI and the surrounding counties .Lets welcome ALL these initiatives(and those from the docks like NWI) on behalf of NI punters who have been SHAFTED for MANY years by small thinking petty minded London centric airlines ...

Nice to put a name to the (formerly) anonymous handle !! :E

edited ...cos Allan does it :ok:

[parkfell]

Is there any news as to when 08/26 will be extended. All gone very quiet.

[Richard Taylor]

EW,how are Eastern doing on the ABZ-BFS-ABZ run,now that Flybe are flying BHD-ABZ-BHD ?

[BFS/BHD]

Zoom begin flights tomorrow to Toronto and Halifax.

Z4210 arrives BFS at 12 noon

Z4311 leaves BFS at 13:45:ok:

[NWSRG]

Announced today that Ryanair are re-instating their second daily flight from LDY to STN...maybe the 738 can use the existing runway after all!

[Kestrel_909]

NWSRG,
They're already using a 738 on the one flight a day at the minute, though with a few restrictions.

[Kestrel_909]

Zoom got off to a good start, in 36mins earlier and off on time :D
Anyone any idea of the load figures?

[BELHold]

90 odds inbound, not too sure about outbound.

Incidently I watched this AC on the approach and to me he seemed very high with a LCY kind of drop to 25 almost making Bravo taxiway.

Nice to see two very smart 767s on the apron again.

[vortexadminman]

yeah shame about baby and teeside, used it a fair bit and seemed always to have a few on board. Perhaps Eastern will see the light and take it up, mind you need a mortgage for their prices.

[BFS/BHD]

BFS- Vancouver to start next year:

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/travel/story.jsp?story=648841

[mysecretsmile]

I heard this rumour from 2 different sources this week.

Apparently the easyJet service to Amsterdam from BFS is going to be pulled and removed from their winter schedule.

Can anyone confirm if this is the case - would be very disappointing if it did happen. Its a proven route over the
years but maybe not one for they can fill with a 737.

What are loads currently like on the service at the moment ?

If true what would be the chance of someone else stepping in to take it over... KLM ? Aer Lingus ?

[eastern wiseguy]

Still being sold at the end of March...never seems to struggle with numbers ...what about INCREASING the service?

[mysecretsmile]

The route used to be 3 a day but is back now down to 1 a day.

Possibility the success of EZY's other routes out of BFS is contributing to less pax on the Amsterdam ?

[Mark Lewis]

3 times daily didnt really work the first time round, but twice daily AMS would work quite well IMHO. At the moment its not a very attractive option to the business pax who cant do a day return with it.

[Booyaaka]

According to CAA website 7563 passengers used the BFS-AMS service in May - up from 7404 a year ago. 122 per flight with a load factor of 83 per cent.

Rem when it was three a day with KLM (Fokker 100) it was pulled presumably because it was loss making. Unlikely that KLM would ever look at it again. Ezy did have two a day for a year or so but the mkt obviosuly couldn't sustain it.

One a day looks about right and with decent (inceasing) loads it looks pretty safe - you might even say buoyant. Oh... and BFS-CDG looks sound too with 80 per cent plus loads (7499 passengers in May).

[Nakata77]

Bournemouth looks like being pulled for winter at least. Loads have been picking up recently too. These airlines NEVER give the route that crucial build up phase...

[Mark Lewis]

People have been saying LGW-MAN, MAN-EDI, and BFS-BOH are "going to be axed" ever since they were started. So far Jet2 have been the airline to stick with all the routes to let them build up, lets hope that continues.

[Tower Ranger]

At the moment Ej are very discretely cutting some of their routes from BFS and if you`re booked on one you may not find out untill you get to check-in. They are planning to combine some flights with low loads so you will get a free transfer to the next available which is fine unless the next available isn`t due for 9 hours.

[cuthere]

...and on a slightly different note, it's been confirmed in the Irish News that Aer Arann are pulling out of Derry.

[richardnei]

With ref to the BFS/BOH route. The loads have indeed been increasing recently over the past couple of weeks.

01 Jul - had 115 booked
02 Jul - had 108 booked

Lets hope this continues.

Richard

[BFS/BHD]

Zoom to introduce Vancouver and possibly Calgary.

http://www.nitravelnews.com/news-stories/breaking-news/low-cost-air-service-to-vancouver-on-the-way.php

And does anyone know if CO are upgrading to a 767.

[ALLMCC]

Have been told today that T3 are pulling ABZ - BFS at the end of this month - website shows no flights available after 01 August.

Can anybody confirm or deny this?

[jamesbrownontheroad]

Yes. Just confirmed by sales agent on the phone. No reason given, although I think it might possibly have something to do with the economics of a daily lunchtime flight in a Jetstream versus am/pm Easyjet and am/pm FlyBE flights.

T3 can probably compete against BE, but not EZY, and certainly not both of them at once.

*j*

[ALLMCC]

Had a look at the CAA figures for April - T3 carried 237 to/from BFS against Flybe's 2517 to/from BHD - it seems T3 tried to retrieve the situation by revising their fare structure but by that stage it was a case of too little too late.

It will be interesting to see what T3 do when Flybe's ABZ - NWI starts next year.

[ALLMCC]

Just received an e-mail from T3 - quote "as of the 2nd August we will no longer be operating the Aberdeen - Belfast route. We believe that Flybe will be taking over the route" - hmm, has nobody told them Flybe are already operating BHD - ABZ!

[EGAC_Ramper]

Thats just their way of NOT pointing out the fact they have been shoved off the route by FlyBE!!:ok:

[Kestrel_909]

Had a look at the CAA figures for April - T3 carried 237 to/from BFS against Flybe's 2517 to/from BHD

Flybe wins hands down, ok. But bear in mind, Flybe are using a Dash8-400 on that route, compared with Eastern's smaller Jetstream 41.

Buhbye Eastern..no not Eastern wiseguy:E

[eastern wiseguy]

Buhbye Eastern..no not Eastern wiseguy

still here.......:E


not edited ...cos Allan doesn't

[ALLMCC]

Kestrel 909

I would imagine fare levels were the main reason why Eastern suffered - surely a/c capacity had little to do with it.

(not edited cos Eastern Wiseguy says I dont!)

[ALLMCC]

Just spotted this report

www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=656924

Although BFS & BHD are mentioned, I'm sure I saw another report recently which mentioned St Angelo and the owners intentions to develop commercial services from there.

Either way they will face almost insurmountable competition from the established locos.

[Smokie]

Anyone with a notion on Aircraft Type and how many?:cool:

[mysecretsmile]

I'd be interest to see if this airline ever gets off the ground.
It's an incredibly competitive market in N.I with Easyjet, Jet2 & Flybe going head to head on some routes and looking to persude
people to fly with them to their specific destinations.

N.Ireland only has a population of approx 1.8m people - surely there are easier markets to crack than this.

Can't see them starting up from BHD as they are up to the rafters
with passengers at the mo unless the planners lift their passenger cap in the near future.

Going to BFS and competing on price with EZY would be like lambs
to the slaughter for any fledging airline.

Would love to hear more if any one knows more about who is backing this airline and what destinations they propose to fly to.

[Buc Driver]

Does anyone have any information on how the BFS/INV route is performing. It just strikes me as a very thin route to operate with a 737.

[RT_060590]

Cant say how its doing now.... but in June when i traveled to INV it was near enough full both ways :ok:

[richardnei]

The BFS/INV route seems to be doing find.

Most flights operate with about 90-115 pax each way

Hope this helps!

[RT_060590]

Just noticed the other day theres a new apron beside the freight building, stand 28 + 29 i think, when was that built??
Cheers RT

[BFS/BHD]

Don't think its too old at all. Was told by someone that they were possibly made for jet2 as there were 2 jet2 aircraft parked on them.

[ecj]

Any news as to when the runway extension 08/26 will be started?

:confused:

[EI321]

how long is the runway now and how long is the planned ext?

[RT_060590]

Sorry to go off the subject slightly, just back to EGAA's new apron, as BFS/BHD said the new stands may be for jet2, thinking about it now it would make sense for LS, they are close to the cargo terminal for there mail flight, yet close to the passenger terminal aswell:ok:

[BFS/BHD]

LDY's runway lengths.

Runway 1: 08/26, 1852m (6,076ft)
Runway 2: 02/21, 1202m (3,943ft)

[cuthere]

Ryanair have announced a new route from Derry to Nottingham/East Mids starting on the 7th March 2006. Good news, even if it is well in advance!!!

Sorry, meant to say that LDY website is also showing daily FR to Liverpool starting on Feb 9th 2006. Even better news for Derry!!!

[RT_060590]

Good! was wondering if Ryanair were even going to stay in LDY, wonder if it will have an effect on EZY, BE, and WW on there routes from Belfast, probably affect BFS more I'd think...

[eastern wiseguy]

Heard a whisper that a certain airline based in the docks area of Belfast are thinking of recruiting staff and offering additional schedules to LHR from BFS. If so could this be a repeat of an experiment carried out when they first moved to the waterfront?. Could they be looking at an overall increase in capacity and a LATER arrival back to NI at night?.

I can see the sense of the later arrival . I wonder if there is any truth in it?

[Kestrel_909]

Cancun, Puerto Plata and Montego Bay announced for next Summer with Airtours, as well as Zoom's schedule for Vancouver and again Toronto.

[eastern wiseguy]

Kestrel....just so as there is NO confusion.....will these services be running from the harbour? :E :E

[keepitlit]

EW
HEARD A FEW THINGS BUT NOTHING YET
HOWEVER IT WOULD TIE IN WITH THE CHARTER SEASON NEXT YEAR!!!

RGDS
K.I.L.:oh: :ok:

[Kestrel_909]

will these services be running from the harbour?

Of course























NOT!
Think of all that noise and those strange arrival times, though on the other hand if it was City, I don't think they have any ground ops vehicles tall enough to bash into the odd thing like an elevator on a 330/767?:E

[RT_060590]

Thomas Cook direct from Belfast
13 September 2005
Thomas Cook launches direct holidays from Belfast International Airport for Summer 2006

Thomas Cook, the world's best-known name in travel, now offers Northern Irish holidaymakers the chance to travel to three holiday hotspots - Majorca, Cyprus and Turkey - next summer, with travel direct from Belfast International airport.

The new programme operates from Belfast to Palma (Majorca), Bodrum and Dalaman (Turkey) every Monday and Paphos (Cyprus) and Antalya (Turkey) every Tuesday from 26 June to 25 July 2006. Holidaymakers in Northern Ireland will now be able to use the convenience of their own local airport rather than travelling via a UK airport.

A Thomas Cook spokesperson said: "Research shows that there is a high demand for operators to provide holidays using the Belfast airport and these destinations in particular have really soared in popularity. Thomas Cook has already seen that seats from Belfast are being snapped up and we are pleased to see that the Northern Irish audience have welcomed us launching these routes.

"At Thomas Cook we are celebrating being the first company to have taken holidaymakers on a foreign holiday 150 years ago. By adding these new holidays on direct flights during the busiest summer weeks we continue to look at ways to be innovative for the next 150 years!"

Seven nights self catering at the 3-star Tuntas Apartments in Kusadasi starts from £389 per person - based on two people sharing a room, departing Belfast between 24-30 June 2006. To book call Thomas Cook on 08701 111 111, log on to www.thomascook.com or visit the nearest Thomas Cook travel shop.

etc etc

Will these flights be operated by TCX or chartered out??

[Kestrel_909]

http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqid=8286-qqqx=1.asp


The airline is also in discussions with Belfast International Airport with a view to setting up operations there as soon as British Airways leaves the airport, O'Leary said.

[cuthere]

"...as soon as British Airways leave" Am i missing something? It's been a few years since BA flew out of BFS.....hasn't it?!!!

Maybe MOL is taking the p!ss. I wonder what will happen to the recently awarded PSO routes if his domestic expansion plans come to pass. Arran in particular will not be happy.

[eastern wiseguy]

Kestrel.......That post from O'Leary makes no sense. Does he mean the ONE remaining BA service from the harbour?


KIL any truth in the rumour that you are going to RESTART BFS LHR services?(or is my scource just spoofing?;) )

[RT_060590]

Is this the rumor of Bmi returning to BFS???

[BFS/BHD]

Anyone know if the thomas cook flights will be operated by a TCX 757?

[Kestrel_909]

[QUOTE]
Brilliant Blackpool is latest new route
29 September 2005
Jet2 ac 2

Fly direct from Belfast International from just £9

It was announced this morning that Northern Ireland is to get another low cost route as Jet2.com confirmed that Blackpool will become its sixth destination from Belfast International Airport.

The first flight will depart on November 4, 2005 to Blackpool International Airport - fares on the four-times weekly service will start at just £9 one way inclusive of taxes.

Jet2.com boss Philip Meeson said: "This is going to be a very popular new route for us. Brilliant Blackpool is fast regaining its reputation as a leading destination and there is a lot of investment in the town, such as its new Festival of Light concept and the Pleasure Beach is one of Europe's best theme parks, with some really exciting and hair raising rides.

"We expect Blackpool to be popular with a range of groups from those on stag and hen weekends, families looking for a short break in a traditional seaside town, to those on longer holidays touring the North West region.

"A huge draw is of course the magnificent Lake District which is right on the doorstep of Blackpool airport. Two world famous Championship golf courses - Royal Lytham & St Anne's and Royal Birkdale - are also a pitch and a short drive away.

"Furthermore, there are two major universities close by, and of course the region is a hotbed of football, counting a number of Premiership and league football teams.

"We should also not underestimate the value of inbound tourism as there are around six million people within an hour's journey time of Blackpool airport, which will provide another boost to the Northern Ireland economy."

[FourTrails]

Thumbs up to BFS ATC, at long last a complete airway clearance is available before start! Good work whoever got that going. Now what about that steel plate on Charlie?

[eastern wiseguy]

Four Trails ...you are welcome ..we have wanted to do that for ages.....The steel plate is there on our wish list ..along with a bucket of white paint to mark Langford lodge !!!

[PPRuNe Pop]

Make a thread for BELFAST. This thread is now closed.


PPP