Blackpool - Amsterdam Service

[rufus.t.firefly]

Note that A2B are advertising on the "Blackpool International"
website , service starting 26th Sept , no way to book it on their website as yet , one month to go ! It doesn't seem to feature as a destination.............Surely this is bad marketing
for a route that could be a popular one.

Is this route actually going to operate or is it another
" possible/may be" route.

Lots of hype when announced but little seems to be happening
or has happened since. Anybody got any info from the inside ...... will this route operate or is it all "pie in the sky"

[Flying Fokker]

It is still planned to go ahead but i agree a month away from the proposed start up does seem a bit of a long shot.

[BPL321]

I rang A2B a few weeks ago re the AMS flights and the ability to book them online. They said booking was available in the next few weeks. Well it has been 3 or 4 weeks since I rang and still nothing. I agree that given its mid august it doesn't look good for the proposed start date and if did come off they surely have lost out on pax by little or no marketing.

I thought they were getting new jet a/c to operate the route and the proposed expansion to other Irish destinations but seems to have gone very quiet. Just hope they get the AMS route off the ground as it has been advertised on the BLK site for a while now and it wouldn't look good for the airport if it didn't happen.

[Dash-7 lover]

Bit of a treck for a Shorts 360 ???

[nick b]

Spoke to A2B yesterday and they told me that the launch of the AMS route has been postponed until late this year or early next year.

Will this route EVER start?

Regards

[BPL321]

What a surprise!!

Thought things were going too good. Judging by the last post it now sounds remote in my opinion. Perhaps BLK should write a nice letter to FR, EZY or ZB asking them to take over a pre-advertised route.:hmm:

Very dissapointing and embarassing.

[rufus.t.firefly]

ah well ...situation normal at Blackpool !!!!!

Looks like Amsterdam via Manchester still , what a pity !!!!

[055166k]

Or via Stansted!
The key to any aviation success at Blackpool will always be the ability to access a "hub and spoke" airport. Stansted, Girona and Dublin are all hubs; an Amsterdam service will hardly be a winner will it?
Here's a clever idea for you.....There are many flights a day from Bristol International to Scotland by Easyjet and BA Regional...in fact they fly up and down all day......if just a couple were to stop in at Blackpool there would be a link to a couple of very useful hubs, and Bristol now has a daily New York service by Continental.
Don't overlook Continental....look at their routes and their growth...particularly at regional [i.e. non-London ] airports...shrewd operators in my amateur view.

[KiloMIke]

I think you need to do a little more research on hubs. Amsterdam is rather a large hub and at a guess serves more destinations than Dublin, Girona & Stanstead put together!!

[Lost_luggage34]

Some further info as of today's Blackpool Gazette ;

A2B : Blackpool - Amsterdam route, The Gazette, Blackpool (http://www.blackpooltoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=62&ArticleID=1121865)

[055166k]

KiloMIke, you are right of course. Paris CDG and Frankfurt are also hubs, as are a lot of European airports. I suggest that market research will identify which income groups are likely to use any services from Blackpool, because in the modern aviation world the passengers vote with their cheque-books.
A sustainable service would have to attract a regular client base in this age of short city breaks and leisure travel.....not just a dozen or so businessmen/women. The only credible aircraft on an Amsterdam service would have to be either a 100-or-so seater jet or a higher speed turbo-prop such as the D328/SAAB 2000; anything else and you may as well drive to Manchester or Liverpool and get a much cheaper deal. If you book out of Amsterdam on long haul you get the Manchester-Amsterdam leg virtually for free anyway......what will the proposed new service offer?......and the BIG question.....how much is a ticket?
Regards.