NEWCASTLE - 8

[HeartyMeatballs]

Push and remote hold possibly? The gates are often needed for another flight so if you get a slot then you close up and push. This push may be on time however it goes off when the brakes are released. There's no way to stop it happening.

Either that or a tech problem.

[ash666]

Is push-back the official "departed" time?

[HeartyMeatballs]

easyJet at NCL

A quick look for December shows:

TFS - WED/SAT

BCN - down to 3 week in December the back up to 5 per week in February

BRS/BFS - largely unchanged, day returns on Monday only for BRS

FAO - SAT/TUE

GVA - FRI/SUN increasing to 5w in February

AGP - THU/SAT/MON with a TUE flight added in February

MLA - down to one a week on a SAT. Midweek flight dropped.

[HeartyMeatballs]

Push back time is indeed the departure time.

[ash666]

Push back time is indeed the departure time.
--------------

Thanks :D

[nclpilot]

Any insider knowledge on the run of late departures for UA? Noticed it was sat well after departure time yesterday as we were on our way. Flight Stats seems to show on time, if not early arrivals.

[EK77WNCL]

Looks as if Jet2's giving us Berlin, Copenhagen, Munich and Vienna this winter as one off's

[ash666]

Nice destinations.

What a shame I have to use BA (I think) and transit through LHR to use my 35,000 Avios miles to go anywhere.

[long_final]

35,000 why that's enough for a one way ticket from NCL-MME isn't it. I'm in the same boat, it's impossible to spend the things

[ash666]

Via LHR & GTW!!!

[VentureGo]

Via LHR & GTW!!!

GTW is Holesov Airport Czech Republic - LGW (Gatwick) is not served by BA from NCL so I think LHR is only option for Ash666 to use avios to fly from NCL and transit via another airport.
I thought codeshare flights could be booked eg Aer Lingus via Dublin, Vuelling via Barcelona etc.., but this doesn't seem possible through BA Exec. site, nor via Avios (Airmiles old site, where BE/BA codeshare amongst others used to be bookable)

[ash666]

Oops, blame google search!

It is 1000X more convenient to have just 1 flight. For short haul having to transit means it's barely worth it.

[tigertanaka]

I have redeemed avios on BA from NCL 3 times in the past year (LHR, DXB and HKG). If you can spend £10k on an Amex card in a 12 month period, get a BA Premium Plus card and get a free companion ticket.

For me, BA is far better than KL who give pathetic miles for short haul economy flights (even with a 100% bonus as a platinum).

[ash666]

KL and AF are both part of the Flying Blue club but AF gives a lot more air miles for the same journey.

[HH6702]

Anything new from easyjet then??

[BFS BHD]

Think easyJet normally release new route after releasing the other routes. So will likely be an announcement in the next few weeks for new route.

[Una Due Tfc]

GTW is Holesov Airport Czech Republic - LGW (Gatwick) is not served by BA from NCL so I think LHR is only option for Ash666 to use avios to fly from NCL and transit via another airport.
I thought codeshare flights could be booked eg Aer Lingus via Dublin, Vuelling via Barcelona etc.., but this doesn't seem possible through BA Exec. site, nor via Avios (Airmiles old site, where BE/BA codeshare amongst others used to be bookable)

Before the IAG takeover you could use Avios on EI (and United airmiles too), but you had to ring up BA and nag them. It was a lot cheaper apparently as EI didn't have a fuel surcharge. Not sure if either is still the case but might be worth giving BA a call all the same.

[tigertanaka]

Yes you can use avios for flights on Aer Lingus but you need to call BA. I guess this might change soon with Aer Lingus introducing Avios as their mileage currency.

[ash666]

Thanks for the info :)

[CabinCrewe]

cant you do it through Avios website rather than having to phone?

[Una Due Tfc]

cant you do it through Avios website rather than having to phone?

I have no idea, all I know is there's no fuel surcharge and business class on everything except SFO is considerably less than BA, especially BOS and JFK apparently.

[Jamesair]

This mornings UA074 not expected till 1350, that's quite a delay.

[Travel Agent]

Looks like it took off then returned to EWR

[ash666]

Just looking at the weather forecast for tonight and tomorrow.
How capable is NCL of dealing with fog?

[Chesty Morgan]

Very, it just sits there. ;)

[AerRyan]

Cat II ILS, 300m RVR required, deals fairly well.

[ash666]

Thanks, fingers crossed.

[AerRyan]

Looks like it took off then returned to EWR

On approach to NCL now.

[Chesty Morgan]

Cat III actually and depending on aircraft you only need 50m RVR.

[ash666]

I assume there must be different regulations for take-off and landing??

[highwideandugly]

I think you will find that the ILS facilities at Newcastle are as good as at any major airport in the world. The problem is with the airlines/aircraft/crew not the airport facilities?

[Chesty Morgan]

Minimum RVR for take off is 125m (assuming crew trained).

[ash666]

I remember a NCL-BRS flight a few years ago. Every other flight seemed to be landing and taking off ok but ours diverted to Cardiff. Many people missed connections.

[LiamNCL]

Some dense fog lingering over the airfield now nothing being effected so far

[KNIEVEL77]

The flight from Cardiff has just diverted.
The Southampton flight is in the hold.

[Itchin McCrevis]

Three factors affect Cat III minima for any individual flight:

1. The technical capability of the equipment installed in the aircraft
2. The operating minima set by the aircraft operator, this may vary by aircraft type and can be more stringent than 1 above (i.e. they deliberately give themselves a safety net above the technical minima)
3. The training certification level of the operating crew - if they ain't both Cat III trained they ain't Cat III landing

[Chesty Morgan]

AviationNE have a read of Itchy Cracks post. The ILS is CAT III. In fact I did one yesterday and the day before with a DH of 50' and 200m RVR.

[AviationNE]

Removed as talking ��

[LiamNCL]

Germanwings A320 on Tomorrows DUS

[ash666]

I was looking at this site.

Newcastle Airport Webcam (http://www.jenny.co.za/fanc/index.php)

Is this really NCL and what is it with the never ending smoke?

[nclops]

Looking at the web address of the webcam and the fact the time seems to be an hour ahead I'd say it's probably Newcastle Airport, South Africa! Pretty certain it's not NCL.

[ash666]

I didn't even know there was a Newcastle in SA!

[fl dutchman]

Looks like they all made it into NCL last night despite weather. Only on Eastern service didnt. (also Easyjet from BCN cancelled for other reasons I hear)

[long_final]

I believe BCN was canx as crew out of hours due to previously delayed BFS. Ezy not having a good time of it lately, lots of delays and a tech 320 over the weekend.
Lots of 32S on DUS of late too, interesting to see how the pax figures look after this.

[ash666]

Got away today ok.
Quite impressed everything operated ok today given the conditions.

[VentureGo]

BH Air 5517 flight from Bourgas today, is again operated with A330-200 reg LZ-AWA due / expected to arrive NCL at 16:58. Wonder if this is to be a regular A330 flight and if passenger numbers are booked to reflect.

[AirGuru]

Think this is a UK wide thing at the moment, perhaps having some A320 issues. LZ-AWA has been into CWL and BRS in recent days too.

[nclops]

Flights have only been booked to A320 capacity (180) so far.

[EK77WNCL]

Could be interesting if they rescheduled them to A330 flights and opened them up to A330 capacity, would be interesting to know if they could fill them.

I was disappointed to find out that Balkans only sell 7 night packages

[VentureGo]

See BH Air are due to receive an Airbus A330-300 reg LZ-AWE (ex Singapore 9V-STK)

BH Air - Balkan Holidays LZ-AWE (Airbus A330 - MSN 1099) (Ex 9V-STK ) | Airfleets aviation (http://www.airfleets.net/ficheapp/plane-a330-1099.htm)

[TSR2]

I was disappointed to find out that Balkans only sell 7 night packages

Perhaps that's six nights too long.

[yeo valley]

the a 330 is still covering for a tech a320. flights will still be booked up to a a320 service. nice to see the a330,but soon as a320 tech issues sorted then flights will be back to the a320.
would be nice to see services expanded to a330 size aircraft,but that aint going to happen not this summer.

[deltahotel9]

Balkan offer other durations than 7 nights too, 10 days is possible if you go on the Friday flight and come back on the Monday or you can of course book 14 nights on either flight.

[Travel Agent]

Balkan Holidays do 7, 10, 11 and 14 nights from Newcastle, not sure where you got the 7 night only info from?

[ash666]

Quick question.

Isn't landing with most of the blinds down against airline regulations?

[HeartyMeatballs]

It does depend on the airline. Some Big Airlines only do a seatbelt check as a cabin secure check. Others do seat belts/luggage/seat backs/tables and shades.

[ash666]

I'll forgive them!

[Jamesair]

MAY statistics. The airport statistics for May show total Pax numbers as 451,331 which is an increase of 3.23% on May 2015. Whilst Domestic and IT figures fell, International and "other" traffic rose. All set against a further 504 fall in a/c movements.

Still no route breakdown stats from the CAA since March.

[long_final]

Worrying that these 'big' airlines don't have a full cabin secure check. I've not come across one I have to say. I wouldn't like to be in an evacuation sat next to someone trying to get their tray table stowed with an oversized bag protruding from beneath the seat in front.

[skyhawk1]

MAY statistics. The airport statistics for May show total Pax numbers as 451,331 which is an increase of 3.23% on May 2015. Whilst Domestic and IT figures fell, International and "other" traffic rose. All set against a further 504 fall in a/c movements.

Still no route breakdown stats from the CAA since March.

504 movements in may would mean about 16 a day. Seems quite a lot to me especially if pax figures actually went up wonder which airline lost most flights.

[EK77WNCL]

Yeah I've always wondered why/how movements just seem to be continually decreasing... That is a lot

[Jamesair]

This breakdown might help explain it.

2016 MAY 2015 MAY

Domestic 932 1024
IT 621 651
Freight/
mail 703 737
INT'L 903 930
Other 1136 1457


TOTAL 4295 4799

[Ph1l1pncl]

Where did you find these statistics out? As it appears the CAA are no longer providing statistics with none been published since March.

[SWBKCB]

They're on the airport website.

[skyhawk1]

This breakdown might help explain it.

2016 MAY 2015 MAY

Domestic 932 1024
IT 621 651
Freight/
mail 703 737
INT'L 903 930
Other 1136 1457


TOTAL 4295 4799

Domestic diff of 90 or average 3 a day. 1each t3/be/ezy.
IT/INTL -1 each a day charters poss.
Mail - don't know as still 2 mon-fri. May be cargo flights as quite a few when dock strikes were on. Not sure if that was may or not.
Other - poss private flights as over 300. That could be why overall pax numbers are up. Just an idea.

[GrahamK]

KLM increasing capacity to NCL for W16/17. Mon-Fri and Sun all 4 flights operated by KLM, 1 x 73G and 3 x 738 daily. Sat see's 2 x KL 73G and 2 x KLC E190s.

[EK77WNCL]

Canny! Nice to see so many 738's, that's quite a big jump! It's always just been 73G's hasn't it? Maybe 1 738 night stopper. Long may the growth continue, and it' nice to see Saturday staying the same frequency as well

[Ph1l1pncl]

BA have also reduced frequency a fair bit recently, on Saturdays it's gone down to 3 flights a day instead of 4 and many days during May we went down to 5 flights a day instead of 6 and many of those have been on board the 319s instead of the 320 or 321 aircraft which means even less seats on the route.

[SWBKCB]

Both KLM and BA are good at flexing to meet demand, so types should be taken with a pinch of salt this far in advance. Some of the BA times have looked a bit odd for a while (e.g. two arrivals in an hour or so mid-afternoon), so not surprising there's been some rationalisation.

[fl dutchman]

BA/KL
Yes BA have reduced the schedules from 4 to 3 on Saturdays for about 4 weeks. It returns to 4 in a week or so.
Weekday has always this summer been scheduled to 6 but there have been one or two cancellations due to weather etc. But they tend to put a 321 on the next flight after the cancelled 319/320. Happened to me a couple of weeks ago.

KL do use 738 on some flights now generally the teatime to AMS. In the school hols the 738/739 appear on other flights also. I believe the type is confirmed about 2 weeks in advance.

[HeartyMeatballs]

Today there was an Iberia CRJ on the remote stand. Does anyone know where it was off to?

[Beatts]

It was a Air Nostrum operating on behalf of Vueling on the BCN. Also Cityjet EI-FWA Sukhoi Superjet has made its first appearance into Newcastle operating a positioning in from Dublin.

[HeartyMeatballs]

I was wondering if that was the case with it operating Vueling. Does it happen often?

I can't see the SSJ listed on any of tomorrow's AF flights, so are they training or actually setting it up into commercial service?

[Beatts]

Not sure mate but im sure someone on here will!

Yeah just an update on my status its actually training i meant, just gone EDI bound by the looks of things but they've been to a lot of UK Airports recently. :)

[GrahamK]

WRT Air Nostrum, is that the first time a CRJ-1000 has visited NCL?

[CabinCrewe]

yes it is the first visit of the type

[Travel Agent]

Pics of the Iberia and Cityjet are on November Tango if anyone is interested

[procterg]

Hi all,
Looking to book Thomson flights to Madeira next year but Thomson not flying.
As plane was full on outbound and return it looks good for Jet 2 next year.
TA states that it is now flying to Ibiza on that time schedule.

[VentureGo]

Today's Vueling flight from/to BCN is being operated by Titan Boeing 767-300 reg G-POWD (2 hours late) - last minute tech replacement?

[AirGuru]

VY are having some aircraft availability issues at the moment, some are out on MX too hence the unusual operators/types on the VY routes.

[EK77WNCL]

Really? TOM have dropped FNC?

That's quite a surprise to be honest, wonder if Jet2 will go x2 weekly? TOM/LS both seemed to operate very happily alongside eachother

[DanAir89]

Think Thomson have dropped Dubrovnik as well in 2017. From memory extra flights to larnaca and bourgas to allow 10/11 nights but no new destinations.

[EK77WNCL]

Oh well... That probably knackers any prospect of Morocco or Cape Verde, or anything remotely exotic for the next few years. Almeria anyone?!?!?! :ugh:

[GrahamK]

Bodrum appears to have been dropped also. So no flights to BJV next summer it seems from anyone? Turkey has tanked, long live Majorca :ouch:

[HeartyMeatballs]

The tanking of Turkey is understandable as is Egypt and Tunisia.

Palma is crazy busy these days. I've been #12 for departure there at one point. It's always been busy but this year it is incredibly busy and it's not quite the peak season yet. The airlines are just responding to their market where they know they can make money.

I personally foresee a stagnation or even a reduction in the number of routes from NCL with an increase in capacity on current routes. PMI/BCN/FAO/ALC/AGP will be upguaged or frequencies will increase.

Thomson and Dubrovnik is a shame however I believe they won't be offering cruises from there in 2017. Can anyone confirm?

North Africa/Turkey has simply fallen off the list of credible places to go for many. These are boom times if you're a hotelier in the costas.

If anyone wants exotic then KLM/Air France offer one stop connections to many hundreds of them.

[EK77WNCL]

I most certainly do hope that you are wrong there... I think there could be a few more potential destinations, as I said, Cape Verde, Morocco I think would cover Egypt/Tunisia/Turkey bound passengers whilst also opening up the city break market - Marrakech is very popular. I'd have thought TOM could get away with x1 weekly Agadir, x1 weekly Sal/Boa Vista and LS with x2 weekly Marrakech.

I hope Ryanair make city breaks more viable again by making them affordable for most NE passengers, as well as stimulating demand for their own, and other routes if the price is right across the board. I think EU cities with cheap flights have a definite potential from NCL, including London, with £20 or less return, I think FR could win over BA and the train 9 times out of 10, even to Stansted.

Cheap/convenient (Read: Available) flights to places like Lisbon/Porto/Bilbao/Santiago De Compostela/Seville/Valencia could prove popular as more "exotic" Iberia. How about La Palma as an "exotic" Canary island.

It would be interesting to know, however. Why don't we have a flight to Tel Aviv? Have we ever? Do charters ever come in? I know MON used to get contracted do a yearly charter to Krakow for local Jewish children, but last time that happened they used their 757's... Not sure what's happened with them

[SWBKCB]

Thought there had been a separate thread set up for this sort of route speculation?

[HH6702]

With BA scrapping SSH flights I really can't see Thomson and Thomas cook starting there's again in October.

Thomson to DUBROVNIK was cruise and stay so if no boat then maybe it is best it is dropped.

Surprised at FNC being dropped maybe they are changing the days of operation around unless they are buying seats on jet2 be nice if jet2 went 2x weekly and offering 10nts etc.

Bodrum is dropped by all tour operators.

Spain is best bet for all and the safest !!
Agree more choice of the Spanish routes would be lovely to see

[HeartyMeatballs]

Just how do you expect FR to make a profit on £20 return flights to some of the most expensive most congested airports in the world with some of the highest tourist taxes in the world? It would be £26 APD before you've even stepped on the plane.

TLV isn't served because there simply isn't sufficient demand to provide a regular service that will deliver the necessary yields. TLV flights are also costly in terms of utilisation as the plane won't have time to fit any other flights in that day and the charges at TLV are fairly high. Better returns could be made on 2/3 rotations to Spain.

Making money is what it's all about. It's not about having exotic destinations or the most diverse route portfolio.

The market decides what will and what won't work. Not the airlines. It's all well and good getting £20 returns but as soon as whatever subsidy that allows such prices comes to an end, so does the route.

[SWBKCB]

Making money is what it's all about. It's not about having exotic destinations or the most diverse route portfolio.

Nail, head, hit.

[carsonEGAD]

Anyone know why BA1333 was delayed today? Departed later than the later BA1335 flight.

[LiamNCL]

Almeria from Jet2 & TCX next year , anywhere else on the spanish coast that could be served ?

[fl dutchman]

If there is a vote to leave the EU tomorrow and the pound plummets there could well be a significant reduction in flights to many places.

[fa2fi]

Good job it's not going to happen then.

[fl dutchman]

Would hope not.

[HH6702]

Can't see it affecting the holidays.
People enjoy going on them and will continue to do so if we are in or out!!!

[Centre cities]

I think the point was that if the pounds value dropped significantly people may not be able to afford to go, certainly on a second trip yearly trip.

Centre cities

[EK77WNCL]

I hope people vote using their brains tomorrow...

But I expect £20 return flights to London to work the same way that they work from Edinburgh and Glasgow... And UK-Ireland too

Probably because not all the flights are £10 each way... Even if the more expensive flights are £50 each way it beats BA by a long shot, ditto for £100 each way a couple of days before. Ryanair would make such cheap flights work the same way they do across their whole network

That's just one more argument as to why APD should be abolished though...

I agree on your Money vs diversity comment... But Diversity can also lead to money. Give people the choice... Wait... They'll start using it. Ok it might not always happen but you can't tell me that we've got all we'll ever have because that can't be true. We already have a rather diverse network but it could be so much more diverse! There's just too much stopping growth at the minute, from NCL. I hope something changes soon

[Ph1l1pncl]

Aircraft was late into Heathrow from its Aberdeen flight due to ATC restrictions, then it baggage and then more ATC restrictions due to weather. At Newcastle it was obviously late arriving then they had load control issues which delayed the flight further.

[SWBKCB]

Unless there is a uniquely Newcastle aspect to the discussion, can any referendum debate head off to Jet Blast?

[GrahamK]

Hope folk start using the EWR flight. 70 pax on a friday is horrific. And its not much better for the next few days

[EK77WNCL]

Arguably (hopefully) things should pick up next few weeks with school holidays and that...

[Jamesair]

The last few days in June was just the same last year, although traffic in the other direction is in three figures on all flights.

[Heathrow Harry]

yeah - a lot of N America is on holiday in June/July - all back at school by 1st September

[fl dutchman]

Interesting to see how the lower value of the pound affects this route. In theory it should bring in more inbound tourism but less outbound.
Although I suppose that could be said for many other routes.

[LiamNCL]

Miami Air International B738 N733MA inbound from Halifax YHZ on a fuel stop presumably on the way to a lease ?

[DjerbaDevil]

Could the registration have been N733MA?

[Beatts]

Here not on a fuels top but because of Beyonce's conset im told.

[LiamNCL]

N733MA correct my mistake

[long_final]

I'm told that TLV is currently being looked at, however I agree that if there is an aircraft spare for almost an entire day it will probably be put to better use flying back and forth to Spain.
Also, I hear Vueling are apparently keen on operating LGW-NCL, but have hit slot issues at LGW so trying to get around them. So many have been unable to make LGW work in the past, is it worth trying again?

[HH6702]

TLV -EL AL and Easyjet are both looking at it from what I heard months ago however can't see easyjet doing it and I know EL AL don't have a spare 737 until late 2017/18
2/3 weekly service from EL AL

[canberra97]

If EL AL couldn't make MAN work how on earth could they possibly make NCL work, it's beyond me unless there is a very high demand for a TLV route which in all honesty I can't see.

As to Vueling on NCL to LGW I can't see them operating any UK domestics especially that route.

Where are all these 'rumours' coming from?

[long_final]

The 'rumours' come from Vueling and easyJet respectively. Speaking with various people from each around the networks (not cleaners). I am not saying it will happen, I could not possibly know, I am merely passing on what I have been told.
Vueling is unusual for domestics yes, but have apparently approached LGW and EZY re: slots.
Whether people can 'see it happening' or not is irrelevant, it is information from what I would consider a credible source, not a wishlist of 25 European destinations that I would love to look at on the departure board, but never use, which makes a nice change.
It may not come to fruition in the end, in which case so be it

[SWBKCB]

they might have been talking about it before last Thursday :(

[oldart]

Can't see it affecting the holidays.
People enjoy going on them and will continue to do so if we are in or out!!!
I agree, airlines are not going to pull routes if the bookings are still high, passengers may have to pay more but will still want to go on holiday.

[Heathrow Harry]

proably cut the number of weekend trips tho'..........

[EK77WNCL]

Of course we're at no risk of losing Spanish beach destinations (excluding Almeria and Murcia), Portugal, the Canaries and most of Greece BUT, it'll be places like Rome, Pisa, Krakow, Prague, Warsaw, Wroclaw, Gdansk, Nice, Split, Geneva, Barcelona, maybe Dublin etc. that get dropped or schedules cut. Which is a bloody shame because it seems like city routes were just becoming attractive from NCL(again?)

Of course, if/when Scotland goes independent, and when they devolve APD we can wave goodbye to 25% of our traffic at least, I'd say UA would go, EZY would give up, Jet2 would definitely stagnate/remove an aircraft or 2 and EK might start to struggle.

I can't see there being a need for NCL-BRU when we leave... Leisure travellers aren't going to pay £250 to fly Bmi direct, they'll fly with FR from EDI/MAN for £30. Bmir at NCL pretty much depends on us being in Europe. I don't know what passenger demographics are like on NCL-SVG? But I very much doubt they'd keep that as a standalone route, or even replace BRU.

Just as the regions were gaining a bit of traction I think this vote is going to have drastic, detrimental effects. After all it's not like the EU is going to make it an easy transition for us is it? I'm more worried about places like BHX and MAN, and to an extent (before they go independent) GLA and EDI. They've gained so much recently, they have a lot to lose

I hope I'm scaremongering and overreacting but I'm very worried and angry about this vote. I just hope people voted for the right reasons and it doesn't backfire.

Long_Final, I'm not sure if the "25 routes I'll never use" comment was directed at me, and I get where you're coming from but most of the routes I've mentioned I would use, and know people that would use them. For example, on Sunday I'm flying NCL-BRU-MXP, and 8 days later VCE-BRU-NCL. I was lucky to get affordable flights on Brussels Airlines/Bmi, a direct flight would have been much easier. In September, I'm flying NCL-DUS-MUC-PVG/PVG-FRA-DUS-NCL, again cheap flights, but NCL-FRA-PVG would have been much easier. Final example, Athens in January - Flying from Edinburgh. I know that's a more unlikely route but my point still stands, I'm sure Ryanair/easyjet could make some demand for it, as often happens with low cost airlines.... I've never thought of visiting Wroclaw, but I'm very tempted to now because of the direct flights starting.

R.e Vueling, NCL-LGW. I'd love to see that, more than FR, NCL-STN or EZY, NCL-LGW/STN. Would Vueling be eligible to have BA codeshare at LGW, I could see them onto a winner there. UNLESS, as you said SWBKCB, Thursday made them change their mind

I don't see Turkish a likelihood anymore either :/ I'd have thought they were next

[True Blue]

So did you consider the risks of remaining? Or is that the risk free option for you, because if you think that you are wrong. This is not just about GDP.

[Flightrider]

I may have missed this, but looks like Eastern's NCL-BHX route isn't bookable after 20 July - and it isn't a summer-holidays suspension either, as I can't find any future dates bookable. Can anyone confirm - is this the end?

[highwideandugly]

EK. I enjoy your out of the bubble thinking,your parachiol support of EGNT and your superb optimism!!
Me thinks you,as a youngish member...are very fortunate in the travels you do...I would guess 90%. Maybe more would love to fly as much as you do! Unfortunately for you 52% (and more)of the U.K. live in the real ,hard and sometimes difficult world we are part of ,hence the vote!

Times change...they always have and always will....new opportunities,new routes,new Ideas! Exciting times we live in?

[NCL-TRC]

The eastern BHX flights hibernate over the summer holidays, it's normal and has happened for the past few years.

[EK77WNCL]

Highwideandugly, yes I must admit I have been very lucky with travelling, and the next year/18 months of travel is due to having just finished school, entered the world of work and discovered what it's like to get paid at the end of every month, with little responsibility outside not quite completely blowing every single penny of it :P

I do, however, understand. Not wanting to cause thread drift but I did see remain as the safest option. I have just come out of the education system, work in the public sector and I aspire to be a pilot. These three things I suspect will be (further) detrimentally effected by leaving, despite the claim of more money for the NHS and education I'm afraid I don't trust anyone in Westminster as far as I could throw them. It's also my rights as an NHS employee that I'm worried about changing, such as working hours and workload. With regards to piloting, that was, expensive, difficult and competitive enough! And now the few UK jobs for new starts will probably disappear and I'll be less attractive for EU airlines on account of having to pay for visas etc.

For the record I must say I'm not amazingly happy with the EU either, there is a lot to be desired there as well, but I felt that remain was the best course for me. But I do respect people who have made an informed decision on voting to leave. I just don't think going it alone ever really helps very much.

I wouldn't quite say parochial like... But I am optimistic and I have faith in my local airport, I wish others would. I know it's limited but I also know it could do a lot more. If I'm honest we probably have too much... LS/EZY/TOM/TCX/FR all limit what eachother can do. Competition is good but not when it impedes eachother's/their own growth

[HeartyMeatballs]

Stay or go I'm sure people made their decision based on what will provide the most good for the greatest amount of people.

I would expect failed management are happy about it and will use it for all sorts of brexcuses. If somethings not working, not performing well then they will be cut and Brexit used as a blanket excuse for poor management in a whole host of industries. It is the ultimate get out of jail card for today's MBAs - "it wasn't my fault Mrs Shareholder, can I still have my millions please?".

EK - you've changed your tune. You've always wanted more and more operators and a FR base. Has the penny dropped that there's only so much trade to go around the airlines? Not only that but the arrival of new operators trashes yields as they cherry pick routes and over supply them.

Supply is good. The further we get from the days if the £600 Europe return the better however over supply and you'll not be any better off as frequencies.

There will be two new routes announced very soon apparently.

[HeartyMeatballs]

Take a look at the EasyJet booking engine.

[Kev 1]

Easyjet new routes effective November 1st:

Berlin SXF Tu/Th/Sat
Las Palmas Tu

[long_final]

EK - not sure about the logistics of the VY LGW just yet, but would certainly be an interesting addition. I hear their BCN hasn't got off to the best start, although numbers are picking up. EZY pax figures haven't suffered so maybe there will room for both to continue.
Its a shame EZY don't have the a/c availability to run TFS and LPA year round from NCL, particularly TFS however will be a welcome addition to the winter schedule. SXF to be operated by SXF a/c, not that it matters, any expansion is good.

[HeartyMeatballs]

Who knows. It's inevitable that the PMI will be operated from there next year. BCN a could be too so that could free up an aircraft to do the canaries year round.

[long_final]

Very true, there's a lot of scope for EZY to operate into NCL as opposed to out of, so could make for an interesting summer schedule for S17

[skyhawk1]

The eastern BHX flights hibernate over the summer holidays, it's normal and has happened for the past few years.

Eastern are stopping NCL - Bhx from 23 July. No demand for service

[EK77WNCL]

I haven't changed by tune really... Airlines at NCL are stepping on each others toes a bit, but far from trashing eachother. Fares are still high, so are loads, and hopefully yields. They all live together quite happily at the minute, and all the expansion I can envisage is new routes, and new markets. It's not as if I'm wishing for EZY/FR and VY to fly daily to Barcelona so I can get £10 return flights, or have 10 daily flights to Alicante (some days aren't far off). Of course there's limited trade, but that amount of trade can be increased by offering more.

Brilliant news, good to see, EYZ cant quite let us go can they. I'm frankly relieved and pleased it's a SXF aircraft, that means there's a net increase in EZY's offering.

S17 will certainly be interesting, if it's true that BRS, BFS, BCN and PMI (GVA another possibility?) as well as SXF, are going to be operated from those respective bases, providing we are staying with 3 based A/C... That's something like 3 daily flights needing filled. It'll either go really well (massive expansion) or really badly (2 A/C).

The canaries argument, however. This brings us round in a circle, is there really demand for 2 new airlines flying to TFS this winter/next summer, and 1 new airline to LPA after LS just doubled capacity this summer? I suppose they were hardest hit when we went 757-738 and 757-A321 but that'll be a lot more capacity. I hope there is, but we'll see

I hope Berlin sticks around this time and makes Easyjet rethink city routes from NCL. I knew we'd get it :P

[yeo valley]

ezy already do sxf and gva. berlin is daily. gva is at least 3 daily and 6 on a saturda and i think 5 on a sunday.There are 60 routes flown by exy some seasonal and some all year round.there is 13 planes based this summer with 12 in winter.
this is in answer to ek77wncl abot his last posting.

[ATNotts]

Eastern are stopping NCL - Bhx from 23 July. No demand for service
That's been clear for a few years now. I'm surprised it lasted as long as it has!

[EK77WNCL]

Yeo Valley.. Are you sure? I think you may have drifted over here from the Bristol forum hahaha

SXF is new from NCL (although yes, back in about 2006 it was daily!) and GVA is certainly not 3-6 daily! Maybe 3-6 weekly if we're lucky (about 4 weekly for most of the year IIRC)

[SWBKCB]

I'm surprised it lasted as long as it has!

That's what I thought, and then I did the journey by train... :eek:

[ATNotts]

That's what I thought, and then I did the journey by train... :eek:
Silly me! I'd forgotten that if a train service doesn't run to London, then the service is still stuck in the 19th century - in fact, probably it was quicker in the 19th century!

[EK77WNCL]

It is atrocious like... Even Manchester is decidedly horrible on the train.

Shame there aren't really any viable alternate airlines to operate the route going forward, with attainable fares.

[yeo valley]

i might have read yr post wrong,but how i read it,it was going to be new routes from brs. i was just saying these routes were already operated from brs.gva is 6 on saturdays 5 on sundays and at least double daily rest of week.it would be good additions from ncl.is there any sign aircraft numbers increased for based.is there many gaps in the based fleet through winter or summer.?

[GrahamK]

CAA figures out, none of them seem right so ignore them.

[maxtoon]

It is atrocious like... Even Manchester is decidedly horrible on the train.

Shame there aren't really any viable alternate airlines to operate the route going forward, with attainable fares.
Ahh .. 'Gill Air' we miss you ..

[fa2fi]

I used Cross Country over two years either BRSNCL, NCLBRS or both directions . I must admit it really is OK. In two years i did not have one cancellation and at worse a one hour delay due to someone walking on the tracks. They run an hourly service pretty much. You can buy a pass for WiFi which lasted me a few months and it actually works. Regular trolley runs or a makeshift buffet at one end if the train is busy. The food prices were OK. I think it is very strong competition to BHX and I'm surprised it lasted so long. You can also text a number and it will reserve you a seat given - only needs to be done ten minutes in advance. First can be had for just a slight premium if you are flexible.

Manchester trains are vile. Simple.

[cornishsimon]

From a connecting flight perspective I could see potential for flybe to operate NCL to both BHX and MAN

NCL is awkward to get too from some parts given the lack of connecting options if a direct flight isn't available.


cs

[SWBKCB]

I used Cross Country over two years either BRSNCL, NCLBRS or both directions . I must admit it really is OK.

I find the seats too small on Cross country (I'm just under 6ft, so not particularly tall) - I'm far more comfortable on East Coast. Trains to Birmingham are often packed as well, with pax standing from York onwards - not pleasant.

Texting to reserve a seat ten minutes ahead is great, unless you're sat in that seat and so get turfed out and have to stand for an hour or so... :(

[fa2fi]

A good point but each train has around 20 seats which are not reservable - a few of which have extra legroom. Just look at the seat map for NR and it will tell you where they are. You will never be turfed out and the lack of information screen above the seats confuses people so they avoid them. And you can quite confidently say "no I'm not" when someone claims you are sitting in their seat!

I did have to stand once between BHX and BRS but that's because I elected to take a quicker train whereas of normally get the direct one.

Yes its busy particularly between York and Leeds but I'd rather that than FAFF about changing.

[Centre cities]

I am not sure of the loads on Newcastle/Southampton but that could be dropped into BHX with little difficulty. I have never used Eastern from BHX to NCL due to the flight prices but a sensibly priced flight would attract me and I am sure a lot of others.

Just a thought.

Centre cities

[KNIEVEL77]

Centre Cities,
I agree.
I'm trying to book a day return to Southampton on Flybe but it's working out at over £300, that's ridiculous.

[tigertanaka]

Agree with the others about NCL-BHX, the train seems to take forever but flight times and prices have never been good for me.

NCL-MAN sounds great in principle (and for O&D traffic) but providing feed for MAN is made difficult by the layout of the airport, a single terminal would make transfer traffic a much more viable option.

[SWBKCB]

I'm trying to book a day return to Southampton on Flybe but it's working out at over £300, that's ridiculous.

I know I'm getting old, but I'm always surprised that people think that £300 to get to the other end of the country and back in a day is expensive. :eek:

Yes - if you want to go tomorrow it's over £300 on BE, but the train is over £200 - and takes over 5 hours each way.

Looking a week ahead to next Thursday, you could do it for £150 on the train - and its still over 5 hours each way, but BE on the same day is cheaper than the train.

BTW, why is a return on the train twice the price of two singles? :suspect:

[Geekie]

There was a large aircraft circling over Newcastle ar quite a low altitude yesterday afternoon, at around 14:30. Anyone know what it was? It wasn't showing on PlaneFinder or FR24.

[crewmeal]

Probably the RAF on training again.

[Cirrussy]

I wondered what it was, too...

[SWBKCB]

RAF C-17 doing circuits

[Heathrow Harry]

"I'm trying to book a day return to Southampton on Flybe but it's working out at over £300, that's ridiculous."

How much do you (or your company) charge for your time?

If you drove your company would allow 45p a mile approx - 333 miles each way = £299.70................

[VentureGo]

Belfast International growth has displaced Newcastle from the top 10 in terms of passenger numbers.
Belfast International Airport back in UK's top 10 - The Irish News (http://www.irishnews.com/business/2016/07/08/news/belfast-international-airport-back-in-uk-s-top-10-597251/)
Liverpool Airport has significant growth also, showing at +15% on last year due to new routes being launched
Half-year passenger numbers soar at Liverpool John Lennon Airport - Liverpool Echo (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/business/half-year-passenger-numbers-soar-11570822)

[fl dutchman]

Hope they are not using the CAA stats.

[HH6702]

Won't take long to get back there once Ryanair give us more

[VentureGo]

Not sure if Ryanair expansion is the longterm sustainable answer to getting passenger volumes back to 2006/7 levels.
Back then we even had a "Winter" schedule of :
Daily 737/320 flights to Stavanger, Oslo & Bergen (formerly operated by Braathens SAFE)
TOM & TCX Weekly flights to Orlando (Double present)
More flights to Greek & Spanish resorts
Twice weekly to Toronto
4 flights per day to Brussels
Widebody DC10/767 to TFS and Palma (Summer)
TCX to Goa, India

And all this was without Emirates & United, yet total passenger volumes exceeded 5,650,000 more than 1million more than today (10 years later!) Other comparable airports seem to have more than recovered from 2007 passenger volumes.

Surely we have more disposable income than most other areas of the UK.

Yet, .... If a price comparison is made on a number of departure points NCL is often considerably higher (Often by as much as £1,000 per family of Four)

Maybe this is the main reason we are not growing at a similar rate to our nearest comparable airports.

I have close friends/relatives flying out of Manchester to Orlando, London to Canada; and Edinburgh to Turkey and Greece saving Thousands of pounds per family bookings.

This may indicate deficiency of Supply v Demand i.e. Increase number of flights and services to attract further demand - Profits to equal comparable airports. - Conclusion: We are currently under served from NCL. and should have passenger volumes in excess of 7.5m per year in line with National increases in growth

[jerboy]

Surely we have more disposable income than most other areas of the UK.

What? The North East is one of the most deprived areas of the UK!! Sure things are cheap, but average incomes are much lower.

[HeartyMeatballs]

NCL was well due right sizing in the run up to the economic crisis. As with everything back then, things were inflated and unsustainable.

Several airlines were on shakey ground and there was overkill on some routes. Globespan, Monarch long haul are no more. The quadruple STN flights are no more. BRS has been right sized. Long haul limited but appropriate to the market.

Now the airport seems to be in growth mode. However when the Scottish ruin things with their England subsidised APD reductions we could see further reductions so I am not sure the spending is warranted.

High prices are a good thing. I must admit the premium that airlines can charge for NCL flights gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside.

The current setup is sustainable. However if I was guy being paid millions to run the airport I'd be scaling back on any expansion ideas. The airport was fine before and did not need the refurbishments. The lounge often has a 'sorry we are at capacity'. Again that is a good thing as it makes money.

The car park is extremely busy even wth the new section opened. In fact cars are parked bumper to bumper on the rig road around the main car park section. The staff car park is being used by tourists. Staff are being forced to park on grass verges. Staff cars are being damaged whilst parked. This has never happened before. Again I see this as quite a good thing in terms of £.

NCL has a good selection of sustainable routes served directly along with (too many) hub connections should anyone feel the current route offering doesn't meet their needs.

A certain operator may improve the numbers, but so would a Wonga loan improve my bank balance. We all know that that is not sustainable.

Slow, steady growth, making money, employing locals directly and in the supply chain, supporting local businesses, putting us on the global map and having sustainable services is what we need and what we have.

Inflating numbers just to boost our position on a league table is wrong. For a deprived area devoid of Barnett's Billions and with the North Sea as half of out catchment area I think we do very well indeed.

[AerRyan]

Will be flying into NCL for the first time next month, will be interesting to see what its like.

What struck me is how far away alternate airports are compared to other regions of the UK. Probably a primary reason in why fares are such a high premium.

[GrahamK]

When did SAS change the timings on the CPH?

I also see KLc are operating more flights nowadays - presumably due to the holidays/quieter biz travel period/

[long_final]

Agree with HeartyMeatballs here. Very busy in the car park, very good too see them making money from the new car park extension too. Besides, think of the extra cash they'll make when the staff get their fines through the post! Interesting word from the office that there aren't any pax parked in staff car park taking up the spaces.....except there are! Loads of them, witnessed it every day last week.
KL using Fokkers last week and just seen this afternoons service was on one too.

[fl dutchman]

KL
Is it because of the Scottish school Holidays at moment. More seats for them just now.
Returns to normal in a few weeks time.

Flew in and out of NCL a couple of times recently. Busiest I have seen it for years.
Security superb, extremely quick and pleasant despite the high number of pax. Good selection of shops and food places in pleasant departure area.

Arrivals again very quick both border control and baggage. Only negative observation was its a bit shabby/gloomy from getting off the aircraft to reaching the baggage hall.

[SWBKCB]

Slow, steady growth, making money, employing locals directly and in the supply chain, supporting local businesses, putting us on the global map and having sustainable services is what we need and what we have.

Inflating numbers just to boost our position on a league table is wrong. For a deprived area devoid of Barnett's Billions and with the North Sea as half of out catchment area I think we do very well indeed.

Best post on this thread for many a year. :D:D

[SWBKCB]

Surely we have more disposable income than most other areas of the UK.

See link below for the most recent official figures - in the UK we're second lowest - above Northern Ireland, but below Wales (the lowest in England).



Regional gross disposable household income (GDHI) - Office for National Statistics (http://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/regionalaccounts/grossdisposablehouseholdincome/bulletins/regionalgrossdisposablehouseholdincomegdhi/2014#regional-nuts1-gdhi-estimates)

[skyhawk1]

Though you needed a pass to get into staff car park and even if you don't how do you know which cars belong to staff or public.

[HH6702]

Thomson holidays to grow the city breaks and long haul by 20% for summer 2017

More updates later this month let's hope ncl sees some of this growth

[long_final]

There is a barrier requiring a pass to get through however they're letting anybody in who presses the button. Identified by seeing pax get out of their cars with suitcases, 4 lots this morning, 3 yesterday. More of an issue PM admittedly than mornings but still, I'm told its c.£360/year to use staff parking so would expect it to be available.
Hopefully TOM will have some growth out of NCL with a little diversity

[fl dutchman]

Airport Passenger numbers.

I have not been able understand some of the passenger figures recently. If you look at the arrivals and departure board the airport seems much more busy than it was in the last couple of years. Despite this passenger figures are supposedly falling or increasing by a very small amount.

I realise the CAA stats are very unreliable and would suggest that some of the Newcastle figures shown are simply very wrong.

Tonight I have looked at the airports own figures for June 2016 and they seem to be wrong also.

For example the domestic figures show just 9691 for June 2016 compared to 102414 for 2015. Thats a drop of nearly 93000 pax.
That cant be correct.

IT figures show a drop of about 5000 pax which is possible

Scheduled International is up by about 33000 pax which could be likely and is possibly correct.

In total a reduction of nearly 64000 is shown a drop of about 12%.

It seems that the domestic figures are the ones causing the issue.

Perhaps the real figure for domestic should be not 9691 but 96910 instead it would seem more realistic.

So if you add the difference which is 87219 to the total published you get a new overall total for June 2016 of 530521 an increase of about 10% over June 2015.

If thats correct its not a bad increase.

Rather worrying that even the airports own published figures seem unreliable.

[VentureGo]

BBC North East Breakfast news, this morning reported that Newcastle Airport are expecting 55,000 passengers traveling from the airport this weekend alone.

[fa2fi]

Thank god I'm days off then. Last Friday the carpark was bad. Today it will be carnage! The new security set up seems to cope well on the busy days. Its a lot better than it was.

[skyhawk1]

55000 pax over 2 days at say 180 average per flight would be more than 300 flights. they probably mean pax passing through the airport, both arrivals and departures.

[GrahamK]

Ryanair starting to update S17 flights:

Alicante 1 x Daily (up from 5 weekly)
Malaga 5 x weekly (up from 4 weekly)
Tenerife 3 x weekly (up from 2 weekly)
Lanzarote 2 x weekly

Gdansk 2 x weekly
Warsaw 2 x weekly
Wroclaw 2 x weekly

Dublin 2 x daily

[NorthEasterner]

Ryanair has announced 3 new routes for summer 17 commencing March 2017.


Daily Palma Mallorca flights,
4 x week Faro flight (Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun)
2 x Week Barcelona Girona (Tues and Sat)


NE

[HH6702]

Excellent news

[HeartyMeatballs]

Excellent range of exotic new routes. I hope EK777NCL et al are happy. No doubt he/she will rejoice when local jobs start being lost and aircraft moved out. The supply chain will be hit greatly. Local caterers will cut jobs as FR will not uplift anything at NCL. There will be fewer planes based there so less parking charges. The airport charge £360 per person per year which will be lost.

Still I suppose the business model of 'getting as many people as we can as drunk as we can then dump them on the airlines to sort out and deny all blame' will keep stakeholders happy. Or perhaps the revenue hit will be made up by selling more Boots meal deals? Or perhaps that last minute travel insurance machine or that odd self service shop will make some lovely money.

I'm still waiting for the £20 returns to London and the like.

[SWBKCB]

HMB - while you make some valid points, not just a tiny bit of pot and kettle??

[HeartyMeatballs]

How so?

Filler.

[tigertanaka]

Perhaps Hearty Meatballs thinks that NCL should have refused FR expansion plans?

Of course there is a risk that FR will scare away U2 and LS but judging by the prices that all companies are charging on popular routes to the likes of PMI and ALC, FR must think there is some opportunity to grow the market. FR do not generally take U2 head on on the same routes, they will have a business case behind this - they are taking on U2 here, not some small time operator who they can crush on price.

As for the fees, I thought it was generally accepted that regional airports make most of their money these days from non aviation activities such as car parking and retail?

[HeartyMeatballs]

Departing this weekend £250 return on Jet2 to AGP, £205 on easyJet to ALC. Two of the most popular routes and you don't get any more high season than this weekend. Yet I can get a family of for off to the Costas last minute for less than a grand.

It has been said that FR will stimulate demand when it won't. It will trash (already poor) yields.

If you would rather the airport be served from outside then fine. There are many aspiring aviators on here. Let's give them a local career. Not some hourly paid contractor rubbish stuck abroad.

If everything is served from outside all we will be left with is a few extremely underpaid and undervalued ground jobs.

[HeartyMeatballs]

£200 will get you to Cyprus and Malta, £140 to Greece, £160 for Spain, Croatia for £190, Portugal for £230. Bizarrely it's £400 for Turkey.

For a Saturday to Saturday last minute super high peak booking. Good value fares there if you ask me.

[jensdad]

On to another bugbear of mine... Ryanair announced three new routes today (well, one of them is a resumption of GRO but let's not be churlish). Today's headline in the Chronicle: 'Hello sunshine, Ryanair announces eight new summer holiday routes from Newcastle'. Even in the first sentence it says they have only announced three.
You couldn't make it up. Unless you write for the Chronicle in which case you obviously can...

[fl dutchman]

Ryanair.

HMB you are broadly right.

The airlines are struggling now following the vote a few weeks ago and its likely to become more difficult in 2017. Hence the low fares now being made available.

OVER CAPACITY BIG TIME HERE.

I also think that there will be cutbacks eventually by Jet 2, Thomson, T Cook Etc. Less Based aircraft a distinct possibility. Easyjet could dissapear !

Only time will tell.

[tigertanaka]

Some value fares at the moment yes if you pick and choose but it is a fact that if planes are not full prices drop in the LCC world. Short term bookings in the industry have dropped like a stone since the Brexit announcement and prices reflect this. Otherwise why are flight for next April and next August at the same price level as peak summer 2016?

I may be in the minority but I don't think £250 flight only to ALC with no luggage is particularly cheap. But then I only do 100 segments a year.

[HH6702]

It will bring the fares down and I don't think there will be over capacity.
Newcastle been calling out for more flights to Spain as the flights are often full and any few seats left sold at stupid prices.

Don't forget we don't have as many flights to turkey next year and no Tunisia or Egypt too at the minute so these flights are needed to help passengers of north east go on holiday so where.

We will fill these.

As for 8 new routes they are for summer from Ryanair so not new as route to ncl but new for Ryanair it's a play of words.
However I think we will see more by the end of the year.

As for Easyjet wonder how they will react.
Base may close but that's just rumours and if the base closed I believe that most of the routes will be kept just fly them in from there other bases

Still money for airport and passengers can fly

[HeartyMeatballs]

Well that's your opinion and mine is that a £250 high season last minute return flight for a week represents very good value. I never mentioned cheap.

Brexit and terrorism play only a part of the picture. How else do you explain terror hotbed Turkey being £400? Over capacity is a major factor.

A combination of massive over capacity, a temporary loss of confidence due to brexit related scare mongering, the inevitable terror rampage on the costas and the APD reductions north of the border will lead to very bleak times for NCL.

I forsee:
TCX being 2 only with no Avion Express and their extra capacity
Thomson will be safe at 3 aircraft
T3 down to 2 J41
BMIr - gone
EZY - gone
Jet2 down to 5 and then who knows. They've picked the wrong time to have shiny new planes come online. They're over stretched and vulnerable.

Ryanair and easyJet will serve NCL from their respective down route bases. A Ryanair base will be short lived.

So that's a loss of five based planes. Lots of jobs lost. The supply chain severely impacted. Still £20 returns.......

[HH6702]

HMB - Understand you points and reasons but there isn't any solid facts to back this up.
I don't see the charter aircraft decreasing unless TCX buy flights off the LCC?

Eastern maybe but they have a niche market and they have kept to that.

[skyhawk1]

Well that's your opinion and mine is that a £250 high season last minute return flight for a week represents very good value. I never mentioned cheap.

Brexit and terrorism play only a part of the picture. How else do you explain terror hotbed Turkey being £400? Over capacity is a major factor.

A combination of massive over capacity, a temporary loss of confidence due to brexit related scare mongering, the inevitable terror rampage on the costas and the APD reductions north of the border will lead to very bleak times for NCL.

I forsee:
TCX being 2 only with no Avion Express and their extra capacity
Thomson will be safe at 3 aircraft
T3 down to 2 J41
BMIr - gone
EZY - gone
Jet2 down to 5 and then who knows. They've picked the wrong time to have shiny new planes come online. They're over stretched and vulnerable.

Ryanair and easyJet will serve NCL from their respective down route bases. A Ryanair base will be short lived.

So that's a loss of five based planes. Lots of jobs lost. The supply chain severely impacted. Still £20 returns.......

I think that adds up to 8 based aircraft. Who mentioned a Ryanair base. Jet 2 seem to be going from strength to strength. Why all the doom and gloom unless you are related to the bloke who predicted the end of the world and that aint happened yet!

[HeartyMeatballs]

TXC have previously blocked booked seats on EZY. I don't have solid facts. If we all relied on solid facts its doubtful this forum would exist ;). I just see things they did back in 07/08. Boom time lead to bust. We're on a building wave and that wave is about to hit the shore and come tumbling down.

T3 are dropping BHX. ABZ is not the licence to print money that it once was. In fact T3 could shut NCL and do ABZ-NCL-CWL-NCL-ABZ. That way the only two NCL routes can be operated by ABZ base. Would people on here rejoice if T3 closed like they would if EZ went?

I will say one thing to the NCL fan boys - I don't believe what I think is NCL specific however NCL is more exposed than any.

Ryanair base has been mentioned here many times and has been long rumoured. I don't think I'm doom and gloom. I'm all for sustainable growth supporting local jobs and businesses. We have a lot more at stake than simply boosting passenger numbers.

[SWBKCB]

I suspect HMB has more "skin in the game" than other posters, and his analysis is at least as realistic as the other more optimistic posts - he also quite rightly focuses on the greater benefit to the local economy of based units rather than having the same number of flights from other bases.

The North East is a peripheral area and unless something changes drastically, will always remain weaker and poorer than other areas - when the economy catches a cold, we sneeze first.

It's this that will have a greater impact on the development of the airport than the individual strategies of airlines and their comings and goings.

[HH6702]

Newcastle has been left behind for a few years now.
Look at the recent growth of edi and man and even lgw!

As for Jet2 new base at BHX starting with 4 aircraft.
I think that people are wanting holidays and the whole of the U.K. Market hasn't gone back to the 2007/08 levels yet.

It's not all doom and I hope your wrong with the big rise and bust as per 2007/08!!

[HeartyMeatballs]

Absolutely. However demographicaly those three places are very different to NCL.

Guys, I would love nothing more than a huge airport offering countless destinations for less than £50 return. Unfortunately this industry has overheads like no other and an extremely vulnerable (to external factors) customer base who are very price sensitive. We are lucky to live in such a great place however we must be realistic as to what we can sustainably achieve as a region.

I'm not all doom and gloom (just partly) I just have a feeling, and noe and then I see the cracks and the signs that things are going to get very hard. And don't get me started on the price of filling or buying the jets which has increased substantially recently.

I hope Im wrong.

[pallan]

Have to say I can't help but agree with HeartyMeatballs - I hope you're wrong and I hope I'm wrong by agreeing with you though...

But the fact is Ryanair's new (and existing) offerings are, not including Poland, to places which already have significant capacity from the likes of EZY, TOM, TCX and LS. It may drive down prices which yes is great for consumers but if it's going to trash yields (which is very likely) then it's only a matter of time before someone quits

Personally, I can't see LS cutting back, they're getting a lot of new planes and let's face it, they need to send them somewhere.
EZY - can see them operating flights from other bases and closing the base in the medium-long term - bad for jobs and investment into the NE
TOM - I think they're fairly well established enough to be able to survive purely because of the package holiday market. They know which markets work and are very well known
TCX - again, can see them keeping the same, maybe downgrading 1 A321 to another leased out A320 or dropping the A320 (worst case). Although as with TOM, fairly well known in the region and might be able to survive.
Ryanair - Have already said investment in the UK is on hold because of Brexit, can't see them ever operating a base (hence few local jobs, little investment)

Regarding c£200 returns to Spain this weekend, this further highlights overcapacity on some routes - £200 return is an absolute steal for this time of year!

I'm sure the NCL 'route-dreamers' will be along to criticise my post sentence for sentence but the facts are - the NE is one of (if not the?) the most economic deprived areas in the UK, people will and do travel to MAN, Scotland etc. to save a few hundred quid and while planes may be full, doesn't necessarily mean a profit.

I would love to see all of the above operate together and survive, making healthy profits in the process however I feel Ryanair are just going to dump lots of cheap seats, pushing people away from established carriers who provide jobs and investment to the region.

[chris1001]

Just did a quick search for last week of summer holidays NCL/AGP:

RYR: £136
Jet2: £200
EZY: £229

Whilst RYR price looks enticing there is no way I, or many others would want to get up at 3-4am on last day of holiday so happy to pay more. Personally, I would always choose EZY over Jet2 even if slightly higher price as EZY are generally more pleasant to fly with as in less queing at check in, newer aircraft, no hard sell on the aircraft (and in booking process) and cheesy holiday music and endless announcements trying to upsell onboard!

Just my views but my point is that choice is good. With all the terror alerts, the traditional Spanish destinations will always prove popular.

[VentureGo]

HMB - It's only a couple of years ago I was comparing TCX & TOM fares to TFS for £150 - £160 return in peak season, so £200+ to Mainland Spain (2/3rd the journey at most does seem Expensive, especially as oil prices have reduced considerably since then)
Pallan wrote:
people will and do travel to MAN, Scotland etc. to save a few hundred quid
I'm aware of quite a few friends and family who have travelled to MAN, EDI & LBA to save £100's per family booking -... So I guess Very Healthy Profits are still being made ex NCL with maybe A Lot of further potential to be achieved on Route & Volume growth.

[EK77WNCL]

I'm not going to go through every single point because this post would never end...

Ok... I'm a kid, so clearly I know nothing about how anything works and all I care about is having lots of shiny new planes flying around here there and everywhere half empty with passengers who only payed a tenner

There is MASSIVE misunderstanding here, and I will pick up on this point because I do in fact know quite a lot about it after 2 years of studying development and globalisation. This also majorly p***es me off in many brexit debates because people blame the EU for this when it's not, it's natural progression.

Easyjet was ALWAYS going to start flying to their smaller bases from abroad, it's cheaper to employ staff and probably many other things in Spain. That's why Ryanair is better off flying INTO Newcastle versus OUT of Newcastle. Simply because it costs more money. Exactly the same principle as call centres outsourcing to India. Brexit will exacerbate this and increase the extent to which it happens, but it was gonna start happening anyway, Palma and Barcelona bases for example.

Now of course this is probably going to get blamed on Ryanair setting up shop at NCL, but have you not considered that there may be benefits?

NCL has lost a good chunk of traffic since the highs, XL went, EZY imploded, countless companies went bust, domestic took a massive hit losing EZY to STN and BA to LGW, as well as downsizing to LHR... Then all the 757's went. Ryanair is simply filling in all the gaps that have been left, have you looked at the facts and figures? Most months (using ALC as an example) the growth Ryanair provided was exceeded. An example I remember (not got the numbers to hand) was that Ryanair added an extra 8000 or so seats that month, and pax growth was in the order of 11,000 that month.

How many passengers have been redirected from Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey and some even Greece - to Spain and Portugal?

If yields were being trashed, would Ryanair keep expanding as rapidly as they have, bloody brave if you ask me but they've obviously tapped something! Would Jet2 be adding another aircraft for S17? Would Easyjet be going for new routes? Yes ok they're cutting some frequencies but it's worked out for the best - new routes coming up if rumours are to be believed, and that's what we need!

Ok, maybe some people are averse to low cost airlines and would rather see NCL scaled down with only legacies and the occasional old style - full service charter airlines, But then you say we're a poor region and struggle to support service... Ryanair gives the customers exactly what they want and need. Cheap flights. How else might your average North East family be able to afford a family holiday - but then be able to consider a city break later on in the year for the adults... Something they'd never have been able to afford when they were limited with package options (look at jet2holidays, they're perfect for the market they serve) and their city break was via a hub with BA/AF/KL... They can probably get the whole thing cheaper than just the flights now!

I get slated for my optimism, but I don't see how investment is a bad thing. I can't comprehend why this is being made negative. A huge low cost airline invests in us and it's the end of local jobs and employment at our airport? Cheap flights are trashing yields and going to make airlines leave despite the clear demand for it (and by the way, it WILL create demand too)... I want to work in the aviation industry, of course I want to see it directly creating local jobs, but I know that's probably the most unlikely it's been for a while.

I know I've gone on but I'm just going to end it on, if anything it's Brexit and Scottish APD devolution that will be the death of NCL... Not *INVESTMENT* and *EXPANSION* from Ryanair and at the end of the day, they're going to bring 750,000 people through their doors in 2017, do you know how much investment that could mean by the things holidaymakers buy in airports?

You don't get business travellers paying for airport parking, having meals and pints in the terminal, buying the adapters they forgot, having a little preflight shop, maybe a last minute currency exchange, and as they head back to get their kids that are playing the arcade sinking coins into all the machines "oooh I could read that book by the pool" cha-ching £15 to WHSmiths - times 750,000 (and the rest).

This is not a bad thing! Ryanair are filling a gap, and now I'm off to look for a birthday break next May - creating demand

Someone might want to tell Mr O'Leary that he can't make money selling cheap flights by the way... He might want to know that!

[EK77WNCL]

Also... Having gone myself to check, to go to Alicante this weekend for 7 nights, flights only. The airlines want this:

Easyjet: £193.48 Fri-Fri (this surprised me, not bad) £207.48 Sun-Sun
Jet2: £286.40 Sat-Sat, £248 Sun-Sun
Ryanair: £303.98 (£235.98 Sun-Sun)
Thomson: £479 Sat-Sat, £389 Sat-Sun (Saturday redeye)

Then you need a suitcase... And of course your family will want to sit together... Damn, did we sort that travel insurance or do we need some?

[HeartyMeatballs]

Investment is a good thing. Sending planes from abroad to operate flights is not investment.

It's all well and good. You're clearly a aspiring EK pilot. What you need to remember is you won't start your career there. It'll be BA/FR/EZ then after several years if you're very lucky(!) you'll end up at EK. LHR is full for BA, LGW full for EZ. Where do you propose they go?

And take a look at the Middle East forum. Yes the uniform ad paint job at EK may look nice but the reality is it's a hell hole that most can't wait to leave.

When you've had enough of ULH sectors on minimum rest or you've had enough on Mid East night turns you'll want out. And when all of the local jobs in the UK here have gone what will you do? A 10 month contract in PMI for EZ or FR in Wroclaw?

It will be FR/BA/EZ you'll be desperate to come back to and will be begging them just so you can get home. Just a shame that their regional bases in the UK will be no more.

Enjoy your £20 returns.

[GrahamK]

Just had a huge storm, and I mean huge storm, over here on the Solway coast, it's now heading eastwards towards NCL, I'd expect there could be significant disruption within the next few hours. Never seen hail or lightning like it...:ouch:

[ash666]

There may be trouble ahead....

[ash666]

There may be trouble ahead.....

[ash666]

Actually, it's heading north so watch out the west coast of Scotland.

[HH6702]

Well said. EK77WNCL
RYANAIR aren't stupid they have done there homework and to come in on PALMA daily shows that they have found a gap.
Yes those figures from ALC were a massive increase and they were not all sold at £20
Most were well over £100!!

It is stated that only based aircraft brings in investment???
If that's the case then look at other airports
Heathrow only makes money from BA/VS
so what happens to the 30+ AC,AA,DL flights per day they don't bring anything to Heathrow??

LTN has loads of flights from WIZZ but only 1 aircraft is based there??
Again no investment to LTN

I understand that by investing means having the plane based here creates more but the way of pilot and crew jobs but still that aircraft needs gate staff and refuelled, catered etc
Smaller investment maybe better than trying to get a base.
Those passengers will still park car at airport still buy drinks at airport pubs so still there is money coming into the local area

[long_final]

There's not an awful lot of free parking stands available at NCL overnight, so if getting new airlines to base a/c, or existing airlines to increase number of a/c, I'm sure NCL would need to consider a few more stands, as an extra LS airframe next year, combined with for example a 3 a/c FR base wouldn't leave much room nightstopper-wise.
NCL I'm sure are happy with the news, and would much prefer this than more business oriented flights where pax tend to spend less £ in the terminal. What's better than a plane load of stags arriving at the airport 5 hours early, having a few pints in the check-in hall till the desk opens, then heading through security and into the Bigg Market...sorry, the departure lounge, for a pub crawl around the self service pumps. Its a haven for hoodlums, and completely unnecessary to have so many bars. A shame for people who don't want to participate as there's nowhere to sit, hence why the area around WHSmith at the bottom of the escalator is always rammed with folk preferring to sit on the floor over being in the lounge.
Unfortunately this is up to the airlines to deal with, whilst the airport faces no backlash, as mentioned by HMB earlier. Its clear that the target is as many ALC/PMI/IBZ as possible as that's where the money is, and since the airport as good as closes down over winter, it has to be double money between May-Sept.

[EK77WNCL]

Oh don't worry it's not airlines like EZY and FR where I'm thinking I'll start out, it's airlines like Wizz, or more realistically Air Asia, Lion, Nok etc. And to be honest I can't wait to get out of the UK - too much uncertainty. Yes I would aspire to work for EK, but I realise it might never happen, but it's still a hell of a lot more likely than a job based at NCL

It is still investment into Newcastle, the plane could have just as easily gone somewhere else. I very much doubt Ryanair got the huge discounts on airport services that they usually demand (hence why it took so long to get them) so they still have to pay that. Spain and Portugal are booming right now, so it's good timing.

Added to this the fact that, arguably, it increases efficiency of the workers at the airport, the FR flights come in after all the based A/C have left, so they now have something to do when in the past it was much quieter. They also stimulate more winter demand because of the flight price, cheaper than the competition.

This £20 returns business is silly, I mentioned that I would like to see them to London if FR did it, as lead in fares. I obviously don't want to see £20 returns to Tenerife in the high season.

Yes, of course I'd rather see Ryanair base some frames... But that aint gonna happen anymore I don't think

[fl dutchman]

Yes we all welcome additional traffic. However is the main point not that if the non based aircraft, due to over capacity, leads to the removal of one or more based aircraft then there will be lower income/demand for the airport and services in terms of parking, catering engineering etc.

[VentureGo]

the FR flights come in after all the based A/C have left,

Excellent point. and maybe part of the Airport management team strategy - Other airlines such as EK, Vueling, SAS, KLM, AF, Non-based charters etc... bring valuable business, which keeps the airport busy long after early morning based a/c have departed.
It'd Probably be difficult to accommodate many more o/night based a/c wanting a 6-7am departure for a full day utilisation of eqpt.

[Jet2_738]

The two strongest airlines without a shadow of a doubt up here are Jet2 and Thomson. Together they have made massive investment in NCL, supporting the local economy and alike. You can't possibly say that RYR ops, in from foreign bases, with foreign crews and frames is going to contribute positively to the local economy. It isn't. As to whether it will drive away the airlines - maybe a 1 frame reduction from TCX, and EZY shutting shop. TOM and LS are strong enough to fight this out. At the end of the day, passengers do have loyalty to airlines, of which is earned from positive experiences, good flight times, and friendly customer service.

All the major high streets/shopping centers still have travel agents, something which is clearly still the most popular method of booking with our demographic. Hays and Dawsons both have bonds with Jet2holidays, and have more money to make from this as opposed to selling everything separately. We aren't London. Most travelers aren't business; instead off on their annual summer weeks in the sun. Our TAs aren't going to support RYR like they do TOM and LS, and people certainly aren't going to adapt well to having foreign crews. Attacking routes that are already well served won't go down well at all (and don't quote me on BHX - its a big jump, and I'm sceptical of its success).

[HeartyMeatballs]

Jet2738 - EZ had a seven aircraft base here. They have ben a three aircract base (same size as Thomson) for six years now and are (or were until very recently) NCLs biggest airline in terms of passenger numbers. Let's keep things realistic. EZ carry more than LS or BY and even if they no longer do they are certainly a major player here. To deny that would be foolish. Yes BY send in the *occasional* 787 from another base, but EZ fly aircraft from other bases through NCL. Most (except TCX) have fairly sensible flight times so LS are no different to the others. In fact some of the major TAs and even Thomson are buying seats on EZ aircraft offering an almost identical service (just less blue and more orange) than Thomson airways. However I completely agree with your stance on local investment. EZ also fly a lot more substantial winter program than the others.

EK777NCL - Thats great that you're aiming so high (!) with Nok, AirAsia and Wizzair. We'll just let the others suffer. As a child (your words) you may resent the UK like I did when i was growing up but once you see the world and you see that compared to some places we have it really good here you'll LONG to come back from the sand pit. Only you'll not have anywhere to go. I urge you to take a look at the Middle East forums for you to realise that many people there are deeply unhappy. And posting that publically.

[ATNotts]

Our TAs aren't going to support RYR like they do TOM and LS, and people certainly aren't going to adapt well to having foreign crews. Attacking routes that are already well served won't go down well at all (and don't quote me on BHX - its a big jump, and I'm sceptical of its success).

Why would people have a problem with foreign crews; I would suggest that most would speak better (more correct) english than very many of the passengers who apparently dislike them so.

As for the Jet2 BHX base, I share your scepticism.

[SWBKCB]

Got to agree with HMB again - LS and TOM are very quiet during the winter, so to say they are 2 strongest is nonsense (in fact, is TCX not on a par with TOM?).

I've noticed no loyalty in terms of airlines - people pick and chose depending on what suits, and when booking themselves it's not unknown to be going out on one and back on another.

Getting back to the original point, the concern is not about sustainable expansion but about whether non-based additional capacity is going to lead to a reduction from the based operators, which would have an impact which would outweigh any benefits

[Travel Agent]

Don't know why people think TCX would drop an airframe, most of the new routes are not served by TCX anyway and it actually increased ACE this year in place of Tunisia and Sharm and their holidays are selling really well. They have added a flight to Almeria for next year as well.

The airlines obviously know what they are doing and they know that ALC, PMI etc are a licence to print money and as long as the folk of the north east want it they will keep operating them.

Easyjet have said they are pleased with the base on more than one occassion so cannot see them pulling out anytime soon either.

[fl dutchman]

I have just heard Graham Mason from the airport on the news saying that Brexit will cause fewer passengers to use NCL airport. I think he was talking about 2017. He also seemed to be saying that pax numbers are falling this year.

I hope hes not using the figures published on the airport website for June which are questionable. ( see my earlier post No 7920)

Did anyone else hear this? Please confirm that I did not miss hear.

Seems to go against all the news re Ryanair and extra pax numbers.

[LiamNCL]

Thomas Cook have a very good number of loyal customers just like TOM and are a massive name on the high street when it comes to holidays. Cant see why they would drop a airframe when its LS who fly every single route FR have announced apart from the 3 Polish ones.

[EK77WNCL]

Can we come back to this discussion in 6 months when Ryanair announce their winter schedule (and probably more routes) and then 12 months, with S18 and probably more routes) and then in 3 years to see where it's left NCL and it's incumbents?

I still can't get how this is a problem, it could lead to a Ryanair base if Brexit works out... It would definitely have led to one if we hadn't left and then it would be a much more secure base than now.

Easyjet are looking to expand at NCL... Guess how! By operating BRS and BFS from BRS and BFS, as well as PMI from PMI and maybe BCN from BCN. SXF is also operated from SXF... Now, how can you tell me that if this brings us 5-10 more Easyjet routes, without making the base any smaller, that that is a bad thing? EZY could probably increase their base size by 50% by doing that (if they do it - which I sincerely hope they do!) I know I'm being optimistic but what else is left?

Ryanair is not posing a risk to the airport - in the past, when they did, the airport said no to them to protect the airlines already at NCL. In the current climate, the airlines at NCL obviously see this as sustainable, and I agree, because we're way behind UK growth at the minute

I mean haway it's cheap seats to bucket and spade destinations, it's not as if American is going to fly to JFK daily... That would be overkill and trashing yields for them and UA.

Of course if we do lose out Ryanair will get the blame, they're growing at an acceptable pace in my opinion. If they were doing 2 daily ALC and PMI and dailies to AGP, FAO, TFS from the outset I'd get worried but they know the market and they're doing it very well I think

LS will not downsize, neither will Thomson. If Easyjet do it will be because of Brexit or Scottish APD. Ditto for Thomas Cook, and you can add their own company failings to that list as well although they aren't too bad for the moment.... Oh and the small matter of Turkey, Greece, Egypt and Tunisia being their bread and butter. Flybe, Bmir, Eastern... Nothing to do with Ryanair anyway.

Realistically there would only be a limited amount more jobs created... They already support jobs at the airport though, by having planes there, it's not as if Ryanair self handle or anything, they're keeping jobs safe. But I feel like I'm wasting my time and some people are just going to think we'd be better off without them anyway.

By the way, I think I am aiming high, because all I want to do is fly, I don't care who with, the job satisfaction would make up for it and I'll slum it wherever because it's the job I aspire to. The prestige of just being a pilot means more than the prestige of which airline I fly for in which country. I've worked 54 hours this week, I just finished at 00:30, one day off and then another 4 on, I'm not afraid to work for things I want... And to be able to sit up front in a commercial airliner is what I want

I do not see Ryanair as being the final nail in the coffin for Newcastle, I see them shaking things up a bit yes, because it feels like NCL has been a bit of a licence to print money at times for some airlines, and it's going to make them rethink and reshuffle and hopefully bring more variety. I see LPA and SXF from EZY as very good signs, as well as Almeria from TCX and LS (even if it is frustrating that they've both gone for the same place and LS didn't bother with Thessaloniki... But oh well!)

[Rain dog]

You're a very knowledgeable and intelligent young man EK77WNCL, indeed judging by his manner it is Hearty Meatballs who is acting like the child.

As repugnant as FR are, they are not quite the airline they once were, and hopefully in the coming months and years we see destinations added that we wouldn't see from NCL otherwise. Of course ops will start initially with some bucket and spade routes, however the fact that there's also 3 previously unserved destinations is promising.

Hearty Meatballs points are sound in principle. However, in reality there are not many airlines one could reasonably expect to open base in NCL. If he had his way I suspect we would gain new routes no faster than we'd lose existing ones. The whole industry is far from perfect, but I feel comfortable in saying that this is a positive move for both NCL and it's customers.

Good luck with your career EK77WNCL, and never let anybody make you feel bad for aiming high for the day you stop dreaming is the day that you die - and the power of determination should never be underestimated.

[Rain dog]

Two final points before I disappear:

The comment about passengers struggling to adapt to foreign crews is quite possibly the most ridiculous thing that I've ever read on here (and on a personal note, I'd take a young Pole stewardess any day over some of the fishwives plucked from closer to home).

I will second Hearty Meatballs in regards to the ME carriers. Also, I'm VERY surprised that if you've educated yourself in world issues that you'd even consider working in countries with such despicable human rights records.

[HeartyMeatballs]

I think we've all remained very adult and have all put across our points of view in a respectful way.

I don't understand the comment on me and routes however. If FR opened up a whole host of new exciting destinations then fair enough. However, they haven't brought anything new and are simply cherry picking the beach flights. The new Polish roues whilst new will likely finish the morning after whatever incentive they're being paid to fly them. I'm sure you all can guess that I am a cynic!

I for one am a huge supporter of the North East. We are hard working people and we deserve real jobs and real career prospects and that comes from flying jobs, maintaining or controlling the aircraft. No offence to anyone but being a sales assistant (which I was at one point) a 'barrista' or a Subway 'sandwich artist' are not careers and that's all our airport will become - a mini metro centre with a runway attached with low paid, low prospect employment and seasonal at that.

We the north deserve better. I make no apology for thinking that. If brexit is the catastrophe that people make out to be then we need to fight for every *real* job. People need prospects and sustainable employment in real viable jobs.

[LiamNCL]

lets give it time i for one think brexit will be what the country needs in the long run but lets leave politics out of it and see where we are in 12 months. The fact FR flights are after the based aircraft are away seems like a very good way of keeping all partys happy and keeping the airport busy in what would normally be a quiet period and lets not forget there is faster growing demand for bucket and spade routes with the ever growing problems that has shut down routes like SSH/NBE and likely further reductions in BJV/AYT/DLM with the decline in Turkey. Those people will be looking to holiday still.

I also think if FR really wanted to trash the place they would of came in heavy handed 3 or so years ago , Just my two cents.

[tigertanaka]

Looking at the routes that FR have launched from LBA, maybe FR's strategy is to specifically take LS head on. As I said before, FR do not go head to head with U2 on many route pairs.

I wonder if they think that LS are more vulnerable than other operators because of their package holiday business and that their focus on outbound traffic from the North of England & Scotland makes them less agile than U2 and FR - ie they they cant move aircraft to overseas bases?

[EI-BUD]

Tigertanaka,

To Jet2 's credit their model is significantly differentiated in that they drive Jet2 Holidays, which is a strong one stop shop for family package type holidays.

FR have traditionally picked its battles worth weaker rivals, they've put enormous competition easyJet's way, so much so easyJet no longer have bases in Rome or Madrid, clearly it is more than Ryanair who had added to easyJet's woes in those locations. Nonetheless, entry on STN GLA and EDI and more recently BFS, all make file quite a statement.

So I'd say the challenge especially currently by FR to easyJet is enormous.

[pallan]

I guess we'll have to see how it all plays out over the coming years, I do feel like Ryanair are really going after LS with this move however - they seem to be doing similar at BHX. Although as others have mentioned they should be able to survive off the package holidays

On another note, anyone have info on the loads to Turkey recently? Flying with TCX to Antalya next Sunday (31st). Been on Thomas Cook website and it would let me buy 9 seats so wondering if there has been a big drop off with recent events? At £300 return also, they are relatively cheap which would suggest them trying to fill seats.

Obviously I'm aware airlines oversell particularly over the summer but 9 seats, at fairly low prices this late?

We're still fairly happy to go, the resort areas seem totally safe and our hotel has very good security - just hoping it isn't affecting the airlines drastically.

[VentureGo]

Are the passenger figures correct for June 16 v June 15. Seems low. and bucks trend of growth in other months.
Source: Airport stat tool:

Passenger Statistics (http://www.newcastleairport.com/passengerstatistics)

[fl dutchman]

Please see my earlier post no 7920. It may shine some light on the situation.

[LiamNCL]

TCX have dropped AYT down to 1x Week from S17 & dropped BJV altogether so i would suggest demand to Turkey is at a new low

[EK77WNCL]

Will they be replacing the lost frequencies with anything interesting? Or even something not so interesting... Anything?

Thank you very much Rain Dog, I'll remember that :) and yeah I get what you mean about the middle east and working conditions... I've heard that the pilots are treated alright on the whole, although it would probably take a lot of getting used to

Heartymeatballs, I agree I think we've all been respectful, and I really hope we nee new destinations too, ones that actually offer something to the region. But I really do think that the way they're stepping into the market at the minute is the right way to do it, filling in where they knwo there's demand, and when that settles, they can expand further outward (like the Polish routes - a massive vote of confidence IMO)

Al we can do is wait, see and hope!

[LiamNCL]

Only new TCX routes are Paphos & Almeria so far with rises in PMI & TFS Frequencies.

[VentureGo]

Paris -Orly Airport operated by Hop!

I see Wikipedia page for Orly destinations is showing Newcastle operated by Hop! (Not "Air France by Hop!") commencing June 1st 2017
Any substance to this? - seems odd for someone to have entered as a prank. Doesn't show as available on Hop! website but date is nearly 11 months away.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orly_Airport#Airlines_and_destinations

[EK77WNCL]

I very much doubt that... Unless they want to target leisure more and run it alongside CDG, but then why Hop!, surely Transavia would make more sense for leisure if that was the plan

I call cow pat on this one

[LiamNCL]

HOP on CDG and not ORL?

[VentureGo]

HOP on CDG and not ORL?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orly_Airport#Airlines_and_destinations

Paris Orly! According to link - Wikipedia - Paris Orly page/Airlines and Destinations - see link

[NCL-TRC]

Not sure if flights just aren't loaded for sale yet, but NCL-DUS isn't bookable after 24/3/17, however other Eurowings flights to destinations other than us are on sale for after that date.

[GrahamK]

EDI, GLA and EMA aren't bookable for next summer yet either so I'd imagine it's just not been loaded yet

[Jamesair]

I would agree with that.....traffic on this route has been growing month by month.

I see that UA Newark is cancelled today. Looked like it had a pretty full load of pax too this morning.

[virginblue]

re NCL-DUS:

Have in mind that Eurowings is phasing out the CR9 and replacing it with A320s. So some of the routes that did well with the CR9 will not make the cut with the transition from 90seaters to 180seaters. In anticipation of that, Eurowings has already cut some of the CR9 routes from DUS (eg. TRN, POZ) or consolidated routes that were twice daily in the past into a single daily flight with no day return option.

[VentureGo]

Newcastle International Airport introduces digital kiosks for last minute travel cover

Newcastle International Airport introduces digital kiosks for last minute travel cover - Chronicle Live (http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/business/business-news/newcastle-international-airport-introduces-digital-11659192)

[fa2fi]

I saw the kiosk the other day. I wonder how successful they'll be. Personally I would just go online on my phone and buy it there and then and screenshot the confirmation screen. You also have access to the whole market and not just one company. But that is just me. Last minute insurance was sold onboard one of the airlines at NCL but as far as I can remember only lasted a few months. Crew would sell the insurance from a POS machine and staple it to a little booklet and customers were instantly covered.

[oldart]

Newcastle International Airport introduces digital kiosks for last minute travel cover

Newcastle International Airport introduces digital kiosks for last minute travel cover - Chronicle Live (http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/business/business-news/newcastle-international-airport-introduces-digital-11659192)
I would imagine it would take a lot longer than three minutes if you had medical conditions to declare, not helpful if there was a queue. However it's a good idea, once we leave the EU the medical charges are sure to go up.

[Ph1l1pncl]

Airport Passenger numbers.

I have not been able understand some of the passenger figures recently. If you look at the arrivals and departure board the airport seems much more busy than it was in the last couple of years. Despite this passenger figures are supposedly falling or increasing by a very small amount.

I realise the CAA stats are very unreliable and would suggest that some of the Newcastle figures shown are simply very wrong.

Tonight I have looked at the airports own figures for June 2016 and they seem to be wrong also.

For example the domestic figures show just 9691 for June 2016 compared to 102414 for 2015. Thats a drop of nearly 93000 pax.
That cant be correct.

IT figures show a drop of about 5000 pax which is possible

Scheduled International is up by about 33000 pax which could be likely and is possibly correct.

In total a reduction of nearly 64000 is shown a drop of about 12%.

It seems that the domestic figures are the ones causing the issue.

Perhaps the real figure for domestic should be not 9691 but 96910 instead it would seem more realistic.

So if you add the difference which is 87219 to the total published you get a new overall total for June 2016 of 530521 an increase of about 10% over June 2015.

If thats correct its not a bad increase.

Rather worrying that even the airports own published figures seem unreliable.
I have tweeted the airport regarding the figures published on its website and you are indeed correct, they replied this morning with the correct numbers and said they would get it changed. The domestic figures are wrong, they should be 96,941 for the month. That's a small drop but BA have cancelled a few flights recently and are also using smaller 319 aircraft on usually 3 of the daily flights now instead of where previously would be 320 aircraft. The oil industry is still suffering too so that will affect domestic figures too. But the end total for the month is 530,552 passengers.

[fl dutchman]

Airport figures.

Good news. So that will be about 10% growth in June 2016 vs 2015.

[SWBKCB]

Newcastle Airport keen to take fresh bite out of Big Apple (From The Northern Echo) (http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/business/news/14643550.Newcastle_Airport_keen_to_take_fresh_bite_out_of_Bi g_Apple/)

[HH6702]

Let's hope it happens

[VickersVicount]

one wonders why they need to reconfirm their commitment?

[HeartyMeatballs]

Because of Brexit:
-world war three will break out
-war in Europe will be rife
-the world economy will go into a long depression
-that 1929 2.0 is on the horizon
-that the NHS will fail
-nobody is going to trade with us and lend us money

So no wonder UA would pull the route with all these many catastrophes Brexit is bestowing upon the UK?

But then again, new EU routes and improved capacity on EU routes have been announced since the vote. So it can't all be that bad.

I just hope UA stays. I have no intention of using it - but I don't want the remainiacs to have a chance to blame Brexit. And we all know they will.

[SWBKCB]

They need to re-confirm it because when it was announced last time it was stated that it was only for this season so "use it or lose it" - no political implications at all.

[KNIEVEL77]

Great story on the BBC today about Northumbria Helicopters being called out by the owner of a dog that went missing in the North Pennines yesterday and low and behold they found it.
Well done lads.
The things people do for their pets!

[SHT13C]

News yesterday the UA have withdrawn Newark. Only was a matter of time really. Especially when it just ran over the summer

[canberra97]

Do you have a link?

[j636]

Don't see anything on sale for 2017 so there is the clue.....only available option is via DUB.

[MATELO]

Funny, only last week Bob Schumacher claimed they could be shifting up to all year round services.

Newcastle Airport keen to take fresh bite out of Big Apple (From The Northern Echo) (http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/business/news/14643550.Newcastle_Airport_keen_to_take_fresh_bite_out_of_Bi g_Apple/)

[HeartyMeatballs]

It'll be Brexit's fault no doubt!