Geoffersincornwall
28th Oct 2011, 03:58
The demise of Plymouth Airport (Plymouth is the 'capital of the UK's South West) was put down to the inability of any airline to operate economically out of a runway that was too short for the optimum payload. Now the South West's capital and business centre is devoid of air transport the question must be asked 'is this an opportunity for the helicopter community?'
The costs of getting to an airport are on the rise and the costs of parking when you get there are not cheap. Surely the benefits of 'hooking-up' with an established airline to feed pax into their hub would benefit all in much the same way the the old LHR-LGW Airlink used to. The additional costs that may be associated with a helicopter service can then be taken on by the airline and recouped in additional traffic.
Exeter or Newquay would be the obvious choice for a service but maybe there are not enough airlines working out of these to justify calling either of them a 'hub'. Bristol on the other hand would be a good prospect.
Can the latest generation of helicopters offer seat/mile costs that compete and a service level capable of dealing with the operating challenges (icing, RNP/RNAV approaches etc)? I'm not sure what scale the demand for such a service would support but until somebody tries we may never know.
G. :ok:
The costs of getting to an airport are on the rise and the costs of parking when you get there are not cheap. Surely the benefits of 'hooking-up' with an established airline to feed pax into their hub would benefit all in much the same way the the old LHR-LGW Airlink used to. The additional costs that may be associated with a helicopter service can then be taken on by the airline and recouped in additional traffic.
Exeter or Newquay would be the obvious choice for a service but maybe there are not enough airlines working out of these to justify calling either of them a 'hub'. Bristol on the other hand would be a good prospect.
Can the latest generation of helicopters offer seat/mile costs that compete and a service level capable of dealing with the operating challenges (icing, RNP/RNAV approaches etc)? I'm not sure what scale the demand for such a service would support but until somebody tries we may never know.
G. :ok: