Chester Hawarden Airport (Broughton)

[mathers_wales_uk]

Scheduled passenger flights could return to Chester Hawarden airport in Flintshire next year when work is completed on a £1m terminal.

It envisages flights across the UK, including Cardiff and possibly as far as Italy and Spain.

Hawarden Airport: Scheduled flight plan at £1m terminal - click here (http://walesairforum.wordpress.com/2012/08/15/hawarden-airport-scheduled-flight-plan-at-1m-terminal/)

[NorthSouth]

Chester to Cardiff. Yeah that'll work:rolleyes:
NS

[mad_jock]

Yep it will, the Welsh assembly will pay for a max profit contract like the Valley Cardiff route.

The winner will have to jump through hoops to get the safety brief done in Welsh as well as English and then everyone will be happy. Stick a J31 on it and it will work anything bigger and it won't.

Harwden Bristol would also work as 50% of the seats would be taken by Airbus.

[Betablockeruk]

Not really the best time to talk about yet another regional airport. All existing middle England airports suffering from either no growth or losing pax, except for the big airport near Wythenshawe (really don't want us vs them debate).

[mad_jock]

Its not really the same to be honest.

The airport will be there due to the wings production so its only really using the vast spare capacity there is.

The other regional airports won't have a look in because they still have to cover all there costs where as Harwden won't.

It might end up being Manchester for Ryanair :D.

And I could also see heavys dropping in for freight aka what they used to do at Filton.

[SWBKCB]

It isn't just using spare capacity - they've spent ONE MILLION POUNDS building a terminal for which they don't have any customers.

How on earth are they going to get that amount of money back?

Wonder if they need a consultant (very competitive rates) to give them a few ideas :E :E

[davidjohnson6]

Why not do what every struggling small regional airport in the UK seems to do ?
Phone Flybe / Manx2 and beg them to start a summer route every Saturday to Jersey

[mad_jock]

Its one million they had to spend anyway so they could still do corporate shuttles to Toulouse.

And 1 million for a terminal is peanuts.

That will cover 2 baggage belts, 2 xray machines, a couple of security arches and a slap of paint and some plastic plants.

[mathers_wales_uk]

That is not the artistic impression that I have seen.

Consists of 2 x check-in desks
1 x baggage carousel
1 x security arch
2 x departure
1 x bar or cafe
1 x executive lounge.
1 x information desk

Looking at the size of the main check-in concorse it is not big enough to handle a Boeing 737-300 comfortably especially with standard 2 hour check-in. The check-in desks do not look conventional with no weighing scales and will involve manually lifting the bag over a counter and on to a belt behind the desk. Time consuming and also a lot of manual handling for 20kg plus bags.

50 seater planes possible at ease and the Manx2.com operation would be a doddle on 19 seater a/c.

Without additional funding from the Welsh Government I cannot honestly see the viability of another North/South route link to Cardiff. Could Manx2.com move their Blackpool flights to Chester Hawarden Airport making use of the lower fees?

[runway30]

Unlikely that the WG would be able to support an air service to Cardiff as there is an alternative rail service available that takes around 3 hours.

[mathers_wales_uk]

Indeed there is Runway30 however the Welsh Government is also supporting the Cardiff to Anglesey route at the sum of approx £1.3m a year along with approx £800,000 for the terminal.

The Welsh Government is also supporting the North South rail link which competes with the air service however they may deem connectivity as the reason under PSO.

Without any financial backing from the Welsh Government I believe there is no chance of a Cardiff to Hawarden service taking off.

The benefits of Hawarden compared to Valley is there are likely not to be bank holiday and weekend & evening closures which could possibly hamper some business passengers.

[Phileas Fogg]

North-East Wales (Hawarden) has something that North-West Wales (RAF Valley) doesn't have ... Some decent roads for people to drive their cars along!

Hawarden might be located in Wales but branding it, as it has been, as "Chester Airport" gives it an English airport identity, it's catchment area, in the main, will be from the English side of the border thus should the Welsh goverment be throwing more good money away on regional airfields that are never really likely to break in to profit and, in this instance, mainly for the benefit of people from England?

LPL still has stacks of availability to take any overflow from MAN, likewise so does BHX, CVT, EMA, HUY, LBA, BLK and any others I may have forgotten, why the hell does midland/north UK need yet another airport?

[spekesoftly]

The benefits of Hawarden compared to Valley is there are likely not to be bank holiday and weekend & evening closures which could possibly hamper some business passengers.

Are you suggesting that Hawarden are planning to open 24/7 ?

At present Hawarden closes at 21:00L Mon - Fri, 16:00L Sat & Sun, and is closed most if not all bank holidays.

[mathers_wales_uk]

Phileas Fogg - Sorry wasn't suggesting that the Welsh Government should financialy support a PSO route from Hawarden Chester airport was just sharing my thoughts that this may be the only way the route will get off the ground.

However with the track record of Welsh Government I would not rule out anything as they offer a subsidy for the rail which competes with the Anglesey - Cardiff air service.

Speksoftly - Suggesting a 24/7 operation? Certainly not however their operation will be far less restricted than those at Anglesey.

Anglesey has ATC controllers & Fire cover hence weekend, bank holiday with 5-6pm closures Mon-Thu and earlier on Fri.

Hawarden Chester airport certainly will have more flexibilities if the demands an airline requires it.

The Difficulties

The UK aviation industry is still suffering along with the EU and the rest of the world. Hawarden Chester airport will have huge competition.

Liverpool - approx 35 mins & 19 miles from Hawarden has low cost airlines Easyjet, Ryanair & Wizzair.

Manchester - approx 55 mins & 45 miles from Hawarden has low cost & low fare airlines Easyjet, Ryanair, Monarch, Jet2 & Flybe. Manchester also has major charter operations with Thomas Cook & Thomson Airways

Blackpool - approx 1h 30 mins & 80 miles from Hawarden has many flights operated by Jet2

Birmingham - approx 1h 34 mins & 94 miles from Hawarden which has low cost & low fare airlines Ryanair, Flybe, Monarch with seasonal Easyjet operation. Birmingham also has major charter operations with Thomas Cook & Thomson Airways.

East Midlands - approx 2h 15mins & 95 miles from Hawarden which has low cost & low fare airlines Easyjet, Ryanair, Monarch & Flybe. East Midlands also has major charter operations with Thomas Cook & Thomson Airways.

[ILS32]

mathers_wales_uk

The home of Jet2 is Leeds/Bradford Airport not Blackpool.It would make Ernest Lanc's a happy man if it were.

[mathers_wales_uk]

Thanks ILS32 I totally forgot about Leeds Bradford which is nother airfield within 100 miles of Hawarden at 1 hour 42 mins away at approx 90 miles.

It does have a lot of Ryanair, Jet2, Thomson Airways, and will have a Monarch operation from next year.

[mad_jock]

you chaps are barking up the wrong tree.

You might get some 737 sized stuff through as holiday charters or a trip to lourdes if you have loads of catholics in the area. Apart from that your talking J32/32 or a J41 max sized aircraft what ever happens unless ryan get a deal and what to shaft somewhere else.

Down to Bristol I can see a J41 sized aircraft working now Filton is shut purely for the Airbus personal that has been a regular corporate contract.

The chester railway station to be honest if far more accessable than alot of the other places that have been mentioned especially if there was a bus on. Straight onto the main west coast line. Blackpool pain in the arse and expensive, LBA again a pain to get anywhere it might suprise/piss off more than we imagine.

[mathers_wales_uk]

I cant see how we are barking up the wrong tree as nobody has suggested great expectations.

Cardiff to Hawarden is not likely to attract any airlines unless some money is offered by the Welsh Government.

Cant see where the scheduled carriers are gunna come from apart from Manx2.com to Isle of Man possibly Eastern Airways.

I believe Flybe & Aer Lingus are out of the question.

Dont get me wrong I support all improvements to the aviation industry within Wales but I believe there are major obstacles to overcome.

[Phileas Fogg]

Manx2 Hawarden to IOM???

From a quoted 19 miles up the road there are Easyjet & FlyBE operating significantly larger, and cheaper to operate per seat, aircraft to/from IOM and somehow Manx2 are going to be able to operate a 'Puddle Jumper' to/from an airfield that the majority will never have heard of whilst being able to compete on price???

Pigs might .....

[mathers_wales_uk]

Two men were killed when a light aircraft crashed near Chester, police have confirmed.

The aircraft with two men on board, one from North Wales and a second from Surrey, came down on farmland near the village of Churton.

Police said staff at Hawarden Airport in Flintshire, North Wales had reported the plane missing at 20:55 BST on Thursday 16th Aug.

Plane crash near Chester killed two men - click here (http://walesairforum.wordpress.com/2012/08/17/plane-crash-near-chester-killed-two-men/http://)

[mathers_wales_uk]

Germany withholds £486m of loan for Airbus A350

The German government is holding back £486million of a promised loan for the development of the Airbus A350, in the latest sign of Berlin trying to influence decisions at parent company EADS, according to Reuters.

Full article can be found - here (http://walesairforum.wordpress.com/2012/10/18/germany-withholds-486m-of-loan-for-airbus-a350/)