HLX to quit MAN after a few months?

[mcdonnellluke]

Hello
I have just read somewhere that HLX have decided to terminate thier MAN-CGN service on the 1st July-this seems strange as the service has only been operating a few months and that does not seem enough time for the service to test itself, also it seems unusual to end a service in the middle of the summer season, and the HLX website is still advertising these services with no mention of this-does anyone know more-apparently the LTN service is for the chop also.
Luke

[jetstream7]

Luke

Why not try the call centre for HLX...0870 606 0 519

They should be able to confirm, but the LTN sched is definitely finished... (Germanwings competition from STN)
and the MAN is due to continue
;)

[Ringwayman]

The MAN service is still bookable up to October; the routes doing so-so at the mo, though I've been led to believe it was the 2nd worst in the network. Think they are averaging around the 45% to 50% mark for loads.

[hatsoff]

They should try advertising more ; most Mancunians don't even know they're there.
God awful time to leave Cologne though , arriving MAN at 7am..ish.

[Buster the Bear]

Lack of advertising within the London Luton area. TUI have a few financial problems, so the axe could well have been expected.

Now If the brand had been Britannia Express flying from Luton and Manch to CGN, the loads could well have been greater. Mind you, who wants to fly to Cologne?

Painting your plane in NYC taxi colours does not make a business success.

[sisyphus1965]

A statement from Manchester airport states that the withdrawal of the LTN service does not affect the MAN service and the service will continue.

[JKP505]

Germania, who are receiving around 20 F100s have been in discussion with two British airports with the intention of beginning services to Hamburg and Munich. Anyone know the airports? I know both are in England, and would imagine one in the south, the other in the north?

[Buster the Bear]

Let me guess, Stansted and Manchester?

[yieldman]

It is confirmed that HLX is still operating the MAN route twice daily!
they will stop serving the LTN route, though.

So no worries about that nobody there knows how the rumours of the cancellation of their MAN- route came up!!!!!

[rentaghost]

My contact from within the 'group' advised me on the 13th that the MAN flights will cease.

[jmc_757-200]

Hi,
HLX are still accepting bookings for well after the 13th (I prosume you mean July 13th) on the MAN-CGN route.

Thanks

jmc_757-200

[rentaghost]

JMC

No, I meant that my contact told me on the 13th of June that HLX would be stopping the MAN service sometime in the future.

[Buster the Bear]

20 June 2003

HLX drops Luton as business/older leisure travellers fail to show

TUI AG’s low-cost carrier Hapag-Lloyd Express is concentrating its UK efforts on Manchester after CEO Wolfgang Kurth admitted that Luton ‘didn’t bring the right mix of traffic.’
The statement from the carrier said that Cologne-Bonn is a destination for business and mature leisure travellers, and that Luton’s position as a base for low-cost no-frills operators was not pulling in the ‘right mix’.
‘Luton was worth a try,’ said Kurth, ‘But Manchester is beginning to deliver the goods from both our target groups. As a result, we are concentrating our UK marketing efforts there.’
The Manchester-Cologne-Bonn route started in March, with Kurth saying that the group was ‘delighted’ with the 40% load factors being achieved on the twice-daily Manchester service.
The Luton service was one of HLX’s seven launch routes. It took to the air inDec02. Currently it serves 18 destinations in Europe from its hubs at Cologne-Bonn and Hanover

[hanger35]

HLX has been advertising the in the MEN with special promotions for the European Grand Prix at Nueburing. But advertising is weak and even when I asked a someone who worked for the airport behind the ticket desk where I could find the HLX check in desk she said she had never heard of them and they don't fly from this terminal. I tried to show her the departure screens with flight on it but she was to busy reading "soap weekly".

I tried to by a ticket the other day but you can only buy over the phone and with a credit card as there is no ticket desk. The website does say you can pay with cash but I think that's thats only on the German side and they don't except debit card such as switch which is unbelievable because you can use the maestro logo just about anywhere in the world now. What's more is that the fares hardly go above £39.99 which is cheap.

The Marketing department needs to work harder Cologne is a great city and the Rhine valley as well as the big Rhur cities are only an hour away by car or train.

[Mr A Tis]

Whilst I wouldn't swear to it - it is worth checking with Globeground ticket desk - level 5 T1 about maybe buying HLX tickets for cash.
I believe the Luton acft is being deployed on Colgne-Palermo.
As HLX are NOT quitting MAN-maybe the thread title should be changed.
CGN is a lovely airport & situated in a nice part of the world - very easy to get around the Rhine area by train.
If your going to those parts- I'd recommend the very cheap and efficient & relaible HLX MAN service

[Buster the Bear]

Luton -Cologne service, with the last operational flights on 27 June 2003. Load factors of between 28% and 36% from January to March with 51% and 46% in April and May in spite of the cancelled LTN frequency (reduction from 3xdaily to 2xdaily). he remaining bookings for the season were only 7,000 at decision point to end the route, meaning an average load of less than 15% per flight!

[hanger35]

Is that the same Globe Ground ticket desk that's opposite check-in desks 40-43 where HLX passngers check-in. Because that's where I asked and their reply was they I could not pay with cash but they passed me the phone and the number for HLX reservations. Of course I dont have a credit card so it was pointless. Anyway I contacted HLX to say it says you can pay cash at the airport. They replied that this was a mistake and they would take it off the website although it is still there.

[dwlpl]

The HLX service CGN/MAN is to drop to one flight per day from 26th October.

Departs MAN 1850 (Mon-Fri), 0750 (Sat) and 1945 (Sun).

[Mr A Tis]

According to the HLX web -site, with immediate effect the Mon -Thur inc. morning flights are cancelled, leaving just Fri, Sat & Sun with double daily flights until chopped to a single service in the winter sched. Same-just when the route is perking up - some flights now operating pretty full. The new winter schedule is gonna knock the week-end away market on the head:zzz:

[LGS6753]

One look at their route network and parentage tells you what will happen.
They are a German bucket-and-spade operator. Luton failed because it wasn't marketed in the UK (and the beaches in Bedfordshire aren't up to much). Manchester will go the same way.
If HLX wants to be a 'true' lo-co in the EZY mould, they will have to fly between business centres and market the service accordingly. If they don't they will become like MYL, WW and JET2, operating to holiday areas and taking traffic from the charter operators.

[Frankfurt_Cowboy]

"(and the beaches in Bedfordshire aren't up to much). "

Isn't Leighton Buzzard famed for the fine quality of it's sand, exported to the mid east for filtration purposes? Or are my eyes dreaming? I'll get my coat........

[Mr A Tis]

Dunno about a "bucket & spade" operator, six flights a day Cologne to Berlin.
Travelled with them last Fri morn 100 pax MAN- CGN & the return sunday evening with load factor of 100%:ok: Maybe they'll re-instate double daily for the winter w/ends :D

[gawain]

duo start bhx - cgn twice daily from 1st Nov so maybe that will hit the man loads. check duo.com (www.duo.com) for the details.