[updated:LAST EDITED ON 12-07-02 AT 06:58 PM (GMT)]The UK government is to put its weight behind calls to safeguard airlinks to major UK airports from GCI,JER and IOM which depend upon the routes to the capital.
At a high-level meeting on Monday,a senior minister at Westminster agreed to voice the Channel Islands and Isle Of Man’s concerns in Brussels as the European Commision prepares to review directives on take-off and landing slot allocations.
It has also been revealed that Jersey,Guernsey and the Isle Of Man have been waiting since 1999 for this week’s meeting but were only invited to London to meet the transport minister David Jamieson following the intervention of Gwyneth Dunwoody MP,the chairman of the House Of Commons transport sub-comitee.Mrs Dunwoody is understood to of stepped in because she holidays over here in Guernsey and is good friends of our transport president Mike Torode!
Though none of this would of happened without the sudden intevention of Mrs Dunwoody,it is still an important step forward in securing airlinks to the three islands and also the reopening of flights to LHR.
Though it is still a long way off before any of this happens,this meeting is of vital importance to the Islands as the air services to London hub airports of LHR and LGW for international connections,of particular significance for the Island’s international finance centre activities and also tourism which for all three Island’s has had a blow due to the losses of LHR.
At the centre of this meeting was the allocation of slots,it was argued.A statement has said that the UK government officials acknowledge the gravity of the issue and will assist in facilitating a meeting with EU officials to consider matters relating to this.
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This for me is great news though only a small step to reopening an LHR airlink.One thing that which could stand in the way of Jersey and Guernsey (not the Isle Of Man) is the fact we are not members of the EU,though hopefully still we will see some good come out of this meeting.
By: mongu - 17th July 2002 at 22:19
RE: Move To Safeguard Regional
Simple solution – expand LHR!
By: wysiwyg - 17th July 2002 at 22:14
RE: Move To Safeguard Regional
Yes the current arrangements are awkward but the authoroities deem them to be adequate. At the end of the day it’s bums on seats that count and regionals just don’t offer the opportunities. I wish things were different, much as I love the Boeing, I wouldn’t sniff at a Do728 command out of Heathrow (as I live just 3 miles away).
By: mongu - 17th July 2002 at 21:34
RE: Move To Safeguard Regional
How about cross-subsidisation; surely a lot of the passengers feed on to bigger flights?
Also, BA is increasing the numbers of its flights (I assume so, as they are downsizing aircraft types) therefore there are available slots.
If they are going to stick people from unimportant places at Gatwick, why not build a LGW-LHR express train? The current arrangements are awkward.
By: wysiwyg - 17th July 2002 at 14:31
RE: Move To Safeguard Regional
I really wish it would happen but LHR slots are so ultimately desirable that they will never be given to the regionals. Over the last few years we have seen countless regionals pushed out (Brymon, KLMuk, etc.) and how many have set up? None. While I know many regional operators now use jet equipment you almost never see a turboprop at LHR anymore.
Heathrow generates large amounts of its income from the number of passengers it pushes through. A heavy jet using a slot will generate much more revenue than if the slot had been given to a 50 seat turboprop/jet, even if there are subsidies involved.
By: Saab 2000 - 15th July 2002 at 17:01
RE: Move To Safeguard Regional
According to the media over here,a group of Channel Island buisnessmen is believed to be looking at the viabilty of leasing an undisclosed number of aircraft to operate on routes to the UK and Europe,they have said they would be hopeful (if their idea got off the ground)that they may be able to operate an LHR route.
By: mongu - 13th July 2002 at 22:30
RE: Move To Safeguard Regional
As part of the goverment’s planning, perhaps there should be a public service provision for BAA to make a certain number of slots available.
There ARE lots of unused slots at LHR, which were generated when airlines cut schedules after 11/9. Under the grandfather rights system, they are reserved for the historic operaters though, rather than available on the open market for somebody else to buy.
Basically though, certain sectors are inherently unprofitable. In such cases, if the link is vital, governments often offer subsidies. This, in my understanding, does not contravene EU subsidy rules. The UK govt does this to coach operators (National Express – approx. £500m last year) so why not an airline?
Another option would be to allow LCY to operate on Sundays. The 6 working day rule means LCY is not in the market for weekend breaks etc. from the islands.
By: Saab 2000 - 13th July 2002 at 16:54
RE: Move To Safeguard Regional
It would be great to see an independent airline serving the IOM/CI,though it is unlikely to happen.I read a while back about in our local paper about something similar to this.A person wrote a letter about the possibilty of a wealthy islander setting up and airline to fly between the Islands and places such as LHR but that was just a distance dream.
The problem is that are the local governments willing to pay for slots and also another matter is could they obtain slots at LHR? What I would like to know is up until now how much energy are they putting in to campaigning for slots?Bmi said they would operated between the Islands though only if the States would buy the slots but nothing since has come about which kind of shows the amount of effort they are putting in.
By: mongu - 13th July 2002 at 13:57
RE: Move To Safeguard Regional
It’s a big problem.
At one stage, the Isle of Man government started litigation proceedings against BA for dropping the vital LHR link. Somehow it stalled quite early on though.
I think what is needed is INDEPENDENT airlines which have slots at LHR as part of their assets – ie. BAA (or whoever) would sell slots, in 10 year cycles or so, to small independent airlines if they satisfy BAA that they perform vital air links. There’s no reason why the costs of the slots could not be underwritten by the island governments.
The other problem though, is the price of tickets. Before BA bought out Manx Airlines, they used to regularly charge £300 rtn for a 50 minute flight in a crappy old 146-200 (G-MIMA). I only paid £75 to LGW on this aircraft last week, but it is excrutiatingly uncomfortable for even a short hop. I had a window seat and got off the aircraft with a sore neck from the fuselage curvature!
How about an IOM/CI joint airline – like Gulf Air? They could even hub at AMS or CDG.
By: Saab 2000 - 13th July 2002 at 08:34
RE: Move To Safeguard Regional
WOW! A former Aurigny Saab 340 pilot! Did you enjoy your experience with them?
Anyway, I am not sure if I agree with you that the Islands will never get their airlinks back to LHR. Though I know its a long way off in us ever getting it back there will always be a chance if opportunities such as the one in the original topic come about. If the government can recognised the importance of these lifeline routes and make sure our concerns are fully represented in the review of current EU regulations, then I would hope that something could come about.
The main reason it will be hard for the Islands’ to regain flights is because of the allocation of slots and the fact that no one knows who owns the slots, the government or airlines? Only a very few slots are surrendered by airlines, however, this is where the EU comes in to affect.
Over the years many articles have come up in the local media about possible ways of reinstating the lost airlinks to LHR, for example, bmi decreasing the frequency of some of its smaller operations into LHR such as Teeside and using the slots on flights from Jersey and also Guernsey. Also the new smaller runway at LHR which would be used for more regional orientated aircraft such as the BAe 146 and 737 which would guarantee slots at LHR for us, though this is not supposed to be ready by 2011 if it even gets the go ahead. So in my opinion this is the only good chance we will have in a long time of getting the slots back.
What needs to be done as well is to get flights to other major European hub airports such as Paris CDG, Amsterdam, Zurich and others because they are just as good as Heathrow. Also it would be great propaganda for airlines such as AF and KL (and bad for BA) note that the once “world’s favourite airline” is shunned at UK provincial airports. KLM is doing it in UK airports, so for the Islands it should happen to. I would love to see the loads on the JER and GCI flights to Zurich with Swiss as I would think that they are popular for people wanting to connect on to International flights.
Though some of my facts and information may not be totally correct I am a believer that one day we could see flights back to Heathrow, maybe not tomorrow but one day. It would also be nice to see some other airline recognising our need for links to major International airports, though maybe with the size and population it would not be viable.
By: wysiwyg - 12th July 2002 at 20:38
RE: Move To Safeguard Regional
The islands will never get a connection back to LHR unfortunately. KLMuk have a lot to answer for.
regards
wysiwyg
(Former Aurigny Saab 340 pilot)
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July 12, 2002 at 6:50 pm