Ryanair have said to someone i know who is working with them on something that there WILL be a Belfast to Blackpool route if EGAA give them go ahead (egaa source says no probs with egaa so far) and he hinted on an unconfirmed European route(s) that ryanair “disclosed” to him!
Good News and it keeps Belfast as the UK’s most popular Low Cost Hub
By: andrewm - 3rd September 2003 at 19:35
Who said anything about a telcoscope!!!!!!!!
Well the guy who told me is doing a deal on travel with ryanair and they are giving him discount on this route. Or Michael is pulling his leg after a few guinnesses!
Btw a 737-800 wouldnt be able to land at Belfast City Airport!
By: andrewm - 3rd September 2003 at 19:34
Who said anything about a telcoscope!!!!!!!!
Well the guy who told me is doing a deal on travel with ryanair and they are giving him discount on this route. Or Michael is pulling his leg after a few guinnesses!
By: Ren Frew - 3rd September 2003 at 00:44
Originally posted by martin_EGTK
From what I’ve heard from a friend of mine who works at Blackpool Airport the next Ryanair service is going to be up to Prestwick according to his boss.
You could probably stand on the Antrim clifftops with a telescope and observe the entire flight.
By: martin_EGTK - 2nd September 2003 at 23:34
I’ve flown STN-BLK a lot and generally you’re only in the air for about 35 minutes, but with all the congestion at STN the actual gate to gate service can take an hour or so.
BLK-PIK would take about 20 – 25 minutes in the air which is probably just about the minimum length a flight can be to be truely profitable. However, it seems like the most obvious option.
If Ryanair were to start BLK-BFS they would be the third airline operating from Blackpool to Belfast alongside flybe (to BHD) and Keenair (to BHD via IOM). Also the cost of the intial set up at easyland 2 would be very high.
Other rumours from BLK include a weekly service to Orlando once the runway extension is finished next year. This would be a weekly holiday charter. AMS has also been rumoured as being a possible future destination for Ryanair from BLK, but I really can’t see that happening, AMS is far to near AMS for that to work for Ryanair!! Malaga is another rumour relating to Ryanair at BLK plus the ever increasing services to Girona which are rumoured to be starting from BLK.
My humble opinion is the BLK-PIK is probably as far as it will go for now. Ryanair may indeed increase their presence at BLK over time to try and compete with easyJet at Liverpool and bmibaby at Manchester, afterall they are currently the only loco operating from London to the North West. But if they do expand at BLK I can only see them going on to serve the normal Ryanair destinations. Maybe Prestwick, Bournemouth, even Newquay and then maybe Hahn and Girona, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
By: wannabe pilot - 2nd September 2003 at 23:26
That must be a pretty short flight though, Blackpool to Prestwick. Even Stansted to Prestwick is only 45 minutes so that must be something like 15 minutes. I can imagine such a short sector being pretty fun for the pilots though (apart from the fact that you are spending more time on the ground than in the air!)
By: martin_EGTK - 2nd September 2003 at 23:18
From what I’ve heard from a friend of mine who works at Blackpool Airport the next Ryanair service is going to be up to Prestwick according to his boss.
By: Saab 2000 - 2nd September 2003 at 19:52
Belfast would be interesting though the rumours have been circulating for months. Ryanair claim to be in talks with many airports over setting up new routes so maybe Belfast is the same.
I understand Belfast International is very protective of its Easyjet services so is being extremely cautious in seeing Ryanair expansion, as is Belfast City. Maybe in the future though a first route to Blackpool is a bit odd?
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September 2, 2003 at 7:24 pm