JohnSwitzerIncidentally, flying recently with easyJet to and from Edinburgh, we’ve been allowed to use our phones as soon as we’re on the ground. But yet, easyJet into Gatwick the phones must stay off until we’re inside the terminal :confused:
Regards
John
JohnSwitzerYup I can recall flying from Liverpool some years ago on a British Airways ATP and the idiot behind me booking a taxi. When he was obviously asked if he had landed yet, his reply was ‘No, we’re just over the Isle of Man at the moment’ 😮
But seriously, I can recall being on a flyBE flight into BHD whereby the pilot made a stern announcement saying that someone on board was obviously using a mobile phone and could they please turn it off as it was interfering with aircraft systems. A few minutes later and the approach was aborted and the announcement made again before eventually making an uneventful landing.
Regards
John
JohnSwitzerYup, I flew the route regularly and was surprised at Sabena’s decision to abandon it – given that I can’t recall paying less than £380 return and the three daily flights appeared to have 75%+ load factors each way. But apparently, they weren’t making money on it – or so they claimed at the time.
From memory however, the operating aircraft was Belfast based and I can recall the crews being bussed to overnight accomodation at the Templepatrick Hilton, which certainly wouldn’t have assisted with making money on the route.
As for the Piaggio escapade, I hadn’t realised that £100k of taxpayers’ money was ploughed into this. It makes de Lorean sound like a sound investment… :rolleyes: I think the same people also attempted a BFS – LHR service, as I’m pretty certain I can recall seeing the route on BFS’s departure board.
At the time – c.5/6 years ago – I did wonder why nobody thought of leasing a couple of Canadair or Embraer Regional Jet and operating two flights a day to Brussels with a daily flight to Paris with one aircraft and two flights a day to London City, and one flight a day to Barcelona with the other aircraft.
Regards
John
JohnSwitzerI’m not sure there would be the demand to support a BFS – LHR connection, albeit it would provide an option of late flight from LHR which due to operational (noise) restrictions is a non-starter at BHD.
As a once regular passenger on LHR routes from BFS, I and many others have long since made the switch to easyJet and LGW, STN or occasionally LTN – rather than the switch to BMI at BHD. I would think BMI or any other carrier would have a difficult sell on their hands to make another London route from BFS pay.
But I could see an opportunity for BMI Regional on lower volume routes from BFS – most notably Brussels, Aberdeen, Newquay, Southampton, Inverness and possibly Geneva.
Regards
John
JohnSwitzerPersonally, I would have a thought that a break up of the company would yield the most value. British Midland has always struck me as a business where the sum of the parts is greater than the whole.
> BMI Regional would nicely augment flyBE or Eastern
> BMI Mainline would allow a Full Service Carrier to have a crack at BA on its own turf
> BMI Baby would fit in well with Jet2, easyJet, Ryanair or practically any other Low Cost Carrier
Time’ll tell, as I can remember 15 years ago it being suggested that Sir Michael Bishop was building up the business to sell it and 15 years later here’s still here.
Regards
John
JohnSwitzerStansted to Luton with easyJet perhaps? :confused:
I did it as a passnger with easyJet a couple of years back, to pick up some parts for a 737 which had diverted to Copenhagen. The flaps can’t have been retracted for any more than 3 minutes!
Regards
John
JohnSwitzerMany thanks for your help. It was indeed an A319 both ways 🙂
Regards
John
JohnSwitzerWonder if an other RAF base will become Commercial airports with RAF still there.
James
RAF Aldergrove is of course shared with Belfast International Airport and I think the Falklands Islands Airport is shared with RAF Mount Pleasant.
Regards
John
JohnSwitzerThanks for the replies 🙂
With reference to Jet2 at BFS, I am surprised that there hasn’t been more of a response from easyJet.
Personally, when I heard that Jet2 were beginning to compete on selected routes directly with easyJet, I expected some kind of fightback from easyJet along the lines of easyJet commencing direct flights to Barcelona and Prague – both of which appear to present good yields to Jet2. But to date, there’s strangely been nothing :confused:
I have heard from someone within BFS that there will be more route announcements from easyJet shortly at BFS, though according to easyJet’s last annual results slideshow, there appear to be no immediate plans to base additional aircraft at BFS.
Regards
John
JohnSwitzerAurigny
Britten Norman Trislander
British Airways including franchises:
Avro RJ100
British Aerospace ATP
British Aerospace Jetstream 31/41
Boeing 737-200/400/500
Boeing 767
British Aerospace BAe 146
de Havilland Canada Dash 8 Srs 300
Embraer EMB145
Hawker Siddeley Trident 3
British Midland
Airbus A319/320/321
Boeing 737-400
Embraer EMB135/145
McDonnell Douglas DC9
Saab SF340
Vickers Viscount Srs 800
British World
Boeing 737-200
Channel Express
Boeing 737-200
Delta including Tran State Airlines
Boeing 767
Embraer EMB135
McDonnell Douglas MD80
easyJet
Airbus A319
Boeing 737-300/700
European
British Aerospace BAC 1-11
Go
Boeing 737-300
flyBE including Jersey European and British European
British Aerospace BAE146
Canadair CRJ
de Havilland Dash 8 Srs 200
de Havilland Q400
Iberia
McDonnell Douglas MD87
Jet2.com
Boeing 737-300
Boeing 757
Jetmagic
Embraer EMB145
Loganair
Shorts SD360
Maersk
Boeing 737-300
Canadair CRJ
Manx Airlines
British Aerospace Jetstream 41
Vickers Viscount Srs 800
Ryanair
Boeing 737-200
SAS Scandinavian
McDonnell Douglas MD81/82
Titan Airways
Boeing 737-300
British Aerospace BAe 146
Woodgate Aviation
Piper SA80
As to the amount of flights I’ve taken with each… Lord only knows. I take about 60 to 70 flights a year, albeit these days types and airlines are (sadly) more limited – invariably Q400s with flyBE, Airbus A319s or Boeing 737s with easyJet and the occasional trip on an Airbus A320Srs with BMI.
Regards
John
JohnSwitzerThanks for the links, and a great website 🙂
Regards
John
JohnSwitzerI can remember Flybe calling themselves Northern Ireland’s original low-cost airline, or something like that! Isn’t that a laugh. Before Easy, low cost they certainly were not and some might say that are still not low cost.
Yup, as I have found previously – it is cheaper to pay for a flight with easyJet than to book a free flight with flyBE!
The City Airport has certainly come on leaps and bounds in recent years, but until the Westlink is sorted out as someone who lives in Moira, morning flights are practically inaccessible and sitting in traffic for over an hour on the Westlink on the way home from a teatime arrival from Bristol a couple of weeks back, has made me think twice about the wisdom of flying to/from BHD any time soon. A mate of mine who lives in North Belfast can actually get to BFS quicker than he can get to BHD at the moment… 😮
Aside from which, is it just me or is the citybound onslip on to the Sydenham Bypass far, far too short. Once I’ve ended up having to continue on to the hard shoulder as there simply was no gap to migrate into and on several occasions a combination of split second timing and the consideration of other drivers has been necessary to get actually get off the onslip and on to the road home. The onslip on to the Bangor / Holywood carriageway is similarly ridiculous as well.
Regards
John
JohnSwitzerAs a regular traveller, I was shocked to hear of flyBe’s acquisition of BACon. When I first began flying regularly in the mid to late 90s, it now seems strange to think that 90% of the time I flew with BA or a BA franchise / subsidiary. These days I fly more often than ever before (c.70 flights a year) and yet the last time I flew with BA was 18 months ago.
I can also recall around 5 years back flying across on a CRJ200 from LBA to BHD on (what was then) British European, sat beside one of the airline’s top brass who admitted that he was sure there was an answer to British European’s woes, but he was beggared if he or anyone else knew what it was.
If someone was to suggest five years hence that British European would have acquired BA’s regional interests, I think they either would have been drunk or deluded.
flyBE has certainly put in a strong performance over recent years within its chosen niche. And it is an airline I enjoy travelling with. Staff are friendly and courteous and the Q400 and BAe146s make for a pleasant change from the 737 and A319/320 norm. But in the admitted absence of knowing just what flyBE paid for BACon, I can’t help but wonder if they’ve bitten off more than they can chew?
The much vaunted BACon ‘comeback’ on the BHD-BHX route prove that BACon are little threat to flyBE, just as BACon’s continued downsizing of aircraft from BAe146s to Dash8-200s on the MAN-BHD route prove the appeal of flyBE’s business model over BAcon’s. So in essence, organic growth probably would have taken to where they want to be, without the hassle of losing an entire fleet, integrating staff with very different corporate cultures, managing redundancies and figuring out what to do with inhereited liabilities.
I also think it is worth remembering that in the mid90s, British Regional Airlines was on the up, in a similar way in which flyBE is today. A decade later and it’s history. And that would be my concern with flyBE. Just how robust is the flyBE business model?
BHD-LPL certainly prove that they can’t cut the mustard on regional routes when it comes to mixing it with easyJet. So too BHD-BRS, which is now down to a single flight a day. So too BHD-STN which was pulled shortly after Go launched BFS-STN.
To my mind flyBE’s success is based upon commercialising regional routes, which as a result of flyBE’s efforts will become a target for easyJet, Ryanair, Jet2 or whoever, with lower costbases, jet fleets, even better brand awareness and lower fares. And unless and until flyBE strengthens (recofnfigures?) its business model, where does it go after that?
Regards
John
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