The feeder has to be operated as a QF service and not as a codeshared BA shuttle services as the slots being protected are QFs.

Heard of grim stories that the one of the MAN hierarchy thinks there’s nothing wrong with airlines codesharing into MAN rather than flying their own metal instead 🙁

An alternative answer…British Airways undue influence as a shareholder; when QF stopped the LHR extension, BA operated QF feeder services using 737s but that lasted 6 months before they were withdrawn as they were competing with the BA shuttle service.

Unfortuntely, myopia has set in and QF aren’t looking beyond LHR for the next 3 to 5 years thereby letting the likes of Emirates, Singapore Airlines and Malaysian to tap into the UK-Australia market which exists from the regions.

The new feeder service has been a spectacular success – sometimes they’ve attracted as many as zero passengers, and tomorrow’s services should be a Titan 146 which positioned in on a Flightline callsign.

David

They weren’t that regular though! Forgot the LOT Il18s and Tarom Il18s at the weekend though the Balkan variety were somewhat rarer.

Wasn’t the Crossair Metro that arrived every Sunday tied in to the Air Florida flight?

For the Northwest 747Fs (flight number NW923 seems to be sticking in my mind), we’re talking more 1979-1981ish; Air Europe was formed in 1978.

“Vintage” propliners for that time would have been the Kar Air Swingtail Dc6 OH-KDA operating for Finnair 2 or 3 times per week (prior to Finnair’s own DC9s talking over the service with Air Atlanta 737s having a go on the route in the 1990s), Fred Olsen L188s operating for SAS routing to Copenhagen and Clyden Airways Dc3s to/from Dublin (operating at nighttime as Clyden 100 as I remember).

David

Strange how we should use Glasgow Prestwick but not say that the city that they are linking that airport is not Dusseldorf but Niederrhein; then again Geography has never been one of Ryanair’s strong points 😉

David

Ryanair are tied to LPL for around 10 years – it’s their North of England (or, now Northwest England) base, so any European routes will be from there.