Thomas Cook

[Aviador]

Could it be possible the entire programme is going to be opperated by Jet2 aircraft which would explain the rumoured 4th 757 aircraft? This would of course mean no TCX but the flights and holidays would still be there?

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[pug]

However, as Thomson have found, it doesn't work, and given the way DSA has struggled to make things work with any airlines other than Wizz and Thomson (although drastically reduced now from what they were), it would be a hell of a gamble by them to put all their eggs in the DSA basket and withdraw from LBA/HUY - airports where they are totally dominant in the IT market.

I dont see that scenario as beyond the realms of possibility. Thomas Cook seem to have taken a bigger hit by the likes of Jet2 and Monarch, and it could be so much so that they look to consolidate at airports where they either dont feel so pressured by those operators, or those operators do not directly compete at all. Therefore DSA would make more sense than it may at first glance. They had already attempted to sell Rhodes and Lanzarote from DSA for S12 (but those plans were dropped in December), so there are signs of at least a good relationship with Peel Airports at the moment. Perhaps Thomas Cook got word of the Monarch and Thomson intentions, or even LBA got word of a potential Thomas Cook withdrawal hence attracting Monarch? Also (and I'm not upto date on this) I was under the impression Apple Aviation (TCX maintenance) are to open a facility at DSA...

As for why HUY is not yet on sale, this years DLM is operated by Pegasus, last year it was operated by a BFS based 767, so it doesnt explain why at least DLM is not on sale if they were intending to operate it (PMI is on a w from LBA).

Of course this is pure speculation, but there is clearly something happening.. I'm hoping that it is a simple case of scheduling delays, but even the staff at Thomas Cook don't think thats the reason.

 

[752]

It doesn't make sense that TCX could be pulling out of the fasted UK airport and the biggest and most successful in yorkshire, I think they will be waiting to see what Monarch do and go on from there.

 

[pug]

It doesn't make sense that TCX could be pulling out of the fasted UK airport and the biggest and most successful in yorkshire, I think they will be waiting to see what Monarch do and go on from there

It doesn't make sense that they would unnecessarily delay at least putting some holidays on sale. They can make quite abit of money from early sales, for example where people book more lucrative all inclusive holidays early to be sure. They also seem poised to go through a period of change, it is no secret that they have been suffering with cashflow problems, and they have even hinted at selling some of their Flythomascook fleet on lease-back agreements.

I hope it is just a scheduling problem, but there is a pattern emerging locally to suggest otherwise. Rest assured though, I'm pretty sure Monarch have the right model to more than make up for a possible loss of Thomas Cook.

 

[LUFC Jonno]

Thomas Cook would be insane to pull out of Leeds and go to Doncaster as Thomson found out. Thomas Cook have been successful at Leeds and to pull out due to competition from rivals airlines like Thomson/Monarch, Jet2, and Ryanair would make much sense to anyone. I really hope they continue operating from Leeds as Leeds are on the up in terms of attracting new airlines and routes.

 

[pug]

Thomas Cook would be insane to pull out of Leeds and go to Doncaster as Thomson found out. Thomas Cook have been successful at Leeds and to pull out due to competition from rivals airlines like Thomson/Monarch, Jet2, and Ryanair would make much sense to anyone. I really hope they continue operating from Leeds as Leeds are on the up in terms of attracting new airlines and routes.

Pure speculation on my part. I'm sure things wil be more clear in the not too distant future. I just dont think its wise to rule out a withdrawal from LBA, particularly not on the back of what some of the staff appear to have been told on Friday.

 

[752]

as a posted earlier in the year, i went to ACE on 2nd of april for a week, both flights was completely full, how could they give that up? and the pilot did say it was an important time for TCX and LBA it did seem rather positive so this could suggest their in talks, i really hope it is positive

 

[pug]

both flights was completely full, how could they give that up?

That depends really. If that full load consisted largely of people who had booked late and got a cheap deal then it is not necessarily a high yielding operation, though I'm sure LBA does ok in that respect.

I'm not sure of the Thomson costbase, however they often appear expensive from DSA for the simplest self-catered holiday. I would suggest that they can manage revenue much easier there where there is little to no direct competition, and if Thomson can get away with it then Thomas Cook can, but only if they largely vacate LBA and HUY.

 

[LUFC Jonno]

Lets not forget Easyjet. They opened a base at Doncaster and within 6 months they announced they were leaving. Its been speculated a few times that Thomas Cook were cutting down at airports like Glasgow, and maybe Manchester and Leeds could be possibly having additional routes. Like Ap1995 mentioned, something important (hopefully positive) is to be announced.

 

[Sherburnflyer92]

I think were all taking this all out of prespective, and way over thinking.

I don't believe for one second Thomas cook is scared of competition, and if it was then why on earth does it compete with TOM and the much bigger FR & EZY at NCL, EMA & BRS. All these airports are in the same league as LBIA in terms of what we can and could handle in the future in terms of PAX numbers & flight movements/airlines. That alone should prove they are not in fear of competition at LBA, as they proved this year & last year when FR expanded. They clearly saw something at TFS, and thus expanded into the route into the summer, something that an IT hasn’t offered for a few years. This is also head to head with FR 2 weekly, and Jet2/Holidays 4 days a week. Remember the traditional seats only are alot more expensive, so they must think there is alot of money in the package holiday market to Tenerife to start this route during the summer.

Second of all, who are the airports (our) directors? I've got one up Tony Hallwood? Now lets have a little look at his profile of his roles in the last 25 years;
Aviation Development Director at Bristol International Airport
Head of Aviation at My Travel
Head of Aviation at Airtours
Bristol airport is now one of the powerhouses of the south, somewhere were TCX have 2 based a/c and 1 during winter. The same can also be said for Thomson who uses 2 during summer and 2 peak times during the winter. TCX have competition from TOM yet haven't given in. It's also where EZY & FR combined have 16 aircraft based during the summer peak period. The guy understands what it takes to take an airport of our size to a similar size/operation to NCL & BRS.

We are a growing airport I do not for one minute understand why a company the size of TCX would pull out. I'm saying this as they have had massive issues with money over the years and this winter. Remember that was with the strategy MAN & LGW are the main airports we operate out of. That didn't work, so I think they are changing that to operate into more regional and gain some of that market that they have lost out too thanks to the massive, and successful expansion of Jet2 & Jet2Holidays. This is the reason why we have a delay, A Delay in the contract signing, a delay onto the booking system as they have to update all the new hotels, new holiday packages etc onto the system although that should already be in place with just a change into flight times & departures.

I think we all need to calm down, LBIA has being and will be on a role (soon as BA goes to press) and I think were in for another good week. Unless this airport is like supporting Leeds and you know what its like if you do or know people who do.

 

[pug]

nicholas1992, with respect. Not only have I had correspondance from someone at Thomas Cook over the weekend, but what has been posted by a respected member on another forum and worker at Thomas Cook correlates to what I've been told. That is the entire TCX operation along with Thomas Cook holidays has been withdrawn for S13. They have been informed by internal memos of this very fact.

Why they may have done this is open to debate (as we are doing, perhaps reading too much into it like you say), but there is clearly something going on, and with HUY also appearing to have been dropped, all roads lead to DSA at the moment. I cannot see them abandoning Yorkshire and the Humber altogether leaving just three weekly flights from DSA?

 

[752]

this looks abit positive, from a TCX rep http://customer-community.thomascook.co ... a_may_2013

 

[pug]

Lets hope there has been a simple communication problem then. I'm doubting it since the staff I was refering to were informed on Friday.

 

[Sherburnflyer92]

nicholas1992, with respect. Not only have I had correspondance from someone at Thomas Cook over the weekend, but what has been posted by a respected member on another forum and worker at Thomas Cook correlates to what I've been told. That is the entire TCX operation along with Thomas Cook holidays has been withdrawn for S13. They have been informed by internal memos of this very fact.

Why they may have done this is open to debate (as we are doing, perhaps reading too much into it like you say), but there is clearly something going on, and with HUY also appearing to have been dropped, all roads lead to DSA at the moment. I cannot see them abandoning Yorkshire and the Humber altogether leaving just three weekly flights from DSA?

P.P.Rune by any chance? If so, without sounding too rude, I've seen the posts, from you and other memebers of PPRune, and you've literally taken ONE persons post's as the gospel truth & thats it. There are two members of TCX team on there which say the opposite;

"A Thomas Cook employee, on their customer support forum said today that the LBA routes hadn't been confirmed, but they would be online as soon as they were"
"Its a bit early for saying yea or nay to anything for Summer 13, we don't even know what airframes we'll have yet. It might be reasonable to expect a contraction, but the details won't be firm for a few months." - Again not what we want but at least TCX will keep presence at LBIA.

 

[pug]

Thomas Cook customer support.. 'dont book with anyone else, wait until we roll out our schedules'. Its also fair enough suggesting that it will be a few months before we get a clearer picture, but that is no reason to not sell any holidays from two nearby airports whatsoever.

For your information, two people have told me, one is not (as far as Im aware) a member of any forum. Neither know why it has been withdrawn, just that it has and is 'unlikely' to reappear. Neither have reason to fabricate anything. They dont know why they were informed of this, but they have been.

It could be one big mess as far as scheduling and aircraft availabity is concerned, but it is NOT in their best interests to forego securing lucrative early bookings form a base.. Something is amiss. Im hoping it is a scheduling issue, for the sake of LBA and HUY, and that everything at Thomas Cook is rosy.. We will no doubt find out more about whats going on before long. Perhaps friday when I understand Monarch are due to start rolling out their Summer 13 schedules.

 

[lbaspotter]

Hi

Just a another little update for you regarding the Thomas Cook Holidays operation out of Leeds/Bradford for next summer 2013. This also appears on the Thomas Cook on Get Satisfaction website forum here: http://customer-community.thomascoo...tm_medium=email&utm_source=reply_notification

I sent the following:

Well we a few days down line and I see that there are still no flights available from Leeds Bradford for next summer 2013. Then just to make matters worse, I have been told over the weekend that Thomas Cook Airlines might be pulling out there based Airbus A320 Aircraft at the end of this summers 2012 season.

Now if its true that Thomas Cook Airlines are pulling out and closing there Leeds base. Dose this also mean that Thomas Cook Holidays are also pulling out and no longer going to offer Holidays and Flights from Leeds as well??

And have just been sent the following reply from Thomas Cook:

Hi Ross,

The Leeds/Bradford program is still not confirmed but the latest information we have from our products team is they hope to have it sorted by early June.

Kind Regards
Chris

Not a mention of a pull-out in that. Otherwise surely the would have confirmed it. I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens in early June!

PS: Sorry PUG I forgot to mention anything about Humberside:

 

[pug]

Looks like a pretty standard response. I notice nothing is bookable for winter from LBA?

Something is happening. Hopefully if it is a better offer at DSA which is causing the delay then LBA and HUY could attempt to better it.

 

[lbaspotter]

Looks like a pretty standard response. I notice nothing is bookable for winter from LBA?

Something is happening. Hopefully if it is a better offer at DSA which is causing the delay then LBA and HUY could attempt to better it.

I understand that the Thomas Cook winter 2012/13 programme from Leeds was pulled quite a few weeks ago. I also understand that the base is due to be closed at the end of the summer season as its to become a seasonal base again for Thomas Cook. Just like it use to be.

Also at least they did the decent thing and replied with something, It better than nothing....

 

[Sherburnflyer92]

I also noticed that LBA is to become a seaonsal base once again. When trying to hopefully find the booking system for Summer 2013.

Quite a sad fact, but wasn't 2011 the only season where they offered flights through Novemeber, December, Jan & March? It's a shame they couldn't work something out to sell holidays with Jet2, and Thomson on the SSH flights.

 

[pug]

Yes but they have to respond as part of their customer care. It all seems very strange but Im sure all.will become clear in the next few weeks.

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