Archive Eastern Airways at Cardiff Airport

[Jerry]

According to a poster on the dried fruit Eastern are leasing a CRJ200 and a Jetstream 32 from September so i'd imagine the J32 would be for the VLY route as I can't see it being used for any of their other routes.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

According to a poster on the dried fruit Eastern are leasing a CRJ200 and a Jetstream 32 from September so i'd imagine the J32 would be for the VLY route as I can't see it being used for any of their other routes.

Does that make a rotation to somewhere else between the two Valley rotations more or less likely?

 

[Jerry]

Does that make a rotation to somewhere else between the two Valley rotations more or less likely?

Hopefully! Maybe a daily Isle of Man? or Norwich again!? I believe they won't have to employ any cabin crew on the flights just pilots so that will bring the cost down.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

NWI didn't even come close to working last time. IOM might stand a better chance.

 

[Jerry]

Isle of Man would be a good route for CWL to have. Another option could be LBA but the aircraft might be too small for that and frequency too low. What will be interesting is how many crews they base at CWL. If it's enough for 4 departures a day is their somewhere they can operate to in the evening?

 

[Bcn_boy]

Twice a day LBA or MAN

 

[Foxlimayankee]

Since Citywing stopped operating there's no longer a GLO-IOM operator. EZY operate Fri and Sun from BRS. T3 could well do CWL-IOM mid day if it works operationally (crewing). Did Citywing operate GLO-IOM daily or twice daily? MAN would be too expensive to operate into on a J32.

 

[superking]

EZE could position up to GLO to do a IOM rotation. I'm sure they citywing only did 1 flight to IOM per day.The runway at glo is longer than the 1 at brs,but they not got much infostructor to do much.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Since Citywing stopped operating there's no longer a GLO-IOM operator. EZY operate Fri and Sun from BRS. T3 could well do CWL-IOM mid day if it works operationally (crewing). Did Citywing operate GLO-IOM daily or twice daily? MAN would be too expensive to operate into on a J32.

I think that when Manx2 operated GLO-IOM it was up to 3 x daily. Citywing might have reduced that but I'm not sure to what if they did. GLO could be a useful little airport situated as it is midway between the populous North Bristol fringe and the southern extremities of Greater Birmingham, not to mention the Gloucester/Cheltenham 'conurbation' on its doorstep. It has relatively quick access from/to the M5. It is limited in size of course.

If Eastern is considering further routes at CWL I'd assume that IOM is one they would look at.

 

[superking]

If there is a fair few pax that used the IOM service from GLO and now not operating it would be easier to travel on down the m5 and use brs with the new link road now open and no severn bridge toll.

 

[Tinkerman]

Superking, i see that the BRS service is only 2x weekly. If T3 wanted to do this service it would be far more frequent than that, and so would suit a broader range of passengers.

Not saying that i have specific intelligence that says this, but i am saying that it's no coincidence that the WG have publicly stated they want to get a long-term contract in place, T3 getting a J32 fits this bill perfectly. Using the J41 on the route isn't and never was a great solution for either party since T3 have a potential revenue-making aircraft sat at CWL all day despite the subsidy on the route, whilst the WG have undoubtedly been paying the privilege for this additional capacity which cannot be sold.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

EZE could position up to GLO to do a IOM rotation. I'm sure they citywing only did 1 flight to IOM per day.The runway at glo is longer than the 1 at brs,but they not got much infostructor to do much.

GLO is Staverton Airport where it is situated. Its main runway is under 1,500 metres in length. GLO does see more annual movements than BRS because of its intensive general aviation programme.

I don't think that Eastern would position to GLO for an IOM rotation when they can fly from CWL without positioning.

 

[Jerry]

IF Eastern were to do IOM from then i'd imagine it would be at 5 weekly and bearing in my mind that it would need to back for the afternoon VLY depart i can't see it having the time to stop enroute. If they did want to attract the former GLO passengers then if it was financially worth it Eastern could arrange a small bus to pick them up from GLO and bring them to CWL and then wait to take the returning passengers back. I believe BE are doing something similar at Dundee for the AMS route or were.

 

[Foxlimayankee]

I was more suggesting forget GLO completely and operate the route from CWL. I doubt there's any operator from BRS with the right sized aircraft. For EZY to increase would like be over capacity.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I was more suggesting forget GLO completely and operate the route from CWL. I doubt there's any operator from BRS with the right sized aircraft. For EZY to increase would like be over capacity.

easyJet began at 4 x weekly on BRS-IOM for a year (how they thought that 4 x weekly would work in winter with Airbuses goodness knows) but then reduced to the Fri and Sun and they seem to get consistent loads well over a hundred - Fri outbound currently 89% seat occupancy and Sun outbound sold out although this time of the year sees high loads at most airports on most routes of course.

So there could well be a gap in the market for Eastern on CWL-IOM at greater frequency than easyJet as has already been suggested.

 

[Jerry]

So there could well be a gap in the market for Eastern on CWL-IOM at greater frequency than easyJet as has already been suggested.

I'm surprised BMI haven't tried it. Would seem suited to their aircraft.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I'm surprised BMI haven't tried it. Would seem suited to their aircraft.

Not against easyJet and bmir would probably only get 10-12 passengers if that some days, which would not be bad on a J32 but not on a 50-seater. Their fares would be high too if their other routes are a guide.

Eastern would be a good bet for CWL if anyone is. Eastern operated BRS-IOM daily on a J41 and averaged fewer than 20 passengers, often around 15, but it probably paid because of the high fares. It stopped when Manx2 started at GLO at lower fares and higher frequency. Flybe came and went once or twice on BRS-IOM at 4 x weekly (I used them once) but the average loads of 25-35 on the Q400 didn't suit and they left for good in the end.

So apart from easyJet and in the days of Jersey European (now Flybe of course) when one of the four daily BRS-BHD rotations called at IOM each way, BRS-IOM has always struggled for decent passenger loads.

 

[Jerry]

Eastern Airways stats May 2017.
Anglesey 989 +14%
Aberdeen 830
Newcastle 1281 +16%

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Has it already been reported that from 1 September CWL-NCL-ABZ will be operated by a leased CRJ200?

A poster on the DP suggests this which seems to be confirmed with test bookings that show the route operated by a CRJ200 of BackBone Aviation from September which appears to be a Danish company.

 

[Jerry]

Has it already been reported that from 1 September CWL-NCL-ABZ will be operated by a leased CRJ200?

A poster on the DP suggests this which seems to be confirmed with test bookings that show the route operated by a CRJ200 of BackBone Aviation from September which appears to be a Danish company.

A nice upgrade to a jet and a 50 seater! I think the CRJ200 may also be wet leased by BackBone from a Canadian airline called Voyageur Airways. Was this the operator BMI used at BRS last month as cover?