Route Development & Rumours

[Ianbutty]

Interesting little story. Who will take on IoM? Another one for Squeasyjet?

Flybe: Isle of Man ministers to be quizzed on airline's collapse

Government ministers will face five urgent questions about their response to the airline's demise.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Ryan Kirkpatrick]

Eazy could take on Isle of Man since 80% of IOM network is EZ. But Eastern & Logan could take it up if they wished. I can see Logan adding back Newquay & Belfast City. I'd be very surpised if Eastern re-launched Newcastle or even start flights to Teeside.

 

[thunderchild]

So EasyJet finally launch a new route only for the entire country to go into total lockdown! #couldonlyhappentoBHX

 

[andrew.clarkson]

Hi there all, now that we hear that BA and Virgin Airlines maybe thinking about pulling out of Gatwick Airport, surely now is the time for the Birmingham Airport management team, with the route development team to get together, between now and next year to try and do a lot of research and a lot of homework in trying now, once this pandemic is gone, to try and win them over in coming to Birmingham Airport next year or the year after... Andyc

 

[IanFarquharson]

Hi there all, now that we hear that BA and Virgin Airlines maybe thinking about pulling out of Gatwick Airport, surely now is the time for the Birmingham Airport management team, with the route development team to get together, between now and next year to try and do a lot of research and a lot of homework in trying now, once this pandemic is gone, to try and win them over in coming to Birmingham Airport next year or the year after... Andyc

Why do think BA or Virgin would think about BHX when they cant make LGW pay ?

 

[andrew.clarkson]

Hi there Ian, I don't know, maybe Birmingham Airport maybe a different alternative or solution to their problems... Andyc

 

[JENNYJET]

My question is if LHR can absorb those Gatwick catchment customers and either Virgin or BA have the aircraft in the respective fleets after the retirement of so many machines following the virus emergency? Will existing bases at Manchester and Glasgow take up the Gatwick services?

It has been said often that BHX has no hope of securing a base from either airline but that is another discussion.

 

[andrew.clarkson]

Hi there Jennyjet, I fully understand what you are saying, but, with this new scenario and ball game that we have all now entered, it's up to Birmingham Airport management to cunjour up some kind of magical scenario to try and persuade both BA and Virgin Airlines to come to Birmingham Airport and do business. That is what Birmingham Airport management must now do, once all commercial airspace has been opened up, so Birminghams first party trick will be to try and deliver the commenwealth games which is due within the next couple of years, then take it from there... Andyc

 

[Nethercote2019]

I do think that this is going to be a new time in aviation, airlines will be thinking how to reduce costs, they will put staff on zero hours Etc & apart from the likes of Wizz I can only see route reduction not speculative route expansion
That’s my personal view anyway...

 

[JENNYJET]

Good Morning Andrew, I note what you say and add that Birmingham Airport management have a track record with BA that makes me reach for the tranquilizers!! I would love it if either airline could begin with one key service to grab passenger interest and build from that foundation.

 

[IanFarquharson]

Zero chance of BA or Virgin at BHX !

 

[Brummiegem]

While I agree that both Airlines and Airports will have one eye on future developments,the most important thing on their minds right now is surviving the next few weeks and months.
Once flight ops restart,a new ‘normal’ will come into being.What that normal will look like is anyone’s guess,but it will have a major impact on the industry as a whole.Maybe in 12 or 18 months,things will go back to something like they used to be,maybe it will take longer.
Developing new routes or encouraging new airlines and establishing bases are probably some way away from now.Most important is trying to keep as much of what we have and build on that.
I personally feel that the aviation industry is going through a major change,some brought on by the current situation.The rest was starting to happen anyway.
We are seeing Airlines retiring a number of aircraft types.We will see types like the A320NEO family and the Boeing 737MAX family(once flying again)become major players at the worlds airports.
Airbus and Boeing long range twin jets on the longest range flights.
I can see even more pure cargo flights as airlines look to gain income from elsewhere.Maybe a few less airlines as well.
Whatever happens the industry is changing.
New routes and airlines, in the short term at least , will be a luxury.We just have to hope that airlines still see BHX as potential.
We live in hope.

 

[mullion]

Long haul will become mainly A330/A350/B787 and B777 whereas short haul is as you say but with EMB190 as an addition and probably ATR72

 

[David_itl]

At the moment, I think it will be realistic to state that Birmingham is going to be squeezed by Manchester and Heathrow for the next 12 to 18 months at least. With all the redundancies being announced by Virgin and the potential for BA to make huge redundancies, they will be not be in a position to actually recruit for any positions that have been affected (based on what our company did when we downsized 3 years ago and where we are now finally have got more staff than then) - even if a Gatwick return happens for Virgin, it would seem to be summer seasonal and currently we don't even know if their current Glasgow and Belfast operations will happen this year or next year given the wording of the press release.

Even Manchester is going to be squeezed as I can see some airlines whose services are all over the UK seemingly focusing in on the "serving Britain by serving London" mantra that was the main thrust of the aviation sector until the 2010s

 

[David_itl]

BA and Virgin are in no position to look at anywhere new and are consolidating operations. The drop-off charges are not BHX exclusive as most of the UK airports have them and wouldn't be a deterrent to airlines starting routes (unless you are someone similar to Michael O'Leary).

What may be a problem for BHX is having to convince airlines of the viability of transatlantic routes given that over recent years, there's been no sustained service to major hubs and that the allure of HS2 could be a hindrance as it gives the impression that there is no actual market in the local catchment for a route if you have to sell the area as being about an hour from London. It would be similiar to how Gatwick is where airlines want to serve London but can't get Heathrow slots so would operate from Gatwick pending them getting the slots they wan.t

 

[DaveBham]

Plenty of demand for flights west. They just need big enough planes Nicely fitted out, so that a variety of fare grades can be offered. A380s from BHX to the US sounds far fetched, particularly at the moment, but have just 2 of these a week to Florida and you will fill the seats, no problem.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Recovering that amount of pax should one break down would also be a huge headache.

 

[Nethercote2019]

Rumour on another site for Lauda air to close Vienna base

 

[Ray Finkle]

Wizz are opening new bases in Larnaca and Milan, both routes that would be very welcome at BHX.

LCA to replace the capacity lost by Blue Air and MXP which is now unserved.

I'd like to think that BHX are on to this.

 

[Wrightfly73]

I hope that this is the case as there are a lot of routes that I'm sure will work for Wizz from Birmingham. Larnaca definitely has a very strong case, there is a huge Cypriot community in the Midlands plus great for leisure travel too. Could Aegean even add Larnaca? They have operated a fair few special flights lately between Larnaca & Birmingham.

I also saw that Czech Airlines are opening a route to LHR, I hold a bit of hope that maybe the BHX route could come back now that they have more aircraft at their disposal. This service was consistently busy, I used the service loads easily above 90% full each time.