Bristol Airport - Route News

[alphagolf]

Post any News on proposed or confirmed new routes from Bristol here

We could do with some more route announcements it's been a bit quiet on this front for a while!

 

[Aviador]

Has Ryanair released it's 'preview' schedule for next summer for Bristol yet?

 

[alphagolf]

Small Planet Airlines to operate a weekly Bristol to Chambery flight from December 2010 using a Boeing 737-300.

Maybe more to come, who knows!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Has Ryanair released it's 'preview' schedule for next summer for Bristol yet?

I believe it has but haven't had time to check it yet.

I will try to do so in the next few days to see how it compares with summer 2010.

As I've mentioned previously the first Ryanair timetable for summer 2010 published about this time last year bore no resemblance to the final version and went through another three (at least) variations before the final one was published.

As for new routes, TOM has just started its weekly winter Luxor service and eaysJet will commence Lyon next month.

A couple of months ago the BRS website hinted strongly that an announcement was imminent regarding further worldwide connections. There was speculation that this might mean the return of the LH FRA connection. So far as I know no announcement has yet been made.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

OLT Bremen route to end

It's been reported that the OLT (Ostfriesische Lufttransport) route is to cease operations at the end of October this year. It seems that OLT is pulling all its routes from Bremen, which include Copenhagen, Toulouse, Zurich and Heringsdorf as well as Bristol.

The Saab 340/2000 route was originally operated from Filton to Hamburg and Bremen for the aviation industry but was switched to BRS a few years ago in the hope of attracting some members of the public in order to partly offset the cost.

The Hamburg leg was dropped two or three years ago and rotations have gradually dropped from nine per week to about five per week. It's been a year-round route.

Loads have been mediocre - on one occasion I was at BRS when just one passenger got off an inbound flight - and in 2010 just over five and a half thousand passengers were carried.

The route is certainly not one that would spring to mind in ordinary circumstances and without some form of financial subsidy from the aviation industry it would surely have been pulled long ago.

It remains to be seen whether the industry will wants the route kept open in which case we may see another carrier. They certainly can't go back to operating from Filton as the runway there is due for closure next year.

 

[8thfloorben]

Very sorry to see Ryanair's Marrakech route going, used it 3 times as we were looking to get a small flat there. Live in Torbay area and, as a smoker, it was the quickest flight and full marks to BRS for having a post security smoking area. Will have to go back to travelling via Madrid from BRS, horrendous, or direct from the dreaded Southeast, even more horrendous.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Welcome to the forum, 8thfloorben.

Ryanair certainly swap and change their routes and BRS is no exception. Over a dozen have come and gone since the base opened nearly four years ago.

You will know that Marrakech was originally a winter route until summer 2010 since when it has carried on throughout the year.

It might well come back next year. For some reason Bratislava was dropped for this summer (after two summers of extremely high load factors) yet appears to be back for the coming winter. Katowice is also back after being dropped two or three years ago.

I say appears to be because Ryanair's web timetables go through several editions of chopping and changing before the final one emerges just before the new season starts.

 

[Aviador]

Welcome to Forums4airports '8thfloorben'

If I remember rightly Marrakesh wasn't totally untouched by the troubles that have engulfed other parts of Africa and the Middle East. I do seem to remember a bomb going off in one of the main areas frequented by tourists. Could this have taken it's toll on passenger bookings?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

[textarea]Bristol Airport eyes new carriers

Bristol Airport wants to attract new airlines, its chief executive has told Insider. Robert Sinclair said he would be targeting potential carriers at an air conference next month. He said: "We are looking to attract new airlines. We are focusing on a few key markets, which are Germany, Scandinavia and the Middle East."

The airport currently has 13 airlines flying in and out of Bristol, which includes a mixture of budget, chartered and full service carriers.

Sinclair said: "We spend a lot of time making sure that we offer a full range of airlines and we work with existing carriers so they can expand their portfolios. But we are also looking to attract new airlines."

According to Sinclair, Bristol Airport is targeting full service airlines – that offer international as well as domestic flights – to move into the airport. And Bristol plans to approach carriers at the World Routes Conference, which is being held between 2 and 4 October in Berlin.

"We are attending the two day conference which is an event where airports and airlines get together. We will be promoting the South West and Bristol and we have a very full diary of meetings," he said.

"We will be meeting with a whole range of people and there will be an emphasis on presenting to full service carriers. Germany, Scandinavia and the Middle East - including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar – are all a focus."

Sinclair said the airport is performing well, with 5.7 million passengers so far this year and looking ahead he said he was keen to develop the airport. There are plans to expand security – reducing passenger queues – and Sinclair said he was moving ahead with plans to build a £150m 250-bedroom hotel.

"The hotel will be 100m away from the hotel terminal," he said. "We going through the final planning stages and we are hopeful that construction will start in the next few months. We are in talks with hotel operators and we are working to have the hotel open by spring 2013."

The hotel development follows an £8m investment in the Western Walkway – which links two terminal buildings and £4m duty free store.[/textarea]
http://www.insidermedia.com/insider/south-west/58810-/

I'm not sure how much credence to put on this report. Any article that starts with a sentence that an airport wants to attract new airlines is somewhat stating the ble*ding obvious. It's made to sound like a 'scoop'. Incidentally I make it 16 airlines currently using BRS, not 13.

It seems to knock some of the shine off the airport's assertion in May that they were confident of being able to make 'several significant announcements' in the coming months following the Routes Conference in Sardinia at that time - see below.

[textarea]Airport confident of new routes following Sardina conference

Bristol Airport is confident that new destinations are in the pipeline following its successful attendance at Routes Europe (8-10 May), the annual conference which brings together airports and airlines to discuss new flight opportunities.

Over the course of the three day event held in Cagliari, Sardinia, Bristol Airport met with 20 airlines. As part of a campaign to market Bristol and the South West to European airlines, an iPad presentation (developed with locally based creative agencies, SBW and Noisy Little Monkey) was used to present the business case for services to and from the region. Feedback was positive, and several new route announcements are expected in the coming months as a result.

Shaun Browne, Aviation Director at Bristol Airport, said:
“Our presentation was very well received by the airlines, who were impressed by the strength of the South West market. The diverse range of businesses based in the region, combined with a wealth of tourist attractions, makes a compelling case for a network development managers assessing new route opportunities.”

“But we did not only get strong signals from airlines. It is also clear that Bristol is fast becoming a destination which other airports want to see on their departure boards. As a result, early indications for 2012 are very encouraging and we anticipate being in a position to make several significant announcements over the coming months.”[/textarea]
http://www.bristolairport.co.uk/news-an ... -2011.aspx

Furthermore, at the airport consultative committee meeting in April this year the CEO Robert Sinclair told members that 'positive enquiries' had been received from full-service airlines to fly from BRS next year and he envisaged an announcement in the next 3-6 months.

I wonder if things that were thought by the airport to be in the bag earlier this year have escaped. The tenor of the latest media report doesn't suggest anything imminent though the article seems to be the product of someone on work experience.

 

[alphagolf]

Furthermore, at the airport consultative committee meeting in April this year the CEO Robert Sinclair told members that 'positive enquiries' had been received from full-service airlines to fly from BRS next year and he envisaged an announcement in the next 3-6 months.

Totally agree with everything you said there TheLocalYokel

It does seem a bit odd to playing up the next conference when nothing as yet has transpired from Sardinia!!!!!!

With my pesimistic head on, 6 months from April would be October, so he could be playing a little game here and make announcements at the conference in Berlin, making us believe they were clinched there and then!

But like you said, I think its more of a case the previous positive enquiries have slipped through the net, I could be totally wrong! Lets just sit and wait!

alphagolf

 

[alphagolf]

Neilson Ski has introduced a flight programme to Lleida-alguaire in Spain to access Andorra!

Flights operate on a Sunday:

Departs Lleida-alguaire 12.00, Arrives Bristol 13.15

Departs Bristol 14.15, Arrives Lleida-alguaire 17.30

Not sure who is operating it, but on the Lleida-alguaire airport website it suggests Thomas Cook are operating flights to and from the UK!

alphagolf :smile:

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Lleida-alguaire Airport

According to Wiki, not always the most authoratative source of course, the BRS and BHX ski flights to this fairly new airport will be operated by Flybe.

The only other UK airports shown on Wiki with ski charters to it are BFS, LGW and MAN, all with TCX.

 

[Aviador]

Lleida-alguaire Airport

According to Wiki, not always the most authoratative source of course, the BRS and BHX ski flights to this fairly new airport will be operated by Flybe.

The only other UK airports shown on Wiki with ski charters to it are BFS, LGW and MAN, all with TCX.

That looks like yet another new Spanish airport. They're popping up like there's no tomorrow. I can't see the point in moving any current operations from airports like Girona to Lleida-alguaire airport, there's very little difference travel time wise to Andora from either airport.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

That looks like yet another new Spanish airport. They're popping up like there's no tomorrow. I can't see the point in moving any current operations from airports like Girona to Lleida-alguaire airport, there's very little difference travel time wise to Andora from either airport.

The airport apparently opened in January last year.

BRS has no Girona ski charter flights so in that sense there has been no shuffling the pack.

Indeed, the 3 x weekly Ryanair flight to Girona is not operating this winter. Seems very odd given that Girona was one of FR's original routes to BRS after DUB long before the BRS base opened.

August this year (it's daily in summer and with an eighth flight some weeks in peak summer) carried over 12,100 passengers, a monthly record for FR on the route so it all seems rather odd.

But that's Ryanair for you. They stopped Bristol-Bratislava this summer after exceptionally high loads in previous years yet have brought it back for this winter.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Only route news in the loosest sense but it made my afternoon today.

On a gloriously hot and sunny autumn afternoon I was walking in the woods and combes that surround the western and southern ends of Bristol Airport.

My walk was accompanied by a fairly constant stream of take-offs on the westerly runway (27), principally easyJet and Ryanair but with the likes of KLM Cityhopper, Eastern and Flybe to add a bit of variety.

I had reached a point where the runway disappeared from my view but aircraft came into my sight as they climbed into the sky just a quarter of a mile beyond the airport's western boundary.

I heard the sound of engines and presumed it was the next take-off when an Airbus A380 came into view looking for all the world as if it had just taken off. It had no doubt flown an approach to 27 from the east, overflown the runway before climbing gradually away to the west.

Although not in itself a beautiful aircraft (my opinion anyway) it looked a gorgeous sight above the woods with a clear blue sky etched into the background. I regretted not having a camera with me.

The 380 is at Filton undergoing tests and has performed this sort of flypast at BRS before.

It will be a great shame when the Filton runway is closed next year as 380s have flown 'Look what you've helped to build' low level flypasts of the city on more than one occasion in the past when the type has been visiting Filton for one reason or another.

 

[alphagolf]

In the Independent Newspaper there was an article on the New Lleida-alguaire Airport in Spain that Neilson Ski are using this winter for access to the Ski resorts of Andorra.

Bristol & Birmingham flights are to be operated by flyBE and the Belfast, Gatwick & Manchester by Thomas Cook, so for a change Wiki was correct!

alphagolf

 

[Aviador]

for a change Wiki was correct!

alphagolf

Hmm I agree, Wiki suffers somewhat from the "mine is bigger than yours" syndrome.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Alitalia flights FCO-BRS

I've been told that Alitalia will be operating a series of flights to BRS from Rome Fiumicino on Wednesdays from 4 July to 18 August 2012 using a mix of A 320 and 321 aircraft.

I believe from reading some posts on the LBA threads that a similar operation will occur at LBA.

The suggestion on the LBA thread is that the flights are for inbound tourists to the UK.

easyJet already operates a daily BRS-FCO route.

 

[Aviador]

Alitalia flights FCO-BRS

I've been told that Alitalia will be operating a series of flights to BRS from Rome Fiumicino on Wednesdays from 4 July to 18 August 2012 using a mix of A 320 and 321 aircraft.

I believe from reading some posts on the LBA threads that a similar operation will occur at LBA.

The suggestion on the LBA thread is that the flights are for inbound tourists to the UK.

easyJet already operates a daily BRS-FCO route.

Yes I believe that is right. Have you any idea which company is operating the flights?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Yes I believe that is right. Have you any idea which company is operating the flights?

No. I was told simply that Alitalia would be operating the flights.