2012 flights to Languedoc ...

[peter]

Starting early with flight news for 2012 ...

[peter]

Summer 2012 – Easyjet flights on sale now!

Summer 2012 flights, from April to June, are now available to book.

http://www.easyjet.com

[peter]

Beziers Airport - Communiqué de presse 28.09.2011
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Announcing launch of summer 2012 Ryanair Manchester - Beziers route :

* Two flights per week
* Monday & Friday evenings
* Starts 26-3-2012
* €44,99 launch fare
* bookable now at www.ryanair.com
* Special launch fare €9.99 available until midnight 3 October 2011
* year round service forecast to carry 30,000 p.a.

[catalanglais]

EasyJet have announced that they are expanding their operation in both Toulouse and Nice as from 2012.

http://www.lindependant.fr/2011/10/06/u ... ,69992.php

[peter]

Both Easyjet and Ryanair have contracts to purchase new aircraft in 2012 and beyond. The North-South (and East-South) European tourist market has slowed and Ryanair are now regularly mothballing up to 40 aircraft over the winter.

They have grown at the expense of the actual and former national carriers, largely by undercutting them on price, flying to more convenient, smaller airports and developing completely new routes.

The full cost carriers have lost much of this business and the low cost carriers are now looking further afield to increase passenger numbers. The full cost carriers are often even more expensive on internal flights and this end of the European market has not been fully explored by Ryanair and Easyjet. Now, they are tacking this potentially lucrative opportunity.

Both are targeting monopolistic, high cost airlines in countries with substantial internal routes.

Easyjet intend to open 2 new French bases including one in Toulouse, and compete against the Air France low cost divisions.

Ryanair intend to expand their coverage of Scandinavia and compete against SAS - one of the most expensive airlines.


We tend to forget the contribution that the low cost airlines have made to day to travellers.

I was based in Brussels and flew to various destinations on a regular basis. SAS and Sabena had Brussels - Gothenborg flights within 10 minutes of each other at identical prices. Economy tickets required you to stay over a weekend night. If you wanted a day, or mid week return, and the ability to change the tickets, the Business tariff was charged. Brussels - Gothenborg return was the equivalent of €750 in 1991. It came with free newspaper, hot breakfast, drinks on the evening flights cand you earned frequent flyer points.

Sabena lost money, Ryanair makes a profit.

Booking today for Spring, Ryanair are offering :

Depart: Brussels (Charleroi) - 12:30
Arrive: Gothenburg City - 14:15

1 x Adult 27.99 EUR

Fare 27.99 EUR
Taxes and Fees 0.00 EUR
Online Check-In 6.00 EUR
EU 261 Levy 2.00 EUR
Sub Total 35.99 EUR
Total Price 35.99 EUR

Say €60 one way with luggage.



Peter

[peter]

Larger Icelandic volcano near eruption ?

Experts are warning that an eruption could be imminent at an even more powerful Icelandic volcano than the one that paralysed air traffic last year.

Seismologists are nervously watching rumblings beneath Katla which could spew an ash cloud dwarfing the 2010 eruption that cost airlines two billion dollars (£1.27 billion) and drove home how vulnerable modern society is to the whims of nature.

Brooding over rugged moss-covered hills on Iceland's southern edge, Katla is a much bigger beast than the nearby Eyjafjallajokul volcano, which blasted ash all over Europe for several weeks in an eruption that local scientist Pall Einarsson describes nonetheless as "small".

Named after an evil troll, Katla has a larger magma chamber than Eyjafjallajokul's.

Its last major eruption in 1918 continued more than a month, turning day into night, starving crops of sunlight and killing off some livestock.

The eruption melted some of the ice-sheet covering Katla, flooding surrounding farmlands with a torrent of water that some accounts have said measured as wide as the Amazon.

Now, clusters of small earthquakes are being detected around Katla, which means an eruption could be imminent, seismologists say. The earthquakes have been growing in strength, too.

After a long period of magnitude three tremors, a magnitude four quake was detected last week.


More : http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 69894.html

[serge]

At least it's easier to pronounce .......

[gurubarry]

We know so much , but so little . Maybe if we shut our eyes, it wont happen.

( Latest European Monitary Policy )

[peter]

Jet 2 has announced flights from Manchester to Barcelona (starting 29-Mar-12) and Toulouse (starting 18-May-12).

[peter]

Montpellier-Meditérranée airport will not be privatised. The Region believes that Montpellier airport is a significant driver for local business and therefore should be managed by the Montpellier Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Nimes, Perpignan and Carcassonne have all been recently privatised in accordance with national government policy.

The CCI website shows passenger numbers for 2005. At that time, the airport was reliant on Air France.

http://www.montpellier.aeroport.fr/laye ... ?nav=7_2_1

Peter

[gurubarry]

I actually like Montpellier airport . The staff have never been less than very helpful ,security is "Cool" and has never been of the type experienced in the UK and USA by me , and it's always quick with the luggage . It's the "Others" that stop me flying ! If air travel was of the Montpellier Experience , I would be first in the queue .

[peter]

I actually like Montpellier airport . The staff have never been less than very helpful ,security is "Cool" and has never been of the type experienced in the UK and USA by me , and it's always quick with the luggage . It's the "Others" that stop me flying ! If air travel was of the Montpellier Experience , I would be first in the queue .

Actually, small is usually beautiful ?

Peter

[gurubarry]

I tell all my wives that !

[peter]

Ryanair have announced a new base in Wroclaw, Poland.

One of the routes is to Girona.

I haven't been to Poland since 1991, so that might be useful for me.


Peter

[peter]

Ryanair is dangling carrots in front of Boeing, Airbus and their Russian / Chinese competition.

"Michael O'Leary says he is in the market to buy up to 300 new aircraft to boost passenger numbers to between 120 million and 130 million over the next decade. This would make Ryanair one of the world's biggest airlines, swelling its fleet to more than 500 planes."

He told the 'Financial Times' he is in "serious negotiations" with Comac and Irkut, which were both proposing to supply aircraft from 2016. And in terms of squeezing a better deal from Boeing and Airbus, Mr O'Leary hopes to benefit from the fact that his competitors could cancel some orders as economic conditions worsen.

The bottom line is Boeing has a backlog of orders and doesn't need to discount current sales as they did in the past. On the other hand, they don't want to give a potential 500 sales to competition.

And if Ryanair did go Chinese or Russian, their 300 nearly new 737-800's would play havoc with Boeings future sales when they hit the used market.




More :

http://www.independent.ie/business/iris ... 15286.html

http://www.centreforaviation.com/blogs/ ... 737s-61204

[peter]

Ryanair is continuing to eliminate unprofitable routes.

Alicante

The airport installed boarding bridges and notified Ryanair that landing fees would go up to pay for them. Ryanair say they don't need the bridges and doesn't really need Alicante. Alicante has not backed down for "safety reasons". There are other airports nearby and Ryanair has pulled out 9 of its former 11 737-800's that were based in Alicante.

More : http://www.euroweeklynews.com/news/cost ... riday.html

Bologna

Ryanair fligts to Fez and Marakesh withdrawn.

Barcelona



Several UK - Barcelona services have been dropped, including Iberia’s Heathrow service, all Flyglobespan flights, bmibaby’s Cardiff and Manchester routes, easyJet’s East Midlands services and some of Ryanair’s Girona links. However, Bmibaby started East Midlands flights and Ryanair began serving Barcelona El Prat. EasyJet remains the biggest airline in the market with 96 weekly departures, beating Ryanair with 64 and British Airways with 63.

However, it seems that Barcelona is a better year round destination than the rapidly declining Girona - Costa Brava - P-O market (And why fly to Girona if you really wanted Barcelona ?).
Ryanair is switching Girona flights to Barcelona (and increasingly Beziers) and it may be too late for the new Girona management to reverse the trend.

More :
http://www.anna.aero/2011/10/26/monarch ... ona-market

[peter]

Montpellier airport subsidies ...

Low cost airlines (Ryanair, Easyjet, BMIbaby all fly to Frejorgues) are expecting around €1m of subsidies for 2012 from state owned Montpellier airport. The Greens and Communists speak of blackmail and are opposed to the ongoing long term marketing agreements and have abstained from voting for these payments.

Hervé Martin, for the Communists says "I call on all companies in the region to refuse to pay these agreements".

Jean-Louis Roumégas of the Greens proposes that all airports refuse to pay the subsidies / marketing contributions, which total €650m across Europe, in order to protect jobs, local economies and tourism.

The budget was approved, but Christian Dupraz (Greens) stated that everyone was scared of creating another Marseille crisis where the routes were closed.

[peter]

Ryanair aircraft sourcing politics continues :



Ryanair Holdings Plc plans to step up talks with Boeing Co. and China’s Comac as it seeks new planes to exploit gaps on short-haul routes likely to be left by a merger of British Airways with Deutsche Lufthansa AG’s BMI unit.

Boeing representatives will make a pitch to Ryanair in Dublin this month on the re-engined version of its 737 single- aisle jet, while Michael O’Leary, the carrier’s chief executive officer, will visit Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China for an update on the rival C919 model, he said today in an interview.


More : http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-1 ... -deal.html

[peter]

Ryanair North UK strategy ....

Despite previous spats involving Blackpool and Manchester, Ryanair now have stable (for now) relationships with Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds/Bradford airports.

Manchester and Liverpool are Easyjet strongholds, and this will inevitably create competition particularly with flights to Barcelona.

Northerners may now get the better coverage they've needed.

[Sandra]

i just happy with the manchester -Beziers flight, I have waited 8 years for a local flight !

[Kathy]

The only trouble with Man/Beziers is the landing and take off times. The car hire desks are closed.

[Sandra]

i thought hertz would open as they are tied to Ryanair, I will try and find out.

[catalanglais]

http://www.lindependant.fr/2011/11/09/r ... ,82045.php

[Kathy]

Thank you Sandra that would be helfpul. BMI baby are to announce 2 new routes for this summer later this week. I hope it is one to Perpignan.

[Brian and Helen]

I doubt if BMI are going anywhere as they're being sold off. BA is front-runner to buy, they really want BMI's 8% of Heathrow slots, so they'll break it all up and use the bits where it suits them.

B