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Post by Humberside on Feb 24, 2012 22:37:14 GMT
Heraklion now showing as Aegean Airlines A34890 arrives 2145 A34891 departs 2245
Despite Strategic assuring customers today everything is OK (see Travel Weekly), Aegean seem to be a 'strong' Greek carrier. Plus the slight change in flight times indicates Aegean aren't just a placeholder airline
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Post by pug on Feb 24, 2012 23:26:38 GMT
Some reassuring news regarding HER. Clearly Olympic want to keep a foot in the door at HUY.
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Post by kirmingtonuser on Feb 25, 2012 14:28:31 GMT
Aegean Airlines is a member of the Star Alliance, so this is a very positive move. They have only 195 seats on their four A321 aircraft, so presumably the seat pitch is also generous on their twenty-two A320 and three A319 aircraft. Or do they quickly add two extra rows of seats before each charter flight ?
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Post by pug on Feb 26, 2012 17:56:29 GMT
Aegean also operate a hub at LCA. Hopefully they can find some space in their schedules to accomodate another flight to HUY.
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Post by tugman on Feb 27, 2012 10:32:26 GMT
Phew.At least something has moved on at last.Do we assume Strategic will have NO input to the HUY timetable now or is there a possibility of them,after overcoming their problems,covering something else out of here??
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Post by Humberside on Mar 30, 2012 14:52:35 GMT
Probably more Summer 2013 than this year
Frpm Travel Mole, bold is my emphasis
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Post by pug on Mar 30, 2012 14:59:41 GMT
One positive, perhaps LCA will return for a full season next year? Aegean could certainly provide some stability to their operations.
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Post by Humberside on Mar 30, 2012 16:01:47 GMT
Hopefully we can get something new. We are the smallest airport by far they have 'full aircraft charters' from which I'd say is a vote of confidence, and probably a recognition of the "pent up local demand" that has built up as the HUY charter programme has steadily declined
The good thing about Aegean is it's not just HER and LCA they operate from but Rhodes and various other Greek Islands too. Hopefully the Aegean/Olympic relationship works out
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Post by pug on Mar 30, 2012 16:59:15 GMT
It certainly creates possibilities. Correct me if I'm wrong though, I dont think Olympic have ever offered more than Crete and Cyprus (Larnaca) from HUY? Werent the likes of Corfu, Rhodes and Paphos only ever operated by Thomson and XL repectively? Therefore I dont think there is anything to suggest Olympic would look at picking those routes up now either.
At the moment I'm hoping for a doubling up of HER and possibly the return of 2xweekly flights to LCA allowing for 10 night holidays. Those are the two routes I regularly use from HUY personally, and it would be good to see some stability. They are certainly popular flights.
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Post by tugman on Mar 30, 2012 18:25:57 GMT
MASSIVE loss to the locals when 2xLCA and 2nd HER bit the dust.On top of that,after over-promotion of Turkey,that has been sliced considerably.Let's hope that Olympic/Aegean can restore some stability to that market.I have spoken to so so many bitterly disappointed former HUY travellers who hate having to travel further afield and are regulars to the Eastern Med and are ready and willing to book ASAP if those flights were to return. One can only hope that if this is a return,others may be prepared to tentativly put their toes back into the water.Canaries (winter and summer),mainland Spain and full selection of the Western Med and Portugal would be so good.Oh well maybe running before walking again!
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Post by pug on Mar 30, 2012 18:36:49 GMT
I believe the market for Turkey from the region is considerable. It just needs to be taken on by an operator that can offer the cheaper deals, but also have the lower cost base on their flights so they can be more flexible when it comes to yield management. I believe half of the problem with Goldtrail was the fixed costs on flights. That said Goldtrail had a significant operation from HUY, and despite being known for putting flights on from regional airports, only to consolidate their operations and transfer booked passengers over, HUY was one of the only regional airports to constantly see all planned flights actually going ahead.
There is a clear market for all of these destinations. We have said it time and time again. They just need operators who are capable of offering viable packages from HUY. Olympic are only one of those operators, and hopefully others are being engaged in discussions too.
One thing is for sure, the airport cannot lose much more. If they do then there would be genuine cause for concern, particularly if we are talking about KLM. So hopefully there will only be growth from now on!
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Post by Humberside on Mar 30, 2012 22:19:30 GMT
It certainly creates possibilities. Correct me if I'm wrong though, I dont think Olympic have ever offered more than Crete and Cyprus (Larnaca) from HUY? Werent the likes of Corfu, Rhodes and Paphos only ever operated by Thomson and XL repectively? Therefore I dont think there is anything to suggest Olympic would look at picking those routes up now either. CFU was only ever TOM and RHO/PFO only ever XL. Can't remember if Olympic ever took an allocation. But even though Olympic haven't done them before, doesn't mean they can't look into them in the future. They are prepared to do Rhodes-BFS with Aegean. so I don't think Rhodes-HUY so far fetched. Reinstating Larnaca would be a more obvious initial way to expand though With regards to Turkey, Olympic do offer it. However not as much as Greece and Cyprus. Whether they would be prepared to do a full aircraft HUY-Turkey charter I'm not sure, but if HUY could find another operator to share with, then maybe Olympic could be persuaded to offer HUY-Turkey There is a clear market for all of these destinations. We have said it time and time again. They just need operators who are capable of offering viable packages from HUY. Olympic are only one of those operators, and hopefully others are being engaged in discussions too. Indeed. However the tour operator market has a lot less mid-size players than it once had. Gone of the Libra's, Kosmar's, h4u's, Goldtrail's etc. It's the big 2, the odd mid-size such as Olympic/Balkan, and then smaller niche players. Sadly options are less limited now than they were just 5 years ago. While charter options should of course be investigated, low cost scheduled is the only way to get significant growth IMO (hopefully with airlines that work with tour operators) So hopefully there will only be growth from now on! Just need to get past this Summer first The passenger figures will be atrocious. I suspect the % falls could be some of the worst in Europe, particularly in May/June when the loss of LCA and h4u will be felt in addition to the loss of full season AYT/Thomson Palma/FR
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Post by pug on Mar 30, 2012 22:42:23 GMT
I did actually mean we surely cant lose any more (refering to this summer) perhaps I should have made that clear.
As for low cost, the Jet2 model is tge type of operation Im refering to. They dont stick to fixed price seats, so in theory can.offer better standards of accomodation at a lower package cost. The problem with the old fashioned model is that flights are fixed cost, and I suspect one of the reasons Olympic are still doing ok is down to little direct competition with the low costs.
That could either be a blessing or a curse for HUY, depending on where these operators decide to focus growth in the future.
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Post by Humberside on Apr 3, 2012 15:00:06 GMT
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