Birmingham: New Route Development & Rumours

[Timberwolf]

You'll get clarity if there is an announcement. It would appear that Qatar and Saudi did apply for slots at BHX, but how far this has progressed is not generally known. In Qatar's case, I believe that their first A350 has now had the paint damage repaired and others will soon follow. This will increase their fleet size and free up B787's for other routes. As for Saudi, I believe that they have gained extra slots at LHR for which they will need more aircraft and crews. This could impact Saudi's plans regarding BHX. Those on the forum who have contacts and get more information will say what they can, especially if the information is in the public domain e.g. slot applications. But, I respect their right to keep quiet about confidential information. If they say too much, they're not likely to be given information again. All businesses keep their future plans confidential and they're not going to be happy if someone leaks them on an open forum.
So, like the rest of us, you'll just have to be patient.

We have to remember aviation politics also exists here.Airlines will put in slots at a new airport to put pressure on existing airports to give them better deals.
Very possible Saudia have done this at Heathrow.Give us extra slots we want or we go elsewhere..BHX..?
Time will tell, if they are serious about BHX.Although would they really want to fly from 3 UK airports all within 100 miles of each other. Be a first for them in any country they operate into 🤔

 

[Jerry]

Very possible Saudia have done this at Heathrow.Give us extra slots we want or we go elsewhere..BHX..?

I'm not sure that would work though with an airport like Heathrow. It's most likely slots in case they didn't get them at LHR but also they might be genuinely thinking about serving BHX.

 

[Kevin Farnell]

Time will tell, if they are serious about BHX.Although would they really want to fly from 3 UK airports all within 100 miles of each other. Be a first for them in any country they operate into 🤔

I guess that depends on their business plan for the future. I've read that they want to make more use of the new Riyadh airport as a hub and also that the Saudi government wants to increase tourism to the country. If that's the case, I don't see why they wouldn't operate from 3 airports within 100 miles of each other. Look at how many UK airports Emirates operate from (and Qatar did prior to COVID/aircraft issues). I'm not sure how many aircraft Saudi have on order, but that could be an indication of how much they want to grow the airline.

 

[Scania1800]

We have to remember aviation politics also exists here.Airlines will put in slots at a new airport to put pressure on existing airports to give them better deals.
Very possible Saudia have done this at Heathrow.Give us extra slots we want or we go elsewhere..BHX..?
Time will tell, if they are serious about BHX.Although would they really want to fly from 3 UK airports all within 100 miles of each other. Be a first for them in any country they operate into 🤔

If LHR isn’t a option, there’s always LGW or MAN, but BHX is rare

 

[Timberwolf]

If LHR isn’t a option, there’s always LGW or MAN, but BHX is rare

Hard getting decent slots for Manchester.They were even slot restrictions this winter during popular periods.
Few such problems at BHX.

 

[Coathanger16]

I guess that depends on their business plan for the future. I've read that they want to make more use of the new Riyadh airport as a hub and also that the Saudi government wants to increase tourism to the country. If that's the case, I don't see why they wouldn't operate from 3 airports within 100 miles of each other. Look at how many UK airports Emirates operate from (and Qatar did prior to COVID/aircraft issues). I'm not sure how many aircraft Saudi have on order, but that could be an indication of how much they want to grow the airline.

The Saudi government has plans to create a new airline to take on Emirates, Qatar, etc. This would be based at an expanded Riyadh airport and very originally be called RIA - Riyadh International Airlines.

Saudia would stay predominantly based at Jeddah Airport. They currently have 3 more 787-10s on order with 20 A321NEOs and 15 A321XLRs, the latter of which would certainly help them expand into smaller markets. There's also ongoing rumours that the Saudi government may order the A350 to then be split between Saudia and the new RIA:

Airbus in £10bn talks to lock in Saudi Arabia for mega order of 40 A350 planes

Saudi Arabia is reportedly in talks with EU plane manufacturer Airbus for the purchase of around 40 A350 for its new airline, RIA.

www.cityam.com

The Saudia government is trying to transition the country away from an oil based economy and instead switch more to a tourism based one - much like Dubai has very successfully done over the last few decades. Much of the planned "attractions" are still under construction, so they're still only in the very early stages, but they are aiming to attract 100 million visitors a year by 2030 - a 50% increase on now.

With that background, I think it's only a matter of time before BHX gets a link to Saudi Arabia. Whether that will be Saudia to Jeddah in the next few year or RIA to Riyadh closer to 2030, time will tell.

 

[Scania1800]

The Saudi government has plans to create a new airline to take on Emirates, Qatar, etc. This would be based at an expanded Riyadh airport and very originally be called RIA - Riyadh International Airlines.

Saudia would stay predominantly based at Jeddah Airport. They currently have 3 more 787-10s on order with 20 A321NEOs and 15 A321XLRs, the latter of which would certainly help them expand into smaller markets. There's also ongoing rumours that the Saudi government may order the A350 to then be split between Saudia and the new RIA:

Airbus in £10bn talks to lock in Saudi Arabia for mega order of 40 A350 planes

Saudi Arabia is reportedly in talks with EU plane manufacturer Airbus for the purchase of around 40 A350 for its new airline, RIA.

www.cityam.com

The Saudia government is trying to transition the country away from an oil based economy and instead switch more to a tourism based one - much like Dubai has very successfully done over the last few decades. Much of the planned "attractions" are still under construction, so they're still only in the very early stages, but they are aiming to attract 100 million visitors a year by 2030 - a 50% increase on now.

With that background, I think it's only a matter of time before BHX gets a link to Saudi Arabia. Whether that will be Saudia to Jeddah in the next few year or RIA to Riyadh closer to 2030, time will tell.

Judging by Slots, JED stands for Jeddah and Saudia will operate from Jeddah to Birmingham ( if it ever happens )

 

[David_itl]

interestingly Saudia are launching a 3rd daily Riyadh-LHR service from June so if i were hedging my bets, i would say any BHX route will be put off to October at the earliest.

 

[Timberwolf]

I'm not sure that would work though with an airport like Heathrow. It's most likely slots in case they didn't get them at LHR but also they might be genuinely thinking about serving BHX.

I think that's pretty much what I said.
Reserve slots out of Birmingham incase they couldn't get the desired slots out of Heathrow ?
It that is the case we should know soon. As they surely will just return their BHX slots if they have now got the slots they wanted out of LHR .
If they keep them after, may mean they are still interested in BHX.

interestingly Saudia are launching a 3rd daily Riyadh-LHR service from June so if i were hedging my bets, i would say any BHX route will be put off to October at the earliest.

Doubt BHX will now get Saudia this year, now they have got the extra flts they wanted from LHR. we will see..

 

[mullion]

Thai Airlines have applied for slots for 20 years or so at Manchester and never use them so doesn`t really mean much

 

[Scania1800]

interestingly Saudia are launching a 3rd daily Riyadh-LHR service from June so if i were hedging my bets, i would say any BHX route will be put off to October at the earliest.

No plans to launch to Birmingham yet

 

[Timberwolf]

Thai Airlines have applied for slots for 20 years or so at Manchester and never use them so doesn`t really mean much

Agree ,think this years slot requests show they are not worth the paper they are written on.

 

[Birmingham Aviation]

There was a rumour on daily mail saying that Pia are expected to restart flights very soon.Don’t know if it’s true but I would love a bit of clarification if it is?

 

[juliet-fox-9]

The Finnair discussion has been very informative but several posts have moved beyond BHX specific issues into discussion of their wider operational issues. I didn’t want to break up the continuity of the discussion so I’ve moved all the posts to the Finnair thread:

Finnair

The inaugural Finnair A350 flight departs Amsterdam :s_thumbsup

forums4airports.com

 

[Timberwolf]

There was a rumour on daily mail saying that Pia are expected to restart flights very soon.Don’t know if it’s true but I would love a bit of clarification if it is?

I think they have been audited by relevant parties from the UK on their progress, but no decision on allowing them back has been made yet.

 

[Scania1800]

I think they have been audited by relevant parties from the UK on their progress, but no decision on allowing them back has been made yet.

PIA has to follow the core rules that the Governments are asking them for, in which they have done too few or did nothing

 

[Ray Finkle]

As we're getting ever closer here are a few 'dates for your diary' for new and resuming routes 🙂


31st March

Aegean - Athens
Ryanair - Girona
SunExpress - Dalaman

1st April

easyjet - Naples

25th May

Jet2 - Catania

26th May

Jet2 - Nice
SunExpress - Izmir

28th May

Jet2 - Olbia

4th June

Ryanair - Pisa

26th June

easyjet - Milan - Malpensa

2nd July

Saudia - Jeddah

10th July

Qatar - Doha

 

[Coathanger16]

With easyJet having announced flights to IST from MAN:

EasyJet to launch flights to Istanbul

The low-cost carrier will begin a twice-weekly service from Manchester airport on June 9, and operate flights throughout the year

www.businesstraveller.com

And Wizz Air now operating from LTN and LGW to IST:

https://simpleflying.com/wizz-air-launches-2-london-istanbul-routes/

And Pegasus operating from Istanbul's secondary airport (Sabiha Gökçen) to STN and MAN...

Is the BHX to Istanbul market now large enough to sustain a low cost carrier on the route?

From BHX, Istanbul saw 10% more passengers in the last 6 months than in the same period in 2019/20, plus other routes to Türkiye are back to pre-pandemic levels or higher.

We've recently discussed Turkish Airlines adding a 3rd daily flight or permanently up gauging aircraft, but could another route be for a LCC to take some of the P2P market, and leave Turkish to pick up more transfer passengers?

 

[Timberwolf]

With easyJet having announced flights to IST from MAN:

EasyJet to launch flights to Istanbul

The low-cost carrier will begin a twice-weekly service from Manchester airport on June 9, and operate flights throughout the year

www.businesstraveller.com

And Wizz Air now operating from LTN and LGW to IST:

https://simpleflying.com/wizz-air-launches-2-london-istanbul-routes/

And Pegasus operating from Istanbul's secondary airport (Sabiha Gökçen) to STN and MAN...

Is the BHX to Istanbul market now large enough to sustain a low cost carrier on the route?

From BHX, Istanbul saw 10% more passengers in the last 6 months than in the same period in 2019/20, plus other routes to Türkiye are back to pre-pandemic levels or higher.

We've recently discussed Turkish Airlines adding a 3rd daily flight or permanently up gauging aircraft, but could another route be for a LCC to take some of the P2P market, and leave Turkish to pick up more transfer passengers?

The boss of Pegasus said last year that IST(SAW)- BHX was an unnerved market they wanted to tap into.So I thought we would have been added this summer.

Unfortunately they chose to go double daily out of MAN instead 🙄

So perhaps next year ?

 

[IanFarquharson]

Pegasus still hold daily slots BHX-SAW