Liverpool: Route Development & Rumours
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Discussions relating to Liverpool Airport
Lauda Air to Zadar is another new route from May 2020
David_itl
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- Jan 31, 2016
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Lufthansa and KLM for the future. For every sensible thing that comes out of them, they always say something riduculous "If I'm being honest, if the political uncertainty of Brexit wasn’t there, I think we would be sitting here talking about [and airline that flies to UAE or Qatar] coming in March this year "
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/liverpool-john-lennon-airport-very-17406263
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/liverpool-john-lennon-airport-very-17406263
Very positive report, Lufthansa have been talking to the airport (and indeed have a reservation centre in Liverpool) for some time now.
Liverpool John Lennon Airport "very close" to new deal with major airline
Airport bosses are "pretty sure" of a deal - and talks with a second major airline could be in the pipeline.
The boss of Liverpool John Lennon Airport (JLA) revealed he is “pretty sure” a major airline could be set to launch flights from Merseyside soon.
John Irving, CEO of JLA, said the airport had come “very close” to securing an agreement with German airline Lufthansa.
And talks with a second major airline could be in the pipelines, with the airport was looking to “reinvigorate” its relationship with KLM - the Dutch airline that ended its Amsterdam route back in 2012.
Mr Irving said negotiations are ongoing with a number of airlines - and that without Brexit, a long-haul provider may have been announced in March 2020.
It comes as the Speke airport hopes to increase footfall by one million extra passengers over the next year - but speaking at an event hosted by Marketing Liverpool, Mr Irving seemed buoyant about the future, BusinessLive reports.
Mr Irving said the airport would “never” compete directly with Manchester, which he described as the “international gateway to the north”.
But he said: “We want to do more at JLA and for the city region, and getting that business traffic back into JLA is the number one target for us.
“We can link the people of this region and businesses of this region to the rest of the world.
“We will never in the next 10 years get to having double daily [flights to the United Arab] Emirates, double daily Qatars. But we will have a service that suits us as a region and as an airport - but that competition to get that route is phenomenally difficult.”
Mr Irving added: “If I'm being honest, if the political uncertainty of Brexit wasn’t there, I think we would be sitting here talking about [and airline that flies to UAE or Qatar] coming in March this year, which would have fundamentally changed us as a business, and I think, fundamentally change [businesses] and the investment that we could generate as a city region.”
He said the airport, which is jointly owned by the Peel Group, investment management company Ancala Partners and Liverpool Council, has come “very close” to securing an agreement with German airline Lufthansa.
Almost six years ago, in January 2014, the Frankfurt-based airline said it was in “constant” dialogue with JLA over introducing routes. Despite the firm saying the time the service “was not viable,” an airline boss at the time said “we would never say never”.
Mr Irving has now reignited those hopes - claiming an agreement is the closest the airport has been in a decade.
He said: “They have been and seen the city. They came and looked at the airport and thought ‘great airport, brilliant’.
“But they really wanted to come and see this place, they wanted to see what's going on - to talk to people and businesses.
“I think we have sold them a story and we are very close to getting that, and again there are many factors involved in routes selection but we are as close as we have been for 10 years.
“We haven’t got it, but we will be continuing that conversation.” He said he was “pretty sure” the airport “will get that in the next two years”, but warned: “We can get it, but we can't keep it. It can only be kept when people use it. “Use it when you can, and that will lead to more, because airlines follow airlines. You get one, you probably get two - but we have to get the first one over the line.”
He also said the airport was looking to “reinvigorate” the relationship with KLM - the Dutch airline that ended its Amsterdam route back in 2012, adding: “We are speaking to them in the next couple of weeks.
“Hopefully we can get that back.” Hosted by Marketing Liverpool, the Captain's Table event saw Mr Irving alongside Frank Rogers, CEO of Merseytravel and the LCR Combined Authority lead a discussion on the major transport issues facing the region’s business leaders.
The day was part of the MIPIM partners’ 12-month programme run by Marketing Liverpool, just months before a city delegation travels to Cannes in the South of France for the annual four-day property market event.
Despite ongoing economic and political uncertainty, Mr Irving said the airport in Speke has seen over five million passengers for the second year in a row. Mr Irving said: "We are the 12th biggest airport in the UK.
“We are really working hard to keep growing, because one can probably see it’s quite a tough moment for the aviation industry, not just in Liverpool, but across the whole of the UK and Europe. That can be political, but it can also be down to failures of airlines.”
Mr Irving said in the past 18 months, 14 airlines across Europe had “gone to the wall”, adding: “That’s pretty damaging for all airports. Whether or not you've got them in your route network, it makes it much more difficult for us.
“We have got eight airlines operating out of Liverpool now - the highest we've had for ten years. We connect people to the world and to other people and business, and we are doing a good job of that.
“What we do as a business is invest in growth, it’s not just about a new terminal and departure lounge. It isn’t about new customer offers we have.
“The fundamental thing that we invest in is route development. New airlines and new routes don't just come along because we are JLA, or because we sit in a very powerful region.
“It takes a lot of hard work, a lot of investment, and a lot of time.”
According to Mr Irving, his aviation team is already planning for summer 2021, in what is an increasingly competitive market, with fewer airlines to choose from. He said: “We are already past next summer - it’s finished. Airlines plan a year in advance. They may have us knocking on the door, but they also have 100 other airports across the EU knocking on their door, looking for the capacity that their airport needs or their city region needs, so it is very competitive.
“What we try and do is outline what the airport is and where we stand, and what we try and do for passengers.
“But the most important thing to talk about is what the region is about, and what we are doing in the region.
“New developments in the city centre are vital when selling to an airline. So everything that happens around the city region is vital as we get new routes.”
Most notable of the airlines that have “gone to the wall” is undoubtedly the recent collapse of holiday firm Thomas Cook, which came in September when the 178-year-old firm entered compulsory liquidation.
Despite JLA not doing any traffic with the firm, he said it still had an impact on the airport. Mr Irving said: “People think we probably survived a little bit. But what affected us was the knock on-effect of other airlines choosing where to put their scarce capacity, which means we have to fight even harder, because naturally the behaviour of airlines is to follow where the market was.
“So that means airlines replacing Thomas Cook putting their aircraft into gaps in Manchester and London - no matter whether they’re flying to Turkey or to Frankfurt - will go and look at those markets above us. We have to work incredibly hard to try and promote ourselves.”
People view JLA as a “low cost, leisure airport,'' according to Mr Irving, who said: “That is what we’ve been very good at. Our two major partners are Easyjet and Ryanair - they do about 90% of our capacity.
“But we can do more. Our top three routes are Belfast, Dublin and the Isle of Man. And that isn’t just leisure traffic, that is business traffic, historical traffic.
"That’s been in and out of Liverpool for a long time. But for us to move forward, the short term plan is to get up to 6m passengers in the next five years.
“We have grown by one million passengers in the last five years, but to get to 6m we have to do things differently as an airport.
“We can't just keep doing what we've done. We will keep adding leisure destinations, but we have to do something different.”
He said despite being a low-cost, leisure airport, JLA is "phenomenally set up for business traffic".
He added: "What we provide to customers and passengers is perfect for business travel.
“We are 10 minutes through security guaranteed - most people go through in under five minutes. You can't get that at the bigger airports as infrastructure makes a big difference.
“We continue to invest in that offer. We want to make sure we are accessible and we are easy to get around. The building helps, the car park helps.
“As soon as you get to JLA, whether you drive or get the bus, within 12 minutes, you can be from your car into the departure lounge, which I think is getting as good as it can be.
Liverpool John Lennon Airport "very close" to new deal with major airline
Airport bosses are "pretty sure" of a deal - and talks with a second major airline could be in the pipeline.
The boss of Liverpool John Lennon Airport (JLA) revealed he is “pretty sure” a major airline could be set to launch flights from Merseyside soon.
John Irving, CEO of JLA, said the airport had come “very close” to securing an agreement with German airline Lufthansa.
And talks with a second major airline could be in the pipelines, with the airport was looking to “reinvigorate” its relationship with KLM - the Dutch airline that ended its Amsterdam route back in 2012.
Mr Irving said negotiations are ongoing with a number of airlines - and that without Brexit, a long-haul provider may have been announced in March 2020.
It comes as the Speke airport hopes to increase footfall by one million extra passengers over the next year - but speaking at an event hosted by Marketing Liverpool, Mr Irving seemed buoyant about the future, BusinessLive reports.
Mr Irving said the airport would “never” compete directly with Manchester, which he described as the “international gateway to the north”.
But he said: “We want to do more at JLA and for the city region, and getting that business traffic back into JLA is the number one target for us.
“We can link the people of this region and businesses of this region to the rest of the world.
“We will never in the next 10 years get to having double daily [flights to the United Arab] Emirates, double daily Qatars. But we will have a service that suits us as a region and as an airport - but that competition to get that route is phenomenally difficult.”
Mr Irving added: “If I'm being honest, if the political uncertainty of Brexit wasn’t there, I think we would be sitting here talking about [and airline that flies to UAE or Qatar] coming in March this year, which would have fundamentally changed us as a business, and I think, fundamentally change [businesses] and the investment that we could generate as a city region.”
He said the airport, which is jointly owned by the Peel Group, investment management company Ancala Partners and Liverpool Council, has come “very close” to securing an agreement with German airline Lufthansa.
Almost six years ago, in January 2014, the Frankfurt-based airline said it was in “constant” dialogue with JLA over introducing routes. Despite the firm saying the time the service “was not viable,” an airline boss at the time said “we would never say never”.
Mr Irving has now reignited those hopes - claiming an agreement is the closest the airport has been in a decade.
He said: “They have been and seen the city. They came and looked at the airport and thought ‘great airport, brilliant’.
“But they really wanted to come and see this place, they wanted to see what's going on - to talk to people and businesses.
“I think we have sold them a story and we are very close to getting that, and again there are many factors involved in routes selection but we are as close as we have been for 10 years.
“We haven’t got it, but we will be continuing that conversation.” He said he was “pretty sure” the airport “will get that in the next two years”, but warned: “We can get it, but we can't keep it. It can only be kept when people use it. “Use it when you can, and that will lead to more, because airlines follow airlines. You get one, you probably get two - but we have to get the first one over the line.”
He also said the airport was looking to “reinvigorate” the relationship with KLM - the Dutch airline that ended its Amsterdam route back in 2012, adding: “We are speaking to them in the next couple of weeks.
“Hopefully we can get that back.” Hosted by Marketing Liverpool, the Captain's Table event saw Mr Irving alongside Frank Rogers, CEO of Merseytravel and the LCR Combined Authority lead a discussion on the major transport issues facing the region’s business leaders.
The day was part of the MIPIM partners’ 12-month programme run by Marketing Liverpool, just months before a city delegation travels to Cannes in the South of France for the annual four-day property market event.
Despite ongoing economic and political uncertainty, Mr Irving said the airport in Speke has seen over five million passengers for the second year in a row. Mr Irving said: "We are the 12th biggest airport in the UK.
“We are really working hard to keep growing, because one can probably see it’s quite a tough moment for the aviation industry, not just in Liverpool, but across the whole of the UK and Europe. That can be political, but it can also be down to failures of airlines.”
Mr Irving said in the past 18 months, 14 airlines across Europe had “gone to the wall”, adding: “That’s pretty damaging for all airports. Whether or not you've got them in your route network, it makes it much more difficult for us.
“We have got eight airlines operating out of Liverpool now - the highest we've had for ten years. We connect people to the world and to other people and business, and we are doing a good job of that.
“What we do as a business is invest in growth, it’s not just about a new terminal and departure lounge. It isn’t about new customer offers we have.
“The fundamental thing that we invest in is route development. New airlines and new routes don't just come along because we are JLA, or because we sit in a very powerful region.
“It takes a lot of hard work, a lot of investment, and a lot of time.”
According to Mr Irving, his aviation team is already planning for summer 2021, in what is an increasingly competitive market, with fewer airlines to choose from. He said: “We are already past next summer - it’s finished. Airlines plan a year in advance. They may have us knocking on the door, but they also have 100 other airports across the EU knocking on their door, looking for the capacity that their airport needs or their city region needs, so it is very competitive.
“What we try and do is outline what the airport is and where we stand, and what we try and do for passengers.
“But the most important thing to talk about is what the region is about, and what we are doing in the region.
“New developments in the city centre are vital when selling to an airline. So everything that happens around the city region is vital as we get new routes.”
Most notable of the airlines that have “gone to the wall” is undoubtedly the recent collapse of holiday firm Thomas Cook, which came in September when the 178-year-old firm entered compulsory liquidation.
Despite JLA not doing any traffic with the firm, he said it still had an impact on the airport. Mr Irving said: “People think we probably survived a little bit. But what affected us was the knock on-effect of other airlines choosing where to put their scarce capacity, which means we have to fight even harder, because naturally the behaviour of airlines is to follow where the market was.
“So that means airlines replacing Thomas Cook putting their aircraft into gaps in Manchester and London - no matter whether they’re flying to Turkey or to Frankfurt - will go and look at those markets above us. We have to work incredibly hard to try and promote ourselves.”
People view JLA as a “low cost, leisure airport,'' according to Mr Irving, who said: “That is what we’ve been very good at. Our two major partners are Easyjet and Ryanair - they do about 90% of our capacity.
“But we can do more. Our top three routes are Belfast, Dublin and the Isle of Man. And that isn’t just leisure traffic, that is business traffic, historical traffic.
"That’s been in and out of Liverpool for a long time. But for us to move forward, the short term plan is to get up to 6m passengers in the next five years.
“We have grown by one million passengers in the last five years, but to get to 6m we have to do things differently as an airport.
“We can't just keep doing what we've done. We will keep adding leisure destinations, but we have to do something different.”
He said despite being a low-cost, leisure airport, JLA is "phenomenally set up for business traffic".
He added: "What we provide to customers and passengers is perfect for business travel.
“We are 10 minutes through security guaranteed - most people go through in under five minutes. You can't get that at the bigger airports as infrastructure makes a big difference.
“We continue to invest in that offer. We want to make sure we are accessible and we are easy to get around. The building helps, the car park helps.
“As soon as you get to JLA, whether you drive or get the bus, within 12 minutes, you can be from your car into the departure lounge, which I think is getting as good as it can be.
Last edited:
Lufthansa would be good , they would capture all transfer business since KLM finished plus they have no competition which KLM had to Amsterdam.
- Moderator
- #106
I wonder as well if Jurgen klopp has raised Liverpool's profile in Germany leading to an increase in interest from Germans wanting to visit the city? KLM is strong in the German market and Lufthansa may want to also capitalise on any increased interest from Germany.
You might be right there seems to be daily private German Registered private jets arriving .
- Admin
- #109
That's good. Is it likely to be more from Wizz?
Didn't see this coming, I guess it will be next week an official announcement...not over the weekend.
Maybe Wizz.....but as mention both NQY and GCI are still available to operate. Im sure it would be for 2021...this year is a bit of a write off.
Before Covid hit there was rumours of a hub link which has been long awaited. Have to wait and see.
Liverpool responds to airline’s call for new airport partners
Transport
August 11 2021
https://www.thebusinessdesk.com/nor...rlines-call-for-new-airport-partners#comments
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Liverpool John Lennon Airport is to pitch for new routes from Turkish-German airline, SunExpress.
The carrier has issued a ‘Request for Proposals’, seeking new strategic and long term airport partners in the UK and Ireland.
The full service airline, which recently announced 23 new routes between Turkey and destinations in Europe and the Middle East, is looking to rebuild traffic post-pandemic and add additional capacity to its summer 2022 schedule from both unserved and under-served airports in the UK and Ireland.
( from The Business Desk )
This morning, we are delighted to announce our new route to Manchester!
Sloof Airways will operate the twice-weekly service between Liverpool and City (Barton) Airport, with flights now available to book on their website
https://bit.ly/3yhJ9Nk
8:09 am · 1 Apr 2022·Sprout Social
8:09 am · 1 Apr 2022·Sprout Social
At last something to beat the M62 jams 🙂
nice to see a new airline in Liverpool
- Moderator
- #118
Great news.
Travelled to London a couple of weekends ago. I did not use Avanti because their train fares are that expansive, so went on a slower route. However I was glad I didn't because of the cancelation they have been making which in has just got worse from Liverpool and other places. One day there was 5 consecutive cancellations and seemingly this has not been getting much better. For passengers its horrendous, and it also high lights how poor travel options are getting to London when you cant rely on the train. Road is exhausting and slow, and no plane, which would be controversial these days anyway, but what are people to do !?
Turkey 🇹🇷 is undeserved from Liverpool by Easyjet. Its always been popular back to the Direct Holiday days. I'd like to see one of the Turkish Carriers begin offering flights from Liverpool to the popular resort destinations.
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