Bristol: Ryanair Routes News & Base Updates

[alphagolf]

Ryanair Pulling Out of Belfast City

BBC news is reporting that Ryanair is to pull out of Belfast City in October 2010 as a result of the planned runway extension being further delayed due to a public inquiry.

Reports suggest there is obviously demand for the flights to the UK and the Belfast City hopes other airlines will fill the gap.

Ryanair have also advised that should the runway extension be built they will be back!

From BRS I can see FlyBe picking this one up, rumours that they want to expand from BRS were being said a while ago! Just have to wait and see!

 

[Aviador]

Flybe will be very happy with the withdrawal of Ryanair from Belfast City although I don't think the airline has been particularly happy with the way Belfast City airport has treated them over the past couple of years.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

It's a great pity because the Ryanair route was picking up nicely whereas easyJet's BFS route has been going backwards in terms of passenger numbers - mainly because the number of rotations is often reduced compared with previous years.

In July BRS-BHD carried more passengers (14,018) than BRS-BFS (12,873) and the BHD route was also ahead of BFS in June. In fact, this year the gap has been closing rapidly when in the past BFS has always been a clear winner.

In 2009 easyJet carried 163,000 passenger on the BFS route which compares unfavourably with four or five years ago when 230,000 was the usual sort of figure.

When Flybe did the BRS-BHD route its 3 x daily (less at weekends) DH-8-400 service carried, for example, 76,000 passengers in 2004 against easyJet's 232,000 on the BFS.

It did begin reducing the number of weekly rotations a year or so later, apparently because it had become fed up competing with easyJet on BRS-BFS, before withdrawing completely in November 2006. This was around the time Flybe also withdrew its BRS routes to Bergerac, Toulouse and Bordeaux, again it seemed because of easyJet getting in on these acts. Flybe then took all its toys out of Bristol (apart from JER) when it took over BAConnect from early 2007.

There was quite a rift between Flybe and BRS around that time and some believe, including at least one senior figure at BRS, that the airline cut off its nose to spite its face in many of its actions vis-a-vis BRS.

The same senior figure told me last year that relations were now much better and to expect some new Flybe routes - within a month or two the Isle of Man route was announced.

I would have thought that Flybe must now be at least looking at BRS-BHD though I wouldn't expect any action until next summer's schedules, but we shall have to wait and see.

 

[Aviador]

I'm sure Easyjet has moved some of it's BFS flights to BHD? Wouldn't that be better for Bristol than Flybe operating the route?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I think the Luton easyJet flights now go into City instead of International.

It's something I hadn't considered but it's an interesting suggestion.

I don't know whether easyJet has cut back on BRS-BFS because of Ryanair on BRS-BHD or whether the Belfast route to Bristol is now not making as much money as the Big Orange hoped.

If the former we might expect easyJet to up things a bit.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

[textarea]More flights to the sun, says airline

Holidaymakers already looking forward to a break next summer will be able to get away to the sun more often after budget Irish airline Ryanair increased the numbers of flights from Bristol to seven destinations.

From today passengers can book tickets for Ryanair's summer flights, which start at the end of March, from £20.99.

The airline has also released 500,000 £6 seats for travel on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays throughout January, available until midnight on January 6.

These "all-in" low-cost fares will be available on more than 500 of Ryanair's European routes.
Click here for more

Ryanair spokeswoman Maria Macken said: "Ryanair is delighted to launch an extended Bristol summer 2011 schedule.

"It offers passengers 26 routes and increased frequencies on seven popular sunshine routes to Alicante, Faro, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Malaga, Tenerife and Palma Mallorca.

"To celebrate the launch of our summer schedule and increased frequencies we are releasing one million £6 seats for travel in January on over 500 Ryanair routes throughout Europe."

Ryanair operates more that 1,500 flights a day and 1,200 routes to 27 countries, connecting 160 destinations.

But in October the airline announced it was dropping flights between Bristol and Belfast, citing reduced passenger numbers.

With more than 8,000 staff Ryanair carries approximately 73.5 million passengers every year.[/textarea]

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/fli ... #community

Ryanair flew to about 30 destinations in summer 2010 so all this may be just a redeployment of its aircraft to increased frequencies on its sun routes at the expense of other destinations.

I haven't had time to check in any detail as yet.

Nothing like the Bristol Evening Post for inaccurate reporting:

But in October the airline announced it was dropping flights between Bristol and Belfast, citing reduced passenger numbers.

Nothing whatever to do with passenger numbers. BRS-BHD was increasing its share of Bristol-Belfast to the detriment of easyJet on BRS-BFS. The route was stopped when Ryanair pulled all its routes from BHD because, it said, the airport had pulled back on a commitment to increase its runway length.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Ryanair Summer 2011 at BRS

I said I wouldn't look at FR's timetable until about the end of February (a month before it becomes effective) because last year, as is their usual fashion, there were numerous versions with routes being added or deleted and timings altered or moved to different days.

However, the announcment in the previous post about increased capacity on seven sun routes encouraged me to have a look at the way it would be achieved. Would other routes suffer to accommodate the extra capacity?

The answer is I don't know because the extra rotations haven't been added in that they are exactly the same number as summer 2010, except Malaga which seems to have gone up by one weekly rotation to daily. So either Ryanair is treating the truth casually or there is a big upheaval to come in the timetable as presently constituted for summer 2011.

As it stands there are 96 weekly rotations (including 18 - from the timings - operated by aircraft from other bases) which compares with a total in the 120s in summer 2010.

Several days show a need for five based aircraft (the number based last summer) either in the morning or evening, and on some days both morning and evening. There are still substantial gaps in the timetable which may be filled by the extra sun rotations.

Or, like last year and previous years, there may be a lot of chopping and changing before the final timetable is produced.

Currently the timetable for summer 2011 shows 28 destinations, not 26 as quoted by the FR spokeswoman in the previous post.

Budapest has gone (always had very high load factors in the high 80s/90%) but FR seems to have fallen out with BUD management over charges across the board, as has Rimini, but Rimini only appeared in the very last and final version of the timetable for summer 2010, having operated in summer 2009.

Milan (Bergamo) is back (dropped for this winter) but only 2 x weekly - was 3 x weekly last summer and before that daily all the year round.

Addendum (5 January 2011)

Yet more changes - the extra sun route rotations now in the timetable as follows:
PMI daily (up from 5 x weekly)
ALC 8 x weekly (up from daily)
FAO daily (up from 4 x weekly)
TFS, LPA and ACE all 3 x weekly (up from 2 x weekly)

Rimini is also back in the timetable - I pointed out that last summer it appeared at a late date in the timetable.

Total is now 108 rotations each week, including 21 by non-based aircraft.
Overall total in summer 2010 was 124 but summer 2011 sees more longer routes and the 2 x daily BHD is now operated by Flybe.

There are still gaps though five based aircraft are clearly needed again. In fact, there are six evening rotations on Saturdays so expect some more tinkering.

 

[alphagolf]

Just looked at the Ryanair website and the list of routes served from BRS, it is showing IBZ - Ibiza as a new route. No details of flight days or times as of yet.

 

[alphagolf]

Ryanair Summer 2011 at BRS

I said I wouldn't look at FR's timetable until about the end of February (a month before it becomes effective) because last year, as is their usual fashion, there were numerous versions with routes being added or deleted and timings altered or moved to different days.

However, the announcment in the previous post about increased capacity on seven sun routes encouraged me to have a look at the way it would be achieved. Would other routes suffer to accommodate the extra capacity?

The answer is I don't know because the extra rotations haven't been added in that they are exactly the same number as summer 2010, except Malaga which seems to have gone up by one weekly rotation to daily. So either Ryanair is treating the truth casually or there is a big upheaval to come in the timetable as presently constituted for summer 2011.

As it stands there are 96 weekly rotations (including 18 - from the timings - operated by aircraft from other bases) which compares with a total in the 120s in summer 2010.

Several days show a need for five based aircraft (the number based last summer) either in the morning or evening, and on some days both morning and evening. There are still substantial gaps in the timetable which may be filled by the extra sun rotations.

Or, like last year and previous years, there may be a lot of chopping and changing before the final timetable is produced.

Currently the timetable for summer 2011 shows 28 destinations, not 26 as quoted by the FR spokeswoman in the previous post.

Budapest has gone (always had very high load factors in the high 80s/90%) but FR seems to have fallen out with BUD management over charges across the board, as has Rimini, but Rimini only appeared in the very last and final version of the timetable for summer 2010, having operated in summer 2009.

Milan (Bergamo) is back (dropped for this winter) but only 2 x weekly - was 3 x weekly last summer and before that daily all the year round.

Addendum (5 January 2011)

Yet more changes - the extra sun route rotations now in the timetable as follows:
PMI daily (up from 5 x weekly)
ALC 8 x weekly (up from daily)
FAO daily (up from 4 x weekly)
TFS, LPA and ACE all 3 x weekly (up from 2 x weekly)

Rimini is also back in the timetable - I pointed out that last summer it appeared at a late date in the timetable.

Total is now 108 rotations each week, including 21 by non-based aircraft.
Overall total in summer 2010 was 124 but summer 2011 sees more longer routes and the 2 x daily BHD is now operated by Flybe.

There are still gaps though five based aircraft are clearly needed again. In fact, there are six evening rotations on Saturdays so expect some more tinkering.

The Ryanair website front page, now suggest 30 routes!

AlphaGolf

 

[Aviador]

How many destinations did they serve through summer 2010 do you know?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

How many destinations did they serve through summer 2010 do you know?

32 with 124 rotations per week, including non-based aircraft. The three missing are Budapest and Belfast City (destinations no longer flown by Ryanair) and Bydgoszcz which only commenced last May but was axed after two months despite pretty decent load factors for a brand new route - presumably forward bookings not what FR was looking for.

Just looked at the Ryanair website and the list of routes served from BRS, it is showing IBZ - Ibiza as a new route. No details of flight days or times as of yet.

The FR web timetable is showing BRS-IBZ in its drop-down box on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays but no timings. The current FR timetable is showing gaps on these days but only Friday currently has an evening slot not taken. However, FR frequently shuffles the pack and I'm not expecting the current timetable to be the final one.

My alter ego had another look at the Ryanair summer 2011 timetable for BRS (invariably a work in progress this time of the year and it's been amended a couple of times already in recent weeks) and the current state of play is listed below.

Alicante 8 x weekly (up from daily)
Bergerac 3 x weekly
Beziers 4 x weekly (down from 5 x weekly)
Bratislava 2 x weekly
Dublin 16 x weekly (down from 21 x weekly)
Faro daily (up from 4 x weekly)
Girona daily
Gdansk 2 x weekly
Gran Canaria 3 x weekly (up from 2 x weekly)
Kaunas 2 x weekly
Knock 3 x weekly
Lanzarote 3 x weekly (up from 2 x weekly)
Limoges 2 x weekly (down from 3 x weekly)
Malaga daily (up from 6 x weekly)
Malta 3 x weekly
Marrakesh 2 x weekly
Milan (Bgy) 2 x weekly (down from 3 x weekly)
Palma daily (up from 5 x weekly)
Porto 2 x weekly
Poznan 3 x weekly
Reus 2 x weekly
Riga 2 x weekly
Rimini 2 x weekly
Rzeszow 2 x weekly
Seville 2 x weekly
Tenerife 3 x weekly (up from 2 x weekly)
Valencia 2 x weekly (down from 3 x weekly)
Venice (Treviso) 3 x weekly
Wroclaw 2 x weekly

This shows a total of 108 weekly rotations, 21 of which (14 Dublin and 7 Faro) appear to be operated by non-based aircraft from the timings.

Summer 2010 saw around 124 weekly rotations.

There are more longer sectors in summer 2011 and there are still gaps in the schedule as currently published, though it seems the 5 based aircraft of summer 2010 will certainly be needed in the coming summer.

I expect a bit more tinkering before the final version; in fact, some is inevitable because at present six inbounds are shown late on Saturday evenings. The list shows 29 destinations at present.

Budapest, Belfast City and the shortlived Bydgoszcz are the omissions from summer 2010, with the first two axed from the Ryanair network so far as I am aware.

It is noticeable that Ryanair has increased its sun destinations with Faro, Alicante, Malaga, Palma, Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote seeing extra rotations.

They are certainly going head to head with easyJet on most of these routes with the Big Orange scheduling double-daily rotations each day in the main summer period on Alicante and Malaga, and 13 x weekly on Faro and Palma. easyJet also retains its 3 x weekly Tenerife against the increased 3 x weekly by Ryanair.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

FR BRS-IBZ

Ryanair web timetable now confirms that this FR new route will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in summer 2011 with timings shown as departing BRS at 0840 and returning at 1435. This is yet another sun route going head to head with easyJet

Currently this means there will 111 rotations per week this coming summer to 30 destinations.

However, unless FR is to add another based aircraft (and more routes and/or increased rotations on existing ones), which is unlikely in my view, the timetable will have to be amended because Friday now shows six early or fairly early morning departures (Malta, Lanzarote, Alicante, Girona and Bratislava in addition to Ibiza) together with six late evening arrivals on Saturdays.

 

[Aviador]

FR operated IBZ from LBA last summer and as I understand the Jet2 figures actually increase.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

The latest timetable

Since I did my timetable survey last week Ryanair, true to form, has altered things yet again and now Bratislava, Porto and Rimini have disappeared.

Bratislava is a surprise given its monthly load factors last summer from May to September were respectively 88%, 88%, 92%, 94% and 88%. Yet another example of high loads not meaning a sustainable route.

Porto is a disappointment - it's one of Bristol's twin cities for a start - but its load factors last summer were probably no better than ok - from May to September respectively 75%, 80%, 79%, 89% and 81%.

Rimini was retained last summer late on in the timetabling merry-go-round that characterises Ryanair every year but didn't perform well - its load factors over the same summer months were respectively, 50%, 64%, 73%, 85% and 81%. No surprise it's been axed then. Funny how fashions change. In the 60s and 70s Rimini was one of the places to go for UK tourists.

The other significant change to the timetable from last week is Ryanair personified.

BRS-DUB is to return to 3 x daily, seven days a week. It was that until last summer but in summer 2011, as in the current winter, it was reduced to 2 x daily with a third rotation on Mondays and Fridays only. Of course, the fact that Aer Lingus/AerArann have recently announced a 3 x daily BRS-DUB is pure coincidence as far as Ryanair's move is concerned............course it is.

6 x daily BRS-DUB seems a bit of an overkill, even if the Aer Lingus offering does include connections to the USA.

We may be arriving at something like the final version of the summer 2011 timetable now. A couple of weeks ago a Ryanair spokeswoman told the local press there would be 26 destinations in summer 2011 and that is what the timetable is now showing.

 

[Aviador]

It's sneaky of Ryanair to up flights to Dublin only weeks after telling Dublin it was going to reduced flights into there. I wonder how well Aer Lingus will do at picking up disaffectioned FR passengers.

Since I did my timetable survey last week Ryanair, true to form, has altered things yet again and now Bratislava, Porto and Rimini have disappeared.

True to form they definitely are and just as you predicted. I keep telling the Leeds forumers but I don't think they believe me yet. The loads seemed to be good so it doesn't seem to make sense withdrawing them now. Have you ever known the airline bring routes back again after seemingly withdrawing them earlier?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Have you ever known the airline bring routes back again after seemingly withdrawing them earlier?

Yes.

Ryanair had Rimini in its first timetable for Summer 2010, out of the next few, then back in again in the final draft and it did operate. I don't think it will in summer 2011 though because it's actually now gone from the drop-down menu.

They axed Gdansk about three years ago but brought it back last summer, kept it for this winter and at the moment it is still in for summer 2011.

Bydgoszcz was started in May 2010 but only operated for two months and for a new route the monthly load factors weren't at all bad - 80%ish. I suppose they expect their summer Polish routes to be around 90% or a bit more from the start which the Bristol to Poland routes are for most of the summer. The Poles apparently spend very little on board the aircraft.

The scandalous thing is that the booking engine coincides with the early drafts of the timetable and presumably some people book on that basis only to find their flight is later axed or moved to a different time or even a different day.

 

[Seasider]

I think that Ryanair advertise flights that they think will sell the best, hence some are left out in the first draft. As you get nearer the summer (or winter) season, they check bookings and see if their predictions were right. If not previously "dropped" routes reappear.
They do not think about the paying customer, just the flights which make most money.

 

[Aviador]

The announcement regarding new based aircraft at BGY states that additional flights are to be added to Bristol.

 

[coffeebeans]

I agree with regards to the Dublin overkill, however it would be good for the two airlines to coexist but I can't really see it happening. However with base fares both around the £20.00 mark, it could sway either way when people come to book.

Interestingly, the timings for the FR DUB route seem a bit more randomly timed for Summer 2011.

 

[Aviador]

Aer Lingus are taking advantage of the Ryanair spat with the Dublin airport authority. After next summer is out of the way they'll probably move back in with all guns blazing to push Aer Lingus off the route.