Blackpool Airport to close 15th October?

beecher2

molerat wrote: »

Perhaps if the government were desperate to buy some votes (or if Nick Clegg's mother was a local councillor) they may save it ........... the vote buying plan might not work out though
http://www.scotsman.com/news/transport/prestwick-airport-flights-down-to-one-a-day-1-3533174
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Sturgeon
:eek:

Slight problem with your theory - Joan Sturgeon is a councillor in North Ayrshire. Prestwick Airport is in South Ayrshire.

SailorSam

Given that people will book and pay for holidays months in advance, what's going to happen if you're already booked on a flight from there ?
Local people will use Blackpool 'cos it's easier for them than having to travel to Liverpool or Manchester.

doinkthemonkee

I'd love to use local airports (norwich & cambridge esp) but when they bunge another £200+ on flight costs pp it can make it hard to justify. Having said that, last year we just didn't go abroad instead

richardw

SailorSam wrote: »

Given that people will book and pay for holidays months in advance, what's going to happen if you're already booked on a flight from there ?
Local people will use Blackpool 'cos it's easier for them than having to travel to Liverpool or Manchester.

EU reg EC 261/2004 gives you an absolute right to re-routing, but since it's Jet2 you'll have to fight to get them.

Doshwaster

doinkthemonkee wrote: »

I'd love to use local airports (norwich & cambridge esp) but when they bunge another £200+ on flight costs pp it can make it hard to justify. Having said that, last year we just didn't go abroad instead

I'm only a few miles from Cambridge airport but I've never used it. Things were looking good last year when Etihad Regional were offering connections into European hubs but they failed to find a market. Even for businesses it was hard to justify the extra cost when Easyjet where just a few miles away at Stansted.

jonesMUFCforever

bagand96 wrote: »

Why would they? I strongly doubt their one aircraft operation is profitable enough to sustain running the whole airport.

They can take their aircraft (and customer base) up the road to Manchester. It's not like someone else will nip in at Blackpool. It'll be closed!

If the price is right ie lower than landing slots in Manchester and Liverpool why would it not make sense to try and make Blackpool the hub for all of their North West flights?


For me getting to Blackpool airport is no more difficult than Liverpool or Manchester.

photome

doinkthemonkee wrote: »

I'd love to use local airports (norwich & cambridge esp) but when they bunge another £200+ on flight costs pp it can make it hard to justify. Having said that, last year we just didn't go abroad instead

Thats really not the case, i use Norwich regularly to fly to the USA via amsterdam and it is sometimes cheaper than flying from London and rarely very much more and never £200

bagand96

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

If the price is right ie lower than landing slots in Manchester and Liverpool why would it not make sense to try and make Blackpool the hub for all of their North West flights?


For me getting to Blackpool airport is no more difficult than Liverpool or Manchester.

Because running an airport is incredibly expensive. You can charge as cheap landing fees as you like, but the cash has to come from somewhere to keep the whole place going. Runway and airfield maintenance, navigation aids, aerodrome lighting, air traffic control, airfield operations, airport fire service, are just a few of the things that don't come cheap at all. Bigger airports have an economy of scale. You need all of the above things if one 737 lands per hour, or 30 of them do.

Airports in the UK are private operations and therefore need to turn a profit. They haven't been government/council owned public amenities since the 1980s*

*Unless you live in Wales or Scotland who have recently nationalised certain airports as private companies couldn't make it commercially viable.

Saint_Chris

Liverpool followed by Manchester are my local airports.


I have only ever travelled once from Blackpool, because the flight was much cheaper.


We got a lift there, and was dropped off, check in went smooth, we paid our £10 and then it became bleak.
We went through to a tiny room, which was security and everyone and I mean everyone was having their bags and handbags searched.....again not too much of a problem, but there was a bit of a wait in a small confined area.


Then we went through to departures, I usually enjoy the build up to my holiday walking through the airport seeing people enjoying themselves, having a coffee, beer or have a mooch through duty free.


but there was none of this from Blackpool, it was bleak and time seemed to drag just sat in what I can only describe at a metal cage. Then we found out the flight was delayed which just made the time drag longer.


I feel sorry for Blackpool airport but it had no appeal to me, and it would have to be a very very cheap flight for me to ever fly from there again.

Nile

bagand96 wrote: »

Future doesn't look good for Blackpool Airport. Announcement made today that unless there's a last minute saviour, commercial flights could cease by 15th October:

http://www.blackpoolinternational.com/airport/news-media/news/blackpool-airport-announcement

The main operator Jet2 have put a brief announcement out, but have left flights on sale after 15th October http://www.jet2.com/status

I've only recently flown from Blackpool Airport and I'll be sorry if it closes.


I agree it's small. I was also selected for a bag search.:(


The plus points for me are, it's only a few steps from the Premier Inn Hotel. For an early morning flight, it's lovely to have a very short walk from your hotel bedroom to check in for your flight.:cool: