Aer Lingus may shift transatlantic services from Shannon to the UK as it continues to grapple with Government Covid-19 travel restrictions.
The Irish airline has two Airbus A321 long-range craft based at Shannon, normally used to fly from there to Boston, New York and London Heathrow, but which have been grounded since March.
It emerged at the weekend that Edinburgh and Manchester are among six UK regional airports now bidding have to these craft based with them to provide flights to the US.
Both are understood to have expressed interest a deal to take the craft some weeks ago, although neither yet has an agreement with the Irish carrier.
Four other UK airports are in the running. While local sources have not named them, they are all said to be regional gateways.
Any service is likely to begin in 2021 and run for an initial three years. Aer Lingus pilots and crew would staff the flights.
Read 'EU airspace to non-EU' in terms of air traffic regulations, etc. plus not only AL but possibly USAF - transiting to Middle East destinations - you should've seen that shabby cafe filled with US gi's n guns... Yee-ha!Shannon's transatlantic trade includes a lot of onward connections I suspect. It's little bit like Prestwick but with a bit more of a local market - a hangover location from an era before todays tech - when better weather prospects made a difference to being able to fly. I did the Boston-Shannon-Edinburgh trip a couple of years back. They were refurbing airside a bit but it did all feel a bit grim. Basically had one shabby cafe open to kill quite a long time there waiting for the Edinburgh connection. In hindsight I should have exited the airport and gone into Limerick for a few hours.
Yes could well be, the flights from Northern England to Cornwall are apparently very popular this year for obvious reasons. I had done the Flybe flight from Cornwall to Edinburgh with a stopover in Birmingham a few times visiting family in both places before it went bust, this will be a lot easier!That could well be a good little earner if stay-cations are still the name of the game come next summer.
Emirates this week filed additional changes to its Northern summer 2021 season, effective from 28MAR21. Latest adjustment sees additional destinations being removed, including the following, as of 01OCT20:
Dubai – Bangkok – Phnom Penh (EK continues to serve Bangkok)
Dubai – Denpasar – Auckland (Reservation already closed prior to schedule removal. EK continues to serve Denpasar)
Dubai – Edinburgh
Dubai – Porto
Dubai – St. Petersburg
Dubai – Singapore – Melbourne (Reservation already closed prior to schedule removal; Dubai – Singapore sector reduces from 4 to 3 daily)
Dubai – Zagreb (Seasonal service)
Changes to Edinburgh Airport’s forecourt will be introduced next month to assist the airport cope with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in response to feedback from users and passengers.
The changes will see:
The changes will come into effect from 9 November and will be supported by new signage in the area and social media activity.
- The opening of a new £7 million East Terminus facility to provide a dedicated area for taxis and private-hire cars
- A harmonisation of charges to a £4 fee for both pick-up (£1 less) and drop-off (£2 more)
- Time in drop-off doubling from 5 to 10 minutes
- A discount of £2 for people with electric cars
- A discount scheme for households in neighbouring areas
- Retention of the free drop-off zone, temporarily moving to Mid-Stay
As always, feedback has been an important driver of these changes, but the difficult decision to make the changes has also been influenced by the severe impact of Covid-19 on the airport and the extremely challenging business conditions it finds itself in.
With passenger numbers down 91% on last year and not expected to recover until 2022 at the earliest, a crucial part of the recovery will be remaining competitive to attract airlines and routes – and save as many jobs as possible going forward. The changes being introduced will increase revenue and assist the airport in finding a balance to remain competitive to deliver and preserve connectivity to and from Scotland.
The new East Terminus facility was started before the pandemic hit and has been prioritised to be completed given its impact on passenger experience. It will be one of the last capital projects at the airport until financial conditions improves.
Gordon Dewar, Chief Executive of Edinburgh Airport said:
“The changes will make things easier to understand for users as requested in much of the feedback we received, as is the doubling in time for use in that area. We’ll also be offering incentives for those with electric cars as we move towards more sustainable methods of transport
“However, we can’t deny that the drastic impact of Covid-19 has also forced our hand on the pricing change. We are 91% down on passenger numbers, with less routes and airlines operating, and we’re having to operate with a quarantine policy that is a travel ban in all but name. All of that drastically impacts on finances and right now we stand to lose £60 million in 2020, which makes it incredibly difficult for us to remain competitive and attract back those airlines and routes in the coming months unless we increase revenue to survive a very bleak winter.
“More importantly, we don’t want to lose more staff – we want to preserve as many jobs as possible. We’ve already had to say goodbye to a third of our workforce through no fault of their own and we’ve done that to right-size the airport, but forecasting future passenger numbers is almost impossible at the moment so we don’t quite know what size that’ll be. To make sure we are ready to recover then we have to have a staff base that allows us to do so.”
The new £7 million East Terminus will also open in November, providing a dedicated facility for taxis and private hire cars, and is partly made possible by drop-off and pick-up charges
Gordon added:
“This is one of the airport’s biggest capital projects in recent times and was one we were keen to see through despite the Covid-19 pandemic. We have to change to make access easier and the East Terminus is the first step in a wider project that will include a second access road.
“It’s also an example of how those charges are used to make improvements for all users and keep the airport competitive and attractive to airlines, who want to know their passengers can get to and from their start or end destinations as easily as possible. We’ll continue to make improvements where possible, but finances will clearly dictate.”
Between 1 May and 31 October 2021, BA CityFlyer will fly from Southampton to: AGP (Malaga), FLR (Florence), FAO (Faro), JMK (Mykonos), IBZ (Ibiza), PMI (Palma de Mallorca), EGC (Bergerac Dordogne Périgord), LIG (Limoges–Bellegarde), NCE (Nice Côte d'Azur), EDI (Edinburgh), BER (Berlin).
Scotland’s busiest airport has gone back a quarter century in terms of passenger numbers as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
During 2020, Edinburgh airport handled only 3,478,501 passengers, less than a quarter of the previous year.
Only 3.5 million!.where were these people going during a pandemic?.Edinburgh airport passenger numbers drop to 1995 levels
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Edinburgh airport passenger numbers drop to 1995 levels
SNP spokesperson blames ‘the God-given right to go on holiday’ for increase in cases in Scotlandwww.independent.co.uk
It's probably one of those where the headline doesn't reveal the whole story. The majority of passengers surely travelled before the end of March when things really started to hit - there was getting on for a million passengers last January alone.Only 3.5 million!.where were these people going during a pandemic?.