Review 2011

2011 started off quietly. For the second winter running there were no regular charter flights. This meant that regular airline operations comprised KLM’s three daily Amsterdam flights, Eastern Airways Aberdeen service, operating four times a day Monday to Thursday, three times a day on Fridays and once on Sundays, and a weekly Sunday evening freight service from Keflavik, operated by Icelandair Cargo. Bristow and CHC Scotia helicopters provided services to North Sea Oil and Gas installations.

Good news came on January 26th when Ryanair announced a new service to Alicante, off which more later. On February 2nd the first ever known charter flight to attempt to see the Northern Lights was offered by Omega Holidays, using a Thomas Cook Airlines A320. March 14th saw Weston Aviation announce plans to open a Business Aviation Centre on June 1st. Humberside was the third airport in Weston Aviation’s portfolio of centre’s, which specialises in regional airports. The Centre ended up opening early due to demand, being christened by a visiting Embraer Phenom 100 from Oxford based FlairJet.

Summer

In the scheduled airline world, Summer starts in late March when Daylight Savings Time commences. The big change for Humberside in 2011 was that the seasonal 4th daily frequency on KLM’s Amsterdam service did not return for 2011; in 2010 this had operated between late March and late June, and again from late August until late October. Despite this loss of capacity, loads from Humberside to Amsterdam held up well. Civil Aviation Authority Provisional Statistics showed just single digit percentage fall in loads in the months affected by the frequency reduction, with growth during July and August when the frequency was largely unchanged,

The positive development of the Summer started on 12th April, when Ryanair commenced a new twice weekly scheduled service to Alicante. This marked a return to Humberside for Ryanair, who had last served the airport with a daily Dublin service in Summer 2006. It was also the first ever scheduled service from Humberside to Alicante, and the first time Alicante had been served from Humberside since April 2009, when the last Thomson charter flight to the Costa Blanca operated.

On the negative side, Flybe’s weekly Summer Saturday scheduled service to Malaga did not return for 2011. The route had only begun in 2010, operating from late May until mid September. Performance was thought to be good, with Flybe’s Chief Commercial Officer telling the Scunthorpe Telegraph in August 2010 that load factors were amongst the highest in their range of Summer Sun routes. However this clearly was not enough for a 2011 return of the service. Flybe did continue their Summer Saturday Jersey scheduled service for 2011.

May was the start of the Summer charter season, which while bringing some good news, was overall a story of further decline. Independent tour operator h4u, using Onur Air, started services to Bodrum, a destination lost in 2010 following the collapse of Goldtrail Holidays. There was also an increase in the number of a one-off special departure holidays; Newmarket Holidays doubled their departures from 4 to 8 while newcomers to Humberside, Atlantic Holidays and Omega Holidays offered a single departure each.

However these positive developments were overshadowed by drastic reductions to Crete and Cyprus following the collapse of Cypriot charter airline Eurocypria. Thomas Cook Holidays pulled their weekly Heraklion and Larnaca charter flights, while Olympic Holidays reduced the operating period for their weekly flights, and switched airline to Fly Hellas. Humberside had also been expecting a new weekly service to Enfidha in Tunisia with Thomas Cook Holidays, but this was cancelled before it started after Tunisia was the birthplace of the Arab Spring.

Overall the Summer 2011 Charter Programme was:

Mondays

  • Thomas Cook Airlines to Antalya - Airtours, Thomas Cook

Tuesdays

  • Fly Hellas to Heraklion - Olympic Holidays - late May to mid September only

  • Thomas Cook Airlines to Dalaman - Airtours, Thomas Cook

Wednesdays

  • Fly Hellas to Larnaca - Olympic Holidays - May to early July only

  • Onur Air to Bodrum - h4u

Thursdays

  • Air Europa B737-800 to Palma - First Choice, Thomson

  • Onur Air to Dalaman - h4u

Fridays

  • Onur Air to Dalaman - h4u - 29th July and 26th August to 30th September only

Saturdays

  • Thomas Cook Airlines to Palma - Airtours, Thomas Cook

Sundays

  • BH Air A320 to Bourgas - Balkan Holidays

(Some flights did not operate during the Scottish School Holidays in late June/early July)


In August, Humberside was impacted by collapse of h4u, resulting in the cancellation of Onur Air services to Bodrum and Dalaman once repatriation flights for customers in Turkey at the time of the collapse had been completed. This was the second Summer in a row that an independent Turkish tour operator, that included Humberside departures in it’s portfolio, had collapsed during the peak Summer season.

Financial Insight

In August the annual insight into Humberside’s financial performance was available, as the Manchester Airport Group Annual Report and Accounts 2010-11 were released.

In relation to Humberside, the report noted difficult trading conditions and the impact of the recession, before highlighting various positives. Humberside is reported to be one of KLM’s “strongest UK stations”. Initial loads and yields for Ryanair’s Alicante service were described as “excellent” with the possibility of an expanded Summer 2012 schedule mooted.

Aviation income per passenger reduced from £12 to £11.30 year on year, and commercial income per passenger excluding property fell from £9.20 to £9. More positively operating costs per passenger fell from £25 to £24.30. Revenue was £6.6 million, down from £6.8 million in 2009-10. Operating losses were flat at £700,000.

Going into Winter

Following the end of the Summer charter season in October, it was back to Aberdeen and Amsterdam again as far as public passenger flights were concerned. The Icelandair Cargo and North Sea helicopter services continued as usual but otherwise the only notable events were another Northern Lights flight and two Lapland daytrips, including the annual flight organised by the When You Wish Upon A Star charity.

In December came disappointing news regarding Ryanair’s Alicante service; it was announced that this would not return for Summer 2012. Ryanair had been in a dispute with Alicante Airport over the airport’s demand that Ryanair use airbridges. Humberside was one of 18 routes from Alicante cancelled by Ryanair. As a result of this decision, Ryanair have left Humberside for the second time, and Humberside is once again left with no service to Alicante or Mainland Spain. Flybe’s Summer Saturday Jersey service remains the airport’s only service from a low cost airline. So much for the mooted expansion of Ryanair services in the Manchester Airport Group Annual Report.

Customer Satisfaction

Throughout the year Humberside was recognised for customer satisfaction. In February Humberside won the Best European Airport award at the 2010 Airport Service Quality Awards. In March leaked internal industry figures from the Airports Council International revealed that Humberside was the 9th best airport in the world for customer satisfaction. Finally in December the consumers association rated Humberside as the 3rd best UK airport for customer satisfaction.

Conclusion

The Civil Aviation Authority reports full year passenger figures were 273,000 (rounded to nearest 100,000), down from 283,000 in 2010. Cargo handled was 1132 tonnes, nearly double the 600 tonnes handled in 2010.

So that was 2011, a year of further decline in the charter offering and a brief return by Ryanair. And the words ‘further decline in the charter offering’ can be used to describe 2012 as well ... and they were applicable, in Summer at least, in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. The issue for Humberside has been the lack of new scheduled flights to replace lost charters, and with the current economic environment, the situation does not look set to change anytime soon.

Sources

Civil Aviation Authority Website

Manchester Airport Group Annual Report and Accounts 2010-11 - http://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/manweb.nsf/alldocs/53E11FF0F4168513802578E8005BD89D/$File/Annual_Report_and_Accounts_10-11.pdf

Ryanair Press Release: ‘Ryanair an nounces 4 new Manchester routes to Alicante, Faro, Madrid and Tenerife’ – http://www.ryanair.com/en/news/ryanair-announces-4-new-manchester-routes-to-alicante-faro-madrid-and-tenerife

Scunthorpe Telegraph: ‘Humberside Airport’s joy as Malaga flights bring more passengers’, 26th August 2010 - http://www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk/new-route-s-really-taken/story-11188006-detail/story.html

The Air Humberside Forum

Travel Daily News: ‘Ryanair cuts Alicante summer 2012 schedule by up to 50%’ – http://www.traveldailynews.com/pages/show_page/46806-Ryanair-cuts-Alicante-summer-2012-schedule-by-up-to-50%25

Weston Aviation Press Release: 'Weston Aviation Opens New FBO at Humberside International Airport on the 1st June 2011' - http://www.westonaviation.com/news/weston_aviation_to

Review last updated 14th May 2012