Aer Lingus Increases Dublin London Gatwick Capacity ©

Aer Lingus has announced that it has increased capacity on the Dublin to London Gatwick route by 56%, with the carrier adding two additional daily rotations for a total of six daily rotations which commenced on the 19^th of October (Aer Lingus website), with new early morning departures at both ends of the route, providing higher frequency with a wider range of timings, which will be particularly attractive to business traffic.

The increased London Gatwick route capacity increase is consistent with its demand-lead strategy, as the carrier re-deploys capacity from Southern Europe to Northern Europe (Investor Day Conference Call 28^th of September), where their is an increased business traffic mix.

Aer Lingus has been winning back market share in the key London market with the carrier having market share of 45% in 2010 up from 39% in 2009 (Flying in Ireland April 2011), having product differential in the market with roll out of new fare pricing structure, participation in GDS, seat selection and mobile phone check-in option.

The roll out of the Economy Flex a quasi business class product allowing customers re-book flights which offers flexibility ,together with the roll out of the pre-order hot meals in 2012 (Investor Day Conference Call 28^th of September), will be particularly attractive to business traffic on routes such as Gatwick.

The increased frequency on the London Gatwick route will be attractive offering increased connecting opportunities to partners British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

With the Aer Lingus policy of commercial neutrality it will be particularly interesting to see how it will develop at London Gatwick in relation to new partnerships in due course, where the carrier could gain potential connectivity to the Asia market, or alternatively passengers could book through point to point.

Three new carriers will be launching new routes to Asia from London Gatwick over the comong months including Air Asia X six times weekly to Kula Lumpur from today 24^th of October (Channel News Asia 13^th of July 2011), Korean Airlines three times weekly to Seoul from the 28^th of March 2012 (Flightglobal 5^th October), and Vietnam Airlines twice weekly to Ho Chi Minh City from the 9^th of December (Travelmole 11^th October)

Dublin London Gatwick Schedule:

EIN230 depart Dublin at 0640 arrive London Gatwick at 810

EIN231 depart London Gatwick at 0650 arrive Dublin at 0810

***Revised timings***

*EIN230 Dublin based aircraft.

*EIN231 London Gatwick based aircraft.

EIN236 depart London Gatwick at 1250 arrive Dublin 1410

EIN243 depart Dublin 1450 arrive London Gatwick 1610

EIN245 depart London Gatwick at 1750 arrive Dublin 1910

EIN246 depart Dublin at 1950 arrive London Gatwick at 2110

Operated by A320.

Gatwick Airport Perdicts 100 extra flights per day

http://news.fhr-net.co.uk/3559/gatwick_airport_predicts_100_extra_flights_per_day/


Irish Aviation Research Institute © 24th October 2011 All Rights Reserved.

Emirates Airlines Dublin Route Ambition ©

On the 8^th of September Emirates Airlines announced that it was launching a new route from it’s Dubai Base to Dublin commencing on the 9^th of January 2012 operating daily using an Airbus A330-200, becoming the 29^th European City on its route network (Emirates Airlines).

On the 21^st of September the carrier announced that it was seek to fill 17 job positions at its new Dublin station being set up, including cargo and passenger roles (ITTN), the carrier was looking at options to serve the IT package market (ITTN).

It was citied by Routes online (8^th of September) that the 54,000 Origin & Destination passengers travel annually between Ireland and the UAE, with 10% of this market currently flying via Emirates Airlines UK routes, the carrier could potentially capture O&D traffic connecting via European Hubs.

On the Breakfast Business Show with Ian Guider on Newstalk 106-108FM (Thursday 20^th October). The Emirates Airlines VP UK & Ireland Laurie Berryman stated when the new Dublin route matures in 2 to 3 years time, it plans to increase capacity from an Airbus A330-200 to Boeing 777.

The VP stated 'Never say Never' to using the A380 on Dublin route, with 19 of 90 A380s on order delivered, it held discussions with Dublin Airport Authority on type using Terminal 2. Emirates Airlines has a policy of increasing aircraft size rather than increasing frequency (Business Travel News).

The carrier continues to build its brand profile in Ireland with the carrier holding four open recruitment days in Cork, Dublin, Galway and Limerick starting next week, as it has requirement for 4,000 cabin crew in the current financial year.

The Emirates Airlines VP UK & Ireland Laurie Berryman stated “Our policy has always been to recruit staff from countries where there is a strong hospitality tradition” (Business & Leadership).

Interestingly Emirates Airlines started a Dubai to Manchester route in 1985 using Airbus A310 on an daily service, and over the years has increased the route in terms of capacity and frequency with the carrier now operating three times daily using A330, B777-300 and A380.

An exciting future is ahead for Emirates Airlines as it develops it’s new Dublin route where the carrier sees significant potential.

                                    

                                                        

Irish Aviation Research Institute © 24th October 2011 All Rights Reserved.

Lufthansa Expands Irish Route Network for summer 2012 ©

Lufthansa is to expand its route network into Ireland for summer 2012 with the carrier launching two new routes from its Düsseldorf Base to Dublin and Ireland West Knock Airport, in addition to restoring its seasonal Munich to Dublin route. The German consumer confidence is strong, on the back of economy growth of 3.6% (Tourism Ireland) which is driving demand for air travel.

The new Lufthansa Ireland West Knock route will carry 2,000 passengers generating €1 million in revenues, annually over 200,000 Germans visit the West of Ireland, with Ireland West Airport confident that Lufthansa will continue to grow its operation beyond 2012 with increased capacity and new routes (Anna.Aero).   

Germanwings is to increase capacity by 25% on the Cologne/Bonn to Dublin route for summer 2012 increasing frequency from three to four flights weekly (Germanwings).

The German market is the third largest travel market inbound with 380,000 German tourists visiting Ireland in 2010 (Irish Times June 2011), generating €160 million in revenues on all Ireland basis (Tourism Ireland), with German tourist numbers up 15% in the first half alone, indicating there is significant potential in the market, with Aer Lingus having launched a new route to Stuttgart this summer, and extended the operation of its Hamburg route to all year round, to capture the inbound growth opportunities from the German market.  

Düsseldorf-Dublin Route:   

Wednesdays:

LH3470 depart Düsseldorf 1045 arrive Dublin 1145

LH3471 depart Dublin 1215 arrive Düsseldorf 1505

Effective: 6^th May till 26^th September

Operated by Contract Air Fokker F100

Sundays:

LH3470 depart Düsseldorf 1320 arrive Dublin 1410

LH3471 depart Dublin 1450 arrive Düsseldorf 1505

Effective: 6^th May till 26^th September

Operated by Eurowings CRJ900

Düsseldorf-Ireland West Knock Airport Route:  (Saturdays)

LH3468 depart Düsseldorf 1050 arrive Ireland West Knock 1150

LH3469 depart Ireland West Knock 1305 arrive Düsseldorf 1605

Effective: 6^th May to 29^th September

Operated by CRJ900

Munich Dublin Route: (Saturdays)

LH2514 depart Munich at 1504 arrive Dublin 1630

LH2515 depart Dublin at 1715 arrive Munich 2030

Effective: 7^th April to 6^th of October

Operated by A320

I enclose a link to a recent Anna.aero article: Knock gets weekly Düsseldorf service next summer; Ireland – Germany market trebled between 2002 and 2008

http://www.anna.aero/2011/09/15/knock-gets-weekly-lufthansa-dusseldorf-service-next-summer/

Irish Aviation Research Institute © 17th October 2011 All Rights Reserved.

Air Travel Crucial for Irish Economic Recovery ©

                        

Air Travel will play a crucial role in the recovery of the Irish economy playing a valuable role to drive inward Foreign Direct Investment, and enabling Irish companies to grow export markets, with the economic expected to grow by 1.8% in 2012 (Irish Central Bank) .

It was citied in the research of Ishutkina that between 1985 and 2005 the average growth rate of the airline sector in Ireland was 17.1% ,almost triple the GDP rate of 6.1%, as a result of EU liberalization packages opening up the market.

Therefore the key to unlocking the growth of the aviation sector will be further liberalization of the market by creating a competitive cost environment with airport infrastructure, and expanding open skies agreements.

The air transport sector is a key connectivity tool enabling movement of capital, knowledge, opportunity, people, resources and skills; it impacts on the economy directing creating jobs and indirectly i.e. for every 1 million passengers through airport 1,000 jobs are created in the economy (ACI).

Ireland must create new traffic flows for labour, investment and tourism, as the industry makes a significant contribution to the economy through wages, profits, tax and Vat receipts and supports further jobs through the valued added supply chain.

One enduring industry ‘fact’ is that traffic grows twice as fast as GDP

Recent research has shown that there is a significant link between air connectivity and business productivity and long-term GDP growth, the key drivers of international air travel are costs i.e fuel, GDP growth, the political environment, trade growth and service quality changes, a 10% increase in business travel has been found to increase productivity and GDP by roughly 1% in the long run (Oxford Economics).

It is clear that air travel demand is driven by economic growth and that it is highly leveraged to the economic cycle, expanding and contracting at roughly twice the rate of the overall economy (IATA).

This fact has been bourne out with the Dublin Airport Authority stating Dublin Airport traffic was up 4% in the first nine months to August, with economic growth of 1.6% expected for 2011, the traffic growth bears out the GDP/Traffic relationship.

The Minister of Transport Leo Varadkar is to due to make a decision of the future of the Dublin Airport Authority by the end of the year (Cork Independent), in early September he stated the ownership of Cork, Dublin and Shannon under the Dublin Airport Authority was "not tenable" (Irish Times), recognizing airport costs are key part of recovery strategy to restore competitiveness to stimulate the tourism industry, the review of the €3 air travel tax next spring is to be welcomed.

Interestingly Aer Lingus and Ryanair account for a combined market share of 78% at Dublin Airport (DAA Annual Report 2010), at Cork Airport they account for 77% (DAA Annual Report 2010) and Shannon Airport 64% (DAA Annual Report 2010).

The Air Travel industry can make a significant contribution to the economic recovery, once competitiveness in airport infrastructure is restored to pre 2008 levels, according to research 73% of tourists travel by air (GoIreland), the average Tourist spend is €502 (FailteIreland) and Business Tourist spend is €980 (FailteIreland).

It was citied by the World Travel and Tourism Council tourism in Ireland makes a contribution of 6% of GDP €1.9 Billion to exchequer supporting 106,000 jobs.

On Friday 14th of October it was announced that Tourism Ireland is to collobrate with an number of airlines including Aer Arann, Aer Lingus, Etithad Airways, Emirates Airlines and US Airways to stimulate the inbound tourism market using a portion of revenue from the Air Travel Tax for joint marketing promotions.

The indications for 2012 are bright with Emirates Airlines to launch a new daily service from Dubai to Dublin commencing on the 9th of January 2012 enabling access to Emirates Airlines growing route network, and Lufthansa is to commence a weekly service from Dusseldorf to Ireland West Knock Airport for the summer season, and Ryanair has announced that it will launch three new routes into Ireland West Knock Airport for summer 2012.


China's Middle Class Fueling Travel Industry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqhPVCfM-3c

Irish Aviation Research Institute © 12th October 2011 All Rights Reserved.

Irish Airlines Report September Traffic ©

Aer Lingus announced that it carried 954,000 passengers in September up 5% including Aer Lingus Regional operations, with a load factor of 83.9% up 3%. The airline carried 92,000 long-haul passengers up 7% with a load factor of 87% up 5.2%, and 862,000 short-haul passengers up 2.5%, with a load factor of 82.5% up 1.9%.

The Aer Lingus Regional operation continues to grow strongly with passenger numbers up 45% to 71,000 passengers, as usual the figures excludes the United Airlines Joint Venture route from Washington Dulles to Madrid. It has been reported the frequency on the route will be reduced to four times weekly for the winter schedule.

Ryanair announced that it carried 7.25 million passengers in September up 6%, with a load factor of 85% down 1% and in the rolling 12 months to the end of September it carried 76.8 Million passengers.

The Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary recently stated the carrier plans to grow its Oslo Rygge Base from 1.5m to 2 million passengers in 2012, with the carrier expected to announce new routes early in 2012.

It was reported on the 3^rd of October that Ryanair is negotiations with Ljubljana Airport and Tourism Authority, to launch a new route from Dublin to Ljubljan, while the carrier stated it plans to double its flights into Ireland West Knock Airport for summer 2012.

I enclose a link to a recent Michael O’Leary interview on Bloomberg

Ryanair Plans Swedish Domestic Flights Next Year in Push North











Irish Aviation Research Institute © 11th October 2011 All Rights Reserved.