GLA’s plummeting success

[Clive]

You just cannot make airlines fly from here if they want to fly from there.

And there’s the fact of the matter.

If we look at it as others see us, here’s an example.

Say a foreign airline is looking to fly to Barcelona and in turn serve the Catalonia region.

Say BCN were giving them free access to their aeronautical facilities.

Why would said airline opt to land at Gerona instead?

Yes Gerona has its charms and something of a market in its own right but that is as nothing compared to the bigger competitor down the road.

The task GLA bosses in just keeping bread and butte routes is unenviable.

[southflyer]

It brushes over the Covid crisis which of course knocked everything for six, not just here but everywhere.

Except EDI have bounced back whereas GLA has been left to rot...

Don’t agree. Even Dewar over at EDI will tell you his business has been set back by years. It’s not a local phenomenon. It’s global.

Of course it has, but that's not the point. The point is that EDI's offering is better than ever (with the exception of the loss of DXB), GLA's is shrinking and showing no signs of stopping. That's a fact, not an opinion. A new weekly flight to Dalaman isn't going to fix that.

[southflyer]

If we look at it as others see us, here’s an example.

Say a foreign airline is looking to fly to Barcelona and in turn serve the Catalonia region.

Say BCN were giving them free access to their aeronautical facilities.

Why would said airline opt to land at Gerona instead?

Yes Gerona has its charms and something of a market in its own right but that is as nothing compared to the bigger competitor down the road.

Bit of an odd comparison between one of Europe's busiest airports and a small regional airport serving low-cost and charter carriers. We're talking about two airports that serve not only their respective moderately-sized European cities but also Scotland as a whole.

[Clive]

Except EDI have bounced back whereas GLA has been left to rot...

Don’t agree. Even Dewar over at EDI will tell you his business has been set back by years. It’s not a local phenomenon. It’s global.

Of course it has, but that's not the point. The point is that EDI's offering is better than ever (with the exception of the loss of DXB), GLA's is shrinking and showing no signs of stopping. That's a fact, not an opinion. A new weekly flight to Dalaman isn't going to fix that.

EDI has lost a hell of a lot more than that, as things stand. You see this is what we are all guilty of. Only seeing half the story and thinking GLA is uniquely incapable. I’m not defending GLA bosses any more but I’m going to point out facts as they exist in the real world.

The article also ignores the (limited, granted) backfill we secured after the demise of two of our biggest airlines, Flybe and Thomas Cook.

[Clive]

If we look at it as others see us, here’s an example.

Say a foreign airline is looking to fly to Barcelona and in turn serve the Catalonia region.

Say BCN were giving them free access to their aeronautical facilities.

Why would said airline opt to land at Gerona instead?

Yes Gerona has its charms and something of a market in its own right but that is as nothing compared to the bigger competitor down the road.

Bit of an odd comparison between one of Europe's busiest airports and a small regional airport serving low-cost and charter carriers. We're talking about two airports that serve not only their respective moderately-sized European cities but also Scotland as a whole.

Hence my example. But by all means substitute that pair with LBA/MAN, LPL/MAN, STN/SEN, MME/NCL, BRS/EXT, etc.

Point is, why wouldn’t an airline choose EDI if they want to serve Scotland and Edinburgh? If they wanted to serve Scotland and Glasgow, as some airlines do, they will.

But alas, half the people in here say it’s all the one market.

GLA has no USP at all if that really is the case. We can now see how GLA route development and airline relations bosses are on a hiding time nothing.

Airlines serve cities and regions, not airports. Airports are just the handling facility, like a bus station or train station only with a runway and working nav aids.

[Hialflyer]

GLA maangement have to be more agressive with how they deal with airlines. They need to offer them a deal better than the deal they get from EDI. All airlines like a deal and will go where the better deal is, even if its not their 1st airport of choice. By all accounts GLA dont even bother going to all the routes conventions, unkike EDI, so they dont even try to broker the deals with airlines. They arent seen so are bypassed and EDI gets the flight.

EDI are out there prompting themselves to all airlines, all the time, while GLA seem to sit back and wonder why noone knocks the door.

[GeorgeNTravels]

GLA maangement have to be more agressive with how they deal with airlines. They need to offer them a deal better than the deal they get from EDI. All airlines like a deal and will go where the better deal is, even if its not their 1st airport of choice. By all accounts GLA dont even bother going to all the routes conventions, unkike EDI, so they dont even try to broker the deals with airlines. They arent seen so are bypassed and EDI gets the flight.

EDI are out there prompting themselves to all airlines, all the time, while GLA seem to sit back and wonder why noone knocks the door.

Remember when Glasgow did Korean Air charter to Seoul in 2016, it did well and as a result in 2017 the season had an extra flight, 4 charter flights attracted 1300 people (according to the airport themselves)

Why didn't the service continue in 2018? New management came in, coincidence alongside other airlines e.g. American leaving as well.

Airlines don't just decide after 14 years to move to another airport. EDI must have offered them major discounts to attract them.

[Ekally1]

If we look at it as others see us, here’s an example.

Say a foreign airline is looking to fly to Barcelona and in turn serve the Catalonia region.

Say BCN were giving them free access to their aeronautical facilities.

Why would said airline opt to land at Gerona instead?

Yes Gerona has its charms and something of a market in its own right but that is as nothing compared to the bigger competitor down the road.

Bit of an odd comparison between one of Europe's busiest airports and a small regional airport serving low-cost and charter carriers. We're talking about two airports that serve not only their respective moderately-sized European cities but also Scotland as a whole.

Hence my example. But by all means substitute that pair with LBA/MAN, LPL/MAN, STN/SEN, MME/NCL, BRS/EXT, etc.

Point is, why wouldn’t an airline choose EDI if they want to serve Scotland and Edinburgh? If they wanted to serve Scotland and Glasgow, as some airlines do, they will.

But alas, half the people in here say it’s all the one market.

GLA has no USP at all if that really is the case. We can now see how GLA route development and airline relations bosses are on a hiding time nothing.

Airlines serve cities and regions, not airports. Airports are just the handling facility, like a bus station or train station only with a runway and working nav aids.

Who wants to go to man and there doing well ...

[Clive]

GLA maangement have to be more agressive with how they deal with airlines. They need to offer them a deal better than the deal they get from EDI. All airlines like a deal and will go where the better deal is, even if its not their 1st airport of choice. By all accounts GLA dont even bother going to all the routes conventions, unkike EDI, so they dont even try to broker the deals with airlines. They arent seen so are bypassed and EDI gets the flight.

EDI are out there prompting themselves to all airlines, all the time, while GLA seem to sit back and wonder why noone knocks the door.

Remember when Glasgow did Korean Air charter to Seoul in 2016, it did well and as a result in 2017 the season had an extra flight, 4 charter flights attracted 1300 people (according to the airport themselves)

Why didn't the service continue in 2018? New management came in, coincidence alongside other airlines e.g. American leaving as well.

Airlines don't just decide after 14 years to move to another airport. EDI must have offered them major discounts to attract them.

It was a Korean tour operator who did a couple of short seasons of holidays for Korean’s to Northern Europe. Scotland was one destination for this venture. I think Gothenburg was another.

What you are saying is like it being Cayo Coco airport’s management’s fault that charter flights from BHX didn’t work. Or even that it was Dewar’s fault the short series from China didn’t work.

Hint: it was neither’s doing. The tour operators weigh supply and demand, profit and loss, risk and reward. They don’t care about airports.

[Clive]

Too much text to crop on my phone, Ally, but MAN are not doing well. No airport is. The Covid pandemic has hit hard every airport in the civilised world. All are on their knees from their own perspectives. They won’t be using GLA for their KPI’s.