PIK

[hads]

You've managed to bring Pedro Caxhina into an aviation thread!!
Thats worth an award

[G-WATP]

Indeed and there’s that tie up with a Chicago area freight airport that has been mooted too. And Royal Mail recently decided PIK is to be their e-commerce base, whatever that entails.

"Whatever that entails" is exactly what today's announcement is about: https://www.ayrshiredailynews.co.uk/new ... -prestwick

[Clive]

It is. PIK doing what it does best. It definitely has a future, just not with pax.

Given they signed a five-year deal with Ryanair in 2023, it would be reasonable to conclude that it does have a future with passenger operations at least until the end of that deal. Worth noting that the PIK base will convert to two MAXes from the end of next month, which will boost numbers. People on here have been saying for years it doesn't have a future in passenger operations, but still such operations continue - the dogs bark, but the caravan rolls on.

Yes we all know about the 5 year deal. But we also know it means nothing to Ryanair. Just today they announced the closure of their Billund base.

[bill]

You've managed to bring Pedro Caxhina into an aviation thread!!
Thats worth an award

Or a lifetime ban.

[757lover]

I used Prestwick last week for the first time in over a decade. I recall sitting upstairs in the late 90s, was the departures area upstairs?
Flight out was not what I was used to, full of west of Scotland people heading to Benidorm.

[FlyGLA]

I’m torn on Prestwick. On one hand, I’d love to see it thrive as a dedicated cargo hub. However, as long as there’s a functioning runway in Ayrshire, there will always be a risk of passenger traffic leaking south from Glasgow. Any attempts to grow or even maintain passenger services at Prestwick could undermine Glasgow Airport’s position. The challenge is finding a balance that allows Prestwick to grow without cannibalising Glasgow’s market.

The logical solution would be to close the passenger terminal while maintaining the airfield, cargo facilities, and military use, allowing Prestwick to focus on areas where it actually has potential. But politicians, who know nothing about aviation or economics, will never allow it. Instead, they’ll continue propping up an unsustainable passenger operation, rather than making the tough decisions needed for the long-term success of both airports.

[Clive]

I’m torn on Prestwick. On one hand, I’d love to see it thrive as a dedicated cargo hub. However, as long as there’s a functioning runway in Ayrshire, there will always be a risk of passenger traffic leaking south from Glasgow. Any attempts to grow or even maintain passenger services at Prestwick could undermine Glasgow Airport’s position. The challenge is finding a balance that allows Prestwick to grow without cannibalising Glasgow’s market.

The logical solution would be to close the passenger terminal while maintaining the airfield, cargo facilities, and military use, allowing Prestwick to focus on areas where it actually has potential. But politicians, who know nothing about aviation or economics, will never allow it. Instead, they’ll continue propping up an unsustainable passenger operation, rather than making the tough decisions needed for the long-term success of both airports.

Politicians will be happy that PIK is returning a £3m annual profit these days so won’t feel the need to meddle in the management of PIK. It’s down to GLA’s new owners to get Ryanair based at GLA. Whether that’s at the expense of the PIK ops or some of the EDI based aircraft, it has to happen if GLA wants to regain proper market share.

[FlyGLA]

Politicians will be happy that PIK is returning a £3m annual profit these days so won’t feel the need to meddle in the management of PIK. It’s down to GLA’s new owners to get Ryanair based at GLA. Whether that’s at the expense of the PIK ops or some of the EDI based aircraft, it has to happen if GLA wants to regain proper market share.

While I completely agree that it is GLA management's responsibility to encourage Ryanair’s growth here—and I hope they succeed—even if Ryanair were to abandon PIK entirely and shift all operations to GLA, the presence of an active runway in Ayrshire will always pose a risk that they, along with other airlines, might relocate south.

[McG]

The argument against expansion at GLA and closure of the PIK base was always that they needed the base to rotate aircraft in and out for maintenance.

If you look at FR24 there is a near nightly swap of aircraft between EDI and PIK maintenance. There are also aircraft positioning in and out of other bases, both UK and abroad for maintenance at PIK. This now destroys that argument.

The other issue now is EDI is probably at saturation point for RYR and EZY where they are constrained by facilities from being able to add much more in terms of based aircraft and away based flying. This is the opportunity that GLA should be targeting.

[Bearsden]

The argument against expansion at GLA and closure of the PIK base was always that they needed the base to rotate aircraft in and out for maintenance.

If you look at FR24 there is a near nightly swap of aircraft between EDI and PIK maintenance. There are also aircraft positioning in and out of other bases, both UK and abroad for maintenance at PIK. This now destroys that argument.

The other issue now is EDI is probably at saturation point for RYR and EZY where they are constrained by facilities from being able to add much more in terms of based aircraft and away based flying. This is the opportunity that GLA should be targeting.

The limited Ryanair schedule at Prestwick doesn't allow 100% aircraft rotation for maintenance but it does happen

I doubt Gordon Dewar thinks EDI is at saturation point - from The Herald today “We don’t see any short-term limit to that. We think we can continue to grow for the foreseeable future. We continue to work with airlines to show them that Edinburgh - and Scotland - is a place they want to continue to invest.” and “We are going to be significantly north of 16 million passengers this year.”

With Ryanair the negotiation is always about cost - looking at PIK's accounts for 2023/24 the total passenger revenue (including navigation, landing, parking & handling charges plus car parking and retail) was £9.63 per terminal passenger so the direct cost to Ryanair for its passenger operations is I believe minimal