Loganair reopen MME base

[GKirk]

5 routes from Teesside to Aberdeen, Belfast City, Dublin, Jersey and Newquay.

All in head to head competition with Eastern.

[Ekally1]

Crazy decision

[Gla1]

I appreciate they’re now probably their biggest competitor and may want to take the fight to them, but with a base just up the road at Newcastle I do have to question this one. Especially in the environment we find ourselves in now!

Can only hope they’ve done their homework! We’ll probably see Eastern opening up at GLA in retaliation...

[GKirk]

MME-ABZ can probably work with 2 operators, MME-BHD and DUB with 2 operators though, I doubt it

[Ekally1]

I would rather instead of point scoring with other operators , LM starting to get the reputation of starting and then stoping routes , they used the aircraft building up gla or another existing airport then starting a base i can bet my house will be gone in a year and a total time waste ..

[GKirk]

Either a lot of money involved, or LM think they cannot expand any further from GLA. I suspect the former and the Mayor of Teesside is giving out free money to LM and T3

[Ekally1]

If the ceo of LM cannot think he can expand at gla he should be looking for a new career

[Saabdriver]

Unless you know the basis on which this operation is taking place, don't rush to judge it . Once you know that (and it's not for me to post), then if your view remains the same then fair enough, but until or unless you do, I'd hold back. And it's a long-term commitment - that has been publicly stated.

What exactly do you think that Loganair should be doing from GLA that they aren't? Peripheral London services (SEN) and smaller European destinations (DUS) haven't worked. And it's easy to be critical when you're not paying the bills for route start-up losses!

[Clive]

Unless you know the basis on which this operation is taking place, don't rush to judge it . Once you know that (and it's not for me to post), then if your view remains the same then fair enough, but until or unless you do, I'd hold back. And it's a long-term commitment - that has been publicly stated.

What exactly do you think that Loganair should be doing from GLA that they aren't? Peripheral London services (SEN) and smaller European destinations (DUS) haven't worked. And it's easy to be critical when you're not paying the bills for route start-up losses!

Playing devil’s advocate, a lot of people in here thought these routes, and virtually all routes, won’t work with the ERJ’s where you can only make money if fares are sky high thus appealing only to a fraction of the potential market. They also feel miffed that Loganair are entering sundry non-Scottish markets in what looks from the outside as a Flybe-esque scatterbrained approach, perhaps because their Scottish roots have been dissolved by new ownerships.

But I’d never say any of that, of course.

[Saabdriver]

OK, so let's cover a few points:

DUS didn't work for Eurowings with a Q400 and they pulled out of GLA despite having Lufthansa distribution behind the route.

Loganair went in with the E145 and that didn't work either and it's been pulled.

An ATR72 is a lot slower than a Q400 and is unlikely to bring any improved economics versus a Q400 over that length of sector.

The E170 or E190 are high seat-cost aeroplanes as well, as their engine overhaul costs are apparently really high.

An A319/320/321 is too big in terms of capacity, but can achieve lower fares.

So what does work for GLA-DUS? I can't think of a viable "fit" of operator and aircraft that would work.

If you then use DUS as an example for several other markets including CPH and BRU, where do you go to get these routes served?

And if you're Loganair, why would you commit aircraft and crews to routes that you know now won't work, but there are options elsewhere that will?