LuftyMatt From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2009, 379 posts, RR: 0 Posted (1 year 3 months 3 weeks 6 days 12 hours ago) and read 1839 times:
U2 flights to the IOM from LPL have been running for a while now. This seems an odd route to do with an A319, surely too much aeroplane for this route? How can a jet make money on this route, or is it subsidised? If it is subsidised, why? It's not like there aren't flights to the IOM from LPL already, BE serve the route with a good frequency from LPL.
Don't get me wrong I'm glad EZY are on this run, it just seems an odd route for them.
richcandy From France, joined Aug 2001, 697 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (1 year 3 months 3 weeks 6 days 12 hours ago) and read 1758 times:
Hi
I am not sure if this is still the case but the Isle Of Man used to have different tax rates than the UK mainland. For that reason a lot of banks, business and insurance companies had off shore operations there. As a result of this fares to the IOM tended to be high, as a lot of the traffic was in that sort of industry.
I am guessing that Easyjet have been able to attract some of those corporate passengers and a lot of locals to the extent that their are filling fights to a reasonable level and making money.
edina From United Kingdom, joined Jul 2003, 719 posts, RR: 10 Reply 4, posted (1 year 3 months 3 weeks 6 days 11 hours ago) and read 1697 times:
Don't forget that the competition here is also the IOM Steampacket which operated daily from Liverpool city centre to Douglas in 2hrs 30min.....it may take longer, but the 850 pax Mannanan fast craft has more convenient departure points for most pax.
Worked on - Caravelle Mercure A300 A320 F27 SD3-60 BAe146 747-100/200/400 DC10-30 767 777 737-400 757 A319 A321
PlymSpotter From Spain, joined Jun 2004, 11254 posts, RR: 63 Reply 5, posted (1 year 3 months 3 weeks 6 days 11 hours ago) and read 1662 times:
Quoting LuftyMatt (Thread starter): U2 flights to the IOM from LPL have been running for a while now.
That tells you they are doing alright at least.
It's a very short rotation to IOM and back, BE were getting a decent yield by all accounts, so makes perfect sense. They only need to have an aircraft and crew available for a couple of hours in the schedule to operate this short route, so I expect it makes use of otherwise dead time. I flew it back in 2010 and there was no cruise, just a nice big arc in the sky as we went straight into descent from ascent.
LuftyMatt From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2009, 379 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (1 year 3 months 3 weeks 6 days 8 hours ago) and read 1427 times:
Quoting richcandy (Reply 3): I am not sure if this is still the case but the Isle Of Man used to have different tax rates than the UK mainland. For that reason a lot of banks, business and insurance companies had off shore operations there. As a result of this fares to the IOM tended to be high, as a lot of the traffic was in that sort of industry.
Very true, I hadn't thought of that
Quoting PlymSpotter (Reply 5): That tells you they are doing alright at least.
Maybe, maybe not, depends if the flights are subsidised.
Quoting PlymSpotter (Reply 5): I expect it makes use of otherwise dead time
Good point, it might be a good earner for all I know
EuroWings From UK - England, joined Sep 2011, 298 posts, RR: 0 Reply 8, posted (1 year 3 months 3 weeks 6 days 8 hours ago) and read 1338 times:
The route can support 2 carriers. The North West of England, and particularly the port city of Liverpool has very strong links to the Isle of Man and it's a popular option for islanders to access mainland Britain via Liverpool port or LPL. During the TT, traffic also increases massively. It's also a very short rotation for the EZY LPL base, which allows revenue to be squeezed out of a short time period.
MAN, LPL and BLK all support 3 to 5 daily flights to the Island. There is a market for tourism, locals accessing the UK and beyond for various reasons and a business market due to the island's attractive tax rates.
Quoting LuftyMatt (Reply 6): Maybe, maybe not, depends if the flights are subsidised.
They aren't subsidised. I don't know what kind of deal they have at Ronaldsway Airport, but I don't think it is much better than what BE get. I believe BE may have the Isle of Man hospital patient transfer contract on their flights to LPL.
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