OK, I raised this question a good few years back and most people rubbished the idea and wanted to know what people think now?

When I asked the question back then, UK to Sharm El Sheikh was about th/e longest low cost destination the likes of easyJet and Monarch were operating with single aisle high density config aircraft...

Now we have A320neos and the 737max aircraft's coming on line with greater range and airlines like WOW and Norwegian operating similar length flights in the opposite direction to the USA and there is soon to be Primera Air too. Airlines like Transavia from Amsterdam and Norwegian from Scandinavian destinations is already operating to Dubai and these are not that much shorter than from the UK. Also Wizzair has built up quite a network from its East European bases to Dubai too.

With Dubai just getting more and more popular all the time with UK travellers, could we see Low Cost operators flying from the UK to Dubai?

Also putting Brexit asside, does the EU and UAE have an open skies policy, incase an EU airline tried to operate UK to Dubai?

Giles

I think with Primera soon to start at BHX then DWC and/or even AUH a couple of times a week in winter in place of westbound frequencies (as demand reduces) seems an obvious choice subject to route approvals..

With EK downsizing in terms of frequencies and seats at BHX and AUH not currently served I would expect both will be considered at some point in the future.

With Monarch are getting the MAX, again the UAE could be seen as an ideal winter destination to replace the reduced demand on their Med flights.

gilesdavies wrote:

OK, I raised this question a good few years back and most people rubbished the idea and wanted to know what people think now?

When I asked the question back then, UK to Sharm El Sheikh was about th/e longest low cost destination the likes of easyJet and Monarch were operating with single aisle high density config aircraft...

Now we have A320neos and the 737max aircraft's coming on line with greater range and airlines like WOW and Norwegian operating similar length flights in the opposite direction to the USA and there is soon to be Primera Air too. Airlines like Transavia from Amsterdam and Norwegian from Scandinavian destinations is already operating to Dubai and these are not that much shorter than from the UK. Also Wizzair has built up quite a network from its East European bases to Dubai too.

With Dubai just getting more and more popular all the time with UK travellers, could we see Low Cost operators flying from the UK to Dubai?

Also putting Brexit asside, does the EU and UAE have an open skies policy, incase an EU airline tried to operate UK to Dubai?

There is not an UAE-EU open skies agreement, traffic from UAE to Europe is subject to bilaterals with each EU country.

kelvin933 wrote:

There is not an UAE-EU open skies agreement, traffic from UAE to Europe is subject to bilaterals with each EU country.

True - but a quick read of the UK-UAE air transport bilateral seems to me to indicate that the UK can allow non-UK EU airlines to operate UK-UAE (as well as UK airlines).

GCT64 wrote:

kelvin933 wrote:

There is not an UAE-EU open skies agreement, traffic from UAE to Europe is subject to bilaterals with each EU country.

True - but a quick read of the UK-UAE air transport bilateral seems to me to indicate that the UK can allow non-UK EU airlines to operate UK-UAE (as well as UK airlines).

How likely is that the UK CAA would allow an airline using a Latvian AOC to fly using the UK-UAE bilateral ?

Conversely, now that FlyDubai is "merging" with Emirates could try new holiday markets for Middle Easterns and Asians.

They already fly to a place like Tivat, so other holiday destinations like Mykonos, Santorini, Dubrovnik, Olbia or Ibiza shouldn't be that far-fetched for them.

SCQ83 wrote:

Conversely, now that FlyDubai is "merging" with Emirates could try new holiday markets for Middle Easterns and Asians.

They already fly to a place like Tivat, so other holiday destinations like Mykonos, Santorini, Dubrovnik, Olbia or Ibiza shouldn't be that far-fetched for them.

But those are mostly sun holiday destinations. Europeans go there to get some sun, but the UAE has got plenty of sun themselves. No reason for them to serve sun holidays in Europe.

But of course FlyDubai could serve destinations in Europe and the UK that are too small to be served by Emirates.

PatrickZ80 wrote:

But those are mostly sun holiday destinations. Europeans go there to get some sun, but the UAE has got plenty of sun themselves. No reason for them to serve sun holidays in Europe.

I think the UAE gets too much sun at certain times of the year... some Mediterranean sun, beaches and culture I imagine could be very appealing in the hot and dusty summer months in the UAE.

I wouldn't be too surprised to see BHX/EDI/BFS/SOU etc. To Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Doha at some point, and fly Dubai could do them.

BENAir01 wrote:

I wouldn't be too surprised to see BHX/EDI/BFS/SOU etc. To Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Doha at some point, and fly Dubai could do them.

'You wouldn't be too surprised'

Currently two of the airports you mentioned already have service to those destinations

BHX to Doha with Qatar and Dubai with Emirates
EDI to Abu Dhabi with Etihad and Doha with Qatar

SOU runway is less than 6,000 feet so no chance of any flights to the gulf region although a flight to BFS could be a possibility in the future.

FlyDubai is being merged into Emirates so any possible flights going forward will be by EK.

PatrickZ80 wrote:

But of course FlyDubai could serve destinations in Europe and the UK that are too small to be served by Emirates.

I don't think it's possible for a lot of UK airports
Wikipedia says that the 737 MAX 8 has a range of 3,515 miles.
According to Google Maps, LBA is 3,494 miles, and STN is 3,390 miles

Airports west of and including CWL as well as all airports north of LBA are outside of 3,515 miles. Portugal, Ireland, and most of Spain is outside of 3,515 and I'm sure there are a number of other airports that couldn't comfortably be reached with the amount of fuel they need to take on for reaching alternates or delays landing.

I've heard that Emirates are wanting to get rid of their 773's and they would have more than enough range to reach all of the destinations I listed. But them if Emirates and FlyDubai are to merge, would they still get rid of their 773's?

I think it's unlikely from LON airports as there is already an enormous amount of capacity with EK and EY to that area. The LoCo's could give it a go but its likely to be to Sharjah or similar and/or from a very provincial UK airport (like Exeter or Humberside etc), the reasoning being is that those sector lengths the prices charged need to go way up to cover costs, and then off peak fares on EK and EY can be as chip as chips for long periods of the winter - meaning the competition is fierce and markets over-served.

gtargui wrote:

PatrickZ80 wrote:

But of course FlyDubai could serve destinations in Europe and the UK that are too small to be served by Emirates.

I don't think it's possible for a lot of UK airports
Wikipedia says that the 737 MAX 8 has a range of 3,515 miles.
According to Google Maps, LBA is 3,494 miles, and STN is 3,390 miles

Airports west of and including CWL as well as all airports north of LBA are outside of 3,515 miles. Portugal, Ireland, and most of Spain is outside of 3,515 and I'm sure there are a number of other airports that couldn't comfortably be reached with the amount of fuel they need to take on for reaching alternates or delays landing.

As a point of order, the range of the 737 MAX 8 is 3 515 nautical miles, whereas DXB-STN is 3 390 statute miles, which is only 2 950 nautical miles.
LBA is also only 3 040 nautical miles
I wouldn't expect any of the MAX's or NEO's to have any trouble with that at all.

Rgds

astuteman wrote:

gtargui wrote:

PatrickZ80 wrote:

But of course FlyDubai could serve destinations in Europe and the UK that are too small to be served by Emirates.

I don't think it's possible for a lot of UK airports
Wikipedia says that the 737 MAX 8 has a range of 3,515 miles.
According to Google Maps, LBA is 3,494 miles, and STN is 3,390 miles

Airports west of and including CWL as well as all airports north of LBA are outside of 3,515 miles. Portugal, Ireland, and most of Spain is outside of 3,515 and I'm sure there are a number of other airports that couldn't comfortably be reached with the amount of fuel they need to take on for reaching alternates or delays landing.

As a point of order, the range of the 737 MAX 8 is 3 515 nautical miles, whereas DXB-STN is 3 390 statute miles, which is only 2 950 nautical miles.
LBA is also only 3 040 nautical miles
I wouldn't expect any of the MAX's or NEO's to have any trouble with that at all.

Rgds

Thanks for correcting me! Looks like FlyDubai can fly to a lot of secondary and tertiary airports and cities then!

gtargui wrote:

PatrickZ80 wrote:

But of course FlyDubai could serve destinations in Europe and the UK that are too small to be served by Emirates.

I don't think it's possible for a lot of UK airports
Wikipedia says that the 737 MAX 8 has a range of 3,515 miles.
According to Google Maps, LBA is 3,494 miles, and STN is 3,390 miles

Airports west of and including CWL as well as all airports north of LBA are outside of 3,515 miles. Portugal, Ireland, and most of Spain is outside of 3,515 and I'm sure there are a number of other airports that couldn't comfortably be reached with the amount of fuel they need to take on for reaching alternates or delays landing.

I've heard that Emirates are wanting to get rid of their 773's and they would have more than enough range to reach all of the destinations I listed. But them if Emirates and FlyDubai are to merge, would they still get rid of their 773's?

Yes they would get rid of the B773s.Currently their is 4 of their own B773s in service and Emirates wants to keep the fleet young and get rid of the B773s is involved in keeping the fleet young and have to go to keep the average fleet age low.

But your missing the point, FlyDubai is being merged into it's parent company Emirates so any further routes would no longer be started by FlyDubai.

London Stansted is an obvious gap in Emirates network, being the third largest airport serving London and with a huge catchment area including the East London, East Anglia, Essex and Cambridge, etc a daily flight to Dubai is totally within reason and with the airport already handling scheduled daily cargo flights from both Etihad and Qatar and the odd Emirates flights I would have thought at least one of the ME3 would have started passenger operations by now.

It is bound to happen at some point but why it hasn't already is beyond me!

There are a lot of such gaps in the Emirates network, not just in the UK but all over Europe.

Considering I am from the UK I was pointing out London Stansted, do you honestly expect me to list all the gaps in Emirates European network considering there are lots of them!

astuteman wrote:

gtargui wrote:

PatrickZ80 wrote:

But of course FlyDubai could serve destinations in Europe and the UK that are too small to be served by Emirates.

I don't think it's possible for a lot of UK airports
Wikipedia says that the 737 MAX 8 has a range of 3,515 miles.
According to Google Maps, LBA is 3,494 miles, and STN is 3,390 miles

Airports west of and including CWL as well as all airports north of LBA are outside of 3,515 miles. Portugal, Ireland, and most of Spain is outside of 3,515 and I'm sure there are a number of other airports that couldn't comfortably be reached with the amount of fuel they need to take on for reaching alternates or delays landing.

As a point of order, the range of the 737 MAX 8 is 3 515 nautical miles, whereas DXB-STN is 3 390 statute miles, which is only 2 950 nautical miles.
LBA is also only 3 040 nautical miles
I wouldn't expect any of the MAX's or NEO's to have any trouble with that at all.

Rgds

Yeah thats true. However SOU and airports such as BRS still don't have the runway length to get the aircraft airborne. Whats LBA's runway length like?

Arion640 wrote:

astuteman wrote:

gtargui wrote:

I don't think it's possible for a lot of UK airports
Wikipedia says that the 737 MAX 8 has a range of 3,515 miles.
According to Google Maps, LBA is 3,494 miles, and STN is 3,390 miles

Airports west of and including CWL as well as all airports north of LBA are outside of 3,515 miles. Portugal, Ireland, and most of Spain is outside of 3,515 and I'm sure there are a number of other airports that couldn't comfortably be reached with the amount of fuel they need to take on for reaching alternates or delays landing.

As a point of order, the range of the 737 MAX 8 is 3 515 nautical miles, whereas DXB-STN is 3 390 statute miles, which is only 2 950 nautical miles.
LBA is also only 3 040 nautical miles
I wouldn't expect any of the MAX's or NEO's to have any trouble with that at all.

Rgds

Yeah thats true. However SOU and airports such as BRS still don't have the runway length to get the aircraft airborne. Whats LBA's runway length like?

LBA is 2 250m I believe

http://www.airportwatch.org.uk/uk-airpo ... d-airport/

DSA of course is not too far away and has a lovely 2 900m runway
NCL is 2 300m

Bearing in mind that none of these airports will be either hot or high, 2 250m-2 300m should allow an A321 to take off at or near MTOW (based on the A321 CEO ACAP), so no problems there.
According to the ACAP, 737-900 ER needs 3 000m for MTOW at sea level and ISA standard day so we'll forget that.
737-800 needs about 2 400m.
As the MAX's are heavier, I don't know what their field performance is likely to be.
If I plot the extra 3.5t on the current ACAP chart it could be 2 600m for a 737-8 MAX
Can't wait to see the ACAP - the prelim 737 MAX ACAP withholds this data.

As you say, SOU is only 1 750m and BRS 2 000m (shame Filton isn't still in use - the runway there is nearly wide enough to land on, never mind long enough )

2 000m brings an A321 down to about 87 t MTOW (again based on A321 ACAP)
which might be marginal for the eastbound leg to DXB.
2 000m should accommodate an A320 NEO at MTOW though

1 750m brings an A321 down to about 82t MTOW - no chance
Landing weights shouldn't be an issue at any of them, although marginal at 1 750m for an A321 at 79t Max Landing Weight

The moral of this story of course being - if you want to come to the UK, come to the north .....

There might be a sub-moral here that for smaller airports like these, on long sectors like these, the NEO's field performance might be an advantage over the MAX
Be nice to see the definitive data

Rgds

Thomson have already operated a short winter season to DWC from some of the smaller UK airports in association with a cruise series and it wasn't too successful.

FlyDubai can if they want operate into the UK market via the UK /UAE bilateral.

Though the whole premise of debate seems somewhat flawed imho.

When EK can fill 5/6 (plus capacity on 2 QF) 388 from LHR ,3 388 from MAN and LGW , a further 2 388 from BHX, 2 77w from GLA and 1 from NCL, BA 2/3 daily from LHR and VS daily from VS. And for the more adventurous Brunei (through dry !) from LHR daily

All operating a wide gamut of fare bands and inclusive holiday packages where do throse smaller operators really fit in..

Dubai isn't brimming over with cheap rooms ( Cepting AirBNB types) and the usual bear and bacon brigade won't ever be welcome!

Neighbouring Abu Dhabi is even less welcoming of those types .

The only probable flexible fares carrier will be Norwegian from Gatwick (they could sell Fred Olsen cruises if they put a boat in the area) and I expect that would deploy a 788 rather than a 738Max imho.

BHXRunway15 wrote:

Giles

with Primera soon to start at BHX .

I did not see this one coming, how long before we see Pirmera expanding even more in the UK now they have their foot in the door at BHX?.

Unexpected but great news for BHX.

I can easily see Dubai and the Gulf in general growing to become a preferred mid-haul sun/leisure route on LCCs on smaller machines like the MAX and NEO... It's already happening all over Europe.

PatrickZ80 wrote:

SCQ83 wrote:

Conversely, now that FlyDubai is "merging" with Emirates could try new holiday markets for Middle Easterns and Asians.

They already fly to a place like Tivat, so other holiday destinations like Mykonos, Santorini, Dubrovnik, Olbia or Ibiza shouldn't be that far-fetched for them.

But those are mostly sun holiday destinations. Europeans go there to get some sun, but the UAE has got plenty of sun themselves. No reason for them to serve sun holidays in Europe.

But of course FlyDubai could serve destinations in Europe and the UK that are too small to be served by Emirates.

Tell me you don't want to go to Santorini when it's 35C in the shade and 100% humidity in Dubai!

Obviously you need to live through a Gulf summer...

-IR

Cunard wrote:

But your missing the point, FlyDubai is being merged into it's parent company Emirates so any further routes would no longer be started by FlyDubai.

That's a fallacy. FZ and EK are NOT being merged. Cooperation yes, merger no.

brgds//Vimanav

I honestly can’t see any airport where this could work and a narrow body would be sufficient. It could be filled, but without sufficient slots, one will need the wide-body, and the B787-10 is the perfect answer. I expect the rest or Europe besides AMS, CDG, ORY, FRA, ZRH, or the Iberian peninsula to be more likely.

A321neo

May be Easyjet when it receives A321neo

A Fly Dubai 737-8 Max (FZ9739) is currently on delivery, and has not long departed GLA as I write. Be interesting to see where it stops enroute compared to standard 738 deliveries.

Apparently the above mentioned Max flew direct to Glasgow from Seattle, some 4000 plua miles. Obviously no passenger load but would that necesitate auxiliary cabin tanks ? I understand today's delivery leg terminatea in Amman, Jordan for cabin fit.