Belfast SHARE OF ANNUAL TRAFFIC AT BELFAST AIRPORTS
%
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009 Source: UK CAA Airport Statistics (August-July fi gures).
Belfast City. Belfast International is far stronger on the Stansted route, and is set to improve with the disappearance of Stansted from City airport’s network – a route that was carrying in excess of 500,000 passengers per annum.
Belfast City performs particularly well on the Manchester run and the Leeds service also scores highly against the Belfast International option. Belfast International scores well on the Bristol run and examination of this route in 12 months time will be interesting, as the Belfast City service has switched from Ryanair to Flybe.
What the MSCS analysis shows is that the smaller capacity aircraft fl own by Flybe can sustain its position in the market against some weighty competition from easyJet and
Jet2.com at Belfast International. It also indicates that the two networks co-exist and that the market is comfortable with a fair degree of duplication.
There is no doubt that the ‘Ryanair effect’ has had a positive impact, purely in terms of passenger volumes, on Belfast City’s performance.
Obviously both airports were affected by the volcanic ash cloud groundings, but
www.routesonline.com
it took Belfast International much of the spring season to recover while Belfast City lost one month of growth over the previous year. The fi gures for July 2010 indicate some large swings in traffi c, though Belfast International appears to have been hit harder than Belfast City. A mixture of high aviation taxes and a weak domestic economy seems to have forced some passengers either to not travel, or to choose whether to travel to (or from) Belfast City or Belfast International. The determinant may have been price, but it may also have been schedule or the convenience of using a local airport. However, the difference for Northern Ireland is the lack of realistic surface competition. Therefore, even though the UK domestic market has taken a fall, the Belfast market has held up reasonably well. Despite this, the coming winter will be
diffi cult for both airports. The full impact of the UK government spending cuts has yet to trickle down to the economy and the uncertainty around these will inevitably postpone passengers’ travel and purchasing decisions further still. The next issue facing both airports, once the loss of Ryanair is out of the system, is
how to expand the domestic market. More frequencies are a possibility, though many routes are well served with frequency. Plus, after nearly 20 years of low fares, there is little stimulation that low fares can now generate. Thirdly, there are few airports on the mainland without a Belfast link, some of which have already been tested in recent years with limited success.
On top of that, there are no signs that
Ryanair is prepared to re-enter the Belfast market without the runway extension being granted, so it would seem that the incumbent carriers are set for a market share scrap – the sort that is inevitable in mature markets.
While Belfast International has the freedom and capacity to look at a far wider range of markets, Belfast City, at least for the short-term, has to focus its energies on markets closer to home.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mark Clarkson is vice president, consulting services at ASM and has headed up many client projects, including new route development and network strategies in the Caribbean, China, the Middle East and Europe.
29
RN
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84