Eurostar success reduces number of flights to/from London

[Captain]

See news article for more details: https://www.aviation24.be/article4063.html

Well, it's understandable that Eurostar has increased it's revenue and passengers since opening of new high speed link in the UK. People prefer simplicity and want to get from A-B faster.

Having travelled on Eurostar many times, I still prefer flying and think Eurostar need to do more to attract more customers.

Airlines are planning to introduce wi-fi internet for long-haul routes and Eurostar should seriously consider doing so, to attract more business customers. The journey is over 2 hours long and would be very appealing to business customers to be able to work and be online during that period.

The new Virgin Trains in the UK have a headset in each seat with access to radio/music channels. Eurostar used to have a rental service of portable DVD players with a film. You would return it at arrival, but this service was discontinued several years ago!

The train journey in Eurostar from Brussels to London is very boring and there is nothing much to do They no longer have the "in-flight" magazine and you don't get a meal or drink included in the price of the ticket.

Airlines who fly from London to BRU, have an in-flight magazine, meal & drink incl, + some airlines will have the navigation map on the TV screen during flight. Flew with Alitalia last year from LGW to Rome on the A321 and they had tv screens on, with music videos, short documentaries, etc... Made the 2 hour flight pass by really quickly.

Captain.

[Sabena_690]

I saw quite a big capacity decrease of BA...

x no more B763/B752 scheduled
x almost all flights operated by A319 (and A320 from time to time)

In a recent Eurostar advertisement, they were quoting Rod Eddington (CEO of BA) who recently told in an interview that he was losing the battle with the Eurostar. Of course, Eurostar immediately used this comment in their campaigns...

The strange thing however, is that BMI British Midland plann to use a lot of A320's and A321's between BRU and LHR. Quite surprising because (although I have no figures about this to check my statement) I don't think they have the number of connecting pax BA has.

From where the higher demand in point to point traffic on BD in that case?

Frederic

[Captain]

x no more B763/B752 scheduled
x almost all flights operated by A319 (and A320 from time to time)

It's such a shame that BA no longer operate the B763. I loved flying on their wide body for such a short route.

I remember seeing some well placed adds for Eurostar at LHR. They had ads just as you were exiting the underground station and Heathrow Express. The ads highlighted the fact that the Eurostar service reduces the number of extra journeys you have to make to get to your destination. It was something like "Why go from A-B-C-D-E-F... when you can go from A-B with Eurostar". Clever ad which would have got a lot of people's attention if they had a long commute to LHR and the from BRU to central Brussels.

Captain

[sn26567]

The train journey in Eurostar from Brussels to London is very boring and there is nothing much to do They no longer have the "in-flight" magazine and you don't get a meal or drink included in the price of the ticket.

There is still a meal in 1st class! And much better than an airline meal...

It's a nice way to spend te 2 hr 20 min journey.

[LJ]

Doesn't (or didn't) BMI have some sort interline agreement with Eurostar wherby full fare C class equals first class on Eurostar?

Anyway, BMI has a lot of connecting traffic. I don't know the situation ex BRU but ex AMS they operate codeshare flights for AC, UA, NZ and GF and have interline agreements with many others (Emirates, Srilankan etc.).

[Sabena_690]

@LJ:

Codeshares with:
LH
GF
AC
UA
NZ
SQ
UL
VS

Frederic

[Captain]

There is still a meal in 1st class! And much better than an airline meal...
It's a nice way to spend te 2 hr 20 min journey.

Well sn26567, I have heard from many people that the meal in Eurostar for first class passengers is good. The overall service is also meant to be good.

I was comparing Economy Class on the flights and 2nd Class on Eurostar.

I still think Eurostar need to do a little extra for 2nd class customers when you pay similar price to the airlines.

Captain

[vflies]

IMO they already do it by bringing you from downtown Brussels to downtown London in just 140' !

And if the ticket price is similar, add your cab fare to/from BRU and also LHR or LGW to the city and you'll soon have paid double if you fly!

Add the superb lounge facilities at Waterloo station and the choice is clear:
I fly if I have to make a connection to/from a long haul air service but to go to London, nothing beats Eurostar!

VFlies

[Comet]

My Mum wanted to use the Eurostar to go to Paris back in 2001. However, I really pushed the fact that it was cheaper for us to fly with Air France from Manchester than go down to London and spend a night in a hotel to catch the train the following morning. Naturally, the flying won and I had my first ever flights in an Airbus (call me crafty, but I would rather fly anyday, I don't get to fly enough so I wasn't going to miss out on a chance!)

Basically, I would rather be several thousand feet above the English Channel than several hundred feet under it!