Services from Southend to ANR and MST already discontinued

[jan_olieslagers]

After less than a year of operation, both Southend-Antwerp and Southend-Maastricht routes are to be discontinued by mid January 2015, according to en.wikipedia
Sorry news, that is.

[cathay belgium]

still bookable.....
cxb

[sn26567]

still bookable.....

Until...?

[cathay belgium]

Hi,
If it stops what about already booked ones?
Refund?
Rebooking with SN,U2,BA,KL to LHR,LGW from BRU,or no rebookings here...
Guess we will have to wait for the refund then!
Ah...too late then,...

CXB

[sn26567]

Ah...too late then,...

Maybe you should hurry up to book a flight on VLM from ANR to GVA then. Before it is too late

[cathay belgium]

Hi,
I will fly VLM in 2015 but in a SUKHOI

CXB

[jan_olieslagers]

Hm. Are you sure you will? Taking bets? For myself, I'll be better pleased when I actually see them Sukhois.

[Bruspotter]

Hi Cathay,

not sure if the Sukhoi of VLM will anyway operate a regular scheduled service anywhere in 2015 out of ANR, so far they are looking to various routes (which unfortunatly I cannot dispose here) but maybe not necessary all (if any) from ANR so ... but charters will always be a good possibility out of ANR for the SSJ-100, but then you'd need to charter it maybe

ANR-GVA will be a fact for sure, just hope it will last longer then you guys maybe fear, let's hope it will become a long-lasting succes. But imo they will have to launch way more then just 1 new route to have any good hope for a bright future ... to be continued, hope comes out a lot more soon

Greets, Yannick

[cathay belgium]

Hi,

Guess it is confirmed!
Booking isn't possible anymore on the site from 18/1 , ...
So I will be on one of the last ones....
CXB

note : guess it will be atr42 from now on if lf are that low..
Anyone a view on what plane come to anr regurarly 42 or 72 ?

[jan_olieslagers]

Anyone a view on what plane come to anr regurarly 42 or 72 ?

Member tangolima kindly posts expected traffic, ISTR it is mostly one and the same EI-reg that figures.

[Flanker2]

I wonder who's the idiot at BE who launched the idea of this route.
It had failure written all over it from the beginning.

ANR-LCY is already very sketchy, so I don't know how they come up with these routes.

VG should look into ANR-Berlin. It should work fine.
As would ANR-LIN.


Replying to the many comments regarding VG and SSJ's.
With the cheap Ruble, maybe VG can negotiate a good deal with Sukhoi for about 20 aircraft, and develop a network mirroring the European network of SN in BRU.

But to achieve that, VG need to reposition themselves as a first class airline, IMO, and join an alliance (OW, as Skyteam and Star already have their needs covered) as a regional feeder to longhaul OW flights across Europe, but also Open Skies out of ORY.

That's de "gat in de markt" for snobbish Antwerp. Business class seats for business class with top of the class service, free champagne and other bubble wines also in Economy class. Lounge use and free parking for all, but separate, better lounges for J pax.
Cheap fares just to fill the seats during the quiet season, high fares during the high season, and work on the North-South Europe connecting market.

Ryanair and VY have low cost well covered, SN has the hybrid together with the other legacies, but no one is offering a good product at an acceptable price. People want a good product more than they want flexibility. And they want to pay a good price for it.

For example, just to show how the customer thinks, I'm trying to book my 2015 trips to TYO:
I can book a 460 EUR ticket with TK with a bag of 20kg,or,
I can book a 650 EUR ticket with JL, with 140 euro's worth of miles that I can use for later ticket purchases, lounge access and 3 bags of 32kg on my Sapphire status. Except the problem is that with JL, I have to fly with AY up to HEL, where they offer worse service (no service would be more accurate) than TK and only accept 2 bags of 23kg. I would have to pay AY extra to carry my 3 bags of 32kg.
While JL's service is miles above TK's, if I'm going to pay more I want to experience a consistent level of superior service all the way to my destination.

If VG would extend the same level of service as JL all the way to ANR, I wouldn't hesitate to book the 650 EUR ticket, but I'm enclined to go with TK for all my travel needs in 2015, which will be quite big.

It's all about real perceived value.

[jan_olieslagers]

VG should

VG need to

I've told you before but you don't seem to act upon it: your place is not here. Your place is obviously in an airline management chair. If you really know so well what such and such an airline should do, convince them that you are the smart guy, they'll be more than happy to apply your wisdom. And pay you well for the added value.

But if you think ANR-LCY is a sketchy service (whatever you may mean by "sketchy") you obviously ignore the many years of successful operation with at least four flights per day. Your other ideas might well be equally unfounded.

[sn26567]

And, gentlemen, please, there is another thread to discuss VG/VLM: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=54920&start=100

[Flanker2]

Whatever Olieslagers. VG can take my advice if they want, otherwise I don't care.
But don't worry about me, I don't need to manage an airline to be happy. I've got plenty of management to do as it is.
Perhaps someday there will be an airline subsidiary, but for now, I'm happy giving free advice to the amateurs of the industry. Even FR who are champions could do much better and be more radical in cutting costs IMO.
I could even give Boeing, Airbus and engine makers an advice on how to build their aircraft. They are literally 50 years behind the technology curve compared to the most advanced industries.

[jan_olieslagers]

André was right, we had better stay with the subject. Unfortunately, I now learn that the Southend-Dublin service is also terminating, be it "only" by March 2015. Bravely tried, miseraby failed, I'm afraid.