2008-2009 Charleroi Airport (CRL) latest news

[airazurxtror]

All I have to say about the JAF delays is people ARE being taken care of, they are being put in hotels and JAF is doing the best they can to make the inconvenience as small as possible.

Also, the first cancelled TLV flight out of LGG was able to fly after a few hours but then sabbath kicked in and the clients were not allowed to travel due to religous problems.

I have nothing against Jetairfly, but one must admit that their ponctuality record is rather bad.

http://www.rtlinfo.be/rtl/news/article/ ... 0+Tel+Aviv

[airazurxtror]

BSCA has just heard Belgian Sky Shop (Group Frère), and has now met the three contenders for the partial privatisation of Charleroi airport (the two others are Save/Holding Communal and Hainan).
BSCA will analyse the three binding offers and transmit its analysis on 17th november to the Région Wallonne, who will then decide which is the best offer.
("Le Soir", 8-9 november, page 52)

[Atlantis]

I'm very curious to see the results. Any idea when we could expect the first reliable reactions?

[airazurxtror]

Marcel Buelens, CEO of BSCA, was elected "Man of the Year" by the representatives ofthe Belgian travel sector, and presented with the award at the "Travel Magazine" Award Gala :

http://www.charleroi-airport.com/doc.ph ... 466&site=1

[Charlie Roy]

Announcement expected on Thursday regarding 3 new Ryanair routes:

Bratislava - it will be the only scheduled service between Belgium and Slovakia.
Trieste - another Italian destination! Also a nice entry point for Slovenia and parts of Croatia.
Reus - Belgians will love this new route from Charleroi!

[danieln]

A little bit off-topic, but it seems that there is also a new route to Eindhoven in the pipeline: from Valencia.

Very strange, as FR have always shouted that there will be no further routes to and from the Netherlands due to the new flight tax.

[Acid-drop]

Announcement expected on Thursday regarding 3 new Ryanair routes:

Bratislava - it will be the only scheduled service between Belgium and Slovakia.
Trieste - another Italian destination! Also a nice entry point for Slovenia and parts of Croatia.
Reus - Belgians will love this new route from Charleroi!

Confirmed : http://www.lalibre.be/actu/belgique/art ... leroi.html
And Masstricht will loose everything.

[airazurxtror]

It's also here :

http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/news.php ... -en-201108

Barcelona/Reus and Bratislava each 3/week, Trieste 2/week, from 31st march 2009.
And a 6th aircraft will be based at CRL.
The new routes hardly justify a new aircraft just for them, but it will perhaps take over other flights, such as MAD, flown at present by a Madrid based aircraft.

[regi]

It shows who rules.

[nightflyer1980]

thants very good news.
hope its getting on like this: every few weeks some new destinations
i am still hoping for malta...
anyone knows, why ryanair doensn´t expand to destinations in
south-eastern europe (e.g. greece?)

cheers,
oliver

[airazurxtror]

Good results in November at CRL :
- 243.000 passengers ( 18 % more than in november 2007)
- 1663 flights ( + 17 %)
- Average load factor : 79,2 % ( 77,8 % in november last year)

http://www.charleroi-airport.com/doc.ph ... 468&site=1

[airazurxtror]

Next summer, Onair will fly from Charleroi to Salerno and Catania in addition to Pescara :

http://www.charleroi-airport.com/doc.ph ... 470&site=1

Last year, the flights to Pescara were flown by a Hamburg International A319.
This year, il will be a 737-800, which has more seats - no mention yet of the operator ...

[Acid-drop]

That's clever !
Charleroi is booming, i'm impressed

[Outsync]

If only they would not close every time some fog shows up!!

[jan_olieslagers]

If only they would not close every time some fog shows up!!

What else would you expect? They are professionals enough to either operate legally or not operate at all!

At present they are indeed handicapped with their limited ILS (cat I only, if I remember all right?) but that will surely be improved upon if the investment pays back.

[Outsync]

If only they would not close every time some fog shows up!!

What else would you expect? They are professionals enough to either operate legally or not operate at all!

At present they are indeed handicapped with their limited ILS (cat I only, if I remember all right?) but that will surely be improved upon if the investment pays back.

True, but it brings alot of frustration to our passengers aswell. I think the radar should be finished mid februari.

[Buzz]

anyone knows, why ryanair doensn´t expand to destinations in
south-eastern europe (e.g. greece?)

cheers,
oliver

Too far away, I'm afraid. Greece is around 3h30 flying time, wich would mean only 2 rotations/aircraft per day. They don't have a real advantage against the other carriers (short turn-arounds don't really matter when the plane is 8 hours away from base).
Ryanair will only fly these long routes when highly profitable (for example DUB-Madeira is I suppose), or when they have run out of shorter routes to put their planes on...

[Acid-drop]

ILS CAT III is planed for 2009. Good news isnt it ?
That one one of the important point before CRL could become a "real airport"
Until then, LGG is an acceptable solution.

[Hedi]

I don't quite understand why those two destinations in Sardegna; it's rather expensive as a touristic location; and there are not that many people connected with Sardegna living in Belgium.
On the other hand, I don't see why Ryanair doesn't fly to Sicilia from CRL : much more touristic and ethnic traffic - many Sicilian and people of sicilian origin live in or near Charleroi and Mons and Liège. Same for the Puglia and Bari/Brindisi ...

Think more about the traffic between mainland Italy and the islands then about the traffic between the rest of Europe and the islands.

Cheers,

Stijn

Stijn,

What costs the companies is the traffic slots. So to fly to Sicilia, Ryanair has to buy the slot first and this costs a fortune. Brussels airlines flies to sicilia in summer time too.
Brgrds

[NCB]

And beleive it or not, but for me personally, that's a business desitination I could use!!!

Hum business in Sicily... sheep or traffic with the brotherhood?

Anyways Sicily is less profitable than Sardinia.
It is true that the Sicilian population in Belgium is more important but Sardinia is more attractive in terms of summer tourism and tourist will pay higher prices than locals. The choice of Ryanair to base 1 aircraft in Alghero and 2 in Cagliari is excellent.
Alghero is now the top destination with very limited availabilities in hotels and B&B's during June, July and August. VFR traffic is also quite good outside the season.

SN is operating Cagliari and you should have seen the yields they had on those flights during the summer. Over 300€ one-way with tax. I was surprised that they would not upgrade to A319 and kept sending RJ85's and RJ100's.
That is probably an important motivator behind Ryanair opening those bases and I wonder how the FR flights will impact SN.

Good news that of the CAT III ILS for CRL.