New service from Oxford Airport as flights to islands stop

9:40am Thursday 22nd November 2012 in News

GREEK-BASED Minoan Air plans to operate scheduled flights from Oxford to Munich, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Dublin, and Edinburgh.

Bosses at Oxford Airport declined to comment on a statement from Minoan Air, which said the flights would be introduced gradually over two months from January.

It came after news that flights to Jersey and the Isle of Man from Oxford Airport will be dropped next year.

Bosses at airline Manx2.com blame declining passenger numbers and have already trimmed the daily flight from Kidlington to the islands to four days a week. From January 7 next year, the service will stop altogether pending a review.

James Dillon-Godfray, business development director at the airport, said: “After a successful launch with summer season loads higher than anticipated, Manx2.com is reassessing ongoing winter schedules which are showing loads below expectation for what is normally the low season.

“Seat sales from January 7 through February have been suspended for now, pending a reassessment. It is anticipated recommencement of the services will be sorted in the new year.”

Isle of Man-based airline Manx2.com has recently been hit by fierce competition from budget flight provider EasyJet.

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Comments(11)

Myron Blatz says...
10:09am Thu 22 Nov 12

Not easy, when the main airports offer more choice, with excellent coach services to Gatwick and Heathrow - though atrocious links to Birmingham airport, even though closer.

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sablond oxford says...
10:28am Thu 22 Nov 12

I take it the peole that want more flights (inc the business development director) don't live on the flight path.
What benefits has the expansion got for the people of Kidlington...NONE!

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mytaxes says...
10:55am Thu 22 Nov 12

I could not agree more sablond!

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Myron Blatz says...
11:16am Thu 22 Nov 12

Missing the point - this not about what the locals might or might not want, but all about profits for those who own and run the airport. Surely the site would be better-served by building a large councul or social housing estate to meet the needs of the people?

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Andrew:Oxford says...
2:51pm Thu 22 Nov 12

sablond oxford wrote:
I take it the peole that want more flights (inc the business development director) don't live on the flight path.
What benefits has the expansion got for the people of Kidlington...NONE!
A massive improvement to public transport infrastructure is the benefit.

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DuncanB says...
4:13pm Thu 22 Nov 12

That's a pity. We flew from Oxford to Jersey about a month ago and it was a lot more civilised than the usual low-cost cattle trucks.

I can believe that numbers drop off significantly in winter, but perhaps they need to work harder advertising the flights: most people I've talked to were completely unaware that there were any flights direct form Oxford.

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Pavinder Msvarensy says...
6:38pm Thu 22 Nov 12

It is not surprising that passenger numbers are down when a sunday to sunday return is £200 and the flight times mean that you lose 2 days of your holiday as well. Also the same flights are less than half with a few other airlines.

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King Joke says...
6:45pm Thu 22 Nov 12

Let's face it, Jersey is a dead-end destination in transport terms, so is always going to see limited demand.

Munich, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Dublin, and Edinburgh are more useful as business destinations in their own right, but also as hubs to visit other towns in Bavaria, Holland, Denmark etc. These new destinations might see better, and less seasonal, demand.

With Heathrow so close, Oxford Airport will have to distinguish themselves somehow to compete - how about 15-min check in instead of two hours for European destinations?

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Myron Blatz says...
7:33pm Thu 22 Nov 12

Why pollute the air quality over Kidlington even more, with commercial passenger flights? Aircraft use thrust to take off, and that interprets as burning fuel and pollution - prop, turbo-prop or jet. Add to that noise pollution from increase in regular passenger operations, and we have the sort of enviro-cocktail which people in the 21st century find unacceptable. Nor has Kidlington's overall road infrastructure benefitted from development of the old WW2 airfield, but from the expansion of housing in the area - which has had little or nothing to do with the airfield complex, nor 'carland' opposite the airfield, where motor dealers have centralised their operations - another provider of major pollution and environmental damage.

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Andrew:Oxford says...
8:07pm Thu 22 Nov 12

Myron Blatz wrote:
Why pollute the air quality over Kidlington even more, with commercial passenger flights? Aircraft use thrust to take off, and that interprets as burning fuel and pollution - prop, turbo-prop or jet. Add to that noise pollution from increase in regular passenger operations, and we have the sort of enviro-cocktail which people in the 21st century find unacceptable. Nor has Kidlington's overall road infrastructure benefitted from development of the old WW2 airfield, but from the expansion of housing in the area - which has had little or nothing to do with the airfield complex, nor 'carland' opposite the airfield, where motor dealers have centralised their operations - another provider of major pollution and environmental damage.
People complain about other forms if pubic transport too. Just look at the whining about the planned electrified east-west rail link.

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Pavinder Msvarensy says...
2:33am Sat 24 Nov 12

Myron perhaps you may well be right. We should get rid of Air Travel and the motor vehicle full stop. We could then go back a couple of hundred years when we had clean air, stayed in our villages all our lives, married our sisters and had children with six fingers. Or then again maybe progress does have it's benefits, especially if your sister was pig ugly!!

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