[Tom Otley]

Ryanair closes Glasgow base

“Chief commercial officer David O’Brien blamed the change on the cost of air passenger duty and said Glasgow “simply could not bear the burden”.

Glasgow Airport said it was “bitterly disappointed” by Ryanair’s decision.

A spokesman for the airport said there was “no doubt” that the failure to replace air passenger duty (APD) with a cheaper air departure tax (ADT) in Scotland was behind the move.”

[canucklad]

I never fully understood why FR decided to utilise GLA. Their business model absolutely makes PIK a marriage in heaven.
By moving flights up the road to GLA, they diluted the west of Scotland marketplace.

Great news for EDI with the announcement of 11 new routes, and hopefully even better news for the current fragility of PIK.
If FR move back on force to PIK, I’m sure its loads will increase and employment in Ayrshire will stabilize.

[TominScotland]

Canucklad, what you propose would be good BUT I don’t think that a move back to PIK on any scale is on the cards. My reading is that the plan is to move the planes to the EDI base – hence the new routes.

[Olneyflyer]

I believe its all down to economics of the catchment area. EDI has a far better inbound potential as well as outbound. Its in a more affluent area with good disposable income and as such the one plane that is being transferred there will make Ryanair more money. I think its as simple as that. This is why all the long haul and US carriers are deciding to locate at EDI rather than Glasgow.

[LuganoPirate]

If memory serves me well, wasn’t PIK used as a stop on the way to NY in the past as an alternative to Shannon?
I could imagine, but I don’t know the area that well, that most of their traffic would come in any case from Glasgow, so I assume landing fees are cheaper there though the PDT would I guess remain the same for them as well as EDI.

I guess there is a commercial reason for doing this, but I doubt it’s the tax since all carriers have to pay it and it’s in any case passed on to the passenger. Anyway, any excuse for O’Leary so long as it’s not Ryanair’s fault!

[canucklad]

If true Tom, it’s a shame, and a bit surprising , considering that the local (GL postcode area) demographics suit FR’s primary audience.
And how many from the West are likely to traipse east to an airport that beginning to buckle under its own success, just to save a few pounds or two.
Although PIK is a bit of a trek, I must admit it’s simplicity wins me over, when I finally get there.

To answer your question LP, PIK was designated Scotland’s transatlantic airport. I recall my mate (after I told him about my family ties to CP Air) that his best flight ever was a CP flight from EDI to YYZ. I challenged him and advised CP couldn’t have flown into EDI. It turns out they ran occasional charter flights to/from EDI, BUT they had to land in Ayrshire, pick up passengers do their transatlantic admin stuff before commencing their oceanic crossing.
Apart from FR, I’ve flown scheduled flights with BOAC, Wardair and a few Canadian charter carriers from PIK. And if my plane spotter memory is accurate , my aircraft were parked up beside Northwest, Pan Am ,B Cal, and Braniff jets.

[Alex McWhirter]

PIK was a recognised stopover for transatlantic flights. Because of its favourable weather conditions the airport is also used for crew training.

In the late 1960s I wanted to fly to Scotland. But rather than endure BEA’s noisy Vanguard (a four-engined turbo-prop which BEA used on short-haul routes) I opted to fly to PIK with BOAC’s LHR-YYZ flight which, at that time, operated LHR-MAN-PIK-YYZ.

At that time BOAC was a classy airline.

[tomwjsimpson]

I do find it interesting that both ABZ and GLA have suffered recent cuts to services, both are owned and operated by AGS (as well as Southampton). This makes me wonder whether it is all down to APD or perhaps AGS having unrealistic fees/unwillingness to help airlines if/when routes aren’t performing as expected? AGS’ loss is GIP’s gain … EDI and LGW seem to be doing fine!

[openfly]

Alex….teenage plane spotting memories. BOAC VC10 or 707 on a Saturday from Heathrow Oceanic to MAN and onto PIK. All that on a standby fare of £3. Then into Glasgow by bus and to Renfrew to fly to LHR on the last BEA Vanguard flight…standby fare £2. A real fun day out. To and from LHR on my wonderful Lambretta 125Li scooter, parked outside the terminal. ?

[crookieLondon]

Lucky Glasgow.

[Alex McWhirter]

Thanks for the memories, openfly.

I do recall those days of amazing low fares. It must also be noted that there were no/taxes/fees in those days so that was the price one paid.

My cheapest ever air fare was MAN-LHR with BEA on a Super 1-11 in 1970. It was a youth stand-by ticket which cost £2.50.

[openfly]

But talking of low fares….Ryanair LGW-DUB-MAN and return, 10 years ago, on promotion, for 1p a sector. 4p round trip….the last time I flew Ryanair! Not one of their most lucrative pax.

[Alex McWhirter]

These Ryanair fares are incredibly cheap. But when you add on the extras …

Those BEA fares of long ago included the things for which we now must pay extra.

[openfly]

Alex….the pleasure of the 1p sector was that I didn’t pay them a penny more for anything…?

[LuganoPirate]

[quote quote=855301]My cheapest ever air fare was MAN-LHR with BEA on a Super 1-11 in 1970. It was a youth stand-by ticket which cost £2.50.[/quote]

Morning Alex, may I take the liberty of correcting you? In 1970 you would have paid £2 10s! Ah for those days again 😉

[Author]

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