Dublin to ASIA -Virgin - pls come to our rescue

If you are based in Ireland and want to get too Asia / Bkk/ Singapore / KL or onward to Australia we have to fly through either Uk or European Hubs - Its a real pain in the neck but was reading today that Irsih government / Aer lIngus have agreed to open up direct flights to Bkk from Dublin for Aer Lingus and " other airlines". Tens of thousands of Irish travel ecah week to Asia and onwards to Australia and this could be the chance for Virgin to offer Irish flyers to chance of flying with a real quality airline to these destinations- Gulf air have just started direct flights to / from Bahrain 3 times a week and its selling very well and they have announced that if it continues to grow they will look at a daily flight .I feel the if Virgin are looking for new routes - here is a great oppertunity to fly to these routes - especially Bkk due to the huge demand for the Irish to travel to Thailand - any of you guys have any thoughts on this issue

Cheers
Keith

Originally posted by porsche911
If you are based in Ireland and want to get too Asia / Bkk/ Singapore / KL or onward to Australia we have to fly through either Uk or European Hubs - Its a real pain in the neck but was reading today that Irsih government / Aer lIngus have agreed to open up direct flights to Bkk from Dublin for Aer Lingus and " other airlines". Tens of thousands of Irish travel ecah week to Asia and onwards to Australia and this could be the chance for Virgin to offer Irish flyers to chance of flying with a real quality airline to these destinations- Gulf air have just started direct flights to / from Bahrain 3 times a week and its selling very well and they have announced that if it continues to grow they will look at a daily flight .I feel the if Virgin are looking for new routes - here is a great oppertunity to fly to these routes - especially Bkk due to the huge demand for the Irish to travel to Thailand - any of you guys have any thoughts on this issue

I have no problem with connecting via LHR to connect with other flights espically from ORK and in fact i think the connecting flights espically to LHR with EI connect very well with other flights to all over the world.

As for VS flying from DUB to anywhere, It aint going to happen. The nearest that DUB will and gets to VS is for Maintance up there.

Also i think VS would consider LHR-BKK well before any route from DUB to anywhere (except for repositioning flights after maintance). And i don't think that VS will start BKK any time soon. Too much competition in my opinion.

If i want to get to BKK i would have no problem going ORK-LHR-BKK (with BA or Thai) or even ORK-LHR-SIN-BKK with SQ to earn tier points[y]. It wouldn't bother me by doing many other ways too except if it was on EI, espically on their 330's[:$]

Nice this is for Virgin (in terms of revenue) and for Irish passengers (cheaper fares) why would the Irish Government negotiate for air traffic rights between DUB and BKK only to give the profits away to a "foreign airline" by granting it fifth freedom rights ?
Aer Lingus (and Ryanair) would protest on nationalistic grounds.

VS cannot fly to SIN on the grounds of non-compete routes with SQ which owns 49% of VS. Thats why VS flys to SYD via HKG.

I suppose if there is an agreement with the BKK Route it would mean Aer Lingus (bloody awful long haul)would probably share with Thai (very good airline). The strange thing is Gulf Air fly to Bahrain and Aer Lingus do not, so why would this not open the door for Virgin to get a new route to the Far East - Aer Lingus go private, I think, this year sometime which will open the market for "free competition"

oh sorry about the spelling above but i was typing too quick - sorry about that but was getting a little excited - lol

I did the corrections for you Porsche911. For future reference, if you want to go back and edit/change a post, you can do so by clicking on the edit icon above your post that looks like a 'pen and paper'

cheers sailor - I will remember that - just was getting carried away typing and not looking at the screen

Originally posted by porsche911
I suppose if there is an agreement with the BKK Route it would mean Aer Lingus (bloody awful long haul)would probably share with Thai (very good airline). The strange thing is Gulf Air fly to Bahrain and Aer Lingus do not, so why would this not open the door for Virgin to get a new route to the Far East - Aer Lingus go private, I think, this year sometime which will open the market for "free competition"

It's not strange at all. Gulf air have the support of their hub and connecting flights, Espically from JNB as the flight to DUB-bahrain-JNB. GF have a middle eastern hub, VS OR EI dont

Oh I see- Well I suppose it just means we will have to transit through other European hubs till a good 4/5* airline decides to start direct flights from Dublin- Going back some time most transits were made via London - However I have noticed a trend of airlines /agents / on line booking firms offering cheaper fares via Euro hubs rather than the uk. Recently I was pricing both first and raffels class for next October with Sia and they offered me cheaper options to fly via Paris / Amsterdam or Frankfurt rather than London or Manchester. I think there seems to be that some Airlines are looking to move a lot of transfer passangers away from the Uk.

Maybe its just they can fil the seats with higher paying Uk based customers. A typical example was 12 months ago Myself and a business partner had to go to Bkk lasf Feb (2005). He is based in Belfast and contacted BA for club class seats from belfast vis heathrow to Bkk - I did the same vis Dublin throught Heathrow- The exact same arrival times and evening flight to Bkk- My flight was over 1500 euros cheaper - needless to say he flew from Dublin - Why is this?

[preiffer]

It's not necessarily to move traffic away from London, Keith - more that they struggle to get the passenger volumes through their Euro hubs.

Since it's not economical to send empty planes, as you quite rightly point out, flights from European hubs are often cheaper than those in higher demand - ie: through London.

[honey lamb]

Originally posted by porsche911
Oh I see- Well I suppose it just means we will have to transit through other European hubs till a good 4/5* airline decides to start direct flights from Dublin-

Quite frankly DUB does not have the capability to deal with what it has let alone the demands made on it by a 4/5* airline. It seems OK if you happen to be there in between the banks of incoming/outgoing flights but all it takes is a couple of American flights and a few charters and it simply cannot cope. I've waited an hour in the taxi line; I've wandered around in a four hour layover looking for somewhere to sit; I've queued for ages in their new style security which, thanks to an EU audit, makes TSA look like a walk in the park.

In the departure area the last time I was in Pier B where most of the long-haul flights leave from it was appallingly scruffy. Even Pier A which is constantly spewing out Ryanair passengers is cleaner and brighter. As for Pier C, although I have seen an A300 parked there it was not really designed for wide-bodies. I know there are lounge areas but as I have never been in them in DUB, I can't comment.

My point in this diatribe is that, in its current state DUB is not going to attract the likes of VS who sell a whole package around the Virgin experience until the second terminal is built and it can offer facilities similar to other VS airports

Honey - I have to agree totally with you - Dublin Airport is a dump - In fact probably one of the worst airports in Europe considering the "Celtic Tiger". awfull service / food / overall appalling service has left us with a joke of an airport/ As for the new terminal - time will see what will happen as some very wealthy individuals wanted to build a second airport which would have made more sense and turn Dublin into an International - The volume is there for the taking - just too much red tape and crap going on between Aer Riante and the government- Saying that - Dublin is more organised that Shanghai - now thats another story

Porsche - when you say Shanghai I assume you mean Hong Qiao, which is pretty dire (which is why they built Pu Dong). If it's Pu Dong you mean I have to disagree. Now they have got SARs out the way itÕs clean, airy and pleasant. The lounges are not much to write home about, but functional. Immigration can be a bit of a wait, but c/f this to some other counties (including the UK for non-EU residents) and it looks positively fast, especially for a communist country! Shops arenÕt much to be honest.

Pu Dong - Well maybe I just got it a a bad time but I thought it was the most unorganised place I have ever been in - OK pleanty of open spaces once you get into the departure lounge - the singapore airlines club lounge was filthy- first time i have ever seen and sia like that - passangers just shove and push their way around - crazy security lines - just a huge glass warehouse to be honest - Heathrow which I know gets bad press sometimes makes it look like KNock Airport

[preiffer]

Keith - can - we - please - talk - without - dashes?

Originally posted by porsche911
- passangers just shove and push their way around - crazy security lines

Queuing is not really part of the Chinese culture, but pushing and shoving most certainly is! If you go there, I am afraid this is something you have to get used to.

The lounge should not have been dirty, and I have not come across that there - as you say maybe a once off.

What is knock airport?

[preiffer]

Originally posted by sailor99
What is knock airport?

Jeremy,

Knock Airport is in Ireland, near the west coast. Ryanair/Easyjet/bmi baby served... [:0]

Originally posted by porsche911
The strange thing is Gulf Air fly to Bahrain and Aer Lingus do not, so why would this not open the door for Virgin to get a new route to the Far East - Aer Lingus go private, I think, this year sometime which will open the market for "free competition"

I think you will find that Aer Lingus has the right to fly DUB-BAH but chooses not to. While I am a supportor of free competition and indeed everyone flies everywhere in the US thanks to free competition, it has not done the US airlines any good necessarily.

Hey Sailor, you have not lived till you have flown through "Knock International Airport". hehe. http://www.knockairport.com/
Its a small airport based in Co Mayo with "big plans". Not sure how successful they will be now to be honest as there not a lot up there and it maybe some time before we see a Virgin 747-400 landing there.

[honey lamb]

Originally posted by porsche911
Hey Sailor, you have not lived till you have flown through "Knock International Airport". hehe. http://www.knockairport.com/
Its a small airport based in Co Mayo with "big plans". Not sure how successful they will be now to be honest as there not a lot up there and it maybe some time before we see a Virgin 747-400 landing there.

Actually it is quite a nice little airport, although if you pass it on the road it is very hidden and you could easily miss the turn off. It was built by the parish priest of Knock (I kid you not!) against government advice/help/support/approval on what was described as "a foggy, boggy field". He wanted to turn Knock into a place of pilgrimage (the Pope had visited there in 1979) but Ryanair found a niche market in funerals! Up till then anyone from the west of Ireland trying to get home for a funeral had to endure an extra 4-6 hours travelling from DUB or SNN where the public transport connections were deplorable.

just too much red tape and crap going on between Aer Riante and the government-

Not to be picky but Aer Rianta ceased to exist over a year ago. It is now the Dublin Airport Authority.

well its fair play to the priest. pity we cannot get him to do somethng about Dublin airport

New route announced to South Africa from Dublin - not sure what airline as yet

Originally posted by porsche911
New route announced to South Africa from Dublin - not sure what airline as yet

What is the source, if possible with a link please.

Thanks