Analyst: Airbus A380 Manchester Airport route killer
19.08.08
A decision by Singapore Airlines (SIA) to reduce services from Manchester Airport is an example of the danger posed to regional airports by the giant new Airbus A380, an aviation analyst told Crain’s.
SIA will reduce direct flights between Manchester and Singapore from daily to five a week from November 5, scrapping outbound flights on Tuesday and Thursday. Passengers flying between the two cities on those days will have to take a bmi shuttle to Heathrow and catch a connection.
SIA is increasing capacity on its Heathrow to Singapore route by introducing the Airbus A380 aircraft from September. The double-decker A380, which carries 471 passengers, will operate two flights a day from London while a Boeing 747 will operate a third daily flight.
David Bentley, an Oldham-based aviation analyst, told Crain's that this meant the Manchester to Singapore route could see further cuts. He said that with extra capacity on the London - Singapore route in place, it made more economic sense for the airline to increase feeder traffic between Manchester and London via bmi flights and end direct services from Manchester.
Mr Bentley said: ‘SIA now has more capacity than it needs from London for the route to Singapore. Because it is in the Star Alliance (with bmi), it can share revenues with that airline carrying passengers to Singapore via Heathrow. Once it has started to do this, do you think it will go back to operating seven daily out of Manchester? More likely it will pull more Manchester flights, perhaps all of them. The A380 is a route killer.’
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