Dublin routes news and general chat

DOCARCH · 23-01-2019 8:02am

Beersmith wrote: »

Do maybe. Still I think he is right there surely would be demand for a once weekly. Dublin Brazil would have a lot of irish travelers interested. Unlikely they would go through Lisbon.

Probably quite a price sensitive route....i.e. people looking for cheapest option (even if stop off).

L1011 · 23-01-2019 9:13am

It's insanely price sensitive and TAP have the premium traffic to run it. Direct would be a folly

LXFlyer · 23-01-2019 9:36am

Strumms wrote: »

I’m wondering about Brazil still, with the sizable Brazilian community here and the potential for leisure traffic a once weekly would surely be viable economically?

That would mean leaving a crew on site at one end for a week at a time or dead legging them over and back as passengers.

Not very economical.

That’s before you tackle the issues of price sensitivity.

Marcusm · 23-01-2019 2:02pm

Strumms wrote: »

I’m wondering about Brazil still, with the sizable Brazilian community here and the potential for leisure traffic a once weekly would surely be viable economically?

Not a hope that it could ever work. A very long route with (mostly) price sensitive expat customers requiring a large crew commitment (flight deck and cabin) and not very much efficient use of aircraft. Irish passengers might want to go to Rio or São Paulo but many Brazilians in Ireland will want to go to Manaus, Recife, Salvador or Belo Horizonte. For many of these, flying via GIG or GRU would add multiple hours when compared to a connection in LIS to frequent direct routes to those cities. (You have to remember that Brazil is a very large country and the prime cities are in the south east, up to 5 hours flying from north eastern cities where many immigrants to Ireland come from.) Large number of flights from CDG, AMS, LHR, MAD and FRA also limits the ability to pick up transfer passengers.

Chris_5339762 · 23-01-2019 9:35pm

Agreed. Mostly students who would slum it with 10 connections if they had to! Also on a practical note, Brazil as a country is absolutely massive, far bigger than most people realise and much larger than generally presented on a map.

theguzman · 23-01-2019 9:45pm

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

Agreed. Mostly students who would slum it with 10 connections if they had to! Also on a practical note, Brazil as a country is absolutely massive, far bigger than most people realise and much larger than generally presented on a map.

I was there myself last year and Brazil is larger than the lower 48 states of the USA and it has no Railways at all which is shame. Rio de Janeiro to Sao Paolo is 7 hours by bus alone via Motorway and those two cities look very close on the map, for the other cities Flying is the only option. Brazil have their own home-grown Embraer airliner manufacturer and these small jets ply these inter-city routes often on an hourly timetable for Azul and several other airlines there.

Living Off The Splash · 24-01-2019 1:01pm

Anyone have any updates/experiences on the closure of the Murcia San Javier airport and traffic moving to Murcia International? Just wonder if there are bus connections/transfers in place yet for the new airport.

irishrover99 · 24-01-2019 1:18pm

Blut2 wrote: »

Its definitely great progress for DUB.

Some direct to BKK flights next would help round out the Asia offerings.

That would be nearly 14 hours on the return leg.
With the choices available to in the middle east it would be a hard sell especially with the prices available now on the ME3.

The longest flight i've done is the KL-LON route at nearly 14 hours and it wasn't nice so i think i'd be one to stick to the ME3.

L1011 · 24-01-2019 1:48pm

theguzman wrote: »

and it has no Railways at all

It *had* inter-city passenger railways but they were killed by domestic flights for the wealthier and buses for the poorer. It still has a substantial amount of commuter railways and a huge freight network.

They also have one of only three Irish Gauge networks in the world - Australia and here are the others.

WishUWereHere · 26-01-2019 10:08pm

Blut2 wrote: »

Its definitely great progress for DUB.

Some direct to BKK flights next would help round out the Asia offerings.

My OH is from BKK, so we do DUB-BKK at least once/year. Personally, we wouldn't even think of flying direct. We used to have Gulf via Manama, now spoilt for choice with the ME3. And the best part? Stopping half way and getting the opportunity of stretching the legs.

theguzman · 27-01-2019 2:25pm

WishUWereHere wrote: »

My OH is from BKK, so we do DUB-BKK at least once/year. Personally, we wouldn't even think of flying direct. We used to have Gulf via Manama, now spoilt for choice with the ME3. And the best part? Stopping half way and getting the opportunity of stretching the legs.

I'd much rather go direct on anything up t0 16hrs journey, longest I have done is 16.5hrs non-stop and with the aid of a sleeping pill I was zonked for a good 8-9hrs so didn't even feel it passing by. I guess my ability to sleep on planes make me more likely to prefer non-stop ultra long hauls instead of stop-overs.

Nijmegen · 27-01-2019 2:34pm

WishUWereHere wrote: »

My OH is from BKK, so we do DUB-BKK at least once/year. Personally, we wouldn't even think of flying direct. We used to have Gulf via Manama, now spoilt for choice with the ME3. And the best part? Stopping half way and getting the opportunity of stretching the legs.

I think this is an often overlooked point when thinking about Irish routes into Asia. There isn't really a city pairing DUB-Far East, within range (ie, not using A350-1000 etc), that can sustain regular routes. So you've gotta go to hubs, and maybe there's a choice now in going to some further away hubs like Singapore. But fundamentally the journey has to be broken up somewhere, and on that somewhere lays some of the best connector airports and airlines in the world.

On the other side, I think people who do the ULH routes are either (a) travel bloggers, (b) forced to do it for work, or (c) are sadomasochists. Perth-London, Auckland-Doha or Singapore-New York (basically 17-19 hour flights) are just madness. The 11 hour spin to Los Angeles from Dublin is about the max I'd sit on a plane unless I was in a fancy first class suite.

Curb Your Enthusiasm · 27-01-2019 5:49pm

Huge delays at arrivals as I type this. All egates closed off and only a few counters open. Not acceptable.

markc91 · 27-01-2019 5:52pm

Curb Your Enthusiasm wrote: »

Huge delays at arrivals as I type this. All egates closed off and only a few counters open. What a waste.

t1 or t2 have to head up to collect inlaws when it lands in 15 mins

Curb Your Enthusiasm · 27-01-2019 6:02pm

markc91 wrote: »

t1 or t2 have to head up to collect inlaws when it lands in 15 mins

T1.

irishrover99 · 28-01-2019 1:45pm

WishUWereHere wrote: »

My OH is from BKK, so we do DUB-BKK at least once/year. Personally, we wouldn't even think of flying direct. We used to have Gulf via Manama, now spoilt for choice with the ME3. And the best part? Stopping half way and getting the opportunity of stretching the legs.

Same for me and travelling with 2 Kids, it is nice to get off the plane and stretch your legs and the Kids get some excitement out of the idea of going to another country before Thailand.

The difference now compared to when Gulf was the only choice is amazing.
Possibly the worst long haul flight i've had was with them when half the plane(not me)threw all their meal trays in the galley because they still had not been collected after 1 hour.

Tabnabs · 28-01-2019 1:58pm

Curb Your Enthusiasm wrote: »

Huge delays at arrivals as I type this. All egates closed off and only a few counters open. Not acceptable.

Went through at 6.30pm and all was well, egates all open and short queues for manual checks.

Locker10a · 29-01-2019 6:09pm

Anyone know more details on the KLM/Stobart deal? Will it be full KLM service with the aircraft in KLM livery ?

mx5ire · 30-01-2019 2:53pm

irishrover99 wrote: »

Same for me and travelling with 2 Kids, it is nice to get off the plane and stretch your legs and the Kids get some excitement out of the idea of going to another country before Thailand.

The difference now compared to when Gulf was the only choice is amazing.
Possibly the worst long haul flight i've had was with them when half the plane(not me)threw all their meal trays in the galley because they still had not been collected after 1 hour.

Funny, i am the opposite to this. Have spent may years back and forth to BKK, KUL, HKG, SIN etc and had to do them all as connections obviously. I definitely think the ME3 options are good, and have used them all, and also AMS, LHR and CDG etc, but to be able to take 1 flight and no connection to get to BKK (i wish) or HKG is brilliant. In April we will be going to Hong Kong, and are really looking forward to the direct Cathay flight.

Nice as Doha or Dubai etc might be for connections, particularly compared to LHR or CDG, i hate the hanging around after a 7 odd hour flight from DUB, looking at shops that i wont buy anything in, trying to decide whether to eat or not when you get fed on both flight legs anyway etc etc. And then you have to get back another plane for another 7 odd hours.

I much prefer to get 1 flight, sit down, watch some movies, doze, read a book / kindle, and arrive at the destination. Direct to HKG is 12 hours, its 13 back. Stopping in the middle east leads to longer a total flying time and overall journey time. Not sure i would like to go longer than 14 hours though, unless it was in business.

irishrover99 · 31-01-2019 3:54pm

mx5ire wrote: »

Funny, i am the opposite to this. Have spent may years back and forth to BKK, KUL, HKG, SIN etc and had to do them all as connections obviously. I definitely think the ME3 options are good, and have used them all, and also AMS, LHR and CDG etc, but to be able to take 1 flight and no connection to get to BKK (i wish) or HKG is brilliant. In April we will be going to Hong Kong, and are really looking forward to the direct Cathay flight.

Nice as Doha or Dubai etc might be for connections, particularly compared to LHR or CDG, i hate the hanging around after a 7 odd hour flight from DUB, looking at shops that i wont buy anything in, trying to decide whether to eat or not when you get fed on both flight legs anyway etc etc. And then you have to get back another plane for another 7 odd hours.

I much prefer to get 1 flight, sit down, watch some movies, doze, read a book / kindle, and arrive at the destination. Direct to HKG is 12 hours, its 13 back. Stopping in the middle east leads to longer a total flying time and overall journey time. Not sure i would like to go longer than 14 hours though, unless it was in business.

I have flown KL to London at nearly 14 hours and BKK to AMS 12.5 hours and did not really enjoy them( both old 747s), so their is no way i'd risk flying that long with my kids still been young, 4 and 6 ATM.
You never know what could happen and the chance to get off has really helped me in the past.
A few years ago both of my kids didn't have a great first flight,just from tiredness and getting off in Abu Dhabi and been able to get them into the courtesy prams that are available was a real life saver. They slept for 2+ hours and the second flight then was a breeze.

I've also found no benefit personally from doing those long flights as i have always been just as tired after them compared to getting a connection mid way through the journey.

Maybe if i had the choice of a A380 non stop to Dublin, that would change my mind but the thoughts of sitting on a 787 for that long doesn't appeal to me anymore.

IQO · 31-01-2019 10:53pm

VG31 wrote: »

Hainan are launching direct flights to Shenzhen on 25 February 2019.

Monday & Friday
Boeing 787-9
HU756: DUB 09:00 - SZX 05:30
HU755: SZX 01:30 - DUB 07:00

It's bookable now on their site. It's unusually short notice for a new long-haul route launch.

Many return trips now available for around 350 EUR: https://www.secretflying.com/posts/dublin-ireland-to-shenzhen-china-for-only-e353-roundtrip/

Keep in mind the Chinese visa policy though.

Cloudio9 · 01-02-2019 6:38am

Looks like Ethiopian are pulling out of Dublin..... not that it impacts passengers in Ireland. All US routes seem to be routing via West Africa going forward.

LXFlyer · 01-02-2019 7:36am

Cloudio9 wrote: »

Looks like Ethiopian are pulling out of Dublin..... not that it impacts passengers in Ireland. All US routes seem to be routing via West Africa going forward.

That's a somewhat misleading statement I would suggest.

While Ethiopian re-routed their Addis Ababa-LAX flight to operate via Lomé in Togo in West Africa in December, they started a Dublin-Madrid-Addis Ababa service in its place - which is continuing to operate.

What they have announced is that they are restructuring their US network and as part of this the Addis Ababa-Washington route which currently has a technical stop in Dublin, is going to be re-routed to operate via Abidjan in Ivory Coast (with full rights).

There is no mention of any planned changes to the Addis Ababa-Toronto flights which currently operate westbound with a technical stop in Dublin.

Incidentally they are now dropping LAX as a destination altogether and replacing it with Houston.

Full details here:
https://www.ethiopianairlines.com/corporate/media/media-relations/press-release/detail/1062

Shn99 · 01-02-2019 8:56am

LXFlyer wrote: »

That's a somewhat misleading statement I would suggest.

While Ethiopian re-routed their Addis Ababa-LAX flight to operate via Lomé in Togo in West Africa in December, they started a Dublin-Madrid-Addis Ababa service in its place - which is continuing to operate.

What they have announced is that they are restructuring their US network and as part of this the Addis Ababa-Washington route which currently has a technical stop in Dublin, is going to be re-routed to operate via Abidjan in Ivory Coast (with full rights).

There is no mention of any planned changes to the Addis Ababa-Toronto flights which currently operate westbound with a technical stop in Dublin.

Incidentally they are now dropping LAX as a destination altogether and replacing it with Houston.

Full details here:
https://www.ethiopianairlines.com/corporate/media/media-relations/press-release/detail/1062

It’s just the extra 3x weekly IAD flights that will be passing through adibjan .

LXFlyer · 01-02-2019 9:47am

Shn99 wrote: »

It’s just the extra 3x weekly IAD flights that will be passing through adibjan .

Yes on reading it again you’re right - just the three through Abidjan!

So no changes to Dublin at all.

PringleDemon · 01-02-2019 8:19pm

That's a real shame about the LAX route from Dublin . I have used it 3 times in the past 2 years and found the service to be very good . Return trips in summer time costing approx €360

Duff · 02-02-2019 10:49am

PringleDemon wrote: »

That's a real shame about the LAX route from Dublin . I have used it 3 times in the past 2 years and found the service to be very good . Return trips in summer time costing approx €360

Agreed, used it twice in the past 2 years myself. Shame to see it go, more than half the price compared to Aer Lingus and better times.