Dublin Airport Bus Service Changes

p_haugh · 02-09-2020 11:40am

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Website says full schedule resumed 1 Sep on all main routes.

Ah, I must have missed it when I checked yesterday

ExoPolitic · 02-09-2020 5:26pm

p_haugh wrote: »

Ah, I must have missed it when I checked yesterday

I checked too, it wasn't up, so was a soft launch.

devnull · 02-09-2020 6:49pm

ExoPolitic wrote: »

I checked too, it wasn't up, so was a soft launch.

When I had a look yesterday it wasn't advertised.

soundman45 · 05-10-2020 4:29pm

p_haugh wrote: »

JJ Kavanagh & Sons also back up and running by the looks of it - not sure which routes though but looks like the Naas - Dublin Airport one is running

The Naas -Dublin City-Airport service has been drastically reduced, even before covid there was no passenger uptake on this route.

devnull · 04-07-2021 10:08pm

Dublin Express are expected to resume service either this month or next month and are still intending to launch a further route taking in Clontarf, Clarehall, Raheny and Fairview at some point, perhaps later in the year.

It seems however they will not be ploughing ahead with the speculated routes to Castleknock, Citywest, Tallaght and Ballymun that were originally discussed but this could change in the next 12-18 months.

Aircoach are due to resume service on 29th July on route 700. No news on 702/703.

thomasj · 04-07-2021 11:00pm

devnull wrote: »

Dublin Express are expected to resume service either this month or next month and are still intending to launch a further route taking in Clontarf, Clarehall, Raheny and Fairview at some point, perhaps later in the year.

It seems however they will not be ploughing ahead with the speculated routes to Castleknock, Citywest, Tallaght and Ballymun that were originally discussed but this could change in the next 12-18 months.

Aircoach are due to resume service on 29th July on route 700. No news on 702/703.

Ah sure with the N8 on the way , there isn't really a need for a Castleknock route?

p_haugh · 05-07-2021 12:52am

Any word on when the 706/x is going to commence (Aircoache's planned Galway routes)?

p_haugh · 05-07-2021 12:55am

Also decided to see if anything has changed on the Dublin Express website - they have a new splash page which does indeed announce they're returning this summer (no date mentioned though)

https://www.dublinexpress.ie/

soundman45 · 05-07-2021 2:04am

p_haugh wrote: »

Any word on when the 706/x is going to commence (Aircoache's planned Galway routes)?

Must be soon as they are recruiting Galway based drivers now

devnull · 05-07-2021 8:33am

p_haugh wrote: »

Any word on when the 706/x is going to commence (Aircoache's planned Galway routes)?

Further news to follow later in July is the last I heard.

Still no news on what the Terminus will be.

stephenjmcd · 17-07-2021 12:33pm

Any idea if aircoach will be resuming the greystones route ? No mention of it on their website

devnull · 17-07-2021 12:37pm

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117623636#Comment_117623636

The last I heard was they were looking at potentially late summer for it, but no decision ahs been taken yet.

thenightman · 31-07-2021 3:58pm

Is Dublin Coach running? looking to get to the airport early on Tuesday morning from Clondalkin and DC from Red Cow Luas seems to be only option as the dualway hopper isn't running at all.

LXFlyer · 31-07-2021 5:10pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117687373#Comment_117687373

Yes - their 726 service is running.

https://www.dublincoach.ie/timetables-fares/N7-bus-dublin-airport-to-portlaoise.php

devnull · 31-07-2021 5:38pm

I would say Dublin Express and Dublin Bus will be watching the numbers on the Aircoach #700 as they're the first service within the Dublin area to start back, all be it with a limited timetable but no doubt that will be reviewed based on the numbers they are getting.

I wouldn't say there is enough demand at the moment for the services not going through the city centre to restart, which is why you're seeing Dublin Coach (750), Aircoach (702/703) and Airport Hopper hanging back still with their services at the moment.

Interesting that Aircoach haven't really marketed the Galway route they just launched to people in Maynooth as far as I can see, you'd think that they would try and take advantage of the fact there is no hopper so far.

devnull · 07-08-2021 11:01am

Dublin Express will relaunch on Monday 16th August 2021.

We’re delighted to be welcoming customers back on board our coaches. While our timetable may be reduced for now, we will still be providing frequent services every 30 minutes between Dublin City and Dublin Airport.

Government guidance on travel is changing regularly and may differ from one location to another. Please check the latest government guidance in line with your travel plans and make arrangements accordingly. It is your responsibility to check Government guidelines.

You can still book with confidence as refunds can be obtained free of charge on all tickets cancelled 72 hours prior to your outward departure via our cancellation portal. Tickets cannot be amended, however you have the flexibility to travel 12 hours either side of the journey time stated on your ticket or you can cancel your ticket free of charge 72 hours before departure and rebook for a later date.

Their new route, already being nicknamed the 'Quay Express' is what appears to be a circular loop rather than a traditional inbound and outbound service, like Aircoach used to do on their 701 Ballsbridge service.

FROM DUBLIN AIRPORT T1 & T2

Airport T1 & T2
George's Quay (Tara Street)
Aston Quay (O'Connell Bridge)
Wellington Quay (Temple Bar)
Merchant's Quay (Christchurch)
Usher's Quay (Libertines)
Ormond Quay Upper (Grattan Bridge)
Eden Quay (Marlborough Street)
Custom House Quay (Docklands)

TO DUBLIN AIRPORT T1 & T2

George's Quay (Tara Street)
Aston Quay (O'Connell Bridge)
Wellington Quay (Temple Bar)
Merchant's Quay (Christchurch)
Usher's Quay (Libertines)
Ormond Quay Upper (Grattan Bridge)
Eden Quay (Marlborough Street)
Custom House Quay (Docklands)
Airport T1 & T2

The times for stops to Dublin Airport seem to be matching the same time that a service from Dublin Airport also calls at the same stop, which may suggest that the whole route is a loop taking passengers in both directions to and from the airport, so you could have both passengers from the airport on the same service as to the airport at the same time.

Dublin Express Timetable.pdf

Dublin Express Route Map.jpg

You would imagine an announcement from DB in relation to Airlink will not be far away.

Bumblebee2020 · 12-08-2021 5:52am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117719145#Comment_117719145

I cant see Airlink coming back at this stage, They would of brought it back by now when Dodublin came back. I would say 2022 for Airlink.

bk · 12-08-2021 10:48am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117740984#Comment_117740984

Would seem to be a nice opportunity for Dublin Express to bed in if Airlink don't return for a while.

I've absolutely no idea if there is any truth to this, but their is a rumour going around that Airlink may never return.

It sort of makes sense, with the new competition from Dublin Express, offering fares similar to Airlink, but with a more comfortable coach, it is hard to see what the market for Airlink is. But as I say I've no idea if this is true.

devnull · 13-08-2021 2:32pm

I wouldn't be so pessimistic about Airlink myself.

It's a very well known brand name that is very well established and certain customers will get it for free with their passes that they use for commuting. In addition it serves the main bus and rail stations.

Aircoach for years had all the advantages over Dublin Bus that you list Dublin Express has, but Dublin Bus still did and continues do do very well because of the brand recognition and the areas that it services.

Aircoach faces the biggest threat from Dublin Express for city centre runs, especially considering that Dublin Express has took their prime spot at Dublin Airport which has resulted in Aircoach being hidden out of the way to tourists.

bk · 13-08-2021 4:44pm

Maybe, I feel it could be extremely tough competition. Unlike Aircoach, Dublin Express's route largely overlaps with the 747. Dublin Express use a more comfortable coach and is one euro cheaper then Airlink. I can't see why anyone (other then free travel pass users) would take the Airlink option over the DX option.

There is also a long term question for DB to answer. They currently use old DB city buses that have already been heavily used on PSO routes and then had extra baggage racks add.ed Nice easy and cheap to do. But will they be able to continue to do this in future? Remember the newer GT's and SG class buses are owned by the NTA rather then DB, might not be so cheap for DB to get buses for this service in future. And then they have to ask will they need to consider buying coaches instead to compete with DX. They might need to make much larger investment in future, at the same time that their market share on the route is shrinking.

I'm sure some one will know of another example, but I can't think of any other airport I've ever been too, where you pay a premium to take a city bus! Usually the two options are (assuming no rail/metro) is either a cheap city bus like the 16 or a more expensive, premium non stop coach. When I think about Airlink it really is a weird and perhaps unique service. I'm not sure it continues to make sense and can compete in it's current form with increased competition and options.

GM228 · 13-08-2021 4:55pm

They currently use old DB city buses that have already been heavily used on PSO routes and then had extra baggage racks added

Could be wrong, but I thought that VG36 to 48 were part of an add on order specifically for the Airlink services funded by DB directly outside the allocated PSO fund and they worked these services from new, they were not PSO, only VG1 to 35 and 49 and 50 were PSO buses (with 34, 35, 49 and 50 later added to the Airlink fleet).

john boye · 13-08-2021 5:28pm

The airlink VG fleet has been on the route from new (apart from the later additions) like all the batches that have been used on it down the years. It's actually quite rare that buses are taken from the regular fleet and added to the Airlink fleet (ie painted up in the livery and equipped with luggage racks etc.).

devnull · 13-08-2021 5:57pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117748519#Comment_117748519

Aircoach also overlap with the 747 in terms of those who would like to get to O'Connell Street and the heart of the city centre, yet these areas that the two companies have in common in the city centre remain right in the top few stops in terms of passengers for Airlink. If it was a simple as you say then Aircoach should easily be taking the bulk of the custom from the areas both they and Airlink serve such as O'Connell Street, but DB Airlink does incredibly well in that area.

Also as GM228 has said, VG36-VG48 that are used for the Airlink service have been used for the Airlink service since they were new and were purchased by Dublin Bus outright and were never part of the PSO fleet. I do think that the fact they are just an ordinary basic spec city bus operating a premium service delivers a very bad value proposition compared to Aircoach and Dublin Express, but as I said, brand recognition, those with Airlink included in passes, free travel pass holders, and for those needing direct access to bus and train stations directly, Airlink remains the number one choice.

And the other thing is that there are some people (and yes, they do exist) who simply have used Dublin Bus for many many years and it's just routine to use them. They wouldn't even think of taking another operator. That might be alien to me or you who are people who are interested in public transport, but to the average person on the street who doesn't care about public transport like we do, they see Dublin Bus as the bus operator and get on it because it's familiar and they know the routes. I know quite a few of these people, and they wouldn't even give using another operator a second thought.

I agree with what you are saying in theory and personally my opinion would be similar but in practice it isn't as straightforward as it looks on paper and also the evidence on the excellent loads that I have observed over the past few years even where there is competition, suggests that Dublin Bus do far better on their commercial airport services than you seem to think and pre-pandemic they were far from losing money.

Dublin Express are not just going to start running on 16th and annihilate the competition. Certainly their position means they'll pick up a fair number of tourists from the airport in passing trade. They're going to have to heavily market their services to the Irish public as well and get word out about their routes and where they go and why people should use them. They're not going to be able to just plonk bus stops up in the city and park a few coaches at the airport and magically everyone will desert Airlink overnight.

devnull · 14-08-2021 8:36am

A good source has it that the Aircoach 702 Greystones route and the 703 Dalkey route will return to the road from Sunday 12th September, initially at a reduced frequency.

The services will run every 2 hours, with 8 services per day to the airport and 9 services a day from the airport for both routes. This will then be reviewed depending on demand.

The Nutty M · 14-08-2021 9:02am

I suspect Dublin Express will hoover up a lot more passengers just because the 747 is not there at the moment for heuston bound traffic. Hopefully they are reliable and straightforward.

devnull · 14-08-2021 9:39am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117751015#Comment_117751015

Of course. In the short term they really will benefit from that. I am a bit surprised we've heard nothing from Dublin Bus on Airlink so far. They should be defending their patch.

Last thing they should be doing is giving their new competitor a free run and virtually gifting passengers to them. It will result in people going to Dublin Express because they're going to the Airlink stop and there is nobody there and they just happen to have a competitor on their doorstep. And if Dublin Express are as commercially savvy as they should be, they will have plenty of staff out on the ground making sure they influence people to travel with them and really exploit this opportunity.

Incidentally Aircoach have now changed their 700 timetable to counter the relaunch of Dublin Express , the service was every half an hour from Dublin Airport between 03:55 and 20:25 and then every hour until 00:25. Now extra services have been added at 20:55, 21:55 and 22:55 which essentially matches the Dublin Express frequency of every 30 minutes, although Dublin Coach finish earlier at 23:05 with Aircoach having services at 23:25 and 00:25.

Be interesting to see what happens with fares in this battle, since both Dublin Express and Aircoach are now at €8 return too and you would have to wonder what DB would do with Airlink in terms of pricing.

devnull · 14-08-2021 10:12am

Just a note to say that the Dublin Express route has now changed from the route I published earlier in this thread. Smithfield and Heuston Station are now listed as stops, but were not in the original timetable published by the operator earlier this week.

FROM DUBLIN AIRPORT T1 & T2

Airport T1 & T2
George's Quay (Tara Street)
Aston Quay (O'Connell Bridge)
Wellington Quay (Temple Bar)
Merchant's Quay (Christchurch)
Usher's Quay (Libertines)
Heuston Station (Near Phoenix Park) NEW
Arran Quay (Smithfield) NEW
Ormond Quay Upper (Grattan Bridge)
Eden Quay (Marlborough Street)
Custom House Quay (Docklands)

TO DUBLIN AIRPORT T1 & T2

Aston Quay (O'Connell Bridge)
Wellington Quay (Temple Bar)
Merchant's Quay (Christchurch)
Usher's Quay (Libertines)
Heuston Station (Near Phoenix Park)
George's Quay (Tara Street)NEW
Arran Quay (Smithfield) NEW
Ormond Quay Upper (Grattan Bridge)
Eden Quay (Marlborough Street)
Custom House Quay (Docklands)
Airport T1 & T2

New timetable with the extra stops in attached

Dublin Express - Updated Timetable.pdf

Citrus_8 · 14-08-2021 11:40am

Used Dublin Express once before covid and absolutely loved them! I'm shocked that such a bad DB service as Airlink is still an option - in my opinion, it should be much more direct (ex, be a route such as 16 but with less stops or via tunnel but covering more areas just to make sense of the less comfortable buses).

I'm confused with Dublin Express leaflet though. It says 24/7 while they're 4am to 00.20am currently.

Another thing - I think, Dublin Airport website should list all of these operators with a short comparison table or there should be a website running by the NTA such as dublinairportbuses.ie or similar with all the timetables, operators, prices so the visitors don't need to spend time searching themselves. This would benefit the private operators as some tourists definitely are using the Airlink due to DB recognition. Which is unfair as Airlink, in my opinion, is an embarrassment.

p_haugh · 14-08-2021 11:50am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117751247#Comment_117751247

I was about to mention the fact that the initial map from earlier in the week showed the routing via heuston & Smithfield, with the stop numbering skipping 6 & 7 - meaning stops at those locations were possibly on the cards. The new Heuston Station stop will *really* give Airlink some stiff competition now

bk · 14-08-2021 12:02pm

Thanks guys, I stand corrected on the VG's being old PSO buses and are instead purpose built and purchased for the service.

However they are getting on in age now and it most be approaching time for DB to make decisions on replacing them and purchasing new buses for the service. Given the competition now, I really feel that they might need to consider purchasing coaches instead for the service the next time around. I don't think city style buses will cut it in the future for this service.

And then the question is if it even makes financial sense to continue the service, given the financial outlay of buying new buses/coaches, at a time when they would face shrinking market share in the face of this new competition and potential price war with DX and Aircoach. A tough position to be in.

I get what you are saying devnull about people being used to the brand etc. But you could have said all these things too about the BE Expressway services versus the private operators and look how that worked out. Airlink not running when a new competitor is on running, reminds me of how long it took for GoBE too Cork to get started and once they did, they had already lost most people to Aircoach.

Also while yes, the Aircoach stops at O'Connell St and is thus a partial competitor to the 747. DX is almost a complete replacement of the 747, matching almost every stop on the route, so I'd argue it is a much stronger and more direct competitor to that service then Aircoach was. It will definitely take significant market share from the 747 IMO.

Glad to hear DX have added Hueston and the other stops to the route, they make a lot of sense.

Dublin Airport Bus Service Changes

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