BA to put on three more flights a week to Orlando

[Susie]

Just heard on eye witness news that BA are putting on three more flight a week from Gatwick to Orlando

The reporter said that BA hopes this will help transform a stagnant market into a vibrant one

It would be the icing on the cake if Virgin countered with a price war cut ! lets hope so as so many of our business's are affected by the down turn in the tourist trade

[DEE F]

In My opinion ,unless Virgin and the other airlines take a good long look at their prices there will be even less Brits visiting ,and Mickey will be spending Christmas by hisself.My sister-in-law her husband and 2 daughters were going to come and stay with us for Christmas,until they got a quote from Virgin,it was almost 4000 pounds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!How can the airlines justify that sort of money,it is a joke,what with the frosty reception at POE and the ludicrously high flight prices,is it any wonder that people are looking elsewhere for holiday destinations.They are not doing themselves any favours at all. IMHO.

Dee xxxxxxx

[kirtida8]

Fingers crossed, but somehow I don't think it will happen without a change in the attitude at POE.

[tracifrost]

Dee, get them to fly over on a chartered flight as opposed to a scheduled airline, ie BA, Virgin etc,
my parents are flying over near xmas and the flights are just over 243.00 each! that is flydrive, but its flying with mytravel.

[DEE F]

Fingers crossed, but somehow I don't think it will happen without a change in the attitude at POE.Hi Kay,yes and their attitude has really got to change for the better as well,its bad enough having to pay a fortune to come here,and then to be grilled by some power mad person at Poe,and treated like a criminal,with never an apology or a by or leave,I dont think so do you,they need training in people management,whether they will get it is anybodys guess,as it stands at the moment,people are less likely to want to shell out a fortune in airfares,they definately need to dust off the welcome mat,and quick.

Dee xxx

[DEE F]

Dee, get them to fly over on a chartered flight as opposed to a scheduled airline, ie BA, Virgin etc,
my parents are flying over near xmas and the flights are just over 243.00 each! that is flydrive, but its flying with mytravel.Hi Traci,the only problem is they have to travel on Christmas eve as my sil has a beauty salon and she is mowed under,and that is when she can travel,but I will tell her,thanks.

Dee xxxxx

[SHEILA 13]

Totally agree with you there Dee.
My friends wanted to come over and visit and it was about 3-4,000 GBP how can anyone justify that ????then pay for accomadation etc etc

[Grumpy]

In My opinion ,unless Virgin and the other airlines take a good long look at their prices there will be even less Brits visiting ,and Mickey will be spending Christmas by hisself.My sister-in-law her husband and 2 daughters were going to come and stay with us for Christmas,until they got a quote from Virgin,it was almost 4000 pounds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!How can the airlines justify that sort of money,it is a joke,what with the frosty reception at POE and the ludicrously high flight prices,is it any wonder that people are looking elsewhere for holiday destinations.They are not doing themselves any favours at all. IMHO.

Dee xxxxxxx

Yes Dee your right, maybe they have woken up to the smell of your coffee at long last ;)

[DEE F]

Yes Dee your right, maybe they have woken up to the smell of your coffee at long last ;):D :D :D :D :D Grumpy how dare you know me so well;)


Dee xxx

[Grumpy]

found this article


http://www.orlandosentinel.com/busin...,1136022.story
British Airways adds more OIA flightsThe boost in service continues a wave of new international flights at the airport.
Jason Garcia | Sentinel Staff Writer
September 20, 2007
British Airways will add three flights a week between Orlando and London's Gatwick Airport, the airline announced Wednesday, continuing a flurry of international expansion at Orlando International Airport.

Beginning March 30, Europe's third-largest airline will fly 10 nonstop flights a week between the two cities. The schedule will include twice-daily flights on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays and once-daily flights the rest of the week.

Airport executives hailed the announcement as a development that will further strengthen ties between Orlando and the United Kingdom, its most important international market.
"It shows a commitment on British Airways' part that they think they can grow this market even more," said Jeff Fuqua, chairman of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, the government that runs the airport. "They can put [planes] in a lot of places out of Gatwick, and they chose us."

About 973,000 people from the United Kingdom visited Orlando last year, according to data compiled by the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau, making up more than a third of all international travelers to the region.

But the market has been largely stagnant in recent years. Travel from the United Kingdom in 2006 was down 5.5 percent from nearly 1.1 million in 2005, according to the visitor bureau data, and it remains well below the more than 1.3 million visitors in 2000, just before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks sent overseas travel plummeting.
British Airways spokesman John Lampl said the airline is confident that demand for travel to Orlando will continue to rebound.

"We're looking long term," Lampl said. "Other carriers are there and we want to increase our presence there as well. Because [demand is] only going to increase."

In addition to British Airways, Virgin Atlantic offers twice-daily flights between Orlando and London. Virgin also flies into Gatwick.

The Orlando expansion was part of a broader route reshuffling that British Airways announced Wednesday. The changes included canceling daily service between London and Detroit that the airline had offered for more than 50 years.

The airline said the dramatic decline of the U.S. auto industry had hurt demand for travel to and from the Motor City. Lampl called it "the weakest point in our whole system."

"It's the changing landscape of the Detroit economy. We're just not getting the kind of businesses that we were getting 10, 20, 30 years ago," he said.

The extra flights to London continue a wave of new international service at OIA. Aer Lingus will begin flying nonstop to Dublin, Ireland, on Oct. 27, and Lufthansa will launch nonstop service to its worldwide hub in Frankfurt, Germany, on Oct. 30.

What's more, Copa Airlines recently added two more flights a week -- to 12 in all -- to its "Hub of the Americas" in Panama City, Panama. And Delta Air Lines announced earlier this month that it would begin nonstop service to Cancun, Mexico, in February.

Though no announcements appear imminent, airport officials say they now want to add more nonstop flights to a wider array of European cities, such as Paris, Rome and Barcelona. They also hope to improve links to cities in China and elsewhere in Asia.

"For some of these markets, it may not be nonstop," Fuqua said. "But it may be one-stop."

[Grumpy]

:D :D :D :D :D Grumpy how dare you know me so well;)


Dee xxx

LOL. wonder how many posts you have made with the word coffee in, any idea? :)

[DEE F]

LOL. wonder how many posts you have made with the word coffee in, any idea? :)mmmmmmmmm just let me have a coffee while I think:D :D :D :D :D :D

Dee xxxxxxxxx

[Dustin]

Dee, get them to fly over on a chartered flight as opposed to a scheduled airline, ie BA, Virgin etc,
my parents are flying over near xmas and the flights are just over 243.00 each! that is flydrive, but its flying with mytravel.

OMG!

I DONE THIS! SORRY TO SAY WE WERE NOT HAPPY! Was like being herded by a farmer and nickel and dimed for everything on the flight! Sometimes it is best to pay a bit more or do a bit of work on the net searching e.g. http://www.moneysupermarket.com as I have had some very good deals if you look at the right time and place.

Dustin

[Munish]

I would search a few travel sites, and the BA and Virgin sites themselves. More often than not the latter is still cheaper.

I've never spent more than that £300 (except my last trip which was £300) for a BA or Virgin flight and I always fly with those airlines. However, it's always been to DC or NY - or a multi-stop where I fly to NY and leave from DC - and never Florida (not recently anyway) and never during Christmas so you can expect that to cost abit anyway.

Since BA are only adding three extra flights it looks like they may be responding to demand so it would not have a downward effect on prices. I don't know if it is the same in FL but Virgin and BA seem to fly every hour to DC and NY so perhaps partly why is cheaper.

[lxh11]

"there will be even less Brits visiting ,and Mickey will be spending Christmas by hisself"

Disney's chief financial officer says bookings at domestic theme parks owned by the Walt Disney Company are showing no signs of a broader economic downturn. Thomas Staggs spoke Monday at the Merrill Lynch Media and Entertainment conference in Los Angeles. He reported bookings for travel in the current quarter are up over the same period last year. As Staggs put it, "I'm not saying the parks are immune to the economy. But thus far, we're not seeing any impact in the numbers." The Disney official said international visitation to the parks has still not recovered from the September 11th terrorist attacks. Stagg said international visits might be expected to increase because of the weak dollar, but difficulties in gaining travel visas to the United States are still having a negative impact.

So while flights might be up and visa's less easy to obtain for certain nationalities, it's not hurting Mickey's bottom line.

Liz

[Kitty]

"there will be even less Brits visiting ,and Mickey will be spending Christmas by hisself"

Disney's chief financial officer says bookings at domestic theme parks owned by the Walt Disney Company are showing no signs of a broader economic downturn. Thomas Staggs spoke Monday at the Merrill Lynch Media and Entertainment conference in Los Angeles. He reported bookings for travel in the current quarter are up over the same period last year. As Staggs put it, "I'm not saying the parks are immune to the economy. But thus far, we're not seeing any impact in the numbers." The Disney official said international visitation to the parks has still not recovered from the September 11th terrorist attacks. Stagg said international visits might be expected to increase because of the weak dollar, but difficulties in gaining travel visas to the United States are still having a negative impact.

So while flights might be up and visa's less easy to obtain for certain nationalities, it's not hurting Mickey's bottom line.

Liz

Well either they are being economical with the truth or this is some sort of marketing spin. Don't you find the traffic a lot less on the 192 recently

[Kriz1]

maybe the hotel are full...I know we get ads for great deals up here to spend 5 days in Disney...
I found it very busy last time I was there...April...

[lxh11]

I don't think Disney measures it's attendance on the volume of traffic on 192:) Hotel occupancy is at it's highest in a number of years, due primarily to nwe marketing and bundling of costs. Some of the programs are kids eat free, and the longer you stay the cheaper it is with regards tickets, extra hours in the parks if you stay on property. So in the past while it was more expensive to stay on property rather than in a villa in the case of most British vacationers, the trend has now shifted and it's less expensive to stay on property and get the added perks of kids eating free, extra hours in the parks.

[Kriz1]

And no waiting inline...I love the Disney hotels...sorry but the thought of renting a villa is as bad as going on a caravan holiday..I like room service...:)