Carlisle Lake District Airport Thread

Referring to an article in the news and star I'm not sure how they work out that it will be quicker than train from London to Carlisle when you have to fly from Southend airport to land 10 miles outside Carlisle. The Euston to Carlisle train is only 3hrs 20 mins.

Over 5 hours on the train when i'm going in August And they have the cheek to want £170 for me and the mrs (return),going to drive down.

£170 each or for both of you? Its worth getting a 2 together card. £30 for a year and you save £80 on 1 return to London.

To get to Carlisle airport then to Southend and then to London with all the faffing about in the airport would take longer than 5 hours.

CCU wrote:

ParcelPete wrote: Over 5 hours on the train when i'm going in August And they have the cheek to want £170 for me and the mrs (return),going to drive down.

What dates?

Sun 27th aug - Wed 30th i think Euston is closed that weekend.

Don't mind driving down to be honest but i will post on here nearer the time for advice as i haven't a clue about where is best to park on the outskirts.

CCU wrote:

ParcelPete wrote: Don't mind driving down to be honest but i will post on here nearer the time for advice as i haven't a clue about where is best to park on the outskirts.

I'll get in touch via your email if you want, though I'm away for a peeve tonight!

Cheers,that would be great,any advice would be welcome.

would this work in favour of Carlisle United? such as sponsorship, other investment and attracting players from the south or Ireland?

ParcelPete wrote:

CCU wrote:

ParcelPete wrote: Don't mind driving down to be honest but i will post on here nearer the time for advice as i haven't a clue about where is best to park on the outskirts.

I'll get in touch via your email if you want, though I'm away for a peeve tonight!

Cheers,that would be great,any advice would be welcome.

Dan obv knows a lot more than me but if I do it I just park at a tube station that goes to where my hotel is or wherever I'm going. Stanmore or Cockfosters being the 2 I've prob used most. The one next on the line from Stanmore isn't bad either and usually a bit quieter. Another thing I've done is drive to Darlo. Only 2 hours 20 to kings cross from there.

Cheers DB,Staying in Picadilly so they should be a tube station nearby.

Have you looked at going via Leeds and Kings Cross?

High Street wrote: Have you looked at going via Leeds and Kings Cross?

Yeah,i think iv'e looked at all options,because were going on a Sunday it will be quicker driving.
thanks anyway.

ParcelPete wrote:

High Street wrote: Have you looked at going via Leeds and Kings Cross?

Yeah,i think iv'e looked at all options,because were going on a Sunday it will be quicker driving.
thanks anyway.

Good deals to be had and direct Sunday trains from Bradford with Grand Central

Urban Designer wrote: Referring to an article in the news and star I'm not sure how they work out that it will be quicker than train from London to Carlisle when you have to fly from Southend airport to land 10 miles outside Carlisle. The Euston to Carlisle train is only 3hrs 20 mins.

Stobarts are normally quite efficient so travelling from one of their own airports to another one of their own airports should be a doddle for them.

Parking at Carlisle airport and a shuttle from Southend airport into London could appear attractive for some.

I'm very curious as to the type of plane they will use on this route. A small jet or turbofan plane like an Embraer 190 or Avro RJ 85 would give a good passenger experience but would be expensive to operate. I'm thinking they may use an old turbo-prop with a flight time to Southend of 90 minutes.

Easyjet couldn't make money on the Stansted- Newcastle route so Carlisle-Southend is unlikely to appeal to many passengers. Unless you are travelling from the City of London or from the A12 A127 corridor, Southend Airport is inconvenient and unpopular to get to as Easyjet have found out. Stansted is a far superior airport with its transport links.

Thing I was wondering is if your heading for a break in London why would flying to Southend be any way preferable to jumping on a Carlisle to Euston train?. What’s the transfer time from Southend to Central London?

It depends on your idea of Central London. Southend Airport is just under an hour from London Liverpool Street which is then 20 minutes from Euston or Oxford Circus.

Just like an improved A1 was too much for the Stansted- Newcastle route, the West Coast Mainline is going to be better for most people coming to London.

Thanks. Looks like its gonna be up against it to make it a more desirable option. Ive got a hotel booked in august at Stratford so would be changing tube at Liverpool street anyway. I may give the plane a go depending on prices and timings for novelty value. Not convinced itd be a preferred option for regular travellers though. Hopefully it is successful as it can only be a good thing for the area if it is.

Since Blackpool Airport shut down (makes me wonder where all those 10 quid terminal improvement fees to get through security went to) there are no easy links to the North West of England or the South West of Scotland (apart from the Heysham boat which doesn't run at the weekend over the winter) from the Isle of Man which is en-route to Dublin.

The nearest is Manchester there are flights to Newcastle but they are via Belfast prohibitively expensive and again not on the weekend.

Be a winner for me if there was a late flight north on a Saturday,as getting back from southern matches other than London itself,is a pain

Well I mentioned on the thread about the Gillingham replay , that it would be perfect if Carlisle could negotiate a charter deal to get to games in the south east/London and beyond, by flying to Southend.. not sure what the spend is for travel, food and accommodation for these long trips but if flying could be done for an affordable cost it'd be a no brainer ....! Over to you PK

By the time you've got out to the airport from town, boarded the flight, flew to Southend, waited for a train and then got into Liverpool Street you'll barely be saving any time than if you'd have gone by train. With flights being around a ton then another 20 for the train at the far end you're looking at about 3x the price of the normal train service.

the big difference between a train and a plane is at least you are guaranteed a seat on a plane

Only once have I ever had a problem getting a seat on Virgin West Coast and even then we were moved into first class.

I think the moaners on here are conveniently overlooking the fact that Southend pier is easy in the top 12 piers in the UK.

Fantastic weekend break opportunity

Longest pier in Britain think you'll find IBO

seesaw50 wrote: Longest pier in Britain think you'll find IBO

I thought that was me when i was on the water tablets.

franksidebottom wrote: By the time you've got out to the airport from town, boarded the flight, flew to Southend, waited for a train and then got into Liverpool Street you'll barely be saving any time than if you'd have gone by train. With flights being around a ton then another 20 for the train at the far end you're looking at about 3x the price of the normal train service.

That’s the thing Frank. You’d maybe do it as a novelty as a one off even though it isn’t much of one anyway but I doubt you’d do it regular. Cant see why you’d pay more to take longer to get somewhere. I see it says they think they’ll get 50k passengers in year one. I can’t see it myself but I hope they do.

Me n PaddockRanger know the flights from Carlisle International Airport (CIA) are chem-trail false flags to carry renditioned prisoners to secret interrogation centres

CCU wrote:

franksidebottom wrote: By the time you've got out to the airport from town, boarded the flight, flew to Southend, waited for a train and then got into Liverpool Street you'll barely be saving any time than if you'd have gone by train. With flights being around a ton then another 20 for the train at the far end you're looking at about 3x the price of the normal train service.

The ‘normal’ off-peak saver return from Carlisle to London is £116.60...

The "normal" was used as a way to differentiate between the "train at the far end" and the train all the way from Carlisle to London. Was nothing to do with price.

The "about 3x" I was talking about referred to the Carlisle-London day return tickets I booked yesterday for £39.50 and are readily available.

franksidebottom wrote:

CCU wrote:

franksidebottom wrote: By the time you've got out to the airport from town, boarded the flight, flew to Southend, waited for a train and then got into Liverpool Street you'll barely be saving any time than if you'd have gone by train. With flights being around a ton then another 20 for the train at the far end you're looking at about 3x the price of the normal train service.

The ‘normal’ off-peak saver return from Carlisle to London is £116.60...

The "normal" was used as a way to differentiate between the "train at the far end" and the train all the way from Carlisle to London. Was nothing to do with price.

The "about 3x" I was talking about referred to the Carlisle-London day return tickets I booked yesterday for £39.50 and are readily available.

More idiots who havnt a clue

Get a plane twice the size charge half as much and offer c2c a cash lump sum to include the journey with them as part of your ticket and do like they do at Exeter your plane ticket includes a bus to get you to the airport for your flight.

What i dont get tho is how can they start in June when they havnt yet applied for PP to build a terminal building and i wonder if they were the mystery bidder who at the last minute bought shed loads of eqpt and the fire engines etc from Blackpool when the loonys there shut the airport.

if you box clever you can nab a great price, went to Glasgow the other weekend for £4. again, doing searches helps. we went to London august bank holiday weekend, can't remember exact prices but was cheaper going train to Newcastle then down the east coast direct than going down west coast with all the stops. about 2 hours quicker too.

I always wonder what sort of ludicrous prices they will charge if this pathetic needless HS2 project happens

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mojo wrote: if you box clever you can nab a great price, went to Glasgow the other weekend for £4. again, doing searches helps. we went to London august bank holiday weekend, can't remember exact prices but was cheaper going train to Newcastle then down the east coast direct than going down west coast with all the stops. about 2 hours quicker too.

Think you must have been looking at the wrong west coast train Marra . Unless their was a replacement bus on for part of route.

Possibly. That was the week when parcelpete was travelling wasn’t it?

Dancingbear wrote: Thanks. Looks like its gonna be up against it to make it a more desirable option. I've got a hotel booked in august at Stratford so would be changing tube at Liverpool street anyway. I may give the plane a go depending on prices and timings for novelty value. Not convinced itd be a preferred option for regular travellers though. Hopefully it is successful as it can only be a good thing for the area if it is.

Some trains from Southend Airport actually stop at Stratford so worth checking.

I've just realised that currently the only flights from Newcastle Airport to London are the British Airways services to Heathrow that also connect for onward flights. All the low cost airlines that have tried to run services to Newcastle have just abandoned the routes as being uneconomic. Although you could almost argue the Flybe Newcastle- Southampton route is almost to London as Southampton Airport's got a good train service to London. It may just be that the catchment area for Carlisle Airport for its Southend flights could stretch across to Tyneside/Teesside if people want to fly to the London area and don't want to use BA. This might help explain why they're putting the tickets on sale early as they themselves are not entirely sure where the demand will come from and what type of plane they will need.

I think they'll be using the ATR72s which Stobart Air have which can carry 68-78 passengers depending on the seat configuration. If they run 2 return flights a day Monday- Saturday, with an average of 40 passengers per flight that would give them the forecast 50,000 passengers a year.

CCU wrote:

franksidebottom wrote:

CCU wrote:

franksidebottom wrote: By the time you've got out to the airport from town, boarded the flight, flew to Southend, waited for a train and then got into Liverpool Street you'll barely be saving any time than if you'd have gone by train. With flights being around a ton then another 20 for the train at the far end you're looking at about 3x the price of the normal train service.

The ‘normal’ off-peak saver return from Carlisle to London is £116.60...

The "normal" was used as a way to differentiate between the "train at the far end" and the train all the way from Carlisle to London. Was nothing to do with price.

The "about 3x" I was talking about referred to the Carlisle-London day return tickets I booked yesterday for £39.50 and are readily available.

Except they’re not ‘readily available’. They’re advance tickets booked well before travel (In most cases). Sold in limited numbers at each price level, on a supply and demand scale.

You’ve nabbed a great price, but is it always available at the same rate? Doubtful...

Of course they're advanced tickets booked well before travel, the same way the cheapest airline tickets are booked well in advance. Do you think you pay the same price for a flight the day before than if you booked 9 months prior?

"Readily available" as in the last three times I've been to London I've paid under £40. I've just checked another random date aswell and guess what? Under £40!

Amusing thread when getting a train from Lancaster to Carlisle is an issue... either standing room only... or the bus because there is an issue with the line yet again

There's still been no announcement on the airline that will operate these flights. The latest suggestion that I've heard is it will be Eastern Airlines on behalf of Flybe using a couple of their Jetstream 41s which carry only 29 passengers at a time. If so then Newcastle Airport will have done well to have stifled the competition.

CCU wrote: Bit of a nothing story in the N&S today, why tell
folk if you can’t book yet? No Airline mentioned officially, no confirmed Transport Links in the pipeline, not much of anything really!

Well it even made the Northwest Tonite lunchtime bulletin and they mentioned Belfast so i wonder if the plan is to do what Ryanair used to do ? Dublin to Stanstead used to pick up and drop off at Blackpool on the way. And at the end there were fights that originated in Belfast that then called at Douglas and Blackpool before continuing on to London.

Sounds like a plan to me and one that i would think would need planes bigger than 29 seats to make any cash out of it.

NS, I think the plan is to limit the losses on the passenger side rather than make money out of the scheduled flights. They have had a nice £4.95 million 'investment' from the Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership and the plan all along was to use the airport mainly for cargo flights.

Eastern Airlines have lost most of their North Sea oil business after the collapse in the oil price so last year they entered into a franchise arrangement with Flybe who operate from Southend and who Stobart Air also operate flights for. Big question is the likely demand which Stobarts themselves probably don't know. Eastern have crew bases at Newcastle and Durham Tees Valley so it might make sense to start small with 29 seater planes. I am not sure Stobart have any spare planes at the moment so they may have to lease a couple if they end up operating the route. Interesting because without government subsidies these new routes are a licence to lose money.