2015 Ostend-Bruges airport (OST/EBOS) latest news

[Stij]

Ryanair press conference today: About Ostend (I asked the question at the request of one of our members), Michael O'Leary said that Ryanair is talking to the airport, but has no plans for the immediate future. It is a secondary airport, and the number of aircraft currently available does not allow to serve such airports in the near future. But on a long-term perspective (5 to 8 years), OST might come back in the picture.

A polite way to say... nope...

[sn26567]

Never say never....

[ostair]

As for the Tirana flights the minimum price has dropped by 10 Euro.
Prices now start at 39.99 Euro.

I hope they will make some publicity soon or they will fly empty.
Still no news in the local papers or media.

[airazurxtror]

The Jetairfly Ostend-Tirana flights according to https://www.jetairfly.com/en/book/flight

Four flights left this summer : 23/7, 6, 20, 28/8
Flights Ostend - Tirana : resp. 159,99 - 119,99 - 79,99 - 39,99 euros
Flights Tirana - Ostend : resp. 49,99 - 129,99 - 159,99 - 189,99 euros

The only 39,99 flight is the Ostend-Tirana of the last day - when there is no return flight later ....

Not including, of course, the administrative fee (15 euros)

[ostair]

Hi,
There is still a return via EBBR as they have more flights.

This is probably a one off due to the Tunesia flights who have been cancelled.
But with Albania as a upcoming tourist market JAF could provide package deals to the Albanian coast for next season.

Might try to the route if they would expand the flights to September.

[FLYAIR10]

A 'behind the screen' documentary about Ostend-airport was shown on local television recently. (in Dutch)

Source : Focus-TV

http://www.focus-wtv.be/nieuws/achter-d ... g.facebook

[Established02]

24/07/2015 https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 401&type=3

[3toons]

Traffic figures August 2015

http://www.ost.aero/en/passengers/news/ ... ugust-2015

I see passenger numbers in August are down on the same month last year. I would have thought the extra summer holiday flights and also the new route to Barcelona would have had the opposite effect.

[ostair]

Traffic figures August 2015

http://www.ost.aero/en/passengers/news/ ... ugust-2015

I see passenger numbers in August are down on the same month last year. I would have thought the extra summer holiday flights and also the new route to Barcelona would have had the opposite effect.

It seems that the loss of the Tunesia flights can be seen in these figures.

As for the Barcelona flights over 8000 passengers have used this line from EBOS so far.

[3toons]

Hopefully things will improve next year and maybe even a connection to the UK, with any luck!!

[ostair]

Loads of luck as so far EBOS is a JAF only airport...

[jan_olieslagers]

a JAF only airport

Discounting NHV and probably more...

[Passenger]

Loads of luck as so far EBOS is a JAF only airport...

Discounting NHV and probably more...

What are your sources for this accusation?

Tariff for OST are public - see
http://www.ost.aero/en/b2b/technical-in ... rport-fees

[Inquirer]

Loads of luck as so far EBOS is a JAF only airport...

It seems that Thomas Cook have given up on Ostend completely, indeed.

Weird, because from Liège, Thomas Cook seem to offer an attractive set of destinations for next year.

I have a theory why they can't make Ostend work, but not sure if I should bother posting them here?

[jan_olieslagers]

What are your sources for this accusation?

Accusation? I beg your pardon?

For as little as I know, NHV have their own building and maintenance base on the EBOS grounds, that makes me assume their craft use the aerodrome more or less regularly. So the place cannot be a JAF only airport, it is at least a JAF-NHV airport; and I keep on feeling the place has a few more frequent regular users. Wasn't there a Noordzee Vlieg Club, too?

[Homo Aeroportus]

Say again ....

1) Jan_olieslagers : "discounting NHV and probably more ..."
as in : not taking into account, i.e. on top of JAF there is also NHV and others.

2) Passenger : "What are your sources for this accusation? Tariff for OST are public ..."
as in : airport fees are public and no rebate applies to any airline.

Clear to land.

H.A.

[jan_olieslagers]

Ah thanks, I was really at a loss. Reading is an art...
But for the sake of clarity, I'll rephrase:

Ostend is NOT a JAF-only airport, there are several other users, to begin with NHV.

[ostair]

First of all I want to apologize for my comment.

Correct me if I am wrong but apart from NHV and some soccercharters, JAF is the only frequent user of the airport(passengers).
Freebird flies for JAF.
There is no other airline that frequently(in a frequent schedule) flies from EBOS.
Therefor my phrase EBOS is a JAF only airport.

I would like to read the comment why Thomas Cook operations weren't a succes.
Could it be that they their timings were wrong?

[Inquirer]

I would like to read the comment why Thomas Cook operations weren't a succes.
Could it be that they their timings were wrong?

Well this is just my personal take, so don't take it as a fact.

We often tend to forget all those Jetair and Thomas Cook flights from the regional airports are predominantly sold as part of a package holiday: a such, the succcess of such a flight largely depends on the commercial market penetration of the tour operator in the catchment area and let that be -according to me- the difference between Thomas Cook and Jetair.

Remember Ostend is jetair's home town (still remember Sunair?) and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the average age of their passengers on these flights from the coastal airport is fairly high too (especially outside of holiday periods); elderly people are known for booking their holidays through little local travel shops year after year, rather than directly through the internet or through one of the large travel centers in shopping centers or bigger towns. Whereas Neckermann and Jetair are roughly on a par when it comes to direct sales on the internet (I suppose?) and both have many travel shops, Jetair is well known to have the upper hand in the small channel distribution. In contrast: how many people book a Thomas Cook (so not a Neckermann) holiday through a local travel shop?

All of that contributes to the fact that Thomas Cook doesn't succeed in penetrating the market from OST successfully, IMHO.

FWIW_ If you have some time to spare, you should check the prices of the typical package holidays to identical destinations (say Tenerife) from both OST and LGG, on the same dates outside of the school holidays, once: the flight often routes through both airports and thus they are in essence selling exactly the same package at both places, yet people often end up paying hundreds of euro more from OST than from LGG! To me it's further proof just how firm their grip is on the market (or alternatively, how reluctant their current customer base at the coast is to change tour operator, even for a potentially very significant price difference)

[ostair]

I agree on that one.
Look at the JAF prices for Barcelona at Antwerp and at Ostend.
Ebos is far more expensive than Antwerp.

As for the Barcelona flights in August EBOS handled 2516 passengers with 26 flights.
Correct me if I am wrong but this means 96.76 pax on 122...
Slightly less than the Antwerp figures for August.

But what about the prices eg:

Sunday 8/11 and returning 11/11 =224.98 Euro via Ostend, only 112.98 Euro via Antwerp...

EBOS is a little goldmine for JAF...