Liverpool Chamber of Commerce
TRANSPORT MEMBERS’ GROUP
Date: 11TH December 2013.
Time: 10:00-12:00pm.
Venue: Council Chamber
Liverpool Chamber of Commerce
Liverpool John Lennon Airport Business Report
Scheduled Passenger Traffic Performance
The total traffic figure over the period July to September2013 was 1,315,692 passengers. This is a fall of 5% over the same period last year.
Month / 2013 / 2012 / Variance (%)July / 434,660 / 459,301 / -5%
August / 474,634 / 490,509 / -3%
September / 406,398 / 437,761 / -7%
Q2Total / 1,315,692 / 1,387,571 / -5%
These figures remain in line with expectations and reflect the reduction in some airline schedules, however as highlighted below, others have increased capacity.
easyJet has seen a decrease of 16% on the same period last year due to reduced capacity on a number of routes. New services to Newquay and Nantes commenced in July and whilst there has been a reduction in capacity, average load factors have remained high with a number of routes continuing to perform well during this period. Popular routes include a mix of Mediterranean and city break destinations such as Berlin, Geneva, Lisbon, Madrid, Bodrum, Lanzarote and Faro.easyJet’s new route to Larnaca commences on 2nd November.
Ryanairhowever has continued to see an increase in passenger numbers compared to last year with an11% increase in traffic levels as the additional capacity announced at the end of last year came on line. Routes with strong load factors include a mix of eastern European destinations such as Poznan, Bratislava and Wroclaw and holiday destinations such as Alicante, Malta, Porto, Rhodes and Tenerife.
FlyBehas seen a 14% increase in traffic levels for the quarter on their Isle of Man service, based on improved load factors on capacity levels the same as last year.
Norwegian have continued to experience disappointing load factors during the quarter on their new route to Copenhagen and the airport continues to work to promote the service.
Wizz Airhascontinued to see a significant fall in overall passenger numbers with a 35% fall for the period compared to last year following the cessation of their Vilnius service - a route commenced by Ryanair at the end of last year and a larger than expected fall in the Warsaw traffic which also follows Ryanair commencing this route in December last year. Combined airline traffic to Warsaw as a destination is up by over 80%.
General Matters
On Time Performance
The CAA recently released figures for on time performance for the second quarter of 2013. Once again these figures highlighted that passengers choosing to travel via Liverpool John Lennon Airport are more likely to have their flights operate on time compared to flights operating from 10 other top UK airports.
Figures for the period April to June, show that the overall on-time performance of scheduled flights (defined as the proportion of flights arriving or departing early or up to 15 minutes late) at the 10 popular UK airports monitored was 81%. At JLA however, some 93% of scheduled flights operated on time over this period, highlighting that flights operating from and to Liverpool are some of the most punctual in the UK.
When compared to elsewhere in the North West, Manchester Airport remained in line with the UK airport average, with 81% of scheduled flights reported as being on time. Liverpool’s figure of 93% was a slight improvement over last year’s impressive second quarter figure of 92%.
Arrivals area improvements
Work is currently underway to improve the arriving passenger experience. These include a reconfiguring of the entrance area for passengers arriving and entering the terminal from the main apron, to create increased weather protection as well as increasing the size of the queuing area used by passengers as they wait to clear UK Border Agency checks. Improved heating throughout the Arrivals and baggage reclaim areas is being installed, in addition to wall and ceiling redecoration and floor repairs. Work is due to be completed in the coming weeks.
2013 World Routes Conference
Senior Management along with colleagues from The Vantage Airport Group recently attended the World Route Development Forum which is an annual global gathering of the world’s top airlines and airports. The airport held a number of meetings with a variety of airlinesfocusing on the European market. Follow up discussions are expected to take placeover the coming weeks and months with possible new routes being assessed from 2015 onwards.
Meetings also took place with other airports to assess how JLA can work in partnership to push new routes and promote existing services.
Extension to airport perimeter fence
The Airport intends to alter road access at the eastern end of the airfield as part of proposals to erect a fence to enlarge the overall airport perimeter boundary in line with CAA recommendations. Planning approval has been given by Halton Borough Council subject to the signing of a S106 Agreement which is currently being progressed by the Airport, with work on site currently expected to go ahead in the second half of 2014.