EGYPT: 20000 Britsh travellers Affected By Suspension Of Flights To Sharm El Sheik

The suspension of flights in and out of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt after the crash of a Russian airliner will affect around 20,000 British travellers who are in the Red Sea resorts of the Sinai peninsula, according to Downing Street.

The UK foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, said his government is now advising against all but essential travel through Sharm el-Sheikh airport in Egypt as there is a “significant possibility” that the Airbus that crashed over the Sinai on Saturday, killing all 224 people on board, was brought down by an explosion on board.

The remarks were the strongest yet by an official on the cause of the crash. US officials have also suggested a bomb was planted on the plane by Islamic State (Isis) or an Isis affiliate, according to several media reports citing unnamed sources.

Two US officials and one European official said that intelligence reporting is leaning toward terrorism as a cause of the crash, but cautioned there was no conclusive proof yet.

The unilateral decision to delay the flights comes as David Cameron and Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, the Egyptian president, are due to hold talks in Downing Street.

Both Egypt and Russia have downplayed suggestions that the crash is linked to terrorism and dismissed claims of responsibility by an Islamist group in Sinai. Egypt’s foreign minister attacked the UK’s suspension of flights as a “premature and unwarranted” step which would damage his country’s tourism industry.

The British government flew additional consular staff to Sharm on Wednesday to help holidaymakers who might be stranded following its decision to halt all flights to the UK pending security checks at the airport.

EasyJet, Thomson Airways, Thomas Cook and British Airways were among companies cancelling all flights to and from the Red Sea resort, following the Foreign Office warning against “all but essential” travel.

Travel agents with customers in the Red Sea resorts said they were talking to the Foreign Office to assess the situation for holidaymakers.

“We are liaising with the UK government about the halt to flights in and out of Sharm el-Sheikh airport and how we can assist our members and customers in resort, or those due to travel out,” said a spokesperson for the Association of British Travel Agents (Abta). “We will provide further updates when they are available.”

The plane had taken off from Sharm el-Sheikh early on Saturday morning and disappeared from the radar about 25 minutes later, at around 6.20am local time. Everyone on board was killed.

The UK has intervened despite playing no part in the crash’s official investigation committee, which is formed from representatives from Ireland, Russia, France and Germany. Ireland later followed the UK’s lead and suspended flights to the same airport.

A Downing Street spokesperson said: “We recognise that this information may cause concern for those in Sharm and indeed for those planning to travel to Sharm in the coming days.

“We have deployed extra consular staff to Sharm who will be on hand at the airport, working with the airlines, to assist British holidaymakers there. For others, either in resorts at Sharm or planning a holiday to Sharm in the coming days, our advice is to contact your airline or tour operator.”

An Abta spokesperson said: “Most insurance policies will still provide cover for holidaymakers in a country at the time of FO advice change.

“Those with holidays booked within the next 48 hours to Sharm el-Sheikh are advised to contact their travel company to discuss their options. If you have booked a package you will be entitled to a refund or alternative holiday.

“If you are not travelling within the next 48 hours you will need to check with your travel company as to what your options are and follow their advice.

“Those people with bookings beyond this are advised to wait until closer to the departure date to contact their travel company as the situation is reviewed.”

EasyJet said it had cancelled flights and would keep future services “under review pending further advice from the government”.

“Passengers booked to travel to Sharm el-Sheikh in the next two weeks are able to request a refund, or change their flights to an alternative date or destination free of charge. We are doing all possible to keep all affected passengers informed and have provided hotel rooms for those delayed overnight on Wednesday evening. We are working with the UK government to work out the basis upon which easyJet can fly passengers in Sharm el-Sheikh back home.”

Thomson Airways, along with First Choice, confirmed it has cancelled all outbound flights to Sharm el-Sheikh up to and including Thursday 12 November. A statement said: “All customers booked to travel to Sharm el-Sheikh in this period will be provided with a full refund. As a priority we are contacting customers due to travel tomorrow and ask those travelling later in the week to please bear with us as we manage this evolving situation.” Others who flew to Sharm on a flight-only basis should call the airline, Thomson said.

British Airways said flights to and from the resort would probably be delayed by 24 hours. A spokesman said: “The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our top priority. We would never operate a flight unless it was safe to do so.” Customers affected were advised to contact the airline.

Thomas Cook said it had cancelled all flights until Thursday of next week. It hoped to bring its 1,700 customers back to the UK “in due course” and those due to fly this Thursday would be allowed to stay in their accommodation for free; while those due to fly in the next week would be allowed to cancel or rebook with a discount, the firm said.

Monarch said it had grounded all flights and was working with the FO to arrange to fly its customers back to the UK.

Terry Wylde, 35, from Newham in east London was among the British tourists currently stuck in Sharm el Sheikh. He said: “We have had no information from our Thomas Cook tour representatives even just to give an update. But it is important they put safety first. We’re currently due to fly back on Friday afternoon and were not too concerned about it just yet.”

Mohammed Sami, general manager of the Coral Sea Sensatori, one of Sharm el-Sheikh’s largest resorts, said the move had created uncertainty for holidaymakers.

“We can’t tell what will happen tomorrow,” he said. “If guests are not flying home then either us as the hotel or the tour operators will have to find a way for guests to be accommodated. We will not leave them without accommodation.”

He said some British guests left on Wednesday, but he did not know if they had made it out on flights before they stopped. British guests make up the large majority of the customers in his 470-room hotel. He said he was “surprised” at the UK government’s decision “because Sharm is a pretty safe city”.

“We have no clear information saying they found particular concerns at the airport or in the destination,” he said.

Back in the UK, Londoner Susan Baker was due to flight to Sharm el-Sheikh tomorrow with easyjet and was trying to get word from the airline about what would happen.

“I have never wanted to go before. I just needed a break and found a few flights, but at the same time I don’t live my life being dictated by a bomb, if it was, or terrorists.”

One British holidaymaker in Egypt tweeted: “So flights have been suspended from Sharm el-Sheikh. We fly back in two days’ time. However security is more important than a missed flight.”

MOROCCO: Agadir Airport Passenger Traffic Down 4.4%, Casablanca Still #1 Route

Miss France 2015, Camille Cerf, was on hand at Lille Airport on 25 April when XL Airways France commenced services to Agadir, along with another seven destinations. For October 2015, Lille is the 13th most popular route in terms of seat capacity. However, according to OAG, it has witnessed a decrease in seat capacity of nearly 11% as a result of Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium no longer serving the route.


Agadir is Morocco’s premier destination for sun, sand, pubs and pizza according to Lonely Plant. The resort’s main type of foreign visitor is the package-tour holidaymaker, with the destination having less of an appeal to independent travellers with an interest in Moroccan culture.

This comes as no surprise as an analysis of Agadir Airport shows that six of the top 12 airlines have or have had a majority of their flight programmes made up of charter flights in the not too distant past, focusing on package holidays. Nonetheless, Agadir is most certainly not a seasonal airport with no fluctuations between winter and summer as its SVID score demonstrates further below.

Passenger traffic down 4.4%
An analysis of passenger traffic at Agadir confirms that for the first six months of 2015, it is down 4.4% when compared to the same time period of the year previous. Of the six months, the worst performing was June, which was down nearly 12%.

It is interesting to note however that during this period, May reported its best performance over the past four years with a growth of 3.3%. Nonetheless, if the downward trend of 4.4% continues for the remainder of the summer months and into the winter season, Agadir Airport should expect to see passenger levels remain just above 1.4 million for 2015.

SVID score says ‘Excellent’ for Agadir
Entering Agadir’s monthly passenger data for 2014 into anna.aero’s Seasonal Variation in Demand (SVID) calculator, the airport performs well, generating a score of 1.31 ‒ an ‘excellent’ rating. The airport’s seasonality performance has improved marginally when compared to the result achieved in 2013, when it attained a score of 1.79. Evaluating Agadir alongside the most significant competing Moroccan airports, our data elves also ran SVID calculations on Marrakech (1.63 – ‘excellent’) and Casablanca (2.64 – ‘good’).

Casablanca remains #1 route
After witnessing an increase in seat capacity of 8.4% when compared to the same time period of last year, the domestic link with Casablanca remains the number one route from Agadir. Agadir has a net increase in destinations served of two in October 2015 when compared with October 2014. This means that the Moroccan facility is now connected to 32 destinations.

Along with increases in seat capacity to destinations such as Düsseldorf (72%), Marseille (15%) and Dublin (20%, 23rd most popular route), Agadir is reporting an increase in seat capacity of 13%.

This is despite the airport witnessing a decrease in passengers for the first half of this year. In the top 12, the number one route in terms of performance growth is Toulouse, which has leapfrogged from being the 25th most popular route in 2014 to 12th in 2015, helped by an increase in seat capacity of 85%.

Condor records the biggest capacity growth
With seat capacity growth of nearly 40% when compared to the same time period of last year, Condor is the fastest growing airline from Agadir, resulting in the carrier overtaking Thomson Airways and Transavia.com France to become the fifth largest airline from the Moroccan facility. Coincidentally Transavia.com France is reporting growth when compared to October 2014 of 1.2%, helped by the launch of services to Lille in April.

However, Thomson Airways is reporting a decline in capacity of nearly 28%. The British carrier however may reverse its decreasing seat availability when it introduces services to Birmingham. Ryanair and easyJet have both increased capacity from Agadir, with the Irish airline reporting a growth in seats of 30%, while the Orange LCC is showing a rise of 29%. Outside of the top 12, the number one carrier for growth is Aer Lingus, which has seen its services to Dublin grow by 20%.

Royal Air Maroc remains the number one airline from Agadir, with the Moroccan national carrier reporting a 5.0% growth in seats when compared to last year.

British Airways Flys To Sharm El Sheikh

British Airways starts Sharm El Sheikh service.British Airways entered the Egyptian market from London Gatwick (LGW), with its first route to the North African country from the UK airport – namely to Sharm El Sheikh (SSH).

It does however fly to Cairo on a daily basis from London Heathrow. Life on the airport pair is not going to be easy, with 20 competing weekly frequencies from Monarch Airlines (eight), Thomson Airways (seven), easyJet (three) and Thomas Cook Airlines (two).

The twice-weekly (Mondays and Thursdays) service, which began on 14 September, will be flown by the oneworld carrier’s 162-seat A320s. From 24 October, weekly flights will be increased to three, with the addition of a Saturday rotation.

Colm Lacy, Head of Commercial Gatwick for BA said: “We’re really pleased to add another route to our 2015 portfolio, bringing our total short-haul network to 49 routes and 19 long-haul.”

Still to launch for the airline from Gatwick in 2015 are routes to Vienna (from 17 September) and Valencia (from 6 November).

CROATIA: Dubrovnik Airport Expecting 1.6m Passengers In 2015

airBaltic launched flights to Dubrovnik. Initially launched with a weekly service, the airport pair is now served twice-weekly, with the additional departure beginning on 18 June. In S15, airBaltic will be the 21st largest carrier at Dubrovnik, offering 274 seats per week to the Latvian capital.

Dubrovnik Airport is Croatia’s most southern airport, serving the south and coastal areas of the Dalmatia region. It has seen a rise in its tourism recently, helped especially with the city being the back drop to some of the scenes in the television series, Game of Thrones. The city is home to Croatia’s third largest airport, just behind Split and the capital, Zagreb. Looking at OAG Schedules Analyser data for the week commencing 10 August 2015, the airport will be connected to 50 destinations served by 32 airlines at its peak this summer. These destinations are spread across Europe, with the UK and Germany leading the way, as both countries each have 11 airports serving Dubrovnik. To see a further analysis of Croatia’s largest country markets, see anna.aero’s coverage of Croatia’s 2015 growth.

In 2014, Dubrovnik recorded its sixth consecutive year of growth, and in the past 10 years has seen only one year of declining passenger figures, which was in 2009. However the following year, the airport recorded its biggest yearly growth rate (in the last 10 years) of 11.8%, and ever since, passenger numbers have continued to rise steadily. So far in 2015, Dubrovnik has seen an average monthly increase of 3.9% per month, however the growth has been inconsistent, with February recording a decline of -4.9%, while March grew by an impressive 9.0%. With a capacity increase in seats for the week being analysed during S15 of 6.4%, anna.aero expects passenger numbers this year to reach record levels again, and potentially break the 1.6 million passenger barrier.

SVID says ‘Managerial and operational challenges’ for Dubrovnik
Entering Dubrovnik’s monthly passenger data for 2014 into anna.aero’s Seasonal Variation in Demand (SVID) calculator, the airport does not perform that well, generating a score of 88.7 ‒ a ‘Managerial and operational challenges’ rating. The airport ranks 39th out of the 41 airports analysed so far in 2015, lying between fellow ultra-seasonal airports of Ibiza and Menorca in Spain. The airport’s seasonality performance has declined marginally when compared to the result achieved in 2013, when it attained a score of 81.98, and also down from 2012, where it garnered a result of 79.86 ‒ which was still a ‘Managerial and operational challenges’ score. With this being said, 2014 was a still record breaking year in terms of passenger throughput, so although the SVID score has not improved, this may be something that the airport is prepared to face in order to increase traffic.

In order to gain a thorough understanding of Dubrovnik’s seasonality, anna.aero’s data elves also ran a comparison with two other airports in Croatia, Split (100.24 ‒ ‘Why bother opening in the off-peak?’) and Zagreb (6.46 – ‘Good’). From this, we can see that the two airports that lie on the Adriatic Coast (Dubrovnik and Split) show a strong pattern of seasonality, with the latter recording the highest SVID score by any airport so far this year. With both of these airports serving as strong transport hubs for incoming tourists wanting some summer sun, the SVID results are as expected. However, Zagreb is at the other end of the spectrum, having achieved a respectable score of 6.46 in comparison, due to its more year-round appeal as Croatia’s capital city.
32 airlines for S15, with only two serving this coming winter

While the schedules for the peak week in S15 show that 32 airlines will have operations at Dubrovnik, such is the ‘peakiness’ of the airport’s traffic, there will be just two carriers serving the airport in December 2015, unless of course a new carrier is announced or either British Airways and Croatia Airlines also decide to stop winter operations (highlighted in light green). These two carriers also form part of Dubrovnik’s top 12 airlines for the peak of this year’s summer season.

When comparing the August schedules for S15 to those experienced in the same week last year, the airport is anticipating a 6.4% increase in weekly seats. This year however sees the departure of Monarch Airlines and Aeroflot leaving the airport’s top 12 carriers ranking, with the former showing a 57% decrease in seats this summer, while the latter has now stopped operations altogether from Dubrovnik. As a result of this, we now see Thomson Airways and Finnair enter the airport’s top 12 airlines.
UK commands the show in terms of market demand

With 11 routes each, it’s understandable to see both the UK and Germany taking up the top two spots at Dubrovnik for country market demand. The former however has 44% more seats than the latter, meaning that frequency or aircraft density is greater on routes to the UK. The Croatian domestic market is significant, being placed in a respectable fourth spot. The only three destinations available for this coming winter are Zagreb, (Croatia Airlines), London Gatwick (British Airways) and Rome Fiumicino (Croatia Airlines). With 47 destinations being terminated at the end of S15, the extremely seasonality of Dubrovnik is obvious to see.

Gatwick, Zagreb, Barcelona, Rome Fiumicino and Helsinki make up the top five routes from Dubrovnik, with three of them also being the only destinations served this coming winter. What is surprising to note is that even though Germany has the second highest market demand, its first destination in the top 12, Frankfurt, only comes in at sixth place. Overall, the top 12 country markets make-up a substantial 89% of the overall seat capacity available this summer from Dubrovnik. A new addition to airport’s route portfolio this summer will be Milan Linate, with Alitalia scheduled to launch the route on 1 August with a twice-weekly frequency.