Airs and Places
Jan Emery talks on new routes for Aberdeen
 The choice of destinations from Aberdeen Airport is vitally important to the local economy. Not only is it essential to ensure members of the business community reach the places they need to go swiftly and efficiently but limited tourist destinations could impact on the staff they are able to recruit.
Last year Jan Emery took up the new post of Marketing and Aeronautical Manager giving Aberdeen Airport, for the first time, a dedicated professional fighting for its own routes.
Until her appointment, Aberdeen had been looked after by BAA staff in Edinburgh and Glasgow and her arrival could hardly have been more timely.
Within months FlyGlobespan had collapsed leaving major gaps on the destination map. FlyGlobespan was a major player in Aberdeen operating a year-round service to Tenerife and this summer was due to fly to Benidorm, Dubrovnik, Paphos, Dalaman, Faro, Malaga and Palma.
It was a tribute to the efforts of Jan and her colleagues at Aberdeen Airport - and a clear indication of the recognition of its potential by operators - that almost half the destinations were rapidly taken over by Thomas Cook, First Choice and Thomson in spite of significant hurdles to overcome.
“It happened at the worst possible time, just before Christmas and obviously there was a big financial impact on the airport,” said Jan.
“However the reason it has been so difficult to fill the flights is not that carriers don’t recognise the size and value of the market and the opportunity but generally speaking they work 10-14 months ahead of the game. By Christmas they had already acquired any new aircraft, plans were all scheduled, brochures printed and hotels organised.
“The fact that these companies took over almost half the destinations was a huge thing.”
Work has continued to add to the destinations and by next summer it is hoped they will have surpassed the number in place before the FlyGlobespan collapse.
Thomas Cook has agreed to extend its services next year and Barrhead Travel has just announced it is putting on a Malaga flight.
In fact negotiations are currently underway with 22 different airlines and while holiday destinations are important European hub destinations are the key focus.
“A huge part of our strategy in Aberdeen is to secure good flight programmes to new hubs,” said Jan.
“We need to go to Frankfurt, Brussels is very important and so is Madrid. They are critical because if you want to go to Australasia, Thailand or the States you either have to go to Heathrow, Charles de Gaulle, Brussels or Frankfurt. You have to go to a hub. Take Brussels for example - although a fair number of passengers use the Edinburgh service to go to the European Commission the primary reason Brussels is important for Aberdeen is because it is the biggest and strongest hub for connections down to West Africa and its oil and gas industry.
“Madrid is a fantastic city break destination but from the business perspective the Spanish capital is incredibly important for connecting to South America and the energy interests down there.
“At the moment passengers have to go Heathrow - Madrid - South America and we are working on a connection to Madrid - South America. European hubs are absolutely central to the focus of our attention although if we get one or two out of the 22 we will be doing pretty well.
“We had a feasibility study completed recently and part of that process was consulting with all the stakeholders, particularly corporate stakeholders, because obviously the balance of this airport is slightly more business passengers than it is leisure.
“It is important we speak to both of those groups to understand their perceptions. One of the big things that came out from the corporate customers was concern that since FlyGlobespan failed our leisure offering has not been as strong. They were worried because a huge issue in Aberdeen is attracting and retaining talented people, often from outside the area. They were saying ‘We are a little bit anxious because part of the whole quality of life issue is not just having lots of holiday time but also the ability to get to interesting places and a healthy varied diet of destinations to fly to.’ We have addressed that and continue to try to add new exciting destinations.”
The 120 metre runway extension, for which full planning permission has been granted, will allow carriers to operate more profitably and increase their flexibility.
At the moment the length of the runway means that on occasions some aircraft have to leave seats vacant which they could sell. The additional length will not only allow them to fill these seats but in some cases use larger aircraft which will increase the viability of routes.
Preparatory work for the £10 million project has already been carried out and airport owners Ferrovial have indicated it will go ahead but, in light of economic events over the last two years, have not yet signed the cheque.
“The more successfully carriers operate in Aberdeen the more they will invest in it,” said Jan. “When the runway extension is complete it will allow me to approach carriers I can’t approach at the moment because I know we can’t handle their fleet.
However we would like to get Italian destinations and we are working hard at Milan and also looking at Barcelona in Spain. There are still gaps in Mediterranean destinations and we would like to get Corfu and Crete back in there as part of a much wider offering including Portugal.
“Perhaps less exciting, but as important, is the need to get a service into Riga in Latvia because that is going to open up the Russian corridor. When Trump International opens Russia and China are likely to be two of its biggest markets and they will come to Scotland through hubs - Heathrow and Schiphol - but the more hubs we are connected to the better chance there is of attracting them here.”
She is also in talks with major airlines from a number of countries looking at longer haul services which could bring new tourists to Scotland but would have the potential to provide faster transatlantic routes from Aberdeen.
“It is very important that we are in communication with the corporate sector and I really want to encourage the business community to talk to us even more than they do at the moment,” said Jan.
“We want them to tell us where they are travelling to regularly. Kristiansand in Norway is, for example, becoming increasingly important.
“We have just launched an initiative to work more closely through travel coordinators and travel contractors but would still welcome feedback whether an email or a quick phone call to say ‘this destination is becoming important because ...’
To allow us to provide services in the right order and priority. Jan can be contacted at jan_emery@baa.com |
