I'm going to say something really contentious...
Maybe the days of charter airlines are actually coming to an end?
Surely operators like Thomson (and Thomas Cook) could readily buy forward long haul capacity from efficient airlines like Ethiad, Emirates or Qatar? Or Virgin, or even (- even-) BA?
Just like they buy forward hotel capacity?
If you book via Thomson long haul department (Hayes and Jarvis) then those airlines are often what you fly on. Look at the great prices those companies can offer even to individuals buying well ahead, on really young, modern aircraft with great IFE and legroom.
And I'm sure Ryanair and EasyJet would be prepared to pre-sell them short haul capacity to Malaga, Alicante or wherever. Maybe those airlines might have to eliminate the boarding rugby scrum system, and maybe pre-sell meals, but it's not beyond their skills surely.
It would free the Tour Operators from the problem of heavy discounting to try to sell off spare flight capacity at the last minute, and the associated overheads of websites for it.
Well, they wouldn't get planes with their cartoon-like company logos
- but I personally feel the last time one of their planes looked elegant was in the days of the Brittania lady back in 2002.
One might argue charter is direct from home airport to holiday destination. One MIGHT, if one actually lived next to Gatwick and not near Glasgow or Newcastle.
And why try to buy (at probably incredible cost) from the USA a plane that they haven't yet proved they can successfully build and sell? And why try to keep or lease spare aircraft just in case things go wrong? The big efficient airlines have lots of planes, hence more flexibility. There's an excess of airline capacity world-wide. It just needs planning and managing.
I shall now sit back and wait for the world to fall on my head.....
- though in my defence I would say I've been a fairly happy Thomson flier for over 37 years - the staff are good people, and I've had many many excellent holidays, it's just I reckon times have changed since Benidorm was in a foreign country.....
I've seen some posts saying Thomas Cook Airline might be leaving long haul - is that the start?
The biggest problem is route networks and convenience. Charter airlines, which are often a subsidiary of a tour operator, for example Thomson Airways (Thomson / First Choice), Thomas Cook Airlines (Thomas Cook Group) and Monarch Airlines (Monarch), work on the basis they are chartered to operate flights for a tour operator to a particular destination. Using scheduled airlines is fine if you're travelling to parts of mainland europe, the middle east or America from major international airports like Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester. However, try and find a non-stop airline to many of the Caribbean Islands such as the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Jamaica, or the Greek Islands, Canaries, Egypt and Turkey from regional airports. The problem with schedule airlines is they operate from hubs that are often inconvienient for charter (holiday) needs, or you need to connect through other hubs on route networks. It wouldn't work for the general holiday market. If it wasn't for charter airlines for example at Manchester, you'd have to route via an American hub to get to say Punta Cana. This is likely to be more expensive and an extra 4 or 5 hours of travelling, plus the hassle of connecting. Try the Greek Islands, would you prefer a non-stop service to Rhodes or the hassle of flying in to Athens then connecting? Many 'bucket and spade' destinations aren't served by scheduled carriers with sufficient capacity. I can't see the charter airlines dissapearing anytime soon as they are a key requirement serving the holiday market.
Darren
Darren
Its an interesting discussion.
In my opinion there are less charter operators around these days than in the past. Over the years they have amalgamated as has tour operators and now only a few have the market.
I also think that many tour companies who operate across to North America as an example do use the scheduled carriers more and more - often trying to soften the "blow" by including reduced or free domestic flights from the regions to London/Manchester to catch the long haul.
Further, I also think that tour companies already utilise low cost airlines like EasyJet, Monarch (scheduled - ZB) as part of their "holiday package" flight.
It was also interesting in the days of FlyGlobespan - their aircraft were utilised by holidy packages booked through Globespan Holidays and others mixed with seat only tickets bought by the passenger on the airlines website.
While many of the bucket and spade destinations are not served by scheduled ops airlines (so called full service ones) a surprising amount are and they are also supplemented of course by the LCO.
So it is interesting and charter airlines/tour operators appear not to sell all their capacity for the fully inclusive traveller and seats are often sold separately, subject to any rules or restrictions they may have imposed on them doing so.
Nivsy
In my opinion there are less charter operators around these days than in the past. Over the years they have amalgamated as has tour operators and now only a few have the market.
I also think that many tour companies who operate across to North America as an example do use the scheduled carriers more and more - often trying to soften the "blow" by including reduced or free domestic flights from the regions to London/Manchester to catch the long haul.
Further, I also think that tour companies already utilise low cost airlines like EasyJet, Monarch (scheduled - ZB) as part of their "holiday package" flight.
It was also interesting in the days of FlyGlobespan - their aircraft were utilised by holidy packages booked through Globespan Holidays and others mixed with seat only tickets bought by the passenger on the airlines website.
While many of the bucket and spade destinations are not served by scheduled ops airlines (so called full service ones) a surprising amount are and they are also supplemented of course by the LCO.
So it is interesting and charter airlines/tour operators appear not to sell all their capacity for the fully inclusive traveller and seats are often sold separately, subject to any rules or restrictions they may have imposed on them doing so.
Nivsy
It wouldn't work for the general holiday market. If it wasn't for charter airlines for example at Manchester, you'd have to route via an American hub to get to say Punta Cana. This is likely to be more expensive and an extra 4 or 5 hours of travelling, plus the hassle of connecting
While I understand Darrens points - as someone who lives up in the far frozen north of Britain, I do have to take issue with comments about ease of reaching destinations via charter.
Lots of "bucket and spade" destinations are actually not provided for by charter flights from northern airports, or are done so with very limited flights and often outrageous add-on flight premiums.
Just try booking a Thomson flight out of Edinburgh sometime and watch your eyes bleed!
And lots of folk up north wanting to go to places like Croatia, or Sicily or Luxor, or Agadir or...
- are forced to drive for many hours to Manchester, OR we have to fly Easyjet or whatever to get a connection onto a charter flight at Gatwick.
I normally go to Sri Lanka each year - and thanks to Emirates I can fly out of Glasgow or Newcastle. Yes - there's a hub at Dubai I have to change at - but that's no worse (and actually better) than trying to do a change at Gatwick since I can book my luggage all the way to final destination.
I can do the same thing to Thailand, and I'm going to try something similar for Goa next year, rather than use charter.
I agree charter airlines will not vanish tomorrow.
But I do think we might be entering a new phase of holiday travel.
Nivsy is right - some smaller tour operators are already selling holidays which include Easyjet flights.
And the big operators often plan long haul already on major carriers rather than their own airlines.
Tour Operators are excellent at planning and scheduling and collecting together the pieces which make a holiday.
But they don't necessarily OWN the hotels they use, nor need they own the airlines.
Fast, flexible, planning and buying forward, might allow them greater profits while providing actually providing customers a more comprehensive choice.
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