How do charter flights work?

[telstarbox]

As Bournemouth have European football next season ( @bb21 ) I wondered if they and the visiting teams and fans might use charter flights to/from Bournemouth Airport.

If the airports aren't full to capacity like Heathrow, is it just a case of agreeing time slots and paying for ground handling at each end?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

If the airports aren't full to capacity like Heathrow, is it just a case of agreeing time slots and paying for ground handling at each end?

Having helped arrange a few charters myself, basically - yes - but don't forget you need to source an aircraft first as well.

 

[Snow1964]

Slightly more, firstly the airline has to be approved to land in UK (in practice it's just a few dubious third world carriers that aren't)

Then need to check type of plane is approved, Bournemouth runway can take big planes, (A340-600 cargo planes use it virtually daily). However the apron and passenger aircraft stands are not generally marked out for largest planes.

Need a plane, and a crew (think it is 2 pilots, and a cabin crew person per 50 passengers)

Yes then file flight plan, appoint ground handling agent, but might require immigration if they have limited opening hours.

There is not a lot of coach parking at airport either, so unclear how people on multiple flights would get to stadium

 

[45Fox]

Bournemouth runway can take big planes, (A340-600 cargo planes use it virtually daily). However the apron and passenger aircraft stands are not generally marked out for largest

Earlier this year I discovered that TUI operate Bournemouth/Barbados flights with Boeing 787s (Dreamliners), in connection with P & O Cruises round the Caribbean.
Possibly the largest passenger aircraft that operate quite regularly at Bournemouth?

 

[Bantamzen]

Duplicated below - Mods please delete.

 

[baz962]

Earlier this year I discovered that TUI operate Bournemouth/Barbados flights with Boeing 787s (Dreamliners), in connection with P & O Cruises round the Caribbean.
Possibly the largest passenger aircraft that operate quite regularly at Bournemouth?

Luton Airport could take a dreamliner , although probably not officially.

 

[Bantamzen]

Living under one of Manchester's departure / approach routes, as well as in sight of Liverpool's, I've seen a fair few European team charters. Most that I've seen have tended to be their country's region carrier, for example Real Madrid recently flew in to Manchester on an Iberia A330 although it was preceded by a private jet, presumably for the owners / board. So I guess the type of craft will depend on the team, budget and airport. But it sounds like Bournemouth will be able to accommodate most narrow and wide bodies, so just look out for unusual flights on FlightRadar24 around the time of the games.

Edit: If you take a look at Google Maps in satellite view, there's a couple of what appear to be A340 cargo craft parked there, so that's the kind of size of craft it should be able to accommodate.

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[AlterEgo]

Luton Airport could take a dreamliner , although probably not officially.

They can, but they need 24 hours' notice, likely to ensure taxiway clearances and the correct parking spot is available.

 

[Snow1964]

787 Dreamliners come in 3 sizes, and a number of other wide body planes come in 2 or 3 sizes.

As well as the physical space needed to park it, there are operational limits on mass take off weights. Although I suspect a large aircraft going to/from Europe is only carrying about third its max fuel load.

One other requirement I forgot earlier is appropriate air stairs, the doorways are much higher on wide bodies than narrow body planes.

 

[route101]

The football teams seem to use all sorts of airlines to fly for games.

In terms of normal passenger charters. We only really have TUI these days and you can even buy a flight only trip.

Jet2 blur the lines between scheduled and charter.

 

[edwin_m]

Jet2 is like many other airlines including BA, Ryanair and Easyjet, in offering both individual flights and package holidays. This model seems to have replaced the holiday charter flights. I believe that sprang up in the 1960s as a way to get around the rules that restricted airlines at the time, but didn't apply to someone who happened to want to charter an entire flight.

 

[Snow1964]

The football teams seem to use all sorts of airlines to fly for games.

In terms of normal passenger charters. We only really have TUI these days and you can even buy a flight only trip.

Jet2 blur the lines between scheduled and charter.

P&O (and some other cruise lines) do charter flights for holidays in the Caribbean November-March. Some of these run to regular weekly schedules, and seem to use planes that are spare during winter season timetable.

There are still some ski holiday operators that use charter flights too, again using spare capacity of scheduled airlines during the quiet season. There is also a 5 week (approx) charter season to Lapland late Nov to late Dec.

Many of these are whole plane charters, and cannot buy tickets for seats without the holiday

 

[JohnofWessex]

In the 90's I flew to Australia with Brittania

There was a winter service on charter to Austravel

Flight included accommodation in a motel in the back and beyond to allow it to qualify as a charter

 

[pug1]

Jet2 is like many other airlines including BA, Ryanair and Easyjet, in offering both individual flights and package holidays. This model seems to have replaced the holiday charter flights. I believe that sprang up in the 1960s as a way to get around the rules that restricted airlines at the time, but didn't apply to someone who happened to want to charter an entire flight.

Yes, in the case of the ‘Inclusive Tour’ charters that were popular right up until the financial crash killed most of them off. These were permitted as pure charters because the selling of package holidays meant, prior to deregulation, that these operators wouldn’t be undercutting on price when competing with scheduled airlines. Otherwise it required bilateral agreements. This ended in the mid 90’s after a ten year progressive deregulation process that resulted in ‘Open Skies’ in Europe and consequently low cost airlines. The aforementioned financial crisis was the final hammer blow for a dying industry.

As for football charters and the like, there are a lot of hidden costs. They will be frequently arriving at Humberside again after Hull City promotion to the Prem, but Jet2 have been flying teams in this past season. It often requires out of hours payments (Humbersides operating hours are restricted) and the respective teams will pay it. There are a number of business jet operators who charter their VIP aircraft out. Airlines like Jet2 who have contractual agreements with airports across Europe may be able to offer a more cost effective service. Eastern Airways used to do a lot of football and rugby charters, Loganair still do.

 

[ACDC]

Can Cardiff handle an A380?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Can Cardiff handle an A380?

Yes, Rhoose is certified for A380s; it's an official diversion airport for them.

 

[AlterEgo]

Yes, Rhoose is certified for A380s; it's an official diversion airport for them.

It cannot handle them for regular passenger operations though. Firstly the runway is too short to allow a fully laden A380 to depart in all weather conditions. Secondly, the taxiways, gates, and infrastructure cannot accommodate one in normal ops.

So you can divert there, in an emergency, and get the plane down (and fly it off the field mostly empty), but you can't start charter flights with one.

 

[hotelmode]

Yes, Rhoose is certified for A380s; it's an official diversion airport for them.

It isn't. Its an emergency only airport not an alternate. Very different things.

BA flew one in to check it out and subsequently decided not to use it. As I recall they used the runway and then towed it down the BAMC maintenance taxiway, it didn't go near the terminal.

The runway is easily long enough for a loaded trans atlantic flight with one though. Take off performance is generally as good or better than other long haul types.

 

[cactustwirly]

Yes, in the case of the ‘Inclusive Tour’ charters that were popular right up until the financial crash killed most of them off. These were permitted as pure charters because the selling of package holidays meant, prior to deregulation, that these operators wouldn’t be undercutting on price when competing with scheduled airlines. Otherwise it required bilateral agreements. This ended in the mid 90’s after a ten year progressive deregulation process that resulted in ‘Open Skies’ in Europe and consequently low cost airlines. The aforementioned financial crisis was the final hammer blow for a dying industry.

As for football charters and the like, there are a lot of hidden costs. They will be frequently arriving at Humberside again after Hull City promotion to the Prem, but Jet2 have been flying teams in this past season. It often requires out of hours payments (Humbersides operating hours are restricted) and the respective teams will pay it. There are a number of business jet operators who charter their VIP aircraft out. Airlines like Jet2 who have contractual agreements with airports across Europe may be able to offer a more cost effective service. Eastern Airways used to do a lot of football and rugby charters, Loganair still do.

Titan airways do a lot of charters too

 

[Skymonster]

Some of the teams that travel a lot have arrangements with specific airlines: in the UK that’s often Titan, sometimes British Airways CityFlyer, and KlasJet is also used regularly. Some airlines have an ad-hoc charters department that will arrange things, while others work through air charter brokers. UK charterers usually have to try to source UK-registered aircraft first (and only go overseas if nothing suitable is available), and I believe a similar parallel is true for EU-originating charters.

In terms of using a specific airport, yes there are the obvious issues like runway lengths/widths, taxiway and parking stand restrictions especially for aircraft types that don’t regularly use an airport (by the way its not just length and width, its things like pavement strength too). Another issue to be resolved includes arranging handling agents at both ends (they supply steps, ground power, potable water, load and unload baggage, etc). If an airline doesn’t use an airport regularly, does it have a contract with any of the local fuel companies (taking cash in a brief case isn’t unheard of)? What about customs and immigration - are they available at the planned arrival and departure times (if not flights sometimes have to go elsewhere)? Indeed will the airport even be open at the appropriate times - after an evening match is sometimes problematical if an airport closes overnight. If the aircraft is higher-capacity than others that use the airport, will the fire and rescue coverage be adequate - or can it be stepped up on prior arrangement? The UK AIP (Aeronatical Information Publication) pages for many airports detail restrictions on specific - usually large / high-capacity - aircraft types.

There’s more but I suspect you get the picture. A good charter broker will sort it all out for the business wanting to charter an aircraft, as will a good airline that is used to doing ad-hoc work.