Thomson Airways B767-300 Scheduling

[samj]

Hi all,

Bit of a random question I know. Does anyone have any ideas as to why Thomson base 3 of there B767-300s at Manchester compared to only 1 at London Gatwick throughout the summer holiday peak period? I would have thought the demand would have been higher at LGW personally or is this not the case?

Have contacted them about it, but they replied saying "We are unable to give you this information".

Any help would be appreciated!

Sam

 

[richw]

When I've been at foreign airports there always seems more flights to Manchester than Gatwick.

Does Manchester have a bigger catchment than Gatwick.

For me gatwick and Manchester are give or take a few miles equal distances to get to. I would always choose Manchester if I was driving as it's a nicer airport and considerably cheaper to park at as well.

If I was taking the train it makes no distance so I'd go wherever was cheaper

 

[westcoaster]

Gatwick did have more 767's based there but these have now been replaced by the 787's . I think there is a good Thomson thread elsewhere I'll try and get a link.

Here is the link to pprune http://www.pprune.org/airlines-airports-routes/344230-thomson-airways-113.html

They are talking about LGW and the 767 a couple of pages back 112 iirc

 

[starrymarkb]

Thomson are retiring their 767s as 787s arrive. The 787 is a fair bit bigger then a 767 so having more at Gatwick might make sense

 

[CAF397]

According to Planespotters.net Thomson Airways has 5 763s in the fleet. 2 are European configured seating 328, the other three have premium cabins, one has 31/260 and two have 63/195. Must be a schedule nightmare to have the right plane available. I have flown in the past a 767 from Manchester to Verona, I'm not sure what European routes the 763s now fly.

 

[northwichcat]

Does Manchester have a bigger catchment than Gatwick.

Catchment areas depend on the destination. Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds-Bradford, Newcastle, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Birmingham all have direct Paris flights but if you're looking for direct Orlando flights then only 3 of the 7 have direct flights- Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow.

 

[starrymarkb]

According to Planespotters.net Thomson Airways has 5 763s in the fleet. 2 are European configured seating 328, the other three have premium cabins, one has 31/260 and two have 63/195. Must be a schedule nightmare to have the right plane available. I have flown in the past a 767 from Manchester to Verona, I'm not sure what European routes the 763s now fly.

European's do turn up on Long haul occasionally. One made an emergency landing in Russia a few months ago while working an Australia-Sweden charter. Given these are 8 abreast and have tighter seating then Easyjet (28") it would have been horrendous even without the diversion

 

[CAF397]

That wouldn't be a scheduled service though, sounds like a charter. I flew Manchester to Cancun with Thomas Cook on their Airbus 330, but the return went tech and was substituted by one of their European 767s. No in flight entertainment, but more seats which meant we could spread out more. Actually in Mexico now having flown the Thomson Dreamliner from Birmingham.

 

[fowler9]

That wouldn't be a scheduled service though, sounds like a charter. I flew Manchester to Cancun with Thomas Cook on their Airbus 330, but the return went tech and was substituted by one of their European 767s. No in flight entertainment, but more seats which meant we could spread out more. Actually in Mexico now having flown the Thomson Dreamliner from Birmingham.

What was their 787 like?
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Hi all,

Bit of a random question I know. Does anyone have any ideas as to why Thomson base 3 of there B767-300s at Manchester compared to only 1 at London Gatwick throughout the summer holiday peak period? I would have thought the demand would have been higher at LGW personally or is this not the case?

Have contacted them about it, but they replied saying "We are unable to give you this information".

Any help would be appreciated!

Sam

If I had to have a wild guess I would say Gatwick is competing with a lot more airports than Manchester. It gets smaller planes more frequently. By way of comparison Manchester gets 3 Emirates flights a day, I think an A380 and 2 773's soon to become 2 A380's and a 773. Singapore and PIA I think fly 773's from there along with Etihad and Qatar. Gatwick and Manchester also share some of Virgins 744's. With Gatwik having Heathrow down the road I can easily understand why Thomson may base more 763's at Manchester. I may be hopelessly wrong. Ha ha.

 

[CAF397]

The Dreamliner was very spacious inside. I'm 5' 10" and usually have to stoop under the overhead bins but just enough room for me to walk under. The aisles are very high too. The windows aren't that big, despite all the publicity, but the dimmable windows are great. I love window seats and don't like it when I have to put the blind down due to sun glare. The cabin pressure is noticeable though. My ears never popped in the way up, and although I had a little sleep, never felt rough when I got off. The worst flight I have done for feeling lethargic was Perth to Dubai, I put that down to the cabin air.

All in all it was an obvious improvement in flight experience, only let down by a quite basic in flight entertainment system, but that was Thomson's choice, not Boeings.

 

[fowler9]

The Dreamliner was very spacious inside. I'm 5' 10" and usually have to stoop under the overhead bins but just enough room for me to walk under. The aisles are very high too. The windows aren't that big, despite all the publicity, but the dimmable windows are great. I love window seats and don't like it when I have to put the blind down due to sun glare. The cabin pressure is noticeable though. My ears never popped in the way up, and although I had a little sleep, never felt rough when I got off. The worst flight I have done for feeling lethargic was Perth to Dubai, I put that down to the cabin air.

All in all it was an obvious improvement in flight experience, only let down by a quite basic in flight entertainment system, but that was Thomson's choice, not Boeings.

Thanks for that mate, I will look forward to trying one out.

 

[CAF397]

I might be returning on a 763, G-TUIE (which I flew out on) is in the Azures awaiting an engine change. So they're one 787 down at the moment.

 

[YorkshireRider]

I might be returning on a 763, G-TUIE (which I flew out on) is in the Azures awaiting an engine change. So they're one 787 down at the moment.

G-TUIE had run into problems a few days before the emergency landing in the Azures, on 30 July on a flight from East Midlands to Cancun, it was 3 hours into its journey when it turned back and landed in Manchester due to technical problems. Wonder if the problems were related.

 

[CAF397]

G-OBYG I think is currently operating from East midlands on a Caribbean rotation.