Exeter Airport - Sat 04/07 Resumption Of Commercial Flights (COVID-19)

[whole diary]

[Bob_Blakey]

Living directly under the take-off flight path when the wind is westerly(ish) I might not consider this qualifies as good news - 3 months+ of comparative quiet (rudely interrupted occasionally by an RAF^▸ (Royal Air Force) C70 or A400M from Brize Norton using Exeter for 'circuits & bumps' training) has been most welcome.

First scheduled services Ryanair FR2796 Alicante 1435 > Exeter 1600 & FR2797 Exeter 1635 > Alicante 2000. (A short notice EXT>ALC ticket will set you back £145, possibly indicating a pretty full aircraft).

For the moment weekly Alicante<>Exeter (Saturday) & Malaga<>Exeter (Sunday) services are the limit of Ryanair's ambition.

Aurigny, Blue Islands & Loganair services to/from Guernsey, Jersey & Glasgow/Edinburgh/Manchester are currently pencilled in for various dates in August.

[Bob_Blakey]

The air travel situation in this neck of the woods is improving / deteriorating - depending on your view of such things - fairly rapidly; TUI^▸ (Touristik Union International. Also known as TUI Group - ) have recently announced the recommencement of their full holiday schedule (5 European countries, 9 individual destinations) from/to Exeter from 1st August and Aer Lingus Regional (aka Stobart Air) are restarting the former Flymaybe Belfast City<>Exeter route on 28th August. A degree of confidence that they can succeed seems to be indicated by an initial 5 return flights per week with a stated aspiration to run daily by 'early 2021'.

[TaplowGreen]

The air travel situation in this neck of the woods is improving / deteriorating - depending on your view of such things - fairly rapidly; TUI^▸ (Touristik Union International. Also known as TUI Group - ) have recently announced the recommencement of their full holiday schedule (5 European countries, 9 individual destinations) from/to Exeter from 1st August and Aer Lingus Regional (aka Stobart Air) are restarting the former Flymaybe Belfast City<>Exeter route on 28th August. A degree of confidence that they can succeed seems to be indicated by an initial 5 return flights per week with a stated aspiration to run daily by 'early 2021'.

Extremely good news for anyone capable of rational thought. Confidence is what much of this recovery will be all about.

[IndustryInsider]

Extremely good news for anyone capable of rational thought. Confidence is what much of this recovery will be all about.

I agree completely, though there should be no doubt that the airline industry will be in for an extremely difficult time (along with other transport sectors) even if confidence levels are, please excuse the pun, sky high.  And they won't be.

It won't take much for a spike in cases (such as the one Spain is currently having) to potentially lead to restrictions on people being able to travel unrestricted to and from other countries.  Domestic flights should of course fare much better if we continue to stay on top of the situation.

[eightf48544]

Re Spanish outbreak looks like all those that rushed of to Spain will have to qurentine on arrival back in UK^▸ (United Kingdom).

[IndustryInsider]

Re Spanish outbreak looks like all those that rushed of to Spain will have to qurentine on arrival back in UK^▸ (United Kingdom).

Or not as the case will probably be for many!  Should this sort of uncertainty become a recurring problem I can see huge long term consequences for the aviation industry.

[Bob_Blakey]

Loganair commence flying between Edinburgh & Exeter tomorrow 27th July; somewhat earlier than we had been led to expect. Another former Flybe route. Starting with a seemingly random schedule the service settles down to a 'Daily except Wednesday' routine by the beginning of September. It can surely only be to the good that all flights at a particular regional airport are not in the hands of a single operator.

[grahame]

Re Spanish outbreak looks like all those that rushed of to Spain will have to qurentine on arrival back in UK^▸ (United Kingdom).

From The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

Michael Wilson, from Leeds, told the BBC the new rules would prevent his girlfriend from being able to work, and probably result in no salary for the isolation period. The couple have been in Seville in southern Spain since 19 July, visiting her family.

Mr Wilson said he felt it was unfair to impose quarantine measures on people entering the UK from Spain - due to the high level of compliance with coronavirus measures he has observed during his visit.

"On our occasional trips out I have observed 100% compliance with quarantine rules," he said.

"Everybody is wearing masks, not shaking hands and so on.

"People entering the UK from Spain pose significantly less risk to people in the UK than the 99% of the UK's population that show a total disregard for lockdown and social distancing measures."

Not sure what it's like in Leeds, but here in Wiltshire I've found rather more than 1% - at least 80% and more like 90% following the measures.  Of course, Michael Wilson is talking about Yorkshire people and as a Lancastrian, he may be right - who am I to disbelieve him?

[Celestial]

Re Spanish outbreak looks like all those that rushed of to Spain will have to qurentine on arrival back in UK^▸ (United Kingdom).

Or not as the case will probably be for many! 

Many will find they're not allowed to return to work if they have a responsible employer who is aware that they were holidaying in Spain. So even if they are disinclined to follow the quarantine rules, it will still have a negative effect on them (assuming they are not paid), but a positive effect in terms of reducing any potential spread at their workplace.

[GBM]

If I'm right in my thinking of this -
We holiday in (Spain); return to 14 days quarantine in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom).
Living in Cornwall, we fly into (Heathrow) the UK.  HEX to Paddington.
Paddington - Pnz by train - wearing masks all the way.
Taxi/bus Pnz to home.
Then quarantine for 14 days? having travelled halfway across the UK and been in contact'ish along the way.
To me that makes a mockery of quarantine.
Surely, you should be holed up at your arrival airport for 14 days?

Hopefully I've got that all wrong!

[eXPassenger]

If I'm right in my thinking of this -
We holiday in (Spain); return to 14 days quarantine in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom).
Living in Cornwall, we fly into (Heathrow) the UK.  HEX to Paddington.
Paddington - Pnz by train - wearing masks all the way.
Taxi/bus Pnz to home.
Then quarantine for 14 days? having travelled halfway across the UK and been in contact'ish along the way.
To me that makes a mockery of quarantine.
Surely, you should be holed up at your arrival airport for 14 days?

Hopefully I've got that all wrong!

No, you are correct.  After all that what are the chances that someone will come round to check you are quarantining at home?

[GBM]

If I'm right in my thinking of this -
We holiday in (Spain); return to 14 days quarantine in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom).
Living in Cornwall, we fly into (Heathrow) the UK.  HEX to Paddington.
Paddington - Pnz by train - wearing masks all the way.
Taxi/bus Pnz to home.
Then quarantine for 14 days? having travelled halfway across the UK and been in contact'ish along the way.
To me that makes a mockery of quarantine.
Surely, you should be holed up at your arrival airport for 14 days?

Hopefully I've got that all wrong!

No, you are correct.  After all that what are the chances that someone will come round to check you are quarantining at home?

That was my other loophole concern.......... 

[Bob_Blakey]

In other news...Isles of Scilly Skybus are resuming direct flights between Exeter & St.Marys later this week - Exeter>IOS on Wednesday and Friday in the opposite direction. Currently one has to get to Lands End Airport for an air service, otherwise it's the Scillonian ferry from Penzance - or your own boat! This is however most decidedly not Ryanair standard; an adult Exeter>IOS single will set you back £170 for the dubious privilege of being transported in a DHC6 Twin Otter (good views though).

[GBM]

If we're going 'off topic from Exeter airport', and in the interests of balance, you can also helicopter from Penzance to either St Mary's or Tresco from £245 return!

[Bob_Blakey]

...you can also helicopter from Penzance to either St Mary's or Tresco from £245 return!

Having just run through the booking process - as a test, I am not planning any trips just now - it appears to be £245 one-way and, therefore, £490 for a roundtrip.

It seems that the companies providing transport services between the mainland & IOS have settled on their target market!