Saturday

Mar312012

Travel Information

Saturday, March 31, 2012 at 5:19PM

Updated daily - or more often if there are problems to report

www.beziers.aeroport.fr

WoW is supported by Beziers Cap D'Agde Airport

The Friendly Airport - Gateway to the "Real" South of France.

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LUTON AIRPORT - always a pain but even worse this month - see easyJet note

London Luton - Security Delays
During the month of December, Luton Airport will be operating at full capacity and there is a likelihood that there will be congestion through the security area. We therefore strongly recommend passengers allow extra time for travel through the airport.

To help you easyJet will be opening check-in at 3 hours before departure and will close 1 hour prior to departure.

Montpellier: 350 tram drivers in training

The commissioning of two tram lines simultaneously scheduled in the month of April is a great challenge for  Montpellier Agglomeration!

This is a first in France!

To successfully launch the new lines, on April 6th, drivers are preparing for the operation of new trains.

To do this, the  TAM  has established a special driving simulator, the only one in France. It will include simulating the different possible cases of traffic during the commissioning.

The most sensitive point on the Gare Saint-Roch, which will be the interconnection of many means of transport across the network Montpellier.

Paris - to Moscow - new route direct train

Моscow - Paris

08:00

thursday
saturday

09:23

saturday
monday

51:23

3 177

Smolensk
Minsk
Brest
Warsaw
Berlin
Hannover

Paris - Moscow

20:20

monday

saturday

20:35

wednesday

monday

46:15

More info http://eng.rzd.ru/statice/public/rzdeng?STRUCTURE_ID=4127#paris2

The Paris line follows the Moscow - Nice route

017Б

Moscow - Nice

18:18

Thursday

17:44
Saturday

50:23

3 315

Smolensk
Minsk
Brest
Warsaw
Vienna
Innsbruck
Bolzano
Milan
Genoa
San-Remo

018Б

Nice - Moscow

19:43
Sunday

00:17

Wednesday

49:34

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Regional airport/travel news

€1.6 million is being spent to upgrade Montpellier Airport - work will finish in 12 months

€550,000 was spent last year by the departement to encourage tourism – this has been cut for next year by 40.000€

€661,000 was spent by the Montpellier Agglomeration to “encourage” lo cost flights

In 2010 the 5 regional airports (Montpellier, Beziers Cap d’Agde Carcassonne, Nimes, and Perpignan) handled more than 2,200,000 passengers.

RYANAIR URGES PASSENGERS - TRAVEL LIGHTER DURING PEAK TRAVEL TIMES

ONLINE CHECKED-IN BAG FEES TO INCREASE BY €5/£5 FOR PEAK SUMMER 2012 FOR BOOKINGS FROM 15^th DEC NEXT

Ryanair today (9^th Dec) announced that it will continue to encourage passengers to travel lighter, particularly during peak travel periods (June, July, Aug, Sept and Christmas 2012), by increasing its peak period checked-in baggage fees by €5/£5 (from €20 to €25) per bag for all online bookings made from 15^th Dec next. To encourage online payment of baggage fees, Ryanair will also increase its checked in bag fees paid at call centres and airports by at least €25/£25 (from €35 to €60) per bag. Low season (Oct – May) online checked-in bag fees will remain unchanged at €15/£15 per bag.

Ryanair will continue to encourage all passengers to avoid its baggage fees by not checking in any bags and instead travelling with Ryanair’s free of charge 10kg carry-on bag allowance.

Ryanair will also increase its ‘boarding card reissue penalty’ from €40/£40 to €60/£60, from 15^th Jan 2012, to try to persuade the less than 10 passengers per day who refuse/fail to bring their boarding card (despite email reminders) to their departure airport as 99.9% of Ryanair passengers already do.

Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara said:

“Ryanair continues to incentivise passengers to travel light especially during peak periods by raising our online checked-in baggage fees. As always, baggage fees are avoidable, but for those who chose to check-in a bag during peak travel periods the new fees will apply for bookings made after 15^th December next for travel in June, July, August and September 2012. Over 70% of Ryanair passengers will be unaffected by these changes as they already travel with no checked-in bags and instead use Ryanair’s free of charge 10kg carry on allowance.

Also, in a move to persuade the less than 10 passengers per day who fail to print or bring their boarding cards to their departure airport, to do so, we will increase our boarding card re-issue penalty to €60/£60 from 15^th January.”

RYANAIR BAG FEES €/£

Bag Type	SEASON	ONLINE OLD/NEW	APT/CALL OLD/NEW
Bag 1 (15kg)	Low	15/15	35/60
	High *	20/25	40/100
Big Bag (20kg)	Low	25/25	45/75
	High *	30/35	50/105
Bag 2 (15kg)	Low	35/35	70/105
	High *	40/45	80/135

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From: Christopher Elliott Subject: new train timetables

I imagine WoW readers may not be au fait that 80% of all of France’s rail: timetables change this coming Sunday.

Two major events are causing this, first is the opening of the new High Speed line from Dijon to Belfort and second the introduction of interval train times in this and other regions

This new system offer trains starting at the same minutes past the hour on a regular basis

It has been in operation in the UK, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and other European countries for many years but SNCF has been a reluctant newcomer to the club.

So my advice to anyone planning a train journey to check in advance as their usual train may well have been retimed.

The introduction of the winter timetable will see the arrival of the first international trains operated by DB German Railway and a new Private Italian operator; this will bring real competition to the rails of France

Chris

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Béziers Cap d'Agde airport generates

58.9 million euros a year to the local economy

The airport commissioned a large scale visitor survey last summer - it makes interesting reading and is not afraid to be hard hitting and critical of facilities - however 97.6% plan to return

Profile of customers

80% of passengers are foreigners, confirming the positioning "receptive tourism" Airport Beziers Cap d'Agde. Only 10% of French users are from the Languedoc Roussillon:

They have high purchasing power and are mostly aged between 45 and 65 (62%), and 54% are senior executives, professionals, engineers, teachers and retirees, in contrast to the usual clientele in the region.

They travel up to 100 km after arriving at the airport

54% would not have come without low cost airlines

How they learned about the area - 60% had already visited and 21% via the Internet

The average stay eight nights, 57% stay with friends and family or in a second home.

For the rest of the 43%

Rent: apartments (14.5%),

Hotels (9.5%),

Camping (7.2%),

Holiday village (4.2%),

Bed and Breakfast (2.3 %)

and boat (1.6%) probably on the Canal du Midi.

Activities

76% just “chill out and 65% go to the beaches

Other interests not usual for summer tourists: are visits to wineries / wine tasting / markets and tasting of local products (53%),

visits to castles / museums / cities (34%),

Walking / Hiking / Canal du Midi (34%),

outdoor activities / cycling (23%) .

Festivals, concerts, shows and water sports come second with 13% and 8% of responses.

7.4% were looking for a second home

The ranking of sites / most visited cities shows the vast majority of respondents radiate primarily in the territory west Herault -

Béziers (49.6%),

Agde / Cap d'Agde (38.9%),

Pezenas (22, 9%),

Valras (15.3%),

Other places of interest or major cities in the Languedoc Roussillon Carcassonne (19.1%),

Sète (17.5%),

Montpellier (16.4% ),

Narbonne (15.6%),

Saint-Guilhem-le-Desert (6.5%).

"Satisfaction levels"

Accommodation:

- The reception is generally appreciated
- The intrinsic quality of accommodation is fairly valued
- The quality / price ratio shows quite marked dissatisfaction recorded

Dining out
- The reception and quality are quite popular
- But on quality / price ratio there is a fairly strong level of dissatisfaction

Tourist sites:
- Hospitality and cleanliness need to improve
- Opening hours are very unsatisfactory
- Services on the beach (access, parking, toilets, showers) a lot of dissatisfaction (15%), particularly from Scandinavians.

On the whole passengers interviewed appreciate the hospitality of local people, although more effort with language would be appreciated.

Traffic and road signs are judged negatively by 15% of respondents.

In general, despite the steps taken to improve the quality of care, customers want a better price / quality ratio.

With higher purchasing power than normal tourists to the area, there is a clear demand for higher quality.

However, 96.7% plans to return,

- 35% in less than 6 months.

Economic impact

The value per night per passenger staying in the area is: € 72.6 (between € 41 and € 45 for the usual tourists in Hérault)

The overall budget for a group / family staying in the area is: € 1,150 (Norwegians, Swedes, Britons). (€ 1,521 in commercial accommodation, € 721 if staying with friends or family.

In a full year, the number of tourist nights generated by the airport is: 893 500, - 2.4% of total bednights in Herault of 38 million per year.

Of the 362,500 overnight stays in commercial accommodation :

Furnished rentals/Gites 134, 907,

Camping 83, 161

Hotels 47, 563,

Residential Tourism 28,943

Bed and Breakfast 11, 826.

Total spending in the area over a year is estimated is put at 58.9 million euros – which represents 3.5% of the total for Hérault of 1.7 billion euros).

Breakdown of revenue

Accommodation (€ 12.3 million),

Restaurant (14.3 M €),

groceries (€ 8.5 million),

transportation ( € 7.7 million),

Recreation / Activities / Sites (5.5 M €),

Souvenirs (4.6 M €), Other consumer goods (5.7 M €).

Other data socio-economic impact:
o Direct expenditure to benefit businesses 1, 085 M €
§ Airport: 50
§ 20 people
§ Aircraft: 10 people
§ Civil Aviation and service of the State: 15 people
o Job creation in the tourism sector and services: 200 jobs since 2008

Nearly 10,000 questionnaires were distributed in six languages on regular passenger lines (London, Bristol, Düsseldorf, Paris Beauvais, Stockholm, Oslo, Southampton)

2149 questionnaires were analyzed, representing a return rate of approximately 22%

More Southampton - Beziers flights next year.

flyBe had a good first year of operations between Béziers Cap d'Agde and Southampton.

Launched in May this year and running through until the end of September - two flights per week with an Embraer 195 (turbo engine) with 118 seats, the link carried around 6,000 passengers with a load factor of more of 70%.

As a result flyBe and Beziers Cap d'Agde airport will increase the supply of seats for the upcoming season of summer with an extra flights each week (against two in 2011)

The new 3 flight a week pattern will start from 25 May until 28 September on Mondays, Fridays and Sundays.

flyBe expect to carry nearly 10,000 passengers in its second year into airport Béziers Cap d'Agde

Flybe 9 matching destinations will continue to be available via Southampton International Airport: Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Dublin, Jersey, Guernsey.

It is estimated the Southampton / Béziers Cap d'Agde has generated an economic impact of € 1.9 million in the Beziers area.

Information / Reservations: www.flybe.com www.beziers.aeroport.fr.

RYANAIR’S NOV TRAFFIC DECLINES 8%

Ryanair yesterday (5 Dec) released passenger and load factor stats for Nov 2011 as follows:

	Nov 10	Nov 11	Change	Yr to Nov 11
Passengers (m) ¹	5.06M	4.68M	-8%	76.7M
Load Factor ²	80%	80%	0%	82%

Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara said:

“As previously guided Ryanair’s 2011/12 winter traffic will decline by approximately 5% as we sit up to 80 aircraft on the ground due to higher oil prices. November was originally expected to decline by up to 10%.”

1. Booked seats sold.

2. Passengers as a percentage of total seats available.

EASYJET PASSENGER STATISTICS FOR NOVEMBER

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Month ending November 2011 November 2010 Change

Passengers1 3,821,355 3,694,514 3.4%

Load Factor 2 88.3% 85.7% 2.6pp

Rolling 12 months ending November 2011 November 2010 Change

Passengers1 54,993,384 49,461,229 11.2%

Load Factor2 87.5% 87.2% 0.3pp

New tram reaches Lattes on Line 3

Construction workers photograph and clap the new tram as it arrives on it's inaugeral visit to the town

Welcomed by the Maire and greeted by the children

Line 3 is 19.6 kms long and is expected to carry 77,000 a day when it opens in April next year. The total cost of the line and its 19 tram sets (designed by Christian Lacroix) was €530 million - 375€ funded by the Montpellier Agglo.

The tram design is exotic, as are the adverts. Allure in Lattes eh?

Lattes has it's own 2.5 km spur from the mainline and it is expected central Montpellier will be just 15 minutes away by the new tram.

Before the tram way is fully functioning next year - the station will be built, extra parking provided, racks for 50 bikes to hire, a lavatory block and a new public park.

It was, as ever, a launch with style - food and drinks were ready once the speeches had finished.

It promised to be a great event - which perhaps explains why the flowery line 2 tram sidled in to share in the civic pride - keen not to miss a party perhaps

.

RYANAIR Customer Service Stats - OCTOBER 2011

Ryanair has published its October customer service statistics.

92% of Ryanair’s over 46,000 flights arrived on time, up 7% on October 2010.
Less than 1 complaint per 1,000 passengers was received.
Less than 1 mislaid bag claim per 2,000 passengers was received.

OCTOBER	2010	2011
On-time flights	85%	92%
Complaints per 1,000 pax	0.94	0.58
Bag complaints per 1,000 pax	0.47	0.42
Complaints answered within 7 days	99%	99%

· Only Ryanair guarantees the lowest fares and ‘no fuel surcharges ever’;

· Ryanair operates Europe’s youngest, greenest, cleanest fleet;

· Ryanair is Europe’s No.1 on-time airline (beating Easyjet every week since 2003);

Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara said:

“Ryanair’s unbeatable formula of the lowest fares, no fuel surcharges and No 1 customer service delivery continues to encourage passengers to switch from high fares, fuel surcharging flag carriers such as Air France, BA and Lufthansa.

Once they have switched to Ryanair’s prices they keep coming back for our unbeatable on- time flights, fewest lost bags and great customer service.”

RYANAIR HALF YEAR PROFITS RISE 20% TO €544M

RYANAIR HALF YEAR PROFITS RISE 20% TO €544m

TRAFFIC GROWS 12% - FULL YEAR GUIDANCE RAISED 10% TO €440m.

Ryanair, today (Nov 7) announced a 20% increase in half year profits to €544m. Revenues rose 24% to €2.7bn, traffic grew 12% and ave. fares increased 13%. Unit costs rose 13% due mainly to longer sectors and a 37% increase in fuel costs. Excluding fuel, sector length adjusted unit costs did not increase at all.

Half Year Results (IFRS) in euro	Sep 30, 2010	Sep 30, 2011	% Change
Passengers	40.1m	44.7m	+12%
Revenue	€2,182m	€2,712m	+24%
Adj. Profit after Tax	€451.9m	€543.5m	+20%
Adj. Basic EPS(euro cent)	30.47	36.62	+20%

RYANAIR’S OCT TRAFFIC GROWS 4%

Ryanair today (3 Nov) released passenger and load factor stats for October as follows:

	Oct 10	Oct 11	Increase	Yr to Oct 11
Passengers ¹	7.02(m)	7.27(m)	+4%	77.1(m)
Load Factor ²	85%	84%	-1%	82%

Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara said:

“We are pleased to report a 4% growth in traffic in October, bringing our summer schedule to a close. As previously advised Ryanair’s winter traffic will decline each month from November onwards as we ground up to 80 aircraft for this winter period.”

More easyJet flights to Montpellier.

Flights will increase from 5 to 10 a week from March 27 next year

And up to 17 a week during the summer holidays.

easyJet, carried over 94,000 passengers in to Montpellier last year and expects to bring in some 125,000 passengers this year with the increased capacity.
During the summer, Montpellier-London Gatwick, will have and extra three flights a week.
The Montpellier to London Luton, flight will start from March 27, with 3 flights a week.
easyJet expect to sell than 41, 300 seats against 16,000 in 2010.
This means Montpellier airport will be connected to the British capital up to 3 times per day during the height of summer.

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WoW hears that Montpellier airport were offered the Ryanair - 4 flights a week to Paris Beauvais but turned it down!

They told WoW recently they were now concentrating on Lo-cost.

"Oh no they are not" seems more factual

The history is the Montpellier was always keen to be seen as a "grown up" airport and rahter looked down its nose at the lo-cost sector.

We had been told that had changed - ah well - lucky Beziers snapped up the offer - well done Beziers Cap d'Aged

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WoW |

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	Apr 11	Apr 12	Change	Yr to Apr 12
Passengers (m) ¹	6.8M	7.2M	+6%	76.3M
Load Factor ²	82%	81%	-1%	82%

	Feb 11	Feb 12	Change	Yr to Feb 12
Passengers (m) ¹	4.57M	4.47M	-2%	76.1M
Load Factor ²	76%	76%	0%	82%

	Jan 11	Jan 12	Change	Yr to Jan 12
Passengers (m) ¹	4.66M	4.39M	-6%	76.2M
Load Factor ²	71%	71%	0%	82%

FEB	2011	2012
On-time flights	92%	88%
Complaints per 1,000 pax	1.88	0.98
Bag complaints per 1,000 pax	0.41	0.38
Complaints answered within 7 days	99%	99%