VLM Airline Want Your Views
Further to our earlier post about business carrier VLM scaling down its Liverpool to London service from John Lennon Airport, VLM are now asking for your support. They have produced a short questionnaire, in an attempt to find out how people are using this service and why it has not received ‘the continued support of travellers to and from Merseyside’.
The form is attached here. Interested parties can download it, fill it in and return to:
. By mail to : Tim Gresty, Cognitio, The Chantry, Astbury, Congleton, Cheshire CW12 4RQ
. By hand to : Steve Pearse, Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, Number One Old Hall Street, Liverpool L3 9HG
. By hand to : VLM Ticket Desk, Liverpool John Lennon Airport
. By email to : TimGresty@cognitio.co.uk
Respondents have until the end of April 2007 to return their forms.
Please take the time to fill out the complete form as your views are very important in this matter.
I used the service this morning - from Docklands to Liverpool and I was in my office by 0930hrs. For a short commuter hop the aircraft was fine and service on board was excellent.
The trip from the West end takes about an hour, as it would from Heathrow, but London City is far more business friendly than LHR.
The one serious challenge for VLM is the alternative hourly Virgin Service which when booked even a couple of days beforehand costs about £90 First class Return, whereas I paid £218 including £13 insurance premium since the air ticket wasn’t refundable or changeable. My fellow passenger had paid approx £75 but he had to book a month beforehand.
But directness of route isn’t the important difference. The train actually takes just as long but the time one has brav4ed the traffic, the undercround and taxis at each end.
Don’t give up Tim! I’ve just read the Cof C message, but how about VLM providing a short message which all our 1700 members can attache to every e mail we send.
February 22nd, 2007 at 2:49 pmWe use VLM between Liverpool and London City and Manchester and London City and are extremely satisfied with their service. The staff are very friendly and remember your name which just adds to customer loyalty. Overall, they have a very good product. However, VLM is pricing itself out of the market for short haul travel. I believe it has a huge market in the Merseyside area but needs to be more competitive with its prices. Recently it has been cheaper to fly BMI or BA to Heathrow than to fly VLM to London City. We will use VLM as much as we can but like all organizations we are always serching for efficient and affordable travel options and booking several months in advance to get a good deal is not always feasible.
February 23rd, 2007 at 2:00 pmI use VLM twice a month, it is extremely convienient as my London office is just south of the City Airport. The service is efficient and the staff very freindly.
It is ideal that there is free parking at Liverpool as this makes my journey even more convienient.
However i have two issues with VLM:
1 Now they have reduced the service to two flights between Liverpool and City airport and the last flight back to Liverpool is 17.45 this makes it extremely restrictive if i have meetings later in the afternoon.
2 The cost of the flight is not competative compared to the train and VLM has to look at this, if i need to book the flight less than seven days in advance it is extremely expensive, therefore i book the train.
VLM should look at its schedule, maybe by putting the 17.45 flight back to 18.45 this might be more attractive to other business travellers.
I hope we do not loose the service from Liverpool, however VLM has to be more competative on prices and schedules
February 27th, 2007 at 11:15 amI have used the service previously and will be using it again this week, I have to say it cannot be faulted in my experience.
Rearding the complaints on price. I believe VLM offer excellent value for money, many of the flights are an absolute bargain I’d seen a flight from £20 one way before taxes. They are smaller planes so can’t offer easyjet prices but you get more leg room and better service ! After all it is a business not a charity. An early morning trip to London on Virgin costs £205. One of the previous messages said it cost them £218 but you get there 3 times quicker ! Remember you get what you pay for, speed and service are key factors that is why a mercedes costs more than a ford focus. I wish they could start flying at weekends so that it could be used for leisure also.
You even get free car parking !
As cheesy as it is the adage:
USE it or LOSE
Could not be more appropriate.
Ps I don’t work for VLM, i know it sounds like i do !
February 27th, 2007 at 12:51 pmAs a Company Silverbeck Rymer Solicitors use the Liverpool to London service on a regular basis and have found the benefits of the shorter travel time a bonus. As already mentioned we can be in our Chelmsford office ready to work at 9.15 - perfect.
This has meant visits between our Chelmsford and Liverpool office for a day have now become a viable concept. Whilst the reduced service has affected this, as has the increased prices to a certain extent - we still feel, looking at the bigger picture in terms of one’s time the service provided by VLM is extremely useful and something we are keen to support and continue to use.
February 27th, 2007 at 1:33 pmI have used the VLM service from Liverpool to London City on a number of occasions and I have always found it to be excellent. It is really disappointing to find that it is being scaled down and find it hard to believe as it always appears to me to be well used. It is a bad thing for the people of Merseyside and a bad thing for Liverpool John Lennon Airport. Yet again Manchester will benefit. As long as you book reasonably in advance the price is more than comparable with the train and you are guaranteed a seat which, those who travel by train from Lime Street at the peak times cannot always be sure of.
March 8th, 2007 at 12:15 pmAnd free parking too!
I travel between the North West and Central London at least once most weeks. I live equidistant from Liverpool and Manchester airports and also within easy reach of a West Coast line station. The fact is that the train has become a far superior option for business travel, arriving directly into Central London having been able to work for the whole journey in what are, since the advent of the Pendolino, pleasant surroundings. These days there are far fewer delays on the West Coast line and whilst I believe that First Class is over-priced, average costs by rail are generally less than flying when flexibility is taken into account. In contrast, flying is now a horrid experience in most circumstances. All airports have been forced down market by LCC growth, they are generally both dirty and over crowded. One consequence is that the very high cost of parking at airports alone almost always renders flying more expensive overall. Security checks are time consuming and personally intrusive. Liverpool Airport has a particularly downmarket feel (although Manchester is headed the same way - Terminal 3 is an example). Added to this the regular ATC and other delays means that flying between North West and South East is rarely the best option for point to point business travel. I do fly when working from offices close to LHR or LGW and would do so if I needed to be very close to LCY but personally I now avoid flying wherever possible. Incidentally, I have used VLM and have found them to provide a very reasonable service - unfortunately the overall deal is no longer good enough.
March 9th, 2007 at 11:55 pm