SOUTHAMPTON

[StGermain]

Looked at SOU Winter 11/12 schedule and disappointed not to see 'rumoured' Jet2 service...any one know what is happening with this ? SOU schedule appears quite light on flights based on previous years.

[MARKEYD]

What was the Jet2 rumour about then ?

[Newforest2]

And why isn't this question in the long running Southampton thread?

http://www.pprune.org/airlines-airpo...uthampton.html

[canberra97]

Jet 2

I agree why is this not in the SOU thread!

I would also like to know about this 'rumour' regarding Jet 2 at SOU although personally I would have thought if anything Jet 2 would be flying from BOH regarding there history with the airport and it's longer runway which would be neeed for their route network as to SOU shorter runway.

Or is this just a 'plane spotters rumour'?

When I was a kid and was a plane spotter I can remember all those rumours about this and that but at the end of the day it was all the usuall wishfull thinking by plane spotters and hardly any of it became reality!

Which I should imagine this rumour turns out to be, don't get me wrong I would love it to be true but my cynical self says NON!

[adfly]

Haven't heard anything about the Jet2 rumor either? Also it seems the Thomson PMI flight will be a Flybe E195 next year and a Saturday rather than the Thursday it was this year. A shame to not see Spanair return as the flights were mostly full (A320's) and the takeoff's from SOU's little runway were spectacularly powerful, as I experienced first hand!! Can't imagine what a 757 would be like!!

[uptoncol]

Flights

You never know it may still change to spanair again for next year ,as this years thurs flight was down to be opperated by flybe and only changed to spanair in december to give more seats .

And as for the 757 opperating from sou no probs ,the 757 has a better take off and landing performance than the 320 so is good on short runways but more seats to sell .

col

[Lord Spandex Masher]

However, they were limited to, I believe, 70 odd passengers and PMI was as far as it could get.

Not that great really.

[adfly]

They could probably fill one, PMI is a popular destination and I know a number of people who live on the same road as me who often holiday there. Like I said they managed good loads with an A320 so I don't think filling a 757 would be too much trouble at least during the peak season anyway.

The 757's weren't' that restricted, they could just about make TFS with about 4 or 5 rows blocked off and the addition of winglets since then should enable the 757's to operate more profitably.

[Lord Spandex Masher]

Adfly, you're probably right. I got my wires crossed and was talking about something else.

Uptoncol, you're not quite right. The 320 has better runway perf at MTOM than either the 737 or 757.

[uptoncol]

Flights

Well i have been to tfs on the 757 when it opperated from sou nov 2003 /apr2004 on a wet runway full 235 pax direct the spaniar flight which opperated the a320 mostly had to stop en route nantes to refuel .

[Lord Spandex Masher]

I'm not disputing that but I suspect that the 320 would have been take off weight limited rather than runway length (ie performance) limited.

[Whispering Giant]

Think you'll find more of the problem is the ramp/stand space required for a 757 or a A321 at SOU rather than the length of the runway as there is only 1 stand I beleive capable of taking a aircraft of this size, and then it can only do it if the other stands arnt fully occupied.

[adfly]

Indeed, I believe all of the A32X's, and 737NG's along with the 757's have to park across two stands, either 2/3 or 3/4 due to their wingspans and tail heights!I believe the largest aircraft that can fit in one stand are the E195's, 737 classics and the 717.

[RNWY03]

SOU apron space

whatever happened to the BAA 'masterplan' to create a second terminal/apron on the eastern side of the airfield?

[canberra97]

Apron stands

BAA Southampton should be thinking of making new aprons space as soon as possible before ANY new terminal ideas which I think they have changed there mind on anyway.

I wonder if the space occupied by the Royal Mail building is on a negotiated lease from the land owners, if that is the case it might be an idea if BAA could try and buy the land and find a way of relocating the Royal Mail depot over to the northeast corner of the airport where BAA had proposed further airport development and linking it to Chickenhall Lane at Bishopstoke.

BAA could then take over the area for further aircraft stands which I should imagine they could have at least 5 new stands by doing that and close to the current terminal.

It would be alot easier to do that then build a new terminal, etc on the other side of the runway.

[MARKEYD]

Looking at the charter flights for next summer 2012 at the moment Thomas Cook have a Saturday Palma flight at 0700 with Flybe and Thomson have a Saturday Palma flight at 0730 also with Flybe , i was wondering if they may well merge these 2 flights as Malaga and Nice both depart at 0740 and 0710 using the EMB 195 unless there is an extra EMB 195 being based next summer ?

Palma 0700
Nice 0710
Palma 0730
Malaga 0740

[adfly]

Thomson may change their flight to their own aircraft or spanair, like last year, although this was not announced until December. It would be interesting to see what routes Flybe could add with an extra E195 based:

I could see the following working:

BCN - 5pw-daily
WAW - 3pw to cater for the large polish community in and around Southampton
MAH - 2pw
IBZ - 2pw
MPL - 2-3pw the three new French routes apparently did very well this year
FCO - 4pw
MXP - 5pw-daily
NAP - 2pw
MLA - 2pw - I believe this route used to be served by an Air Malta charter flight
INN - 1-2pw - Austrian/Inghams are cutting their BOH flight and INN is currently unnerved from SOU too

Note: these are just suggestions based on my humble knowledge and opinions and I realise that some may seem a little unrealistic, although I do believe at least some of my suggestions could do fairly well!

[canberra97]

Flybe

I agree with you and BCN is long overdue from SOU.

I would like to see the return of Cork and Dubrovnik as well as Hamburg being added and maybe a Scandinavian destination but I could see BCN, IBZ, MAH, MPL, MXP, INN, WAW working.

Malta would be a good destination but it would probably work better with a charter flight rather then a scheduled flight.

Previously Air Malta operated charters from SOU on behalf of Thomson Holidays and Newmarket Holidays, they were popular although I think some were routed via Exeter!

[StGermain]

BCN would be a dream come true for SOU but it still evades them after years of trying to get an operator on to the route. FlyBe fly over BCN to destinations further south ! If they are not interested and cant see the market potential, who will be ?

As for Malta, I think Air malta operated this charter but it went via BRS.

[uptoncol]

Air malta

Yes air malta did go via brs chartered by airtours 737.300 cheers col .