SOUTHEND - 3 The new beginning

[frostbite]

Hope this isn't too presumptious.

With the rebirth of the airport just a few hours away, a new chapter on PPRUNE seems appropriate.

GOOD LUCK SEN !

[vulcanised]

Airport reopened at 19:50 with Arran ATR first to land, followed by several light aircraft wanting to be first to perform various manoevres on new facilities.

[Expressflight]

I know that UK business enterprises come in for a lot of stick from time to time (often rightly so) but I think Stobarts have handled this project extremely well.

They have managed something which many people - me included - didn't really think was possible nowadays. In effect they have built a new, international standard airport in an urban area on the site of a rundown airfield which survived only by virtue of the hangars remaining from its glory days thus enabling its MRO activities to thrive. For decades SEN lived on its history and just about refused to die, although it came close to it once or twice. Stobarts had not only the vision to see what might be achieved but put up the cash to make it happen; not just to create an airport adequate to meet the basic needs of potential airline customers, but offering something which wasn't available at other London airports. Chief among these was the goal of processing outbound pax through the terminal as speedily as possible and ensuring that they could offer pax very rapid transit times between arriving on-chocks and them leaving the car park/getting on the London train. Together with starting afresh with state-of-the-art navaids and lighting and squeezing the maximum distances out of the physically constrained runway strip they've created something truly fit to call itself London/Southend Airport.

OK, I know some will rightly say that even the extended runway places considerable constraints on the types of aircraft and destinations that are commercially viable, but I feel it is quite sufficient to meet the declared aim of 2 million pax per annum.

Well done to all the team at Stobart/SEN and those supporters who have also done their bit in convincing the local population that, on balance, a rejunevated SEN was a 'good thing' and who helped to counter the inaccurate, extremist propaganda of the main opposition group, SAEN.

[Cyrano]

A Serbian tour operator called KontikiSky (http://kontikisky.com/) is proposing to run daily flights from SEN to Antwerp starting on May 1 (with the aircraft routing Skopje-Antwerp-SEN and return - but apparently no through tickets bookable). This is Manx2-style virtual airline operation, it seems - the ICAO code of the actual wet-lease operator is ALR. I am guessing that the aircraft is a BAe RJ.

Anyone want to offer odds on the chance of this getting airborne, let alone surviving?

:eek:

[Barling Magna]

As far as I can establish, ALR is Lineas Aereas Alaire, a Barcelona based airline operating Brasilias, Metros and Beech 1990Ds. Such equipment might work to establish a SEN to Antwerp schedule. The Kon Tiki Sky website claims 14 flights per week.

But I'll believe it when I see the landing wheels touching down on our lovely new runway.

[The SSK]

I've seen a Kon Tiki Sky 737 (500?) at Skopje, it was real, not virtual.

ALR is Alta Air Romania. It has a 146 according to JP Fleets, but in VIP configuration.

Southend-Skopje is bizarre. Skopje-Antwerp is bizarrer.

[Expressflight]

I don't think I'll be rushing to make a booking just yet!

[mikkie4]

35 euro each way ,not bad,hope something comes of it

[vulcanised]

It seems that all the navaids are up and running but the new radar facilities will not become fully operational for a couple of weeks.

Perhaps due to training requirements?

[rareair]

I've got a friend at uni in Rotterdam who I've been promising to visit.

This seems like quite a fun way to get there for 35E, will book on credit card so not much at risk!

[smallpilot]

reareair,

Your better off booking EZY on SEN-AMS then train to see your mate, gauaranteed to get there and the AMS fare is about £25 each way on some dates.

[JSCL]

Sorry but Kon Tiki travel / Kon Tiki Sky is a VERY profitable and very successful travel company in eastern Europe. The branded planes being a more recent development of the last few years and the airline also has part-Gvmt involvement.

[sxflyer]

I'd first of all say, when this is on the Tarmac i'll trust it.

SSK - I'd say the route is unexpected yes, but not bizarre. When one considers SEN is marketing itself as a London airport, it's not bizarre that an airline should choose to serve it. Macedonia is hardly an overserved market from the UK.

I don't know the demographics of Antwerp too well but at a guess, there could be a sizeable Macedonian population round there and its not that far from Brussels so may not be bizarre either. There are other slightly 'strange' routes for that reason, like Tehran-Gothenburg, Porto-Dole

[stab3.5up]

This outfit have been looking at dub as well so maybe something may come of it.

[compton3bravo]

I think if I was contemplating going to Skopje it has got be Wizz from Luton. Would not trust KonTiki or whatever it is called as far as I could throw it! Starting 1 May - you must be having a laugh - like a lot of these so-called airlines saying they will operate into Southend. Dont´t hold you breath chaps.

[rareair]

Your better off booking EZY on SEN-AMS then train to see your mate, gauaranteed to get there and the AMS fare is about £25 each way on some dates.

Agreed, I just like adventures so a new airline and two new airports appeals to me!

[Steviec9]

Intriguing.... Time will tell if it starts and then lasts...

Cheapest return LCY - ANR is around £110-125. So a €70 return would definitely entice some of the financially canny passengers away from LCY, particularly as many originate from north and east London.

The Cityjet F50 3x daily service is generally well patronised, so I'd say there is demand. As I've said before, Antwerp involves a change of train in Brussels with an end to end time of about 3hrs, so a decent flight to/from small airports with minimal check in times and flight time of around 50mins can still compete.

Anyway, we'll see what happens.....

[Serenity]

I see Eurostar has been advertising London to Amsterdam for £70 and 4 hours!!

[Steviec9]

Have a look - Eurostar website amended to £99 return with lots of dates not available and a quickest travel time of 4h 40. This is with a mad dash up and down stairs in Zuid/Midi station to try and fling yourself on the Thalys train to Amsterdam and then find your reserved seat.

Much rather saunter through a small airport, fly for 50 mins and take all of 5 minutes leaving Antwerp airport to jump in family car and be on ring road 5 mins later.

[Tagron]

Perhaps you should have looked at the Kon Tiki Sky website before posting. They are not advertising or trying to sell SKP from SEN. The outbound SEN-ANR does not even connect with ANR-SKP unless you wait all day in Antwerp. SKP-ANR-SEN looks like a through runner 3 days a week but they are not advertising it as such.

SKP-ANR may sound odd but it would serve the dual purpose of servicing their ANR base and the other new routes they are apparently trying to set up.

Post #12 by JSCL makes interesting reading about Kon Tiki Sky's background. It suggests this is a much more substantial company than some have been assuming. Of course it is largely unknown in the UK and this could be an obstacle for it to overcome.

I do not hold a view on the likelihood or otherwise of this actually coming about. But I would just remind everyone that only a year ago there was a whole raft of uninformed negativity on this thread's predecessor about SEN, EZY and A319s which was proved spectacularly wrong.

[JSCL]

I've got a friend at uni in Rotterdam who I've been promising to visit.

This seems like quite a fun way to get there for 35E, will book on credit card so not much at risk!

I hear SEN-RTM is on the cards for the next 12 months, actually.

[Expressflight]

Kon Tiki Travel certainly exists as a well established travel provider and it's true that a B735 has carried their colours, but that is a long way from being a scheduled carrier with a substantial route network. The latter is certainly what the Kon Tiki Sky website claims it to be.

Until I can find details of exactly who the AOC holder is and what the fleet actually comprises with the identities of the aircraft to be used I shall remain sceptical. An hour's search on the web comes up with precious little on that score. It would need a very large capital outlay to establish the routes planned to commence 1 May 2012, plus an equally large measure of confidence that they can be successfully marketed and sold in the present economic climate. As they seem to be establishing a base at ANR you would expect that airport's website to have news of it; but it doesn't.

I wish them well as I do all start-up operations - unfortunately the vast majority of those never even get off the ground as we all know.

[Phileas Fogg]

Macedonia/Belgium/Macedonia is a long way in a slow BAe146 ... Why Antwerp and in a rarity such as a 146, why not Brussels, Ostend, Liege, Rotterdam or wherever in something like a cheap and cheerful MD80 series, a B737 Classic or whatever?

It seems that Kon Tiki are trying to be smartasses creating a route that, literally, only one type of aircraft can operate and an aircraft type that has been out of production for some 10+ years.

[Expressflight]

The Antwerp base reference on the Kon Tiki Sky website seems to have been removed this morning and no flights are now bookable from there. All the previous departure points seem to remain listed on the drop down menu, but no destinations are available from most of them.

[Phileas Fogg]

City Flyer Express made a living out of operating ATR's on the LGW/ANR/LGW route, these days F50's make a living on ANR/UK/ANR routes, the Belgium & UK public have never heard of some Macedonian outfit with a silly sounding name so how the hell would they expect to fill BAe146's on route(s) that others only dare to operate turboprops on?

[Mr Optimistic]

I've been to Skopje a few times......the longer it takes to get there the better :8

[willy wombat]

CityFlyer's LGW/ANR/LGW was killed by the Tunnel (and VLM into LCY didn't help much, either as they were able to deliver the diamond trader market direct to Hatton Garden).
May I wish the reborn Southend and all who work there or are associated with it great success for the future - its refreshing to see something actually done in the industry rather than just the usual talk.

[PlymSpotter]

The whole set-up seems very fishy. Pretty sound evidence suggests the people behind Kontikisky.com are convicted fraudsters who have tried to pull such stunts in the past and are most likely not connected with the 'real' Kon Tiki Sky.

For a start, I can't see how they'd operate a 737-500 from ANR on such long routes. I doubt you'd get a meaningful load even in the winter let alone summer.

[JSCL]

The whole set-up seems very fishy. Pretty sound evidence suggests the people behind Kontikisky.com are convicted fraudsters who have tried to pull such stunts in the past and are most likely not connected with the 'real' Kon Tiki Sky.

This is my confusion also. I know of Kon Tiki Sky / Kon Tiki Travel rather well but their domain is a .mk - the .com threw me a little and is where the BAE 146 info is coming from.

For a start, I can't see how they'd operate a 737-500 from ANR on such long routes. I doubt you'd get a meaningful load even in the winter let alone summer.

It's nigh impossible.

[TUFIC]

According to: http://www.kontikisky.com (http://www.kontikisky.com/)
Antwerp


Dear passengers,

Due to last minute rescheduling Antwerp will not be a destination within our network. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Kind Regards,

Kon Tiki Sky. (http://www.kontikisky.com/index.php/en/destinations/37-anr)

[Expressflight]

This gets more crazy by the minute. Their website now says that they won't be opening a base at ANR after all BUT "are proud to announce the opening of their new base at London/Southend airport".
You couldn't really make this up could you?

[PlymSpotter]

Somebody needs to close these clowns down before they start scamming the travelling public again.

[maliyahsdad2]

Luchtzak Aviation • View topic - Kon Tiki Sky starting flights from Antwerp? (http://www.luchtzak.be/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=46957)

they are sceptical here too..


This is my confusion also. I know of Kon Tiki Sky / Kon Tiki Travel rather well but their domain is a .mk - the .com threw me a little and is where the BAE 146 info is coming from.

Though there is a link from the .mk page to the .com site, top right corner.

[tws123]

This is really stupid - only in the past few hours has Antwerp been replaced as their 'new base' by London Southend. Something is definately wrong here. Heres the man behind it - hes done it many times before!!

jetsSky.com will face lawsuit
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New European start-up airline, jetsSky.com, willl face a law suit by the National Dutch consumer watch dog (the consumentenbond) if jetsSky continues to sell 'ghost' flights on its web-site.
See following link (unfortunately in Dutch) http://reiskrant.nl/reiskrant2/reisnieuws/article7541121.ece
The so-called 'airline' has called off the start of flights from AMS as of February 1st and now insists it will start operations as of March 28, however it continues to sell flights as of February 1st.

jetsSky.com is headed by Harry van Achteren, a business man who has left a trail of financial mismanagement and bankruptcies.

News on jetsSky in the Dutch media has been negative to say the least and consumers are being warned. Articles in national newspapers and now coverage on television coupled with a potential lawsuit by the National Consumer watch dog show the seriousness of the allegations of selling 'ghost' flights as a potenial scam.

See a previous thread on PPRuNe aswell:
[URL=http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=116164][URL]

(original thread from February 21st)

that should be January 21 st off course!!

[Expressflight]

That link from the (presumably) reputable kontikisky.mk website to the .com website seems rather strange doesn't it?

[Tagron]

One might have thought that the link from the kontiki.mk website to kontikisky.com would have established the latter's bona fide credentials. But has anyone else noticed the anomaly that whereas the .mk site is Macedonian language, kontikisky.com is only in English. That seems strange for a website that purports to sell flights originating in Constanta, Bucharest, Skopje, many of which are internal to the Balkan countries .

If there is a genuine attempt by the parent travel company to move into western European LCC operations, the current publicity can only be very damaging. Equally if there is malpractice as some are alleging this needs to be identified stopped and brought to the attention of the appropriate authorities.

It is easy to speculate on the sudden transfer of main base, supposedly for scheduling reasons, from ANR to SEN. I shall be very cautious in what I choose to say in a public forum until there is more hard evidence. A statement by SEN management could be very helpful in providing clarity.


.

[1stspotter]

The selling of airline tickets for flights operated by Kon Tiki Sky are 100 % fraud! As discovered by the thread on luchtzak.be
Luchtzak Aviation • View topic - Kon Tiki Sky starting flights from Antwerp? (http://www.luchtzak.be/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=46957)

1. the domain kontikisky.com is owned by someone called E van Achteren. The same name is reported in several newspapers as somone who did fraud on container business and startup airlines. Lots of financial drama.
2. the company which is owner of the domain is Sobel Group NV. This was also used for another fake airline intending to start at Antwerp.
3. The routes from Antwerp are very strange/not logical.
4. The airline operating the routes from Antwerp is not very logical
5. The airline intended to use Antwerp but this weekend they announced on the website the flights will not operate. This the fraud people find out about the bad press?
6. It might not even possible to operate a 100% full aircraft from Antwerp.
7. Fares are too good to be true
8. website looks very amaturistic
9. is all smells fraud

A bit weird there is a link on konti.mk . Probably the travel acency either does not realise it is a fraud or they are part of the fraud (not sure is KonTiki is profitable).

[Fairdealfrank]

If "sharp practice" is suspected, have a word with the county council trading standards department.

[Barling Magna]

The marketing offensive is underway, with this advert aired on ITV. Note the range of destinations listed:

London Southend Airport Television Advertisement March 2012 'Let's Take It Nice And Easy.' - YouTube

Good one!

[Fairdealfrank]

No, don't mean sharp practice by the SEN authorities! Was referring to various postings about allegedly scamming carriers.

[LTNman]

kontikisky.com :


Registrant:
Sobel Group NV
E. van Achteren
Palissade 5
Hellevoetsluis, 3221LX
NL
Phone: +31.483410167
Email: [email protected]


Domain Name: kontikisky.com
Created on..............: 2012-01-06
Expires on..............: 2013-01-06

Administrative Contact:
Sobel Group NV
E. van Achteren
Palissade 5
Hellevoetsluis, 3221LX
NL
Phone: +31.483410167
Email: [email protected]


Technical Contact:
Provider B.V.
M.B. van den Brink
Postbus 10
Nijmegen, 6500AA
NL
Phone: +31.243440155
Email: [email protected]


DNS Servers:
dns2.webhost.nl
dns1.webhost.nl

[Expressflight]

The first weekly Ford charter to Istanbul departed this morning flown by a Germania A319. Nice to see an early demonstration of the increased runway distances paying dividends.

[LEWIS APPLEBY]

Was the Germania operating the Istanbul or the Cologne?, only the Cologne shown on the departures page of the airport website although I would not be surprised if the website is out of date!

[Expressflight]

Germania to Istanbul and Jet2 to Cologne this morning (both having positioned in last night) - looked very impressive parked side by side at the terminal.

[LEWIS APPLEBY]

Cheers for that.

Guy I work with lives in Jersey and commutes each Friday and Monday from/to London - this morning his BA 737 couldnt get into Gatwick or Heathrow as the 737 needed 200m vis, and it was only 100m, so his flight has gone back to Jersey, hopefully in the not too distant future we will see lots of Gatwick or the other London airport flights divert in and use SEN

[Barling Magna]

Yes, I would think SEN will be a very attractive diversion location for LCY, STN, LGW and even LHR - but limited by aircraft type of course, although no doubt the subsequent take-off will be empty of passengers so A320s and 757s can join the A319s and 737-500s. I'm surprised the Jersey 737 didn't divert to SEN. Presumably it needs to appear on the airline's "radar". as it were.

[Man Flex]

Has anyone ever considered that pilots may require special training to operate into SEN?

[approach24]

Talking of diversions, this mornings RE flight from Waterford has just diverted to Birmingham. I would have thought with an RVR of 900 metres he would have made at least 1 attempt to get in, but a couple of laps around the hold and he requested a diversion.

[Charley B]

I was thinking that myself this morning-think 2 BA 737s went out of the hold to JER-one was a BA shuttle
SEN could well be very useful to small aircraft diversions-quite a few Flybe had to divert as well to MAN and BHX
Fog is lifting here now up to 600m at the moment!!
Stobart group have really impressed me with what they did to SEN:)

[Expressflight]

SEN has been reporting 'overcast 100ft' all morning so I would assume that was the deciding factor rather than the RVR.

Its time will come before long no doubt.

[LEWIS APPLEBY]

Yes you are right Charlie B the guy whose Gatwick flight returned to Jersey mentionedf that a BA shuttle from Manchester to Gatwick had just landed at Jer. And I am sure that in the future SEN will attract more diverts, maybe by next winter the airlines will have got used to the idea.

[LEWIS APPLEBY]

Regarding attracting airlines to divert when necessary, situation not helped by the fact that the airport website still showing the old runway details on the operational part of their website! Come on Stobert IT get it sorted.

[Charley B]

The JER and MAN fts arrived back here safely just before 10.00-but weather at JER was showing FOG a little while ago:(

[Tagron]

The Depatures/Arrivals information on the SEN website unfortunately is not reliable. It omits the Jet 2, shows the wrong Germania flight and does not update Aer Arann. If you click on the Live Update Tracker link and read the disclaimer you will see why. SEN needs to get this feature sorted out.

Airlines do not rely on the website for their information on runway and radio aids. Their source is the UK AIP which was updated on March 8. However they only provide charts for selected airfields on board their aircraft. :Possibly some airlines have not yet got round to including SEN in their aircraft chart sets, hence crews may not be aware SEN is an approved diversion for them.

It is surprising to hear that Aer Arann did not make an approach in 900m RVR.
Approach ban is based on RVR not cloudbase. Overcast 100ft is certainly below DH, but it is not uncommon to achieve visual reference above the reported cloudbase, though I can't say that would have been the case today of course. Even so an approach, goaround and divert seems a better use of fuel than twice round the hold then divert !

Not all diverted flights will depart empty, e.g. some may arrive on a fuel-and-go basis. There will be no difficulty in a fully laden 757 or A320 departing SEN for LHR or for that matter many European airports.

[frostbite]

I have to agree regarding criticism of the SEN website.

It was never impressive but looked as if it was improving for a short time. Looks like Stobart need to renovate it to match the airport.

[vulcanised]

I was also surprised the ATR diverted this morning.

As far as I could tell, he entered the hold at 3000ft and stayed at that level before deciding to divert. No attempt was made to explore the possibilities further.

Perhaps there were no pax to be inconvenienced?

[Expressflight]

Whatever the reasoning was for not holding to await the anticipated improvement in conditions, I should think a considerable number of passengers were inconvenienced.

[Chille Con Carnie]

Expressflight
Any idea how many Pax on the Istanbul this morning.
Intresting as this was prob 4hr flight ?.

[Tagron]

Flight time SEN-IST with an A319 I would estimate as in the region of 3hrs 20mins depending on the winds on the day.

Further to the comments on the diversion situation this morning I would add that if the SEN weather at the time was RVR 900m OVC001 then noone would have been tempted to divert to SEN with only a Cat 1 ILS.

[Tagron]

There have been more changes on the kontikisky (http://www.kontikisky.com) website today. Flights on sale from Skopje, Constanta and Bucharest have been reduced to those within Eastern and Central Europe and to Italian destinations. The large number of flights from these points to Western Europe are now in the "coming soon" category. This includes CND-LTN. The text of the Antwerp announcement has been changed but the message is still the same.

SEN is still the new base. But this is sounding more and more like thread drift...

[LTNman]

The train or any form of public transport is not an option for passengers catching Easyjet's first departures of the day. Nor is it an option for the last flights back into Southend at night. Wonder if Southend will be providing camper beds for stranded passengers who think that Southend is well connected?

[smallpilot]

LTNMan, There is a Premier Inn by the 06 threshold, 5 mins from the terminal by cab, and the new Holiday Inn will open next to the terminal in a couple of months. In addition there's an on-site taxi service, booking desk in the terminal, with a fleet of brand new MPV's parked outside.

[OltonPete]

Just happened to notice EZY9001 went Malta - Southend tonight landed
about 19.10.

I assume it was in maintenance but is it for training at Southend or more PR?

Per flightradar24 it has not moved since.

Pete

[LTNman]

Check in

London Southend Airport tries to process all passengers as efficiently as possible. We suggest that all charter flight passengers arrive three hours before their flight, and all scheduled flight passengers arrive two hours before their flight.

So small doesn't mean quick?????:eek:

There is a Premier Inn by the 06 threshold, 5 mins from the terminal by cab, and the new Holiday Inn will open next to the terminal in a couple of months.

So an early or late flight means an overnight stay then or a £100 taxi ride to/from London:eek:

Southend might well be good as a daytime airport but I think I will give it a miss before 8:30am or after 9:30pm

[Expressflight]

LTNman

I'm sure SEN will sorely miss your patronage, but I guess they'll get over it eventually.

[Aero Mad]

You'd think somebody so jealous would be more discerning over their username.

[LTNman]

Just pointing out a few unpalatable facts to those who don't want to hear them.

So which motorway do passengers use to get them into London when there is no public transport?

[mikkie4]

first train dep southend victoria 04.00 arr SEN 04.05 last train liverpool street 00.50 arr SEN 01.47. X30 bus hourly from 0200 dep southend bus station journewy time 10min SEN via chelmsford to stansted . X30 hourly stansted via chelmsford from 04.00 to SEN journey time 1hr 10min

[Aero Mad]

which motorway do passengers use to get them into London when there is no public transport?

They don't use a motorway; they use the A127 dual carriageway. However, you seem to have forgotten that many airport users will come from the significant Essex/East Anglia catchment - the only thing that seems impressive about your analysis is the magnitude of your doomsaying, I'm afraid; you completely neglect to mention the myriad advantages of a train station within a hundred paces of the terminal which at every other time of day is perfectly functional.

I'm sorry to sound rude but if Luton made efforts to remain competitive then its cries for attention would not fall on such deaf ears.

[LTNman]

first train dep southend victoria 04.00 arr SEN 04.05 last train liverpool street 00.50 arr SEN 01.47. X30 bus hourly from 0200 dep southend bus station journewy time 10min SEN via chelmsford to stansted . X30 hourly stansted via chelmsford from 04.00 to SEN journey time 1hr 10min

First train leaves London at 5:28, one hour four minutes later it arrives at Southend at 6:32. This means that no passenger from London can use the train for any easyjet departure before say 8:00 (but not on a Sunday) unless they are willing to spend the early hours camped out at the airport.

Sunday it is even worse. First train of the day arrives Southend Airport 09:17.

Can't see how the X30 service helps Southend's passengers.

Why are people here being rude. People here might not like the cold truth but everything I say is a fact.

There is nothing wrong with Southend particularly is you happen to be a halibut living at the end of Southend’s pier or have flight to catch from say 8:30 but Jonny Foreigner could be in for a shock if he expects a public transport service if he arrives late at night.

Given time no doubt this will be corrected but Southend can only really call itself London Southend for part of the night as it is impossible to get to and from the capital in the early hours unless you drive or take a taxi.

Maybe I am being a little hard on this east coast airport but I have driven to Southend many times and it doesn't seem that close to London by car .:}

[Captinbirdseye]

2 hours for scheduled and 3 hours for chartered flights are the norm no matter what size of the airport! I have no doubt that national express will be looking into bringing in a route from SEN to London Victoria or something similar soon as demand picks up! I could be wrong but dosn't LTN generally have reputation to grind to a holt during rush hour due to bad road network around the airport?
Also, if you look at the routes from SEN these are looking at more lesuire passengers as opposed to business travellers and they are more likely to book an airport hotel to stay there the night as opposed to getting a train @6AM.
Personally I would not travel to LTN due to the journey from where I live. I.e M25, M1, and then with traffic congestion around the airport at rush hour. Nothing against LTN but preference really. I find the trip to LGW a lot easier.
Buster I cannot deny that has not played on my mind with the amount of GA traffic around SEN. But hey, lets see how it goes! Looking forward to my first flight out of SEN shortly.

[Expressflight]

I'm sorry LTNman but you must be rather dim if you don't see that remarks such as "nothing wrong with Southend .... if you happen to be a halibut living at the end of Southend's pier ..." are likely to provoke a lively response.

From 2135 until 2305 there is a train every 30 minutes to London, so few people are going to be affected unless there are inbound flight delays - quite possible of course, but probably rare. Yes, at present the lack of a train from London to give an arrival SEN before 0632 is a pity. You and I don't know what is going on behind the scenes to try to rectify that, yet you speak as if that's going to be the situation for ever and a day. Also, as Captinbirdseye mentioned, it seems quite likely that coach services will be introduced once pax numbers warrant it.

Finally, don't speak as if the majority of pax arrive by train because they don't - the latest figures for SOU, which has its own train station, show that only 18% of travellers use public transport and I believe that includes taxis.

Just give SEN a break and let it bed down before slating it. I must admit I do find it very surprising that LTN, with its 10 million ppa, still suffers horrendous local traffic congestion which means you have to allow an extra hour if you're driving to catch an early morning flight - but no airport infrastructure is perfect is it?

[Phileas Fogg]

Atleast SEN has an airport rail station that's actually at/on the airport!!!

[nt639]

The posts by LTNMAN are typical of what is normally posted on the Stansted thread , they always seem to think any expansion/extra fights within 100 miles of Luton should of gone to Luton & do not like it. Just take a look at the last few posts on the Stansted thread.

[carlrsymington]

SEN has a train station and LTN doesn't.
Which is best?
There is only one way to find out!!!!

FIGHT!!!!


PS Thanks Harry

[Buster the Bear]

I was chatting to a couple of easyJet first officers recently who are looking forward to flying out of Southend, but not the flying outside controlled airspace in busy class G to get in and out! TCAS is a wonderful tool, but useless against non-transponder equipped aircraft.

I did comfort them when I pointed out that Class D protection will be available during the Olympic Games!

[LTNman]

2 hours for scheduled and 3 hours for chartered flights are the norm no matter what size of the airport

Which makes it even worse for early morning departures if arriving by train.

The posts by LTNMAN are typical of what is normally posted on the Stansted thread , they always seem to think any expansion/extra fights within 100 miles of Luton should of gone to Luton & do not like it. Just take a look at the last few posts on the Stansted thread.

You must find a quote and post it here because I can't find any:=

SEN has a train station and LTN doesn't.

True but if we are going to be petty Luton has a motorway and Southend doesn't

From 2135 until 2305 there is a train every 30 minutes to London, so few people are going to be affected unless there are inbound flight delays

Err how about all of Easyjets's arrivals after 22:30?

Finally, don't speak as if the majority of pax arrive by train because they don't

Very true, wonder why the airport is making a big thing about the station then?

Does Southend have a good future as a London Airport? Well actually I hope so.:ok:

[student88]

OltonPete - the aircraft is in for a paint job, it's covered in yellow patch repairs on the skin. I don't know if it's coming out all white or back into the easyJet c/s because as it stands the aircraft has no seats installed, making me think it maybe be an end of lease job.

G-EZEZ was sat on the ramp today and flew SEN-LGW, this aircraft came out with a slightly different colour scheme, with the easyJet titles on the side only coming up to the overwing exits, maybe this a/c will also be leaving the fleet, who knows..

[Barnaby the Bear]

Buster, I'm sure you know that TCAS is not the only tool available. :ok:
Close coordination with TC, Deconfliction Service from Southend (SSR at the start) Mode S closely followed behind.
Plus, extensive awareness publications and briefings throughout the GA community & Airfields. Workshops with the First Officers and Captains including Southend and NATS controllers that will be involved with operations in/out of Southend. Education and a comprehensive Risk assessments carried out by the Airlines that are or are looking to operated from Southend.

Even Class D has 'unknowns'. :ok:

LTNman, Seriously, what are you afraid of? :ugh:
Why are you so concerned? EasyJet have done their research, they know what access there is to and from the Airport, and when.
Access via the A127 or A13 is not the hell you portray.
Southend also has the benefit of a second line (C2C) within 2 miles of the Airport (similar train times).
Why wouldnt they push the station as they do? Its a huge asset. Whenever I travel from Stansted (Early morning or late at night) I never consider the train anyway. The same when i arrive at my foreign destination. I do research before I depart to ensure I have a transfer though or hotel nearby.
I dont see that as a big difference at Southend for visitors.

Its good to see investment and expansion is aviation at this time.... especially at Southend. :ok:

[mikkie4]

if im flying from luton or anyother airport before 06.30am,i would still have to leave home the previouse night to get to the airport,much the same getting home landing after midnight,would still have to wait for the first train,or get a later flight

[vulcanised]

Does it not occur to LTNman that the train operators might be looking at putting on additional services to serve the early/late flights?

[Captinbirdseye]

LTNman. You raise some good points but they are very generic with every airport. Not just SEN. I think your what your forgetting SEN hasn't really kicked off yet! So public transport links will be minimal at the moment. Another positive point is that SEN offers relatively cheap onsite parking. Best to judge in a year or two when ops are being ramped up fully how the transport infrastructure will csupply the demand!

[Captinbirdseye]

On another note! If I had an early morning charter flight to any airport myself and the other 200 pax would probably choose another method of transport as opposed to the train! So don't fret there wont be loads families at Liverpool street with there Thomson holidays luggage tags all upset that there train don't depart until 5:30! ;)

[Buster the Bear]

Barnaby, I realise all of that, but without seamless CAS and easyJet demanding release directly into the TMA, flying out of Southend without full Class D is spicy! Just ask Air SouthWest (if they were available to speak) how many close calls their weekly service into Oxford had! They pulled the route after one season! Or their insurers did?

A lack of radar hindered their operation whereas Southend will have H24 coverage.

TAG are desperate for CAS around Farnborough and rightly so. The sooner Southend gets permanent CAS the better.

[LN-KGL]

Well, the public transport share to and from UK airports varies a lot. In the 2010 CAA Airport Survey for 12 English airports the public share was as follows:
London City = 52.4%
Stansted = 47.8%
Gatwick = 40.4%
Heathrow = 39.2%
Luton = 32.8%
Birmingham = 24.9%
Liverpool = 17.9%
Manchester = 13.6%
East Midlands = 8.7%
Doncaster = 8.5%
Leeds Bradford = 6.5%
Humberside = 0.5%

The three best in Europe the same year had the following public share:
Oslo, Norway = 67%
Zurich, Switzerland = 59%
Copenhagen, Denmark = 57%
All three of these European airports are sitting on top of a hight speed rail link in to the city centre, and with a travel time of only 11 to 19 minutes.

I've flown to and/or from all the twelve English airport (and Southend too), and it's not without reason that these low public transports shares exists. For example, to give the railway service from Liverpool Street to Stansted the name Stansted Express is an insult - 46 minutes to cover only 37 miles. With at least 9 more minutes to reach Southend Airport and that with only 2 miles more than to Stansted, I don't think the train link will be a winner. I think you may struggle to reach 10% for the railway use at Southend. I hope the onsite parking is large enough.

[johnnychips]

Well, the public transport share

LCY seems remarkable... does 'public transport' include taxis?

[Barnaby the Bear]

The sooner Southend gets permanent CAS the better.
Agreed Buster.. It wont happen over night, but thats not to say the operation wont be successful and safe until that point. :8

LN-KGL- Sadly to call any rail service in this country 'Express' is an insult. But around 50 mins to the City (less to Stratford) isnt bad..... But more parking being constructed as we speak.

[easyflyer83]

OltonPete - the aircraft is in for a paint job, it's covered in yellow patch repairs on the skin. I don't know if it's coming out all white or back into the easyJet c/s because as it stands the aircraft has no seats installed, making me think it maybe be an end of lease job.

G-EZEZ was sat on the ramp today and flew SEN-LGW, this aircraft came out with a slightly different colour scheme, with the easyJet titles on the side only coming up to the overwing exits, maybe this a/c will also be leaving the fleet, who knows..

Any pics of G-EZEZ? Would be interesting to see whether this is a 'tweak' to the livery.

I know Easy are looking at new seats aswell.

[LN-KGL]

LN-KGL- Sadly to call any rail service in this country 'Express' is an insult.

I've had my share over the years and I started already in 1983. There is one rail service that can be called express on British soil and that is the Eurostar. My only trip with Eurostar was on 17 May 2010 - the last day of the Icelandic ash. I had be back in Norway on the 18th and the only possible routing from Humberside was to drive all the way down to Kent and Ashford to catch Eurostar to Brussels and to continue with SAS BRU-CPH-OSL. Of course it was a different price for this routing compared with the scheduled and cancelled KLM flight home via AMS on the 16th. It might have become more expensive - a powerful Audi A4 and the fine motorways in Kent is dangerous combination, but lucky enough the Police that passed me in the outer lane had a more pressing matter ahead :O

[Expressflight]

Yes, I believe taxis are included within the definition of 'public transport' in that context.

[NorthSouth]

Buster the Bear:Just ask Air SouthWest (if they were available to speak) how many close calls their weekly service into Oxford had!No need. Just look at the Airprox reports. And please don't tell me there are lots that weren't reported as airproxes. If it was unsafe or even potentially unsafe then it's the pilot's (or ATCO's) responsibility to report it.
NS

[NorthSouth]

I've just checked. There were no airproxes involving Air Southwest DHC8s to/from Oxford in the period they were operating the service - 11 Jul - 12 Sep 2009.
NS

[Phileas Fogg]

Apparently not very much occurs to LTNman ...

That SEN has a significantly better weather record than just about any other airport in the LON area, that just because LTN has a 'M' designated highway close to it ... well I'd much prefer to travel the quieter A127 any day/time of the week, oh and, of course, LTN is another of the great British invention of building an airfield on top of a hill ..... need I go on? :)

And I'm just about as far away as it is possible to get from LTN/SEN so I'm hardly biased, merely factual.

[mikkie4]

flights now available to the u.s.a from SEN £436.00 rtn in june,on the aer lingus web site

[LTNman]

Phileas Foggy

Apparently not very much occurs to LTNman ...

That SEN has a significantly better weather record than just about any other airport in the LON area

It needs to be with only a CAT 1 approach.

Apparently not much occurs to Phileas Foggy.:=

Luton CAT 3B ILS both ends = RVR 50m
Southend CAT 1 both ends= RVR 550m.

Might be wrong here but was it not the case a few days ago that Aer Arran had to divert due weather with a RVR of 900m as the cloud base was below 200ft which is required for a CAT 1 approach?

[EGPFlyer]

LTNman, just to clarify a few things,

Luton's absolute minima for cat IIIB is 75m, not 50m

Southend's Cat I minima is,at the moment, 750m on one end and 1000m on the other due to incomplete approach lighting

Cloudbase is irrelevant when it comes to Cat I operations. Only RVR counts.

[Fairdealfrank]

Quote:
"Well, the public transport share to and from UK airports varies a lot. In the 2010 CAA Airport Survey for 12 English airports the public share was as follows:
London City = 52.4%
Stansted = 47.8%
Gatwick = 40.4%
Heathrow = 39.2%
Luton = 32.8%
Birmingham = 24.9%
Liverpool = 17.9%
Manchester = 13.6%
East Midlands = 8.7%
Doncaster = 8.5%
Leeds Bradford = 6.5%
Humberside = 0.5%

Surprised that the public transport figure for Manchester-Ringway is so low considering that there are so many rail destinations available to/from the airport station.

Ditto for Birmingham-Elmdon considering the main line station is adjacant to the terminal.

Interesting that the 5 "London" airports are top of this list.
Quote:
"The three best in Europe the same year had the following public share:
Oslo, Norway = 67%
Zurich, Switzerland = 59%
Copenhagen, Denmark = 57%
All three of these European airports are sitting on top of a hight speed rail link in to the city centre, and with a travel time of only 11 to 19 minutes."

This is not comparing like with like. Try comparing the big conurbations:
LHR/LGW/LCY/LTN/STN with ORY/CDG, JFK/LGA/EWR, or DME/SVO/VKO.

[LTNman]

Cloudbase is irrelevant when it comes to Cat I operations. Only RVR counts.



This then is what Southend should end up with when the lighting is finished. Info from Wikipedia

Category 1, Decision Height (above threshold) 200ft RVR limit 550 m or 2400 ft (1200 ft is approved at some airports)[3] Visibility 800 m.

I am getting confused with cloudbase and decision hight

[LN-KGL]

Surprised that the public transport figure for Manchester-Ringway is so low considering that there are so many rail destinations available to/from the airport station.

I'm not surprised. Manchester area is the place in the UK that is the most like America. The huge Trafford Centre is almost a blueprint of an American mall and the only way to reach it is by car. The Manchester Airport website isn't like the Southend website, with an easy link to the current train timetable. MAG plc has just released a CSR report, and the only thing mentioned about public transport is that the Metrolink will arrive in 2016. To get enough parking space for cars at MAN, they had to reduce the apron area. The result is a reduced capasity for diversions.

I have traveled regularly to MAN the last 8 years and never has public transport been a viable option for me. I have always been a regular customer at AVIS and in three weeks I'm again at the upper level of the multi storey car parking.

This is not comparing like with like.
I don't aree with you there. All three top performers are among the top 20 European airports (only LHR and LGW are larger than the threesome in UK). To make it even worse for these three, the population density is significantly lower compared with London.
- Greater London population density = 12,773/sq mi
- Greater Manchester population density = 5,220/sq mi
- Oslo metro population density = 420/sq mi
- Canton of Zurich population density = 2,100/sq mi
- Copenhagen metro population density = 1,650/sq mi

The city with the lowest metro population of the three, Canton of Zurich with 1.371 million citizens, has almost an identical population number with Merseyside (1.365 million), but there is a significant difference - Merseyside is over 2.5 times more dense than Zurich. It's all down to urban planning, or more correctly for Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham - the lack of planning.

[pwalhx]

I have to disagree over the train service to Manchester, I use it every time I fly from Manchester which is about once a month at least. The TPE express service is well priced and an excellent service. The time from the airport to Piccadilly station is 10-15 minutes with either no stop or occasionally I have stopped at Heald Green. And for me an hour or less from Huddersfield. Anyway sorry for thread drift.

[Expressflight]

I believe the 24 approach lighting is in the process of being upgraded right now. Apparently it's the number of crossbars which is the main determining factor in reducing the RVR minima. I had thought that IRVR also made a difference but someone corrected me on this this morning.

I do wish LTNman would stop trying to compare SEN with LTN. The latter is a mature major airfield while SEN is not yet in that league so it's hardly surprising that there are still a few things SEN lacks at this stage. There is hardly going to be network of coach services until the demand is actually established and the same applies to early and late trains. It's bound to be a tricky time when going from virtually nil pax to 1 million per annum in a short space of time.

Regarding Kon Tiki Sky one intriguing thing is that Alfa Air definitely do think that its genuine, which is rather a surprise. Are they being conned as well, as many people are suggesting its a hoax or worse, or does it have some substance?

[Barling Magna]

I agree with Expressflight that we're going to have to anticipate teething problems with the launch of what is essentially a new airport. Remember the Terminal Five launch? I like the look of SEN's terminal, but it seemed a bit small to me when I popped in last week (I know an extension is planned). With EZY and RE flights departing at similar times it's going to get a wee bit crowded.

I also agree that LTNman seems a bit fixated on SEN at the moment. I can't see why he should be that interested. Luton's future looks bright with its plans for expansion - the Council having even grander plans than the airport owners (why couldn't Southend BC have done that in the distant past?). I can't see SEN taking passengers away from Luton to any great extent. The Aer Arann switch to SEN is a one-off and a darned clever move by Stobart to get SEN up and running again with daily schedules before the EZY revolution. I wonder if Aer Arann will re-consider establishing some niche European schedules from SEN? If not, someone else will do so fairly soon I would have thought. Once EZY shows cosnsistently high load factors on its summer schedules, and its winter ski flights, surely other operators will follow.

Kon-tiki Sky appears from other postings to be highly doubtful. Let's hope that more established operators get involved - what was the problem with Danube Wings' DLE schedule? Maybe some more services will follow the Routes 2012 event at Tallinn in May?

[Flightmech]

I also agree that LTNman seems a bit fixated on SEN at the moment

I'm a bit concerned SEN has taken LTNman's gaze away from STN for a while:E

[irish laddie]

Is CAT II in the plan for SEN or will it remain CAT I when the works complete.

Having travelled through the new terminal last week, have to say it is looking in great shape. Any staff I came in contact with at check-in/security etc are a credit to the place, pleasent change to the surly jobsworths at most other London airports!

[Barling Magna]

Back in the old days SEN always had a reputation for being friendly. More than that, staff had a sense of fun too. Channel, BUAF and Aviation Traders were all run by "personalities" and there was a feeling of pulling together (either with, or sometimes against, the "personality" leadership)! It looks like some of that sense of friendliness and fun has been rekindled by Stobart - long may it continue.

[mart901]

EIR flights to US and WAT now bookable on EI website......

[cjags]

Quote:
OltonPete - the aircraft is in for a paint job, it's covered in yellow patch repairs on the skin. I don't know if it's coming out all white or back into the easyJet c/s because as it stands the aircraft has no seats installed, making me think it maybe be an end of lease job.

G-EZEZ was sat on the ramp today and flew SEN-LGW, this aircraft came out with a slightly different colour scheme, with the easyJet titles on the side only coming up to the overwing exits, maybe this a/c will also be leaving the fleet, who knows.. Any pics of G-EZEZ? Would be interesting to see whether this is a 'tweak' to the livery.

I know Easy are looking at new seats aswell.

I believe G-EZEZ will receive additional decals ready for the opening of the new airport at Berlin Brandenburg.

[lfc84]

Posted in the Isle of Man forum by GMIMA


EASYJET Close to announcing new route

Easyjet will shortly announce a new route from the isle of man.

LPL IOM SEN IOM LPL twice a day! Not sure if it will be operated by SEN or LPL based aircraft etc

Apparently Flybe mike rutter has been over to the IOM to threaten the IOM government over frequencies on the routes they operate on, should this go ahead!

Easy already announced SEN JER

Fingers crossed announcement to follow.

[vulcanised]

Flybe seem to be under a bit of pressure at the moment.

Their shares were among the biggest losers in the stock market this week.

[Expressflight]

I shall be very surprised if easyJet operate a double daily LPL-IOM-SEN-IOM-LPL service - that's a lot of capacity to fill.
It would have to be operated by a LPL aircraft as there is no spare availability within the three SEN based aircraft and an early arrival SEN would be required anyway for it to stand any chance of working.

[rowly6339]

sen was on tv again this week,series 3 ep3 stobarts. Andrew tinkler looking around the terminal building and not very happy.

[Barling Magna]

LTNman having a go at SEN on the Isle of Man thread. He does seem to be fixated on us at the moment; I wonder why.......?

[LTNman]

This might interest people here. Taken from my copy of Southend airport's 1967/68 year book.

44 years ago the map shows a proposed new runway extension and railway station. It's been a long wait and I can see why people here are passionate.

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/374/imgxhh.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/94/imgxhh.jpg/)

http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/9793/img0001vuh.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/594/img0001vuh.jpg/)

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/2489/img0003ci.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/141/img0003ci.jpg/)

[Barling Magna]

That's right LTNman. Thanks for showing some understanding. It's been forty years of hurt.......

[LTNman]

I guess it's a bit like supporting the local football team. The airport used to be in the first division but a lack of investment caused the airport to drop a few divisions. Now the supporters are chomping at the bit as the good times return.

What next, package holidays again to Europe?

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/6690/img0005xee.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/7/img0005xee.jpg/)

[Barling Magna]

Absolutely. Continental Routes, don't you know...... Hopefully a range of package holiday flights will arise over time, but I guess people will want to see EZY's services thrive first.

[JTSB]

I'm really hoping that the next 6 months will be defining ones for the airport. Obviously we have the EasyJet and Aer Arann/Aer Lingus flights all in place, the terminal and runway extension complete and the new safety and radar features in place. Do people genuinely think that the airport will now be starting to look an attractive proposition to other carriers? It's well known that demand for the EZ flights is high, and hopefully it will become apparent soon that the new radar and safety equipment, runway extension, terminal building and railway station all operate smoothly in tandem. Do people thinks that there are some carriers waiting in the wings to see proof that the airport will be popular/successful before they start negotiating to start routes up?

What carriers, routes and models could be possible out of SEN do people think?

[Captinbirdseye]

Just in case LTNman pops round the corner.

Poll reveals (http://www.internationalairportreview.com/2821/airport-news/poll-reveals-%E2%80%98best%E2%80%99-and-%E2%80%98worst%E2%80%99-uk-airports/)

Best to read this post before slating all LON airports. Impressions last with travellers.

As you can tell I am quickly finding him very annoying.

On another note, Will the Typhoon be taking off from SEN for the airshow this year. What are the minimums for the typhoon and the reds?

[Barling Magna]

Hang on, LTNman's started to be nice. Don't spoil it.

We're all in this together.......

[LGS6753]

Cap'n Birds Eye,

Your stats are two years old.

Others,

I wish the 'new' Southend well - the big upturn comes after next weekend and I'm sure it will go smoothly. SEN has a geographic niche which it will continue to develop, probably at the expense of STN and to a lesser extent LTN and LGW. Pity Channel Airways Viscounts won't feature in the renaissance... :ok:

[Cloud1]

Looks good but I am surprised that 1) there are not all that many check in desks when considering the target growth and 2) not a single element of EasyJet orange. Traditionally doesnt the terminal become one big satsuma once EasyJet move in??

[mikkie4]

southend just wanted to get the terminal up and running,planing aplication has gone to the council for an extention which will give a lot more room for more check in desks etc,etc,if given the go ahead ,it will take less than a year to build the extention and add it to the new terminal.all the main services are ther(water,electricity,drains).so by the time they reach 2mill there should be plenty of room

[LTNman]

Traditionally airlines used to use a pair of check-in desks per flight but now airlines like easyjet check-in several flights at the same time from any of their desks that are open. I would have thought that no more than 4 desks would be needed until more aircraft are based at Southend.

Who is the handling agent at Southend?

[Captinbirdseye]

It would be interesting to see what will happen if/when STN is sold what will happen to SEN. I.e if the new consortium offers better rates, will we say EZY moving routes back to STN? I can see easy being very crude here. Bouncing off four airports to get the best rates! We shall see!

[smallpilot]

LTN Man,

Southend will be doing their own handling, in-house. Stobart reckon they can do it far cheaper and more efficiently than bringing in an outside contractor like Servisair etc

[stab3.5up]

I thought that was againest eu rules that airport owener cannot be airport operator that it had to be open to competition?

[Barling Magna]

An interesting point. I have a hazy recollection that Stobart isn't actually the legal owner of the airport, that remains with the municipal authorities.... but no doubt someone has more accurate information on this?

[Cyrano]

I thought that was againest eu rules that airport owener cannot be airport operator that it had to be open to competition?

If you mean that the airport operator can't be the only provider of handling services, that only applies to airports >2m pax - see here (http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/transport/air_transport/l24142_en.htm).

[LEWIS APPLEBY]

I know it'll be a few years down the line but assuming Easyjet stay at SEN for the 10 years of the deal I wonder if they will have an all A320 fleet as they are now only taking delivery of this variant and not A319's.

I think on average they keep aircraft about 6-8 years and then replace them.

Could A320's operate the longer routes from Southend? Presumably they can do the BFS and AMS OK

[Phileas Fogg]

This thread is supposed to be about SEN and not about any particular (tangerine) airline nor about some dump on top of a Bedfordshire hill that needs knocking down and starting anew.

Despite all the nayers SEN is conveniently road and rail connected to London and the national road and rail network, sure SEN could have a longer runway, improved instruments etc, but so then could many an airport ... if we want to get in to a "my dick is bigger than your dick" contest then perhaps such should be taken up in 'Spotters Corner'.

SEN is, effectively, a brand new airport, buy something in a shop and it has a 12 months warranty, give SEN it's 12 months and if, during this term, it phucks up then criticize it to hell ..... until then give it a chance!

Amen ... Right, time for another San Miguel. :)

Have a nice day y'all ...

[mikkie4]

could not have put it better myself,lets hope LTNMAN will find another airport to moan about,and leave SEN alone

[Cloud1]

PF - ok, so we are not now permitted to talk about SEN's future largest carrier. On that basis there isnt much more to say about this airport - it has been built, its new, congratulations. Dont get me wrong I am pleased that Stobart has pulled this one out the bag but to tailor the thread to suit SEN fans is not really the purpose of this forum.

The comments made concerning EZY are entirely relevant as far as I can see.

It seems to be unless you are full of praise, you are not welcome to contribute???

[mikkie4]

anyone is welcome to contribute their thoughts on SEN,but some people have more negative thoughts than others.just give us some time to get things up and running,there will be problems but they will get sorted,the tin hut on top of a bedfordshire hill is not perfect

[Phileas Fogg]

Cloud1,

Of course one should talk about future carriers but it becomes ridiculous, at this early stage, to suggest that SEN's future is in the destiny of EZY and then thread drifts about what if EZY go all A320 rather than A319 etc.

Bearing in mind Stobart needed to buy shares in Aer Arran to get them in to SEN the Irish routes are nothing to sing and dance about but, crikes, the new airport only opened a few days ago, operators are not going to switch airports without seeing the airport in operation.

But Cloud1 ... How can you say, with any certainty, that EZY are SEN's future largest carrier? ... You don't know that any more than the rest of us don't know that ... it's a new airport, it's only just opened, all will become clear in due course and not on day 1!

[Cloud1]

Now you are being a tad on the pedantic side - Easyjet is currently the intended largest carrier. Unless other airlines fall over themselves to base more units there then things will change. But reality check, SEN will never be LHR

Anyway this is getting stupid, is there anything else that we can discuss reference SEN? Topic change required

[rowly6339]

what sen needs now is time to bed in then in 12 months time we will see where things are and then people can say who's next with what ac untill then nobody knows what is in store for this brand new airport so lets just wish stobart's well and see where things take us.

[LGS6753]

It's been a massive coup for Stobart to attract EZY.
Not just a handful of routes from other bases, but a base of three fully-utilised aircraft, for ten years, gained at a time when there were almost no commercial operations at all.
I think it's inevitable that EZY will be the principal carrier at SEN for a number of years.

[mikkie4]

southend does not want to become another heathrow

[brian_dromey]

EZY have done this in the past, at LTN, then LGW and now SEN, easyJet seem to have no great love for STN, but that is hardly surprising, it was inherited as part of Go. easyJet seem to be making a habit of stealing a march on other airlines when opportunities present themselves. Well done to easy, I say. Hopefully SEN will do really well.

[Phileas Fogg]

Hardly stealing a march ... SEN is long enough for A319's but not long enough for B737-800's ... Go figure!

[LTNman]

06/24 1,856m 6,089ft. Is the full length available for departures?

Can't remember the last time I have seen a Ryanair 737-800 backtrack at LTN. From the intersection the take off run is 6000ft so I would have thought that many Ryanair routes could operate from Southend if the full length is available.

What will happen to the old terminal. I have heard the cafe is still open there?

[CessnaEng]

SEN is not a NEW airport.

OK it has a longer runway, a new terminal and new(ish) owners but it is certainly not new.

Never the less I wish all concerned luck with their new venture.

[Barling Magna]

Believe me, if you had been supporting this airport for over fifty years you would call the present situation a new airport. A new control tower, new radar, new railway station, new passenger terminal, new runway extension, new taxiway, new aircraft stands, new car parks, new hotel. The whole focus of the airport moved from the southern to the eastern side of the site. It looks and feels like a new airport. Trust me.

[Steviec9]

The last time I went through, it was a bus ride on an RF coach from Rochford station, wood panelling and formica everywhere, BAF hostesses in navy blue uniforms with white gloves, cars on scissor lifts being loaded into the front of the Carvair, DAT DC4's billowing smoke on start up and my Mum moaning because the return fare from SEN-OST was just over £7.

I do hope that my next planned visit will prove that a 'new' facility is now in operation!

[chaps2011]

Ah but can we have a few Carvairs pls

Ian

[Phileas Fogg]

Who remembers when BAF's cabin crew uniform included the wearing of hot pants? :)

[NorthSouth]

LTNman:06/24 1,856m 6,089ft. Is the full length available for departures?

Can't remember the last time I have seen a Ryanair 737-800 backtrack at LTN. From the intersection the take off run is 6000ft so I would have thought that many Ryanair routes could operate from Southend if the full length is available.Luton r/w 26 departure from A: TORA 1789, TODA 2698
Luton r/w 08 departure from B: TORA 1724, TODA 2586
Southend both r/w directions: TORA 1739, TODA 1799
So not a lot in it on TORA but I suspect it's the TODA that clinches it. I suspect the obstacles under the take-off path are more performance-constraining at Southend than Luton too.
NS

[LN-KGL]

Hardly stealing a march ... SEN is long enough for A319's but not long enough for B737-800's ... Go figure!

GOL in Brazil flys sheduled flights in to Santos Dumont, Rio de Janeiro with 737-800 and the runway there is only 1,320m long. Boeing developed a Short Field Performance improvement package in 2005/06 for the 737NG, and a number of other operators around the world that has this SFpip installed. Norwegian is one of these operators, and they are going to do a flight test to FAE later this spring (TORA/TODA/ASDA/LDA 1,799m) with their 737-800 SFpip. Of course, Ryanair don't have SFpip.

[Georgeablelovehowindia]

Ah yes ... 'Running the Gauntlet' past the cabin crew rest room, that interesting aroma of perfume, hairspray, and cigarette smoke! The cheerful cries of greeting - I'll leave those to your imagination - but think St. Trinian's and you won't be far off.

I enjoyed just about every minute of my three years with BAF.

Exception: those DUS/HAJ night newspaper flights, and sitting on the freight apron at CDG at 03:00, sipping hot soup from a Thermos, wasn't exactly huge fun.

Well, well, after decades in the doldrums, things seem to be looking up for SEN.

[frostbite]

The new radar appears to have gone fully operational today, with lots of new squawks being handed out.

[Barnaby the Bear]

The Radar is the Debden SSR feed overlaid onto the existing Primary radar. Today was continued training of ATCO's.
The new onsite SSR/Mode S Radar is still still going through testing and evaluation, but not far behind. :ok:

[Expressflight]

The easyJet launch flight takes place next Monday with a Press jolly to BCN, returning next day.

I used LTN when flying to CDG last weekend and there were just two aspects which I hope will prove a better pax experience at SEN. The time to get from the Mid Stay car park to the terminal was 19 minutes and I and fifty others spent an uncomfortable 20 minutes standing on the stairs down to the departure gate - quite why EZY make you do this I don't know. Otherwise the 'LTN experience' was good and some pax will find the lack of shopping at SEN a disappointment I'm sure. Returning yesterday evening it took just 12 minutes to transit the terminal and another 7 minutes to reach the car park, so no one could complain about that.

As far as other carriers being lined up for SEN this year is concerned, there doesn't seem to be much definite news on that, but they've really got enough to be getting on with. It's a pity that SEN didn't have an official delegation at French Connect as there was a lot of interest in SEN among those attending and copies of the SEN brochure were in demand with airlines and airports alike. Most people there did seem to view SEN as a new airport to serve London. Assuming the industry is in reasonable shape next year I think we shall see more airlines and routes for 2013.

[dog in park]

Does anyone else rember the episosde of Game for a laugh where Jeremy Beadle stuck a landing light in a mans garden and a 'council inspector' told the house owner they were extending the runway. Wonder if he is still waiting for Beadle to turn up again? which he wont!:E

[maliyahsdad2]

Some job news.

LSA - Careers | London Southend Airport (http://www.southendairport.com/careers/123/)

[LTNman]

Saw a lorry trailer parked in a field facing the M25 traffic today carrying a fly Southend Airport billboard. It also mentioned Easyjet and Aer Arran. This was located close to the Chelmsford turn off.

[airportbuilder]

One of the guys installing the 24 approach lights told me one was going in the front garden of a bungalow on Rochford Rd, perhaps Beadle is still about!

[8674planes]

Hi does anyone know the day and time the first easyJet inaugural flight will depart?

[Lord Gumboil Jnr.]

07.00hrs. 2nd April. To Belfast. I will be on it!

[Expressflight]

The easyJet press/competition winners flight departs to BCN at 10:00 this morning. Great to see the Germania A319, Jet2 B733 and easyJet A319 on stand together this morning at the terminal.

[smallpilot]

Yet another EasyJet route been announced. Geneva 3x weekly from December :ok:

[vulcanised]

press/competition winners flight


'Easy 2012' was the callsign. Not just a coincidence?

[rowly6339]

Stobart top brass are visiting again today looks very busy

[LondonCityBoy]

Hi,

I'm trying out SEN to BFS in a few weeks, but just checked and the above is still not bookable.

Anyone know when it opens, or is likely to be available on the webpage to book?

[smallpilot]

The 'Long stay car park' is probably one of the ones they are frantically still trying to build!
Currently there are 2 car parks right opposite the new Terminal, with others under construction just beyond those. Stobart also have bought a large piece of land opposite the Airport (by the McDonalds roundabout) which used to be the park+ride car park for the old Access Credit Card call centre staff, that will be turned into additional parking 'as required.'
In the first instance the car park opposite the terminal can just about cope, and the others are nearly finished.
And at £6 a day and 2 mins from the terminal I'd say its good value compared to other airports.

[Expressflight]

The car park between the rail station and the new terminal is serving as the short, medium and long term car parks pending the completion of the other car parks mentioned by smallpilot. £6.00/day or £35/week is the current charge for all users.

[vulcanised]

Several arrivals from Martinair during the last few days.

Not sure whether they're ops or engineering.

[Expressflight]

Er...... just a light twin and a couple of singles belonging to the Martinair flying club I believe.

[8674planes]

Does anyone know where the privatly owned GA traffic now park as the old parking is now covered by the new walkway and gates 9 and 10?

[smallpilot]

8674 planes,

GA has dispersed around the field, Ours has gone along with some others to the Northern Apron, by the self-service pumps, others to the New Seawing area, and a couple across taxyway D to the North Side of the airport.

[8674planes]

good luck to Southend for tomorrow as the first EasyJet flight departs.

Hope it all goes well!

[mikkie4]

the first plane to arrive at SEN is the 20-20 G-EZAJ,not sure when others will arrive

[Little Blue]

Spent part of the day in the easy crew room and was chatting to some of the base management .
They are excited about tomorrow and it all looks good for first thing !
See you in the morning !:ok:

[stab3.5up]

Good luck with sen guys

[Pain in the R's]

Wonder how many passengers will depart Southend having used the train to get to the airport?

[8674planes]

G-EZAJ has departed Stansted under the flight No.EZY9001. Should land at Southend At 8:20pm.

[vulcanised]

Should land at Southend At 8:20pm.


Indeed it did ! Almost chased down the runway by Aer Arann.

[8674planes]

Apparently both aircraft were targetede by green lazers:mad:

[EI-BUD]

Any word on what the passenger numbers on today's first Southend - Belfast - Southend flights were?

Judging by the fares and the lack of availability for Staff travel on the Barcelona flight, one could be lead to believe that there was a good load on it?

Best of luck to one and all involved in Easyjet's new operation from Southend.

EI-BUD

[tws123]

I don't know that, but I do know that there were around 85 people on board the Belfast - Southend flight this morning which isn't too bad!

[cjags]

The SEN-BCN had approximately 150 booked for this morning.

[8674planes]

Any sign of the EasyJet arrrival from Barcelona due at 15:25?

[ara01jbb]

Departed BCN 2 hours late at 16:01, somewhere over Luxembourg round about now.

[BHD2BFS]

I see bfs is delayed almost 2 hours also. I assume there is only 1 aircraft based at sen at the moment. When does the other 2 arrive?

[vulcanised]

Don't forget that everything in the aviation world is on GMT/UTC/whatever you want to call it.

[A4]

Presumably the delay and routing via Luxembourg (!) is due to French ATC strike?

[mikkie4]

2nd plane arrives on wednesday 4th,ready for the extra flights starting on the 5th.delays due to froggie (ATC) on the otherside of the channel being on strike.they certainly know how to spoil things

[8674planes]

So has the one from Luxemburge landed yet? If it hasn't that means their will be a lnock on effect with the departing flight to Belfast :( It's not going so well for SOuthend today then is it. Any idea the identity of the 2nd aircraft on Wednesday?

[mikkie4]

according to SEN web site belfast/SEN delayed by 100 min

[mikkie4]

SEN/AMSflight from rotation to touchdown 35min.the plane left the essex coast at walton-on-the -naze 10min after take off,beat that STN/LTN

[Pain in the R's]

Don't know if it is just me but I can't scroll down the arrivals and departures board so can't see any info after 18:40 or is that it for the day?

[mikkie4]

its not you its the SEN web page,it was the right size when there were only 2 aer arran flights a day,maybe they will put up a new page as more flights are added

[8674planes]

I'm going to the airport tomorrow; does anyone know the flight timetable/scheduals for tommorow?

[Throat]

try (SEN) Southend Municipal Airport Arrivals (http://www.flightstats.com/go/FlightStatus/flightStatusByAirport.do?airportCode=SEN&airportQueryType=1)

[Saxon_4Alpha]

Southend - Belfast Flight airborne 21.14

[JSCL]

Maybe a stunt to add some GENUINE suspense to Stobart trucks and trailers for once ;)

[j636]

Alicante - 3 weekly
Amsterdam -13 weekly
Barcelona - 5 weekly
Belfast - 13 weekly
Faro - 4 weekly
Jersey - 4 weekly
Malaga - 4 weekly

[mikkie4]

you forgot geneva 3x week,and thats just for starters,hopefully more to follow

[j636]

Its not in the booking system.:confused:

[mikkie4]

on sale from mid april onwards

[Pain in the R's]

Belfast flight due in around midnight. I wonder if the airport or airline will provide transport for those that intended to use the train?

[mart901]

I'm sure it would be possible to bus people to their stations. Would any other airport do such a thing I wonder in the same circumstance? Say BHX for instance where I know from personal experience transport is limited after about 11pm. The last train out of STN tonight is 00.30, would they transport stranded passengers?

[BHD2BFS]

I see Belfast is delayed by 90mins again tonyt. 2 delays in 2 days can't be good

[mart901]

Is it air traffic control issues again?

[pamann]

Oh dear god! 2 delays in two days... The airport is Obviously a failure judging by that. :ugh:

[mart901]

Anything new or different gets ripped to pieces lol!

[BHD2BFS]

No I am all for everything new in the aviation industry but it's all about 1st impressions especially for people who don't understand the industry

[mart901]

True true but SEN has had everything chucked at it true and false from runway length to train timetables and no airline will ever use it. Gradually its all being disproven.

[Barling Magna]

Yes, it's all down to the French ATC and only one easyJet aircraft at SEN until tomorrow. At least the Belfast and Barcelona flights operated, although delayed. The Amsterdam flight was cancelled. All we need is heavy snow tomorrow....

[Expressflight]

An A319 was positioned down from EDI to SEN this evening to operate the BFS service.

[Barling Magna]

Yes, well done EZY; someone's doing a good job. You deserve better luck in the future.

[8674planes]

Does anyone know the identity of the 2nd EasyJet aircraft due to arrive at Southend today?

[Phileas Fogg]

Yes, it's orange and white and it's got "Easyjet" written along it.

[mikkie4]

2nd plane carrying stranded barcelona-gatwik passengers,diverted to SEN as no slot at gatwick.positioning for tomorrow,rather than flying in from stansted

[Squitters]

7674planes,

I believe it is G-EZFT.

[8674planes]

Thankyou very much 'Squitters'

[Expressflight]

G-EZFT

Not actually 'diverted' into SEN I don't think, but flight planned I believe as a sensible London destination due to slot problems at LGW.

Not just a matter of positioning it in early as the second based aircraft ready for tomorrow either, as it departed elsewhere this afternoon.

[Captain_Caveman]

G-EZFT was already at Southend and had no flights planned today (due 2nd Southend line of flying beginning tomorrow) so positioned empty to LGW to operate extra flight LGW-BCN for disrupted passengers and then operated BCN-SEN flight again with disrupted passengers as that's where the plane would be flying from on Thursday. It was never due to or planned to operate into LGW or divert from LGW.

Good job by all to assist Lon-BCN-Lon passengers disrupted by the French ATC strikes

[cjags]

G-EZAJ will be replaced by G-EZFU this evening, along with the arrival of G-EZFT which came in yesterday. So two rather new airframes for passengers :)

[Buster the Bear]

it will have easyJet written along the side and not Easyjet!

[8674planes]

G-EZFU has landed and pics of it arriving are on my Flickr page: Flickr: 8674planes' Photostream (http://www.flickr.com/photos/58259225@N04/?saved=1)

[airportbuilder]

For those of you with an iPhone or iPad try Plane finder HD app. worth paying for as shows live SEN arrivals and departures including aircraft registrations and usually route details, height etc.

[8674planes]

i use Flight Radar 24. That shows most of the aircraft exept ATR's,Dash8's and Embraers

[asdf1234]

Looks like the new SEN thread has turned into a spotters paradise! Shouldn't spotters be in their own corner and this thread be left to those interested in SEN as a flying/career/business opportunity?

ASDF1234

[airportbuilder]

FYI I am not a spotter as you call them merely a local to SEN who is interested in the continuing success of our local airport. I think there are too many people on here who are to quick to make negative comments about almost anything. This forum is always lively and interesting and happily most people seem to enjoy the general topics and info relating to what goes on at Southend.

[mikkie4]

alot of things writen on here have little or no meaning to the origenal subject.this thread is about southend,spotters are welcome to post their thoughts as well as anybody else. congrats to all at SEN for makeing a distant dream come true

[frostbite]

asdf1234, I suspect that in normal times many people have just kept a watch on the thread and not been inspired to contribute.

Since the rapid development, SEN has created a great deal of interest and this is being expressed in various ways in this thread.

No bad thing.

[Charley B]

Well done SEN--shows what can be done by UK PLC and good old hard work. Nice to see the airport and what is going on a on the Stobart programme on C5 on Fridays!!
a few other airports could do with the Stobart determination to succeed:)

[Buster the Bear]

Southend Airport flights targeted with laser : UK Airport News Stories (http://www.uk-airport-news.info/southend-airport-news-070412.html)

[vulcanised]

The Echo story stated or suggested that someone was standing at the airport perimiter but my understanding was that the attack occurred some miles away.

[Lord Gumboil Jnr.]

Yes, I heard some of the r/t and was under the impression that the lasers were around 4 miles from the airport. There certainly wasn't any reference to the airport boundary as far as I was aware. I just hope that there is nothing more sinister, than the obvious, about these events.

[maliyahsdad2]

a nostalgia look at Southend in days gone by on facebo ok.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/353909514644382/

[vulcanised]

The locals are revolting !

Actually, they are great supporters of the airport, despite the efforts of some (read the comments).

Homes under Southend Airport flightpath urged to make compensation claims (From Echo) (http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/9640078.Homes_under_Southend_Airport_flightpath_urged_to_mak e_compensation_claims/?ref=mr)

[mikkie4]

does anyone know what the passenger numbers were for the first week?

[BasilFawlty]

I only have some examples from Amsterdam, AMS-SEN on Friday morning had 138 pax, AMS-SEN on Saturday morning had 145 pax.

[Phileas Fogg]

Quite amusing regarding the 'under the flightpath' complainers.

For years and years SEN maintenance companies have been maintaining geriatric noisy jets such as B707's yet as soon as some quieter state of the art jets come along they complain that these are noisy. :)

[Fairdealfrank]

whingers and chancers on the make

Quote: "The locals are revolting !

Actually, they are great supporters of the airport, despite the efforts of some (read the comments).

Homes under Southend Airport flightpath urged to make compensation claims (From Echo) (http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/9640078.Homes_under_Southend_Airport_flightpath_urged_to_mak e_compensation_claims/?ref=mr) "

This article makes interesting reading, full of stereotypes:

"professionals" drumming up trade in what appears to be in the "ambulance-chasing" tradition;

someone not bothered by, and not noticing, the increased activity jumping on the "compo" bandwagon anyway (can they be blamed?);

the councillor who did not realise her house was under a flightpath and claims she would not have moved there had she known(!), who did her conveyancing and "searchs"?

All human life is here, unbelievable!

One of the comments states: Quote: "They think they've got it bad! What about the poor people who live near Heathrow - now thats devaluing!!"

Not so! Anyone seen house prices around Heathrow! Not surprising that some Heathrow workers live as far out as Camberley or Woodley.

They all hate SEN until they use it and appreciate the convenience of not having to traipse to a large far-flung airport....

[SARF]

Highly amusing, especially the Leigh council woman not realising the flightpath might be expected to follow the direction of the runway for a bit..Most people I know in leigh havnt even noticed..
Mine you there is a fair few Leigh types that are up their own arse so you can expect a bit more of this

[Barling Magna]

Passenger figures for March just released - the final month before easyJet services started. SEN had 96 passenger flights with 2971 passengers, 2511 of whom were on the Waterford service. Last March 1480 people flew on the LTN service and 516 on the SEN.

Over the past twelve months 48,708 passengers have passed through the airport. It will be interesting to see the figures in a year's time - if we're all spared, of course.....

[mart901]

So the overall effect is RE have grown passenger numbers LON-WAT, despite all the disparriaging comments on pprune and people saying LTN was their only hope! And given the fact the flights are now distributed through EI's website as well as their own I think numbers will only continue to grow, probably out of both LON hubs. Be very interesting to see how the SEN-DUB flights perform.

[Barling Magna]

Yes, but I've got to correct the LTN figures shown on my previous post. In March 2011 there were 2106 Waterford pax from LTN and 516 from SEN, total 2622. In March 2012 there were 1480 from LTN and 2511 from SEN, total 3991.

[mart901]

Even better then, and I'm sure more profitable given lower charges at SEN.

[Barling Magna]

I would think so. It will be interesting to see how the SEN-Dublin flights perform. They start on 10th May, so not so long to wait. The US book-through connections should make this very attractive.

[fatmed]

In today's Southend Echo,

Easyjet quoted statement "Four out of every 5 (10,500pax) seats on easy jet AC out of SEN filled since it started on Apr 2nd".

Catherine Lynn "avg load factors + 80% avg with many flights +90%.". She states EZY as confident in continued growth as they announce more routes in the next few weeks.

Mallorca , Jersey, Ibiza, Malaga will all start by 2nd May.

Sounds like a good start to me.:8

[Buster the Bear]

All to do with prices, those on offer have been dirt cheap in comparison to Luton, Stansted and Gatwick. Introductory discounts, no doubt supported by route introduction discounts. The key to EGMC success is filling the planes as the subsidies reduce. 2012 will not be a problem, Stobart has to ensure that the folk who pass through this year do so again in 2013 and beyond when the lure of lower prices may not be good enough?

easyJet management are not daft and will not be losing out on moving units from Stansted, just depends upon yield and subsidies.

[mikkie4]

:Ogeneva goes on sale as of tomorrow and venice as a second winter destination on sale as of next week,with more flights to follow

[shamrock7seal]

dont forget the flights would've benefitted from Easter peak traffic.

Nonetheless good loads for the start of new services.

[frostbite]

It gets better...........

EasyJet announces new routes from Southend airport (From Echo) (http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/9661565.EasyJet_announces_new_routes_from_Southend_airport/?ref=mr)

[compton3bravo]

I shouldn´t get too over excited frostbite because I think you will find the new routes to Geneva and Venice will take the place of the non-operation and/or reduced capacity on services to Ibiza, Jersey, Palma and Faro. I would guess that it will still be a three aircraft operation.

[Barling Magna]

I shouldn't think easyJet can expand its base at SEN too much until the terminal expansion is built. However, it seems to have been approved by Rochford District Council last night so, assuming it isn't called in, the extension should be available for winter 2013.

The Venice flights don't start until February, so they appear to be an addition. The Geneva flights are probably winter only, but I suspect the Venice services will be year-round.

[Expressflight]

compton3bravo

I think it's a pity that some people have to sound so sour about the regeneration of SEN. It certainly "gets better" with the announcement of the Venice route if only because it shows that easyJet are interested in establishing SEN as one of its prime London departure points and not just attracting local catchment pax to destinations already well served by LTN and/or STN. In my view SEN's ability (or otherwise) to attract travellers from a wider catchment area will determine whether or not the base expands beyond three aircraft.

Surely there has been precious little good news on the UK aviation front in the past four years and Stobart's boldness in totally rebuilding SEN should be applauded by all in the industry. To do otherwise shows a meanness of spirit based purely upon local interests elsewhere.