EK to STN

[OMAAbound]

This is just a general question, but a few years back when I moved here there were strong rumours or EK launching a service to STN, this seems to have dropped off in the past few years.

I was out with a EK pilot yesterday who says that they are currently looking into opening the route again towards the middle of next year. Wondered if there was any light in this story or whether it's dead in the pan before it get going?

OMAA

[TOWTEAMBASE]

It's a possibility, but more than likely would be a freighter than a pax id say. Etihad are there, all be it with a Saab 2000

[frankie777]

Stansted has already been used by the EK 777F on a number of occasions this year notably transporting horses for the Dubai World Cup. The airport is now owned by the Manchester airport consortium and an £80m update of the terminal building has just commenced. I personally feel that this is a missed opportunity for EK and other Middle East airlines as in the case of EK they could see increased pax loads from Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk and Lincolnshire, many of whom do not wish to travel all the way down to LHR and LGW but are left with no other option for Long haul travel.
In 2015 Thomas Cook is starting Long haul flights from STN to Las Vegas, Cancun and Orlando which I suspect will be very successful.
With fast direct links to the city of London either by train or coach I believe that there are many Middle East businessman who could benefit hugely from a closer link to the City of London. EK also has the Emirates experience close to Canary Wharf which would be reached much more easily from a train direct from STN than either LHR or lGW.
STN needs to shrug off its low cost mantle and try and encourage a scheduled long haul operation and I believe the Manchester consortium may be just the people to make this happen.
Interestingly on any Summer day in the UK a visit to STN will find aircraft from every Middle East Royal family parked on the Executive side.
I hope the initial rumour that an EK flight may start next year comes to fruition because I am sure it would be a great success because surprisingly some of the most well off and well travelled people live in this small corner of the UK.

[Capetonian]

surprisingly some of the most well off and well travelled people live in this small corner of the UK.

Whilst that is very true, I doubt if there would be sufficient volume to give good yields on a long haul service. EK would only be able to attract high yield traffic to destinations where going via DXB is not too much of a diversion, and most of those well-off people would prefer direct flights where possible and would not be constrained by budget to fly via the ghastly hub of DXB. They would also have to do something about the squalid conditions and long queues at STN.

Friends of mine who are extremely wealthy and travel a lot never use Stansted, despite living very close to it.

[frankie777]

Yes I agree Capetonian. They would definitely have to do something about those squalid and awful conditions at STN. Having travelled through there last year with EZY the place has been allowed to become a haven for the great unwashed. However once T3 at LHR used to be like this and LGW many years ago was a complete backwater. The fact that your friends do not use STN is because it has been allowed to deteriorate to an unacceptable level by the arrival of the likes of RYR and its pax profile.
With investment and perhaps some segregation maybe a more appropriate type of pax would arrive. After all the string vest brigade are just as evident at LGW BHX MAN as they are at STN and yet EK fly in to all these places.

[SilverSeated]

Capetonian disagree, STN is the last hub yet to be fully realised as a London gateway. For all those pax living in North/East London there is no option other than a potential 3hr drive round the M25 to access LHR and secondly LGW for the traditional "bucket and spade" destinations.

Nothing services these areas with a premium class long haul service.

Capetonian, unless your "extremely wealthy friends" are visiting the Costa del Sol or flying as freight then they would have no reason to utilise STN. Perhaps they should lease a GV and fly out of LTN next time....just saying!

And if Dubai is considered ghastly, I shudder to think what JFK/LHR/LAX etc would be deemed as!

[mutt]

Interestingly on any Summer day in the UK a visit to STN will find aircraft from every Middle East Royal family parked on the Executive side.

Might not be by choice but due to slot restrictions in LHR/LGW

[GA Button]

330 to Luton, I hear on the grapevine.....

[Emma Royds]

A grapevine with a rather bad fungal infection!

[crewmeal]

Why would EK want to start a service from LTN and STN? It would only water down the numbers and yields at BHX LHR & LGW. Still the EK marketing machine works in mysterious ways.

AA didn't last long at STN. Also links to STN aren't the best in the world especially with constant delays on the M11. The rail links haven't improved much since the 80's either.

[Xulu]

There is a 777 even operating into Luton. So it's possible. And major infrastructure expansion is happening at LTN over the next 10 years to accommodate double capacity. EZY large base which taps into the skywards deal.

No premium carriers from LTN or STN so personally i see the option to access EK's route network via Dubai as a great opportunity for those north/ne London.

They are both dumps but so is Newcastle, Birmingham, Glasgow etc....and with easy access to london has a large premium market on its doorstep ontop of the usual bucket and spade types.

LHR and LGW are high loads, limited ability to expand due to slot constraints. So extra seats targeting this sector may not affect the current loads they are seeing. STN needs something to save it, I'm sure they could offer a good deal.

Anyway sure they have looked into it.

[Capetonian]

I still don't see STN appealing to upmarket punters until it is improved, and that is not going to happen until FR goes (which they won't) or gets their own terminal.

Capetonian, unless your "extremely wealthy friends" are visiting the Costa del Sol or flying as freight then they would have no reason to utilise STN

Fair comment, but they own properties and play golf in the South of France and make the trip via NCE or MRS a couple of times a month. They never go from STN which is on the doorstep, preferring LTN for proximity and its (marginal) superiority over STN, or making the longer trip round to LHR.

And if Dubai is considered ghastly, I shudder to think what JFK/LHR/LAX etc would be deemed as!

Matter of opinion, I think DXB is one of the biggest hellholes on the planet, for a number of reasons, and I'm not just talking about the airport.

[newscaster]

Unrelated but Shiraz is rumored too.

[Sheikh Your Bootie]

Luton, whilst the town itself is a grade one dump, is a great potential airport for EK. It has a HUGE local Pakistani/Bangladeshi/Indian population, plus very well connected to London. The airport itself is spending big money on its infrastructure, roads, airport itself. It could easily take an A330, or 777-200. El Al operate the latter into Luton. It probably is more suited to a 2 class operation, but then so is BHX and NCL.
Stansted is just for many just too far out there and difficult to get to across country. IMO.

SyB

[Capetonian]

All the above is true about LTN (specially being a dump!) but it suffers from a couple of (other!) disadvantages in this respect.

There are good bus connections between LTN and LHR, and rail between LTN and LGW, which would tend to draw traffic away. The type of passenger who goes to the Indian subcontinent is more likely to be price-sensitive than time-sensitive.

LTN offers very little in the way of inbound or outbound air connections. Once it gathers critical mass and offers these, the picture will change, but I think there's a long way to go.

[Iver]

Well, perhaps LTN will be more of a consideration for TC once he finalizes his order for either 787s or A350s (even though they are meant to be flown regionally). Daily 787-10 might fit well.