Originally Posted by
MARKEYD
Bit to keen , and jumping the gun to be making comments like that on numerous threads in the first place with no credible source it would seem
To be fair, Jet2 (Steve Lee of Jet2 - who would know) hinted at flying from BOH in an article published by Travel Weekly about 6 months ago, when it referred, with a metaphorical twinkle in the eye, to the possibility of returning to the airline's roots on the south coast (the Channel Express operation from Hurn).
http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/articl...ars-of-jet2com
Jet2 also said this about airport capacity (published by Flight) in July 2017:
Slot restrictions at London's airports have created an "interesting challenge" for Jet2 to expand in southeast England, the airline's head of regulation, compliance and resilience Andy Cooper has acknowledged.
Speaking at an Airlines UK seminar in London today, Cooper said that achieving two rotations a day was an increasingly difficult task for the leisure carrier as it required "two fundamentals: a slot-one departure time and almost certainly a late returning on your second rotation".
Cooper says there is "absolutely no chance" of getting this arrangement at London Heathrow as that airport is "full all day". At Gatwick, there was "no real practical chance of trying to get out on an early departure". Meanwhile, it is "not particularly practical" to operate from London City, and Luton "suffers from terminal constraints to some extent", he says.
This leaves Stansted as "probably the only real option in the southeast of England to actually grow as a point of departure for any UK-based carrier", Cooper argues. Leeds-based Jet2 entered the London market this spring when it opened a base at Stansted.
Cooper also warns of the potential impact on Jet2's operations of a current consultation on night flights at London's airports.
"At the moment, none of us have any idea of what the new [night flights] regime is going to look like,” he says. "So we have this strange situation of selling a [flight] programme without being absolutely certain we can operate them. We are relying on the fact that common sense will prevail"
Looking at the airline's past base and route press releases, new UK bases seem to be announced 5-9 months ahead of opening, whereas new routes from existing bases are released with a longer timeframe typically 9-12 months out.
So, that Jet2 will continue to expand is not really in doubt, read their company reports. That any new base will be south of Birmingham is also pretty clear. They are already established pretty much everywhere else. Of those southern airports potentially available, the airline seems to have ruled out LHR, LTN and LGW in the southeast. We know they are all full at peak times anyway. Beyond that, there are not too many airports in southern England (and Wales) with the runway length and slot capacity to cope with a full B738 to just about any of the Jet2 destinations... BRS, CWL, BOH, EXT, NQY. Then there is demand and competition to think about.
LCY, SOU and SEN are ruled out for the 738 on runway length and/or overnight aircraft parking availability.
If there is to be any announcement, using past precedent it should be timed no later than about end September this year for summer 2019, or by end of this June for the winter 18/19 timetable. So lets see what the next few weeks brings! It is at least an interesting rumour..
FF