Originally Posted by
Skipness One Foxtrot
Emirates flies A380s out of LGW as well as LHR but like BHX, some are High Y and No F.
Given STN launched with the standard 77W with First, it’s a proper standout from almost evey other flight at the airport. As for yields, volume gives no clue.
But the catchment area is comparably much smaller than LHR/LGW, draw a circle with STN at the centre and you have a lot of green fields, fewer if you do so at LGW, and much fewer for LHR.
I had mixed feelings about Emirates coming to STN on wether it would be successful. I thought it would do well once the service had been established in the long term but the loads have taken me by surprise. I have been told that even First and Business is selling well, it's been overbooked in Y often in the past month. By anyones standards thats very good.
While I appreciate the point about STN having more 'green fields' than LHR or LGW, it's main benefit is being north of the M25 so in that respect it's catchment goes much further north towards the midlands and the entire East of England, the immediate area is generally very wealthy too. Bit sceptical regarding it going twice daily so soon, give it a year or two for itself to establish more then I can't see why not. STN has always been the sick man of London's airports, it was designed to have full service carriers then FR came along and changed it's image. The architecture is fantastic, it's a shame the infrastructure was left to rot under BAA whilst MAG is more focused on shops so hasn't spent a significant amount of money on improving it to encourage more full service.