Originally Posted by
Dropoffcharge
Exactly that, some seem to think that a 170m extension/start up alone is gonna open the flood gates to EZY/LCC ops!!! If the main reason why EZY didn't open a base a BOH years ago, was the size and capacity of the then new arrrivals terminal (drastically downsized from the original plans to save money) then I think factors like curfew and weather conditions aren't going to look too attractive to a LCC from SOU.
Lets not start the whole SOU vs BOH debate again. No one wants to fly from BOH and they probably never will. You have to ask why it has never resembled even a slightly busy airport in its whole history. Despite all the bad news lately, SOU will still have more flights in a day than BOH has in a whole week. Look at the figures for Easyjet, they are already carrying more passengers at SOU than they are at BOH. People want to fly from SOU but there are a number of things that are evidently going to stop it ever realising its potential.
Technology must exist (or will exist) to deal with the crap weather and minima. The C series lands fine on a quay in the river thames with a a number of skyscrapers at the end of an even shorter runway. Aurigny are getting ATRs fitted with EVS to help land in fog on islands in the middle of the sea. SOU cannot have it that bad. Of course this type of investment would come from the airlines, not SOU themselves. It seems so odd that they continue to not invest in technology, infrastructure etc to help ease the longstanding issues. If you read the new masterplan there is absolutely no mention of any investment in nav aids, runway lights, grooving etc. There is also no mention of any improvement to the baggage systems, which would be required to handle a few airbus sized aircraft at the same time.