Originally Posted by
rog747
Sigh, Runway Extension...That old chestnut LOL
We all wish SOU well after such a car crash of events but the planning application is just that - It is still a bit of paper and likely will stay that way for a quite a while.
In the near term, we know Ryanair will not be coming to SOU.
Easy Jet for now, has stuck to it's winter only GVA SKI route. The aircraft for which originates in GVA.
Although not a ''charter'' it basically caters for holidaymakers, as does the EZY GVA-BOH-GVA too.
(SOU-GVA flights do occasionally have a payload limit)
Right now I cannot see EZY wanting to set up a SOU base as there are simply no routes out of SOU for them to run with a 156/186 seat Airbus.
Yes they can do UK domestic, and near-Europe flights into and out of SOU with their aircraft, without a payload penalty.
If they do not have a SOU base then any EZY flights must be from the originator airport, and that means the first flight out of the day will be later, and may not suit the local Businessman.
I wondered if they may have taken on the Belfast, however EZY operate out of the Belfast International BFS, and not BHD.
EZY cannot take on any MED leisure routes until, as we all know, we have the runway starter strip added.
I know Volotea fly a 156 seat A319 (or an MD-95/717) to/from Palma for TUI Hols but do they have a payload restriction, or face a fuel stop out of SOU?
The S20 Volotea Ibiza was cancelled by TUI.
The TUI Mahon and Verona for Inghams were both lost due to Flybe's collapse.
But what would stop easyJet operating to Southampton from their European bases. As the domestic routes have virtually been filled now by Eastern and Loganair I can't see easyJet contemplating competing on those routes.
Although the runway extension is needed at Southampton so that aircraft flying further afield to the Mediterranean airport's can do so without any payload restrictions but those destinations have been flown from Southampton's runway in the past with no real issues except for weather related.
In the past Air Europa B733 and B734, Iberoworld A320's, Spanair A320's, TUI 733/757, Vueling A319 have all used Southampton to fly direct to Alicante, Barcelona, Ibiza, Malaga, Menorca and Palma so why couldn't the likes of easyJet be able to do the same with a A319/A320.
There is obviously the demand within the Southampton catchment area for those destinations.
Obviously in the current climate it would be difficult for airlines to commit to opening up those routes but if it wasn't the case I can't see it being too much of issue. If it wasn't for the current situation I could have least seen a couple of them being resumed from Southampton.
Once everything settles down and there is confidence again amongst the airline's I can see some if not all gradually being reinstated at some point.
Ideally I would like to see easyJet fly to Southampton from Alicante, Barcelona, Faro, Ibiza, Malaga, Menorca, Nice, Palma and they could possibly do that from their respective European bases without the need for a Southampton base, not initially anyway.
As those routes would not be aimed at the business market or those necessarily needing a early departure ex Southampton the timing of the flights and the schedules would be irrelevant.
Hopefully in the next few weeks we will see Dublin reinstated with Aer Lingus Regional and Amsterdam with KLM. With Paris previously being a popular and busy route with Flybe I'm sure that another airline will resume flights at some point and hopefully Air France will make a return.
The French regional routes are probably lost forever which is a shame as Bergerac and Limoges were both popular routes from Southampton.
But all in all we can be pleased with the fact that the likes of Eastern Airways and Loganair have been very quick to backfill the key domestic routes and I have no doubt regardless of the current situation affecting the airline and travel industry that future airlines and routes will be announced from Southampton Airport.
If it wasn't for the current climate I'm sure that we would have had more good news regarding Southampton.