Originally Posted by
davidjohnson6
A - Covid is now substantially over, and air travel demand is strong again, allowing airlines to reactivate planned routes that might have opened in 2021 if there had not been a pandemic
B - Ryanair ceased flying to FRA, shows no interest in MUC and minimal interest in AMS
C - Easyjet cut back significantly at STN and dropped a STN-MUC route and (I think) a STN-CDG route
D - Heathrow this summer has shown the dangers of all eggs in one basket
E - Easyjet and Ryanair have substantially withdrawn from Southend which had a strong SEN-AMS route. KLM's Manston route did surprisingly well until Manston was closed
F - Transavia seems to be growing fast in Paris, and Air France unions don't seem to be making that much noise over this
G - Lufthansa seem to be more interested in UK regions after opening routes from FRA to Bristol and Liverpool
H - Jet2 have completely pulled out of AMS this summer
I don't think that SAS should be touching STN any time soon - they are far too weak financially to do anything and need to remain highly risk averse right now.
Well said davidjohnson6! I think there is a case for an FRA route from STN, especially now with FR's withdrawal. If MAG really want to expand long haul from STN which I believe they do, then LH would be a fantastic 'new' airline in offering long haul connections. Plus, with LHR facing a barrage of capacity restrictions until the end of October (which may well be extended beyond that date), STN could be a viable alternative for an airline looking to expand its presence in the London market. However, there is also the argument that LGW would also be competing for the same services, hence airlines would need to assess both to see which one is more likely to be profitable for them.