Originally Posted by
LTNman
https://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/233...et-dependance/
Maybe the new owners need to take a leaf out of Blackpool’s book? Admit defeat, abandon any thoughts that there is money to be made from terminal operations, reduce staff numbers due to no terminal and focus on the rest of the assets.
With due respect I don't see any relevant similarity between SEN and BLK. In the years prior to it closing its passenger terminal the latter never saw sufficient pax numbers to suggest it could be anything but borderline in terms of profitability. Given the right circumstances SEN has shown that it could generate 2mppa. Their problem was that circumstances changed almost overnight due to Covid which restructured the airline landscape at LON airports and released slots elsewhere, thus the current regrowth is soaking up those slots. SEN's location dictates that it will rarely be an airline's first choice for LON but first choices may become rare again in 2024. What I would agree on is that the price it fetches is will be based upon its proven performance in certain circumstances and its potential to grow again, meaning that its sale value will be less than other LON airports would have. In my opinion that makes it far from unsaleable and a new owner may see opportunities for other aviation activities to be developed/revived alongside the passenger terminal revenues.
I don't think it's far fetched to think that SEN may have grown its pax numbers over the past three years beyond the 2mppa had it not been for Covid.