Originally Posted by
SWBKCB
The base of the a/c is irrelevant, it's where the airline is based and the routes (look at how the Irish airline Ryanair operates from STN). So Jet2 could base G- reg a/c in PMI/ALC, but they could only operate to the UK. Is there year round demand for that?
I'm assuming TOM out of DUB is either operated under the AOC of one of their EU airlines or they have a seperate dispensation from the IAA.
Its not about that, pre-pandemic (but also pre-Brexit) they had aircraft and crew stationed in ALC, PMI and latterly TFS primarily as a standby measure to ensure continuity in operations whenever there was an issue where an aircraft might be AOG down route for instance. There is nothing in the rules to suggest they couldn’t do this again, as any intra-EU flights would be non revenue positioning flights.
Again, if they are planning to announce a new base in the U.K. it could be anywhere. However it seems that whenever there is mention of this people come on selling the virtues of their local airport and they do not consider the wider operational and strategic growth trajectory. New base(s) are inevitable, so let’s see what happens in the coming years, but to rule out LGW in favour of some smaller places that have been mentioned is silly at this stage.