Even though a 5% growth for LTN maybe disappointing compared to the higher figures we were used to a few year back... This figure is still very respectable.
However I agree with all of PowerJets above comments and is uncertain time to what direction LTN will go over the coming year...
By now nearly all of airlines will have realeased there summer schedule and new routes would be on sale... So far none of the airports major carriers have annouced any new routes or additional capacity from May onwards...
The likes of easyJet have simply "rejigged" there timetable to accomodate Pisa and Jersey routes, and scrapped Rijeka and Rimini.
Either LTN has no interest in attracting further growth from easyJet or Ryanair or they have no further interest in the airport... Even though as discussed many times before, basing additional aircraft at LTN is very limited right now. There could be so many opportunities to fly routes into LTN from their other bases, like how FR have demonstrated at DSA and BOH over the last few years.
With First Choice not basing any aircraft here this year, and there entire routes being absorbed by TOM, into the existing schedule. It looks like we may be heading towards negative figures. Even their newly advertised scheduled services come at the expense of other charter routes!
From what I have read about about SkyEurope, they seem to be in a precarious situation and may even be gone by the summer. They have already postponed several 737NG deliveries from Boeing and urgently seeking and struggling to find additional investment. Their load factors for the last few months have been between 59-65%!
Wizzair's growth at the airport seems to be slowing down, and already have all their bases connect to LTN, with much of there growth focused on other areas of the UK or Europe.
Even the news rom SilverJet doesn't sound good, and news reports say they will be gone by next year!
Any future growth is going to have to come from new customers, and possibly steeling some from STN. But with the news of fees there being frozen, the airport is going to have to work hard this coming year. STN has already experienced a drop in passengers for the past few months by 3-6% and I wonder if the management have taken notice that the same could happen here!
IS THERE ANY POSITIVE NEWS?!
