Here we go again! easyJet trying it on once more threatening as usual as they did at East Midlands and because they could not get there own way finally withdrew. In steps Ryanair, BMIBaby and Jet2 and low and behold even more destinations to choose from.
I disagree, EMA and LTN are two very different markets, for people like myself in Northamptonshire both airports catchment areas overlap.
But for LTN this is a bonus, the vast majority of their market is travellers originating from the London area. London is already experiencing saturation with LCC to Europe and airlines like Jet2 and BMI Baby have never had any intention of getting involved in the London markets and facing a bloodbath.
If easyJet is able to quote figures on the number of people they are willing to take on and clearly stating they would add new routes. I don't think this is a case of easyJet just saying it for political gain!
LTN also has far more to loose than EMA, they only had 2 or 3 A319 aircraft based at the airport at the time they quit, with BMI Baby (5x 737) and Ryanair (8x 737) having a far larger presence. Also they boast a far larger charter market than LTN does.
Its clear easyJet want to stay at LTN otherwise they would just shut up shop!
Luton March passengers 663464 down 1.3%, rolling year 9069113 down 7.1%
These are great figures, but with me ever being the pesamist
, you have to remember the Israeli flights will have significantly helped bolster these figures, by several thousand. I think next month BHX will be ahead of LTN with their passenger figures.
Also the easyJet summer timetable has only just kicked-in and its only now we'll start seeing the reductions in their cuts.
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This is sort of linked to the above but thought would seperate from above comments... Is purely just a thought and curious to know what others think.
Would I be right in thinking Abertis contract to manage the airport expires in 2012?
If so, could it be possible they are trying to restrict growth until after this time, as the airports current terminal was beginning to reach capacity at peak times before the recent cutbacks.
This way if they restrict growth they will not have to invest in upgrading facilities any further, and just cream off what they have done previously.
Could this be a driver for the operators not interested in allowing easyJet to grow?