Interesting interview with Andrew Tinkler in the Sunday Times: "Buying Southend Airport and obtaining permission to extend the runway, signing a 10-year deal with easyJet, surprised some. Stobart already owns Carlisle airport and Tinkler thinks a mix of freight and passengers can make small airports a very profitable concern. He may even buy more.
Last November Stobart Group took a 5% stake in Aer Arann, a small loss-making Irish airline, with an option to increase it to 37%. Where's that going? Tinkler launched into a rapid-fire reply about opportunity in Ireland, government subsidy, how well Aer Arann works with Aer Lingus for which it operates some domestic flights. But he doesn't really answer the question. Then he adds that part of it was to create a service from Southend. But if he has easyJet from next year shouldn't he focus on that? Sure he says, but he also wants to offer Stobart's biggest haulage customers - firms such as Tesco and Coca-Cola- an air-based service. If I've got Coca-Cola with a factory breaking down and they need a part and the say fly me something in.... But wouldn't they use international couriers? Tinkler's plans look hubristic.
' No worries. Southend was cheap. We had to get planning but I knew we could do it. I want to put a smile on passengers/ faces.' But no Stobart airline? 'No, not unless someone pays us to use the name.' "