OK this is winding me up now and it’s time to feed the trolls ...
Stansted has a bright future under new ownership; no one is going to invest billions in purchasing the asset unless they think they can provide a worthwhile return on their investment.
Stansted has a significant amount of real estate and underutilised facilities. There will be pressure to make a quick win to dilute Ryanair’sdominance, the easiest and largest available program is Wizz. The LTN crowd should not be under any illusions, Wizz don’t love LTN any more than Ryanair love Stansted. It’s all about the bottom line and Wizz will go to the location with the cheapest fees.
EL AL is a very conservative airline and it finally left Stansted after a concerted and long term courtship from Luton which I would assume included a financial offer that was difficult to refuse.
There is a market for European business flights outside Heathrow with both the City and Cambridge in easy travelling distance. Lufthansa have demonstrated that there is insufficent capacity for them at Heathrow by opening a Gatwick service (suspended for the winter) although this might have been a ruse to keep Frankfurt slots warm.
The BAA is largely the reason why Stansted has not done well and I would expect to see a wholesale clearout of management, once the sale has gone through, with the new owners bringing in their own people. Having a aggressive competitor is going to make it much more difficult for Luton and Southend. That said it’s not all going to go Stansted’s way any more than it’s all going to go Luton or Southend’s way.
Right I can get back to my Sunday now
Last edited by STN Ramp Rat; 4th Nov 2012 at 13:58.