STANSTED - 2

[FRatSTN]

But not all the airlines/routes that were at Stansted in the past 5 years or so have moved to another London airport. Some have simply been axed all together, some have gone bust or others have closed for other reasons outside Stansted's or any other airports control.

Aegean Airlines - moved from Stansted to Heathrow

Air Arabia Maroc - Stansted, then left London, resumed but from Gatwick

Air Berlin - Still serve one route 3x daily with Dash 8 but heavily reduced in recent years, Gatwick tried out but no longer served

Atlantic Airways (Faroe Islands) - moved from Stansted to Gatwick

Cyprus Airways - Both Stansted and Heathrow, axed Stansted, then resumed, now gone again

EasyJet - Still serve Stansted but lost aircraft post Southend base opening

Norwegian - Gradually pulled out of Stansted for Gatwick, now has base in Gatwick

Sun Country Airlines - moved from Stansted to Gatwick, now left UK

Turkish Airlines - moved from Stansted to Gatwick (also Anadolujet axed)

Transavia - axed Stansted, restarted but from Luton, moved to Gatwick, left UK altogether

WOW Air (Iceland) - moved from Stansted to Gatwick, then took over Iceland Express

Admittedly some of the above is virtually permanently lost from Stansted an virtually impossible to replace but the problem is that BAA never pushed hard enough to replace these services lost. For instance, since the BmiBaby closure (completely outside Stansted's control), Belfast-City has now become unserved, yet there is certainly a strong demand for this route. I think the uncertainty of Stansted's ownership for several years has also pushed carriers away.

Only Air Berlin, Aurigny, Germanwings and Pegasus have stayed at Stansted throughout the entire duration of Stansted's decline since 2007. You then have to ask yourself why these airlines chose not to move?

There are also a countless number of airlines out there who could potentially serve Stansted in the future. Perhaps some traffic that has never been at Stansted could be attracted, for example... Air One, FlyBe, Vueling or even some long haul eg, Emirates, PIA, United Airlines could be possible. MAG have loads of routes to go down!