If Stobart Group were to overturn the decision of the Court of Appeal it might well be good news for Southend Airport. It might be worthwhile remembering how the Carlise - Southend route came about. Stobart want to build a freight distribution centre at Carlisle Airport and the local authority gave them conditional permission to do so. The condition was that they kept the airport open and maintained the runway for passenger operations. So Stobart needed some routes to fly and the rest as they say is history - Aer Arran was invested in, Carlisle - Southend and Carlisle - Dublin were the proposed routes and the planning condition was met. However a nearby farmer popped up and opposed the planning permission. He said that these routes would not be commercially viable and that Stobart was in fact simply paying lip service to the planning condition. After a few years they could show that the airport operations were loss making and then close the airport whilst keeping the shiny new distribution centre. The Court of Appeal agreed with him - see here :
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...69411363,d.ZGU If Stobart are successful in their lastest attempt then SEN will see fee paying business arriving from Carlisle which is good news. However if the original opposition to the planning application is based in fact the route might only last a year or two before being cut. Only time will tell.