STANSTED - 2

[LTNman]

I have tried LGW by train a couple of times a long time ago, although I don't seem to remember sh**ing my pants every time a train went by on the other line on that one.

That's because there is no highspeed trains between Gatwick and London as it is a commuter line while north of London there is East Midland trains to Nottingham and Sheffield which passes Luton.

[JonEMA]

Ryanair could buy a stake in STN

Ryanair have announced that they are prepared to be a stakeholder if required.

Low-cost carrier Ryanair in talks about taking a stake in Stansted airport - Business News - Business - The Independent

hmmmm

Isn't this all really just part of a long and drawn out plan to get control of an important London gateway ?

The way this is heading the competition authorities could look pretty foolish if their not careful.

[LTNman]

They can kiss goodbye to Easyjet if that happens,

[davidjohnson6]

Over 70% of seat capacity at STN comes from Ryanair. Ryanair is very much a monopsonist - a bit like the NHS being the major purchaser of medical services from doctors in the UK.

Nobody would invest in STN without getting some form of long term commitment from Ryanair such that Ryanair suffers if MOL changes his strategy away from STN in the future

[JonEMA]

LTN and DJ,

Spot on....and with O'Toole (Ex Ryanair Exec) now handily installed as Group CCO at Manchester Group then perhaps the deal has already been done and everyone else is wasting their time.....

[LTNman]

Nobody would invest in STN without getting some form of long term commitment from Ryanair such that Ryanair suffers if MOL changes his strategy away from STN in the future

So which London airport could Ryanair go to? Stansted is stuck with Ryanair and Ryanair is stuck at Stansted.

[davidjohnson6]

Ryanair can't shift everything out of STN but they can make a sizeable dent. How much capacity will there be at LTN once all the building work is complete ? Can some Ws be done at Gatwick for the off peak periods ?

May not be rational for FR to move aircraft from a short term profit perspective, but they have a track record of doing so at other bases when they have a point to make.

If the bidders for STN are heavily financed by debt they will not be able to afford to take long term views in the first few years. Interest costs will be fixed but revenues variable against passenger numbers.

Conversely whoever buys STN should be doing their utmost to diversify their airline customer base and reduce reliance on FR long term, while signalling FR won't have authority over STN's board of directors to reassure other airlines. Perhaps some clause limiting the voting rights of FR's shares might help or the use of non voting preference shares rather than ordinary shares ?

[JonEMA]

Well......Ryanair is stuck with STN I agree.......but is STN really stuck with Ryanair...?

Sooner or later airports must wake up to the fact that it is they own their catchment and not the airline and that it is their opportunity to serve it with a flying programme that meets the market requirement.

The new owners should double Ryanairs charges.......if they pay great....if they don't.....bye bye Ryanair....!!....as LTN says, they have no where else to go.....

Generally speaking, airlines will not come to STN whilst Ryanair remain .........and if they become stakeholders, well, ....nothing more would stifle competition more in my book...!!

Let's hope there are bidders out there with a bit of guts and determination and see the vision of what STN could become......

[pabely]

Ryanair cannot go anywhere else in the LON area with such scale.
Any potential buyer will have to swallow this, if they demand 'normal' charges then RYR will start cutting routes to move airframes across Europe or base them in Europe and run the routes back to STN.
Either way unless the new owner has to have deep pockets, they are not going to attract new business whilst RYR are dominating.

An aggressive Gatwick and Luton and Southend hungry for more business, it's going to need a revolutionary business plan to move things forward for STN.

[Heathrow Harry]

"If you are traveling with the Airport Express train from OSL to the National Theatre it takes only 27 minutes -"

and it doesn't cost you a new mortgage

A few years back I was with a guy who INSISTED on taking a taxi from OSL to central Oslo as "only Europeans use public transport". The driver had to be told three times that we were serious and then watching the meter just go round and round so fast you could hardly read it was a lot of fun as I wasn't paying

We went back on the train .....................................

[TSR2]

A few years back I was with a guy who INSISTED on taking a taxi from OSL to central Oslo as "only Europeans use public transport". The driver had to be told three times that we were serious and then watching the meter just go round and round so fast you could hardly read it was a lot of fun as I wasn't paying

But they do accept credit cards

[LN-KGL]

It true TSR2, but I have heard even more hair rising stories about taxi rides - people arriving with Ryanair at Sandefjord Airport, Torp (Oslo Torp in Ryanair language). They just wanted a taxi in to town for a business meeting (obviously Oslo, not Sandefjord) and they ended up with 72 miles/1 hour 28 minutes long ride, late arrival to the meeting and an empty credit card.

[TSR2]

They just wanted a taxi in to town for a business meeting (obviously Oslo, not Sandefjord) and they ended up with 72 miles/1 hour 28 minutes long ride, late arrival to the meeting and an empty credit card.

That's true.

Bring back Fornebu, would have been ideal for low-cost carriers. Might have been a good route from Stansted !

[frfly]

Ryanair couldn't care less about not having anywhere else to go...if the new owners of STN would raise charges they will just move capacity to othe EU airports. Ryanair don't think on a local scale they think european wide, their assets go wherever the money can be made most; which means the right mix of low landing fees, good catchment area, marketing support bla bla bla.

I'm sure the new owners will want to work with Ryanair not against, but time will tell!

[pamann]

RE: RyanAir

Well there's the huge catchment area of London and the SE at stake which is surely their biggest market with 40 odd aircraft based at Stansted. I think you'll find that Stansted is what made RyanAir what it is today and that works in reverse too of course.

[talk english]

Blimey,things move fast around here.No sooner is the sale announced and swissport middle managers are being canvassed to rebuild the mainline operation on the strength of the aquisition of a new contract.

[SENFLYER]

new owners

I hope the reports of the MAG being the front runner for stansted turn out to be wrong. Stansted needs an owner that will invest heavily after years of BAA papering over the cracks and MAG would inevitably just be another owner borrowing to buy and muddling along til inevitable sale again??

[davidjohnson6]

Senflyer - what are the major items of investment that you think Stansted needs ?

[SENFLYER]

Senflyer - what are the major items of investment that you think Stansted needs ?

IMHO The new owners need to re-invent STN. It needs to take on LHR and LGW. Ideally finding a way to bring Flag Carriers/Asia/TransAtlantic to the airport using LCC's as part of the onward travel. In order to do that the existing infrastructure needs reorganising to take on transit pax, plus provide business and first class facilities . But I suspect that a new terminal would be a better solution for that and STN should push for the additional runway instead of LHR too.

[LTNman]

Stansted will not be able to re-invent itself with Ryanair there as they hold all the cards