Europort Express
Scourge of Bad Airline Management!
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And the schedule drives everything. Until a schedule is pretty solidly finalised, at least in terms of frequencies, business planning is at best just estimation. Schedules drive capacity, which drives revenue. Schedules also drive costs. Costs and revenues are the basis of the plan, and drive cash flows, cash requirement and that in turn drives the funding plan.
If the schedule isn't bolted down, then all else is a bit woolly.
Alternatively, they are assuming that the slots will be available in the same form as their plans - which is one hell of a business risk.
TA
If the schedule isn't bolted down, then all else is a bit woolly.
Alternatively, they are assuming that the slots will be available in the same form as their plans - which is one hell of a business risk.
TA
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This is from a SEN supporters F'book page, a reply from Europort Express to a question about flights into SEN. Make of it what you will.......:
We are at present confirming our schedules set for September 2012 and whether or not we can include London Southend in our Phase 1 route launches on September 17th. This initial phase will see the introduction of only two routes initially. We will then be looking to add a further four from our list in January 2013 and the remainder in April 2013.
Rotterdam to Norwich was a route considered when we were performing our in depth route analysis on cross-channel routes from Rotterdam The Hague Airport but we chose London Southend as our south of England airport due to the high speed rail links, close proximity to the port of Tilbury and related industries, all of which have a strong relationship with Rotterdam and The Hague.
At this time, I am unable to provide you with fare details. This information will become available leading up to the opening of our website next month. Once routes are confirmed and become on sale, they will be jointly announced by the airports. Our core announcement in co-operation with Rotterdam The Hague Airport is due first. Please remember that some of the routes on our landing page are *prospective* routes we hope to add to the schedules.
Do let me know if you have any further questions.
--
Ryan Hayfield
Europort Express
connecting you to Europort!
We are at present confirming our schedules set for September 2012 and whether or not we can include London Southend in our Phase 1 route launches on September 17th. This initial phase will see the introduction of only two routes initially. We will then be looking to add a further four from our list in January 2013 and the remainder in April 2013.
Rotterdam to Norwich was a route considered when we were performing our in depth route analysis on cross-channel routes from Rotterdam The Hague Airport but we chose London Southend as our south of England airport due to the high speed rail links, close proximity to the port of Tilbury and related industries, all of which have a strong relationship with Rotterdam and The Hague.
At this time, I am unable to provide you with fare details. This information will become available leading up to the opening of our website next month. Once routes are confirmed and become on sale, they will be jointly announced by the airports. Our core announcement in co-operation with Rotterdam The Hague Airport is due first. Please remember that some of the routes on our landing page are *prospective* routes we hope to add to the schedules.
Do let me know if you have any further questions.
--
Ryan Hayfield
Europort Express
connecting you to Europort!
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Forgot to ask, but does anyone know if they've an AOC already or whose AOC they're going to use? Some reports are that they don't have one (yet). Or is this also something they're in the progress of getting before June 11th (as no airline is allowed to sell seats if they don't have an AOC or using the AOC from somebody else.
BTW just for those interested, RTM has 2,284 slots left for S12.
BTW just for those interested, RTM has 2,284 slots left for S12.
Last edited by lgtjanssen; 25th May 2012 at 20:50.
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Forgot to ask, but does anyone know if they've an AOC already or whose AOC they're going to use? Some reports are that they don't have one (yet). Or is this also something they're in the progress of getting before June 11th (as no airline is allowed to sell seats if they don't have an AOC or using the AOC from somebody else.
BTW just for those interested, RTM has 2,284 slots left for S12.
BTW just for those interested, RTM has 2,284 slots left for S12.
Last edited by Cyrano; 25th May 2012 at 21:13.
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The following article may answer some questions:
Airline in the making, Europort Express announced last week its intentions to fly to 9 different destinations from its operating base in Rotterdam, famous for its vast port and closeness to The Hague and Amsterdam.
Six destinations in the UK & Ireland are featured, these include struggling airport Durham Tees Valley alongside major hubs of Manchester and Dublin, many of the destinations also have close sea port links which suggests that the airline are looking to compete with the North Sea ferry operators.
During an interview the airlines Press Officer Meilina Crampton stated that the airlines main intention was to focus on the business traveller, however said “it would be a major issue if we ignored the leisure market, therefore our marketing campaigns will look to draw in both business and leisure flyers”
The aircraft chosen have been specifically selected so the airline will be able to operate multiple rotations per day therefore they are more suited to the traveller, the example being used that on some flights there may not be a demand for the 50 seat Fokker 50 a Dutch made aircraft, so the smaller 19 seat Jetstream 32 can be used to save on operating costs whilst keeping the airline competitive.
Europort Express also hope to have the exclusive use of these routes, as they believe there is only so much demand so the bigger companies such as the Dutch flag carrier KLM will not try to compete, nor will Cityjet who have cut back on routes since their take over of VLM.
The airline also hope to be seen as a substitute to flying to Rotterdam instead of Amsterdam Schiphol, where the likes of KLM and British Airways fly, as they believe there is a gap in the market for Rotterdam services.
The airline hopes to enter the market on a semi-low cost objective therefore providing affordable prices, but still being able to make profit and supply a good service, some of which has already been announced, such as the inflight catering service, in which every passenger will be entitled to a meal.
Due to the small size of the aircraft that will be used it is hard to offer a totally low cost method due to the operating costs for an aircraft carrying between 19 and 50 passengers. Unlike Ryanair who can carry in excess of 150 and make a tidy profit whilst offering low fares.
The ambitions for the airline have been made perfectly clear with their intentions being to hold a Dutch Air Operators Certificate within 2 year, but up until that stage the airline will use chartered aircraft and operate as a ticketing agency like the highly successful Manx2 airline which flies to many short-haul destinations from the Isle of Man.
Set to start operations on September 17th 2012, most flights will not start until January, therefore giving enough time to gain public interest and establish a good customer base at the destinations.
Bobster
Airline in the making, Europort Express announced last week its intentions to fly to 9 different destinations from its operating base in Rotterdam, famous for its vast port and closeness to The Hague and Amsterdam.
Six destinations in the UK & Ireland are featured, these include struggling airport Durham Tees Valley alongside major hubs of Manchester and Dublin, many of the destinations also have close sea port links which suggests that the airline are looking to compete with the North Sea ferry operators.
During an interview the airlines Press Officer Meilina Crampton stated that the airlines main intention was to focus on the business traveller, however said “it would be a major issue if we ignored the leisure market, therefore our marketing campaigns will look to draw in both business and leisure flyers”
The aircraft chosen have been specifically selected so the airline will be able to operate multiple rotations per day therefore they are more suited to the traveller, the example being used that on some flights there may not be a demand for the 50 seat Fokker 50 a Dutch made aircraft, so the smaller 19 seat Jetstream 32 can be used to save on operating costs whilst keeping the airline competitive.
Europort Express also hope to have the exclusive use of these routes, as they believe there is only so much demand so the bigger companies such as the Dutch flag carrier KLM will not try to compete, nor will Cityjet who have cut back on routes since their take over of VLM.
The airline also hope to be seen as a substitute to flying to Rotterdam instead of Amsterdam Schiphol, where the likes of KLM and British Airways fly, as they believe there is a gap in the market for Rotterdam services.
The airline hopes to enter the market on a semi-low cost objective therefore providing affordable prices, but still being able to make profit and supply a good service, some of which has already been announced, such as the inflight catering service, in which every passenger will be entitled to a meal.
Due to the small size of the aircraft that will be used it is hard to offer a totally low cost method due to the operating costs for an aircraft carrying between 19 and 50 passengers. Unlike Ryanair who can carry in excess of 150 and make a tidy profit whilst offering low fares.
The ambitions for the airline have been made perfectly clear with their intentions being to hold a Dutch Air Operators Certificate within 2 year, but up until that stage the airline will use chartered aircraft and operate as a ticketing agency like the highly successful Manx2 airline which flies to many short-haul destinations from the Isle of Man.
Set to start operations on September 17th 2012, most flights will not start until January, therefore giving enough time to gain public interest and establish a good customer base at the destinations.
Bobster
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Quote: "Looks good on paper. So did the Euro."
Have to disagree with the second part: the euro concept was obviously flawed from the start, and fortunately, the UK, Denmark and Sweden have had the good sense to stay well away!
Have to disagree with the second part: the euro concept was obviously flawed from the start, and fortunately, the UK, Denmark and Sweden have had the good sense to stay well away!
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Until they got rid of them KLM could only justify F50's (nothing larger) on the RTM LHR route, I can't see how F50's may be justified on lesser yield RTM routes
One could argue that this service failed because of the high frequency of MAN-AMS services in competition. But most airports seem to have an Amsterdam service with easyjet and/or KLM. And if it's KLM, I expect business passengers will value their SkyTeam air miles (or whatever they're called). It's not that far by train from Schipol to Rotterdam, and I have no doubt that very important business passengers may have their firm's driver pick them up or be able to claim a taxi.
A fifty seater needs some filling of economy seats and, with respect, Rotterdam is not a tourist Mecca; a nineteen seater needs businessmen and women.
Last edited by johnnychips; 26th May 2012 at 00:26.
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I couldn't help wondering if their plans could be feasible, even if everything goes according to plan.
RTM is slot controlled. The current cap for S12 is 11,828 slots of which 9,544 were allocated (thus leaving 2,284). Now, if you want a weekday only service you need 420 slots for S12. Assuming that all the current operators will use their historic allocation for S13 that leaves 2,284 slots + a few for growth. Moreover, also assuming that BA won't start LHR-RTM and that all slots go to Europort Express (which the current operators won't like) you have 2,284 / 420 = 5.4 trips left for S13 when only operating on weekdays (lets say 6 take offs + landings). Question, how can you operate a business friendly schedule with more than 2 destinations out of RTM? OK maybe they shut down for the entire holiday period (saving 1,680 slots) but even then the average number of trips will only increase to 6.7. Or will RTM see a very large increase in slots the coming years?
BTW I know my calculations carry a lot of assumptions and are based on S12 rather than the S13 situation, but as far as I know historic slot slot allocations are based on the same season (thus S12 vs S13). Moreover, if BA starts to fly to RTM, the pool of slots will probably go down drastically, unless LH or another airline suddenly decides to drop RTM. Ultimately I can't see any airline operating into RTM serving 9 destinations at a business friendly schedule (thus at least twice a day on weekdays, which will mean 7,560 S12 slots). At least, not as long as AF/KL control 70% of the slots at RTM (AF/KL control 8,300 out of the 11,828 slots for S12). Thus my conclusion is their ultimate plan can not be achieved out of RTM.
RTM is slot controlled. The current cap for S12 is 11,828 slots of which 9,544 were allocated (thus leaving 2,284). Now, if you want a weekday only service you need 420 slots for S12. Assuming that all the current operators will use their historic allocation for S13 that leaves 2,284 slots + a few for growth. Moreover, also assuming that BA won't start LHR-RTM and that all slots go to Europort Express (which the current operators won't like) you have 2,284 / 420 = 5.4 trips left for S13 when only operating on weekdays (lets say 6 take offs + landings). Question, how can you operate a business friendly schedule with more than 2 destinations out of RTM? OK maybe they shut down for the entire holiday period (saving 1,680 slots) but even then the average number of trips will only increase to 6.7. Or will RTM see a very large increase in slots the coming years?
BTW I know my calculations carry a lot of assumptions and are based on S12 rather than the S13 situation, but as far as I know historic slot slot allocations are based on the same season (thus S12 vs S13). Moreover, if BA starts to fly to RTM, the pool of slots will probably go down drastically, unless LH or another airline suddenly decides to drop RTM. Ultimately I can't see any airline operating into RTM serving 9 destinations at a business friendly schedule (thus at least twice a day on weekdays, which will mean 7,560 S12 slots). At least, not as long as AF/KL control 70% of the slots at RTM (AF/KL control 8,300 out of the 11,828 slots for S12). Thus my conclusion is their ultimate plan can not be achieved out of RTM.
Last edited by lgtjanssen; 26th May 2012 at 08:36.
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I am always deeply cynical about an airline which claims to be providing a niche regional service but has a picture of what looks like a 737 variant on its home page, but let's put that aside for a minute:
Come on! Beware of airlines named Express, and even more wary of airport "express" trains, of which the train serving LLS-SEN most certainly is not!
However, there is a very good express rail service (shame about the rolling stock) connecting AMS with Rotterdam Centraal in just less than 30 minutes.
So why fly to RTM instead?
1) Very short taxi times - especially compared to landing on the Polderbaan
2) Tiny terminal compared to vast AMS.
3) Still closer to city of Rotterdam, Europort and The Hague - easy to jump in a taxi to these destinations if business is paying.
First question is - can a route be sustained on this basis? I don't question that there is demand from all the airports discussed above to get to these locations, but the Ranstad region is effectively one very well connected city, with AMS at its centre.
Clearly, there are enough people who appreciate the advantages of RTM for the LCY route to be popular, and I see BA are also starting an LHR route. That is London. Very large population and business needs.
For anywhere else, AMS seems to work perfectly well, and it has the additional advantage that routes which would otherwise be wafer thin are feeding connections to elsewhere.
There is a long standing ABZ-GRQ bmi regional route, but can this really be compared to RTM? I just don't see it - GRQ is a good 2 1/2 hours from Amsterdam.
Rotterdam isn't just a port - there is a fair bit of finance industry in the city centre, and I would guess this traffic would a) generate better yields and b) still use LCY or LHR - never SEN.
I'm not getting excited about this one.
we chose London Southend as our south of England airport due to the high speed rail links
However, there is a very good express rail service (shame about the rolling stock) connecting AMS with Rotterdam Centraal in just less than 30 minutes.
So why fly to RTM instead?
1) Very short taxi times - especially compared to landing on the Polderbaan
2) Tiny terminal compared to vast AMS.
3) Still closer to city of Rotterdam, Europort and The Hague - easy to jump in a taxi to these destinations if business is paying.
First question is - can a route be sustained on this basis? I don't question that there is demand from all the airports discussed above to get to these locations, but the Ranstad region is effectively one very well connected city, with AMS at its centre.
Clearly, there are enough people who appreciate the advantages of RTM for the LCY route to be popular, and I see BA are also starting an LHR route. That is London. Very large population and business needs.
For anywhere else, AMS seems to work perfectly well, and it has the additional advantage that routes which would otherwise be wafer thin are feeding connections to elsewhere.
There is a long standing ABZ-GRQ bmi regional route, but can this really be compared to RTM? I just don't see it - GRQ is a good 2 1/2 hours from Amsterdam.
Rotterdam isn't just a port - there is a fair bit of finance industry in the city centre, and I would guess this traffic would a) generate better yields and b) still use LCY or LHR - never SEN.
I'm not getting excited about this one.
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In a previous life I occupied a summer season living and working in/from the Holiday Inn, Leiden whilst managing an A310 'we' had on detachment to Transavia (AMS) for that summer, the year was 1998 should anyone wish to search for 'Transavia' & 'Airbus' on such a site as airliners.net to establish who 'we' were.
Being halfway between AMS & RTM I learned a lot that summer, particularly of RTM, whereas one could step off the aircraft and be thru the terminal and at the car hire desk or in the car park within a matter of minutes.
In a more recent life I travelled, on ID00 travel, thru RTM on a number of occasions, 10 minutes from aircraft via baggage reclaim to hire car desk, then up to my old haunt of Holiday Inn, Leiden for a night before continuing to Schiphol the next morning for my flight back to BHX or wherever.
As others have, in some part, pointed out, AMS is very well rail connected and KLM, these days, only operate jets, it'll be quicker, just as an example, to KLM it ABZ/AMS then take a train in to central Rotterdam, or Den Haag, than it would to take a geriatric turbo-prop direct in to RTM then to fart around with taxi's etc.
That's the problem ... AMS is so well served, both by air but by surface transport also!
Being halfway between AMS & RTM I learned a lot that summer, particularly of RTM, whereas one could step off the aircraft and be thru the terminal and at the car hire desk or in the car park within a matter of minutes.
In a more recent life I travelled, on ID00 travel, thru RTM on a number of occasions, 10 minutes from aircraft via baggage reclaim to hire car desk, then up to my old haunt of Holiday Inn, Leiden for a night before continuing to Schiphol the next morning for my flight back to BHX or wherever.
As others have, in some part, pointed out, AMS is very well rail connected and KLM, these days, only operate jets, it'll be quicker, just as an example, to KLM it ABZ/AMS then take a train in to central Rotterdam, or Den Haag, than it would to take a geriatric turbo-prop direct in to RTM then to fart around with taxi's etc.
That's the problem ... AMS is so well served, both by air but by surface transport also!
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Europort Express
Predictable but guess what the day the tickets were meant to go on sale and nothing . So much for a new airline . Looks a bit like that so called startup hiair that never happened or worse the whole jetxtra
Predictable but guess what the day the tickets were meant to go on sale and nothing . So much for a new airline . Looks a bit like that so called startup hiair that never happened or worse the whole jetxtra
Quite how you can compare them to Jetxtra or Hiair, considering you dont know who is behind Europort Express is completely beyond me.
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Europort Express
I'm comparing them based on the fact that they made a big announcement about starting and so on and yet nothing . Actions speak louder than words . Doncaster would have been the startup site for Hi Air but nothing ever came of it . Jetxtra was full of it and nothing came of it . Yet here we are again with announcements and nothing of substance following it . But drop your venomous comments a bit toward me this is an open forum not a place for you to constantly take a swipe at everything I write as you do elsewhere !
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Did they actually make a 'BIG ANNOUNCEMENT' or did they merely partially construct a website that, somehow, found it's way on to pPrune?
I've a resort website that remains under construction, in some respects it's a load of bollox, things written that I shall subsequently change, absolutely no photo's because the buildings aren't yet built, the room rates are wrong and need adjusting, even the online booking address is wrong and I need to sort these things out before proceeding 'online' any further ...
Thank heavens that some of you lot haven't stumbled across my resort website else you'd be branding me a dreamer, a scammer, a whatever else!
I've a resort website that remains under construction, in some respects it's a load of bollox, things written that I shall subsequently change, absolutely no photo's because the buildings aren't yet built, the room rates are wrong and need adjusting, even the online booking address is wrong and I need to sort these things out before proceeding 'online' any further ...
Thank heavens that some of you lot haven't stumbled across my resort website else you'd be branding me a dreamer, a scammer, a whatever else!
onyxcrowle, at one time Jet2 and Easyjet made a big announcement before they started flights! The thing is, we knew who was behind them from the start, as we did Hiair and jetXtra, but Europort Express haven't even made an announcement. Speculation apart there is no solid proof about who is behind this. It could well be another A-level business project, or it could be backed by a shipping company based in Rotterdam for all we know.
There are possible holes in this model as others have pointed out, but you cant simply rule them out based on a website under construction. Call it taking a swipe all you want, it is an open forum as you say, and I disagree with what you are saying.
There are possible holes in this model as others have pointed out, but you cant simply rule them out based on a website under construction. Call it taking a swipe all you want, it is an open forum as you say, and I disagree with what you are saying.
Last edited by pug; 11th Jun 2012 at 13:18.
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It's interesting though that the airports they claim to be planning to operating from have nothing about this . Granted HUY won't after making a big announcement about jetxtra .
But MME needs all the help it can get and they haven't even bothered
But MME needs all the help it can get and they haven't even bothered