MAG buy STN

[JimNich]

....but, passenger numbers aren't as important as yield. As SOE rightly points out, if you've let your main customer use your airport without paying anything, then it doeasn't matter how many pax come through the gate (okay, important for the retailers I agree). I seem to recall rumblings last year that some of the foriegn town airports that MOL uses were starting to actually ask for some money (and a go of their bike on a sunday) to use their facilities.

I vaguelly remember (someone from MAN may well be able to correct me) that a couple of years ago Ryanair and MAG had a bit of a fall out over this very issue. Can we expect to see more of this in the future?

[FRatSTN]

Does anybody know what MAG logo will be like yet?

will it be..

(stansted
airport

or...

(london stansted
airport


(of course the bracket is supposed to be their curved shape logo!)

[chaps2011]

it`s not suprising figures down as They lost most of Air Berlin and quite a lot of
Easyjet and several Ryanair aircraft. When I was down in July you could see the difference in the number of Ryanair flights it was very noticable

Ryanair seem to have a good working relationship with MAN so hope this can
continue and also EMA, BOH and STN. It`s like walking a tightrope to
get balance right for both airport and airlines

Chaps

[LGS6753]

MAG Corporate Governance

I've been wondering how MAG were so badly affected by hubris that they continued with their bid for STN. It seems to me that their corporate governance leaves something to be desired.

The MAG website has no Director profiles on it, but information is hidden away in the report & accounts. There is a main board comprising the key executive directors, plus a smattering of non-execs and a part-time non-exec chairman. So far, so good. However, despite its ownership by Manchester area councils, there is only one representative of the shareholder group on the board (was two until May 2012).

The sole representative of any Manchester area council is Bernard Priest, a Labour time-server who represents the inner-city ward of Ardwick. He seems to have no business or travel experience, and is a former FE lecturer.

Effectively the taxpayers of Greater Manchester, who own this business, have minimal representation on its board of directors. If I were a council taxpayer in that area I would be writing to my councillor asking how this state of affairs had arisen.

[FRatSTN]

When I was down in July you could see the difference in the number of Ryanair flights it was very noticable

Are you sure it wasn't the time of day that you went. Between 2 and 4 in the afternoon there isn't much in the way of Ryanair traffic or really any other traffic for that matter. When I went in August between 11am and 2pm, there were Ryanair flights every few minutes and coming in litterally one straight after the other for a time.

I have a couple of interesting links below. It shows us a little more about what we can expect to see under the new ownership:

Manchester Airport buys Stansted - but what does it mean for you? We find out | Manchester Evening News - menmedia.co.uk

Simon Calder's Q&A: Manchester airport buys Stansted - Business Analysis & Features - Business - The Independent

It appears that their aims are to:

- Fight for short-haul traffic from Gatwick and Luton by offering airlines good financial deals

- Diversify Stansted's traffic away from the dominance of Ryanair

- Attract airlines big at Manchester like EasyJet, Flybe and Jet2 to add new routes to Stansted

THERE WILL BE NO AIR LINK BETWEEN STANSTED AND MANCHESTER!!!

[chaps2011]

No I go to STN quite often and it has been the same for a couple of years
some quite big gaps in traffic where there used to be none and the last time I was there it was for 10 hours

Chaps

[LGS6753]

Simon Calder, in The Independent seems to support my idea about Stansted's location:

Stansted occupies a beautiful building, but one with awkward rail links – the journey by train from central London has actually significantly slowed down in the 20 years since the rail line opened.

Of the big four London airports – the other three being Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton – Stansted is the furthest from the centre, and also furthest from the key road and rail arteries. It’s only a little bit unfair to describe it as an airport people use because they have to.

[pamann]

I sit back and read the same old tripe being churned out time and time again by the 'Luton-ites' of PPRuNe.

For the un-educated on here: Stansted offers over 150 destinations, on a choice a choice of 13 airlines presently. Approximately 18,000,000 passengers used the facilities in 2011. It is London's third airport and the UK's forth busiest airport in terms of passenger numbers.

Exactly how does Luton compare on these figures?

[hammerb32]

Have to say the bit I struggle with is the enforced selling of STN to break up the unfair monopoly of BAA to sell it to the owners of 3 other English airports to create a new monopoly, what was the point....

[daz211]

Stop banging on about rail links ! Southend international
Has a closer train station than Luton Airport has.
The trouble with Luton fans is they have always wanted
Luton to be Stansted !

[pamann]

Luton will always be Luton = Dreadful town, awful airport. End of really.

[Barling Magna]

Bernard Priest, a Labour time-server who represents the inner-city ward of Ardwick. He seems to have no business or travel experience, and is a former FE lecturer.

To be fair to Mr Priest, he was actually Senior Vice Principal of MANCAT, one of the largest FE/HE colleges in the land with over 60,000 students and 4,000 staff; FE colleges are big businesses these days, independent of local authorities and sinking or swimming through their own commercial activities.

[FRatSTN]

The trouble with Luton fans is they have always wanted
Luton to be Stansted !

I agree, it's just pure jealousy.

[Suzeman]

As the No 1 LTN fan on here has been posting the same message on the Manchester thread, I thought I should copy my response to him here too.

However, despite its ownership by Manchester area councils, there is only one representative of the shareholder group on the board (was two until May 2012).

Dave Goddard had to resign in May 2012 as he lost his seat as leader of Stockport Council. As the annual report only covers up to March 2012, how do you know he hasn't been replaced?

And what about the shareholders committee on which all the 10 local authorities are represented?

And finally methinks you underestimate the influence of the majority shareholder....

The proof of the pudding for the locals will be whether the dividend is at least retained or preferably increased in future years. By which time the local reps probably have changed. Like all politics, it's light the blue touch paper, retire immediately and someone will pick up the bits (or sometime the rewards) later

[LTNman]

Well I have risen to the bait. As I always say there is nothing wrong with Stansted as it is a fine airport. Can't really see what needs improving that can be inproved by MAG.

BUT:

Exactly how does Luton compare on these figures?

You have missed the point. Stansted is operating at around half capacity while Luton is almost at capacity.

Stop banging on about rail links ! Southend international
Has a closer train station than Luton Airport has.

Which is useless for much of the day as there are no trains for the airports peak periods in the morning and late at night.

Luton will always be Luton = Dreadful town, awful airport. End of really.

Agree with your comment about the town. Bit unfair about the airport which due to massive demand is having to nearly double capacity while Stansted is struggling to hang on to its passengers.

The trouble with Luton fans is they have always wanted
Luton to be Stansted !

If Luton was Stansted Luton would have a second runway by now due to its location.

As I keep saying Stansted is a fine low cost Ryanair type airport.

[pamann]

You have missed the point. Stansted is operating at around half capacity while Luton is almost at capacity.

Agree with your comment about the town. Bit unfair about the airport which due to massive demand is having the nearly double capacity while Stansted is struggling to hang on to its passengers.

Think you miss understand my points...

Stansted circa 18,000,000 passengers in 2011

Luton circa 9,500,000 passengers in 2011

Yes Stansted has seen a decline since it's 2007 triumph, something that MAG intends to address.

Luton is seeing an increase in passenger numbers but, despite this Stansted still has double the number of passengers that Luton has.

Stansted has the infrastructure in place and is in a better position now to expand as Luton will get left behind.

Maybe it's time to put this rather tedious debate to bed, once and for all.

[daz211]

None of your points matter you still don't understand that even if one train a day stopped at Southend airport it would be twice as many as Luton airport.
* Luton Airport does not have a direct rail link or a train station *
Yes Luton is almost full but Stansted is much bigger ! Luton is not as busy as Stansted.

Luton would not have another runway already as the locals would put up a fight and a lengthy inquiry would delay any decision for years.

[nt639]

Stansted has also returned to Passenger growth for the last 2 months of 2012 (+6.2% Nov/+4.2% Dec) outperforming Luton in percentage growth terms by a large margin, & no doubt once MAG entice airlines away from Luton the margin will increase

[Barling Magna]

Which is useless for much of the day as there are no trains for the airports peak periods in the morning and late at night.

Don't ruin your point by over-egging it, LTNman. The first train from Liverpool Street arrives at Southend Airport at 6.31 a.m. and the last train leaves SEN at 11.05 p.m. Only three flights are affected by this. Nonetheless, it should be sorted out quickly if SEN hopes to reach its 2 million pax target.

Good luck to STN; I can't see that it's likely growth will have much impact on SEN which has carved out a small but valuable niche within the London area.

[LTNman]

Think you miss understand my points...

Stansted circa 18,000,000 passengers in 2011

Luton circa 9,500,000 passengers in 2011

Yes Stansted has seen a decline since it's 2007 triumph, something that MAG intends to address.

Luton is seeing an increase in passenger numbers but, despite this Stansted still has double the number of passengers that Luton has.

Stansted has the infrastructure in place and is in a better position now to expand as Luton will get left behind.

All your points are valid as Luton is running at around 95% capacity and can’t expand much beyond 10 million for another couple of years then the gloves will be off as Luton will be looking at Stansted for passenger growth while Stansted will be looking at Luton and Southend for its extra passengers.

As Aer Arran found out with its Waterford route you can kill a route by switching airports if the passengers don’t want to go.

None of your points matter you still don't understand that even if one train a day stopped at Southend airport it would be twice as many as Luton airport.
* Luton Airport does not have a direct rail link or a train station *

No doubt about it Luton could do with a railway station by the terminal but 2.3 million people still used it in 2011. With a journey time as little as 22 minutes non-stop Luton is looking to increase the frequency of these non stop trains.

no doubt once MAG entice airlines away from Luton the margin will increase

Stansted built its success from cross subsidies from Heathrow. No doubt the profits from Manchester will once again subsidies Stansted. Stansted is an airport that has never been successful when it has had to stand alone.

Don't ruin your point by over-egging it, LTNman. The first train from Liverpool Street arrives at Southend Airport at 6.31 a.m. and the last train leaves SEN at 11.05 p.m. Only three flights are affected by this.

Thought Easyjet only had 3 aircraft based at Southend or is that 4 now.

First train of the day in reality means any passenger catching a departure before 8am is pushing their luck. Any passenger arriving at Southend after 22:15 is also pushing their luck to catch the train.

It could be worse as there is a night time ban at Southend so aircraft are limited to when they can use Southend but even so the train is not an option for many passengers.