SOUTHEND 5
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Well the Waterford- London flights are returning home after Stobart Air tried unsuccessfully to shift it to Southend.
There seems to be good news at all of London's airports except Southend at the moment so is this just a temporary blip? I really hope so but why is it going wrong? It doesn't seem that Southend is even getting the crumbs at the moment yet it has its own station and is the passengers favorite airport.
Luton on the other hand comes bottom in surveys, has no station but is picking up new airlines and routes left right and centre.
Also why does Southend get next to no Biz Jets? Has anyone been to that awful Bedfordshire airport? The place is crammed full of Biz jets, have they not heard of Southend?
There seems to be good news at all of London's airports except Southend at the moment so is this just a temporary blip? I really hope so but why is it going wrong? It doesn't seem that Southend is even getting the crumbs at the moment yet it has its own station and is the passengers favorite airport.
Luton on the other hand comes bottom in surveys, has no station but is picking up new airlines and routes left right and centre.
Also why does Southend get next to no Biz Jets? Has anyone been to that awful Bedfordshire airport? The place is crammed full of Biz jets, have they not heard of Southend?
I’m afraid that what passengers like is secondary to what makes airlines money. In fact I’ll go a step further and say that it’s surprising what passengers will put up with to get the best fares and flight schedules. Luton may be a “dreadful” airport but realistically how long are you likely to be there? A few hours?? That’s not a big deal for most passengers.
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I’m afraid that what passengers like is secondary to what makes airlines money. In fact I’ll go a step further and say that it’s surprising what passengers will put up with to get the best fares and flight schedules. Luton may be a “dreadful” airport but realistically how long are you likely to be there? A few hours?? That’s not a big deal for most passengers.
This principle applies to LGW too. I get the feeling from this forum that people think LGW pursuing a 2nd runway is a move to improve share value as opposed to anything else, as most Long-Haul carriers will always consider London to be LHR and nothing more. It is a shame really, but it is human nature to fear the unknown.
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There are still no signs from the M25 to SEN. The first signs you see are when you pass Basildon on the A13/A130 at Saddlers Farm, then on the A127 from the Fairglen interchange into Southend. The last time I asked the airport about this was nearly two years ago and they said they were working with the Highways Agency to get the signs installed, but still nothing.
Last edited by tws123; 9th Mar 2015 at 23:11.
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I wonder how much of a deterrent the A127 is?
It's effectively the only access road to SEN (unless you count the A13) and it is always a trial.
It's effectively the only access road to SEN (unless you count the A13) and it is always a trial.
The railway station is the airports biggest plus point but the continuing lack of trains in the morning and at night must have some sort of impact if someone books a flight and then has an issue with a lack of public transport if they haven't got access to a car or doesn't wish to drive from the big smoke.
The subject has been flogged to death here but it is the airports Achilles Heel as the railway link is its greatest strength and its greatest weakness.
The handling of the problem of the lack of public transport access to SEN by Stobart outside of the train times has been nothing short of inept.
A solution rests firmly in their hands by providing a Stobart coach link from London in the early morning and to London late at night. They were using a Stobart liveried coach during recent weekend rail engineering work to shuttle between SEN and Billericay.
This Summer there will be three EZY morning departures (plus a CFR departure) and two late evening arrivals, which would greatly benefit from such a coach service and I did have hopes that at last it would materialise this Spring.
As far a road access is concerned both the A127 and the A13 (which can definitely be counted as that is slightly the quicker of the two) provide good access to the City in around an hour. It can certainly be "a trial" during the rush hours but which roads are not? The M25 can be reached at Brentwood in around 25 minutes from personal experience. No, it's not road access that is the problem but the public transport situation certainly remains so.
A solution rests firmly in their hands by providing a Stobart coach link from London in the early morning and to London late at night. They were using a Stobart liveried coach during recent weekend rail engineering work to shuttle between SEN and Billericay.
This Summer there will be three EZY morning departures (plus a CFR departure) and two late evening arrivals, which would greatly benefit from such a coach service and I did have hopes that at last it would materialise this Spring.
As far a road access is concerned both the A127 and the A13 (which can definitely be counted as that is slightly the quicker of the two) provide good access to the City in around an hour. It can certainly be "a trial" during the rush hours but which roads are not? The M25 can be reached at Brentwood in around 25 minutes from personal experience. No, it's not road access that is the problem but the public transport situation certainly remains so.
Last edited by Expressflight; 10th Mar 2015 at 16:49.
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Keep the faith, Waterford was never a natural Southend route. Southend now has the infrastructure most would not have dreamed of 10 years ago.
I can remember the wooden terminal on the other side of the airport when Aer Arann first came to Southend. Now look what has been achieved in only a few short years.
I can remember the wooden terminal on the other side of the airport when Aer Arann first came to Southend. Now look what has been achieved in only a few short years.
Last edited by LTNman; 10th Mar 2015 at 15:23.
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Must agree with Expressflight and LTNman regarding transport to and from SEN.
Although Stobarts have done nothing to provide early and late transport links, circumstances do seem to regularly conspire to work against them. Following the disruption to the railway service a couple of weeks ago, today saw a major fire at Rayleigh which caused the suspension of the wretched Abellio Greater Anglia service for most of the day, which, together with the consequent gridlocking of all roads around Rayleigh must have caused a fair number of passengers missing their flights.
As a regular user of the A127, when it flows properly its fine except during rush hours, when those in the know use the back routes through Hullbridge and Ashingdon to get to SEN.
However, it is not only transport which is an issue at SEN. Stobarts do appear to have let themselves be manipulated by Flybe, Ryanair and to some extent by EasyJet, with consolidation rather than expansion being the current vogue. I'm not privy to what goes on behind the scenes but do wonder about the relevant experience of the management. I'd like to think things would be different if Alistair Welch was still at the helm.
Having followed the fortunes of Southend Airport for nigh on 60 years now, the expectations of the last few years seem to be giving way to resignation that its not going to be a major player in the London area airport scene.
Its future is always going to lie with the holiday traveller, but there is enough of them within SEN's catchment area to provide a constant flow of passengers to the right destinations.
The Austrian flights, if they ever materialise, could work given suitable marketing, as they would appeal to the older traveller and there are certainly plenty of affluent retirees in this part of Essex. In winter, skiing flights perhaps. Similarly, Malta has previously been served successfully from SEN and perhaps Nice would be nice.
Interesting times ahead though, lets just get a few more business jets in (much nicer view for passengers over the Thames than the approach to Luton), more aircraft in for maintenance and re-spray, more freight flights and a few more scheduled flights and hey ho, we're on the up again!
Cheers
Southender
Although Stobarts have done nothing to provide early and late transport links, circumstances do seem to regularly conspire to work against them. Following the disruption to the railway service a couple of weeks ago, today saw a major fire at Rayleigh which caused the suspension of the wretched Abellio Greater Anglia service for most of the day, which, together with the consequent gridlocking of all roads around Rayleigh must have caused a fair number of passengers missing their flights.
As a regular user of the A127, when it flows properly its fine except during rush hours, when those in the know use the back routes through Hullbridge and Ashingdon to get to SEN.
However, it is not only transport which is an issue at SEN. Stobarts do appear to have let themselves be manipulated by Flybe, Ryanair and to some extent by EasyJet, with consolidation rather than expansion being the current vogue. I'm not privy to what goes on behind the scenes but do wonder about the relevant experience of the management. I'd like to think things would be different if Alistair Welch was still at the helm.
Having followed the fortunes of Southend Airport for nigh on 60 years now, the expectations of the last few years seem to be giving way to resignation that its not going to be a major player in the London area airport scene.
Its future is always going to lie with the holiday traveller, but there is enough of them within SEN's catchment area to provide a constant flow of passengers to the right destinations.
The Austrian flights, if they ever materialise, could work given suitable marketing, as they would appeal to the older traveller and there are certainly plenty of affluent retirees in this part of Essex. In winter, skiing flights perhaps. Similarly, Malta has previously been served successfully from SEN and perhaps Nice would be nice.
Interesting times ahead though, lets just get a few more business jets in (much nicer view for passengers over the Thames than the approach to Luton), more aircraft in for maintenance and re-spray, more freight flights and a few more scheduled flights and hey ho, we're on the up again!
Cheers
Southender
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I'm not privy to what goes on behind the scenes but do wonder about the relevant experience of the management. I'd like to think things would be different if Alistair Welch was still at the helm.
Success breeds success so airports that can show a track record of successful routes and airlines operating from their airport are more likely to attract more business than an airport that is having difficulties in keeping what it has already got. With that in mind I don't think Stobart Air has done Southend any favors.
Getting passengers to use existing services at a price that makes a profit to the airlines is key. While promoting the airport is so important adverts in the press costs money so budgets have to be spent wisely but a lot of money needs to be spent in the early years. This is money that the airport might not have but adverts like Southend is closer than you think or promoting Southend's rail link to London could pay dividends.
When easyjet first started to operate from Luton only, they used to have large weekly adverts in the travel sections of newspapers like the Daily Mail to get their brand recognized and it worked. In those days before easyjet arrived Luton had next to no scheduled services and was basically a charter airport with 20 years of zero growth but those easyjet adverts changed all of that forever
Last edited by LTNman; 11th Mar 2015 at 06:29.
LTNman
I agree entirely with your point about the importance of an airport showcasing its successful routes in order to attract new operators, which makes the apparent decision to abandon DUB-SEN to the whim of Flybe all the more puzzling.
Surely to have maintained an Aer Lingus Regional presence and its transatlantic through booking facility would have been just such a success story. Whether or not it was making much contribution to profits would be a secondary consideration set against its marketing value to SEN's business development department. For an airport owner working hard to press its credentials, and which also owns an airline operating a fairly high profile route, to abandon that route seems an odd decision.
Any UK airport attending Routes this year would surely wish to have included a DUB route and its transatlantic connections within its CV.
I agree entirely with your point about the importance of an airport showcasing its successful routes in order to attract new operators, which makes the apparent decision to abandon DUB-SEN to the whim of Flybe all the more puzzling.
Surely to have maintained an Aer Lingus Regional presence and its transatlantic through booking facility would have been just such a success story. Whether or not it was making much contribution to profits would be a secondary consideration set against its marketing value to SEN's business development department. For an airport owner working hard to press its credentials, and which also owns an airline operating a fairly high profile route, to abandon that route seems an odd decision.
Any UK airport attending Routes this year would surely wish to have included a DUB route and its transatlantic connections within its CV.
SEN Catchment
On a more positive note it will surprise some that North Norfolk falls within the SEN catchment as far as some passengers are concerned.
Friends of mine returned on Saturday from their winter sojourn in Spain using the ALC route to SEN. When I asked them what they thought of SEN they said "wonderful - straight through immigration with no delay and the bags arriving on the carousel almost as we walked in". In the past couple of years a number of other local acquaintances have used SEN, including TFS, ALC and NQY as destinations. All have been happy with the experience and don't consider it too far away either by car or taxi. I must say that surprised me somewhat as it's nearly a three hour drive.
Friends of mine returned on Saturday from their winter sojourn in Spain using the ALC route to SEN. When I asked them what they thought of SEN they said "wonderful - straight through immigration with no delay and the bags arriving on the carousel almost as we walked in". In the past couple of years a number of other local acquaintances have used SEN, including TFS, ALC and NQY as destinations. All have been happy with the experience and don't consider it too far away either by car or taxi. I must say that surprised me somewhat as it's nearly a three hour drive.
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Have emailed Flybe about the Dublin tickets and was basically told "that is all that is available right now" (I can see that!) and that "the flights might go on special later in the year"...... Is it possible that Flybe will run the route for the summer with only the massively expensive tickets available and then drop the route in September citing low passenger numbers as the reason?
Adam
Adam
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Tend to agree with LTNman. Surely if they intended to end the route, they would have just stopped bookings altogether from 27 March as opposed to offering these high prices only option. You would be mad to book at that price when there are cheaper alternatives, but for those who may book at that price it becomes more work for Flybe when they have to hand out the refunds. You also need to take into account bookings before the price increase, of which there must be some...
Website timetable still shows as daily from 29 March - 3 September
Website timetable still shows as daily from 29 March - 3 September