SOUTHEND 5
Join Date: Jul 2002
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I make it even worse. In March there was 40 planned flights each way making a total of 80 flights
828 passengers /80= 10.35 passengers per flight/31x100= 33%.
Anyone else like to work it out?
828 passengers /80= 10.35 passengers per flight/31x100= 33%.
Anyone else like to work it out?
Last edited by LTNman; 20th Apr 2015 at 15:19.
Join Date: Jul 2002
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Clearly I have the schedule wrong but I thought it was a daily return flight with a second flight on Mondays and Fridays.
31 days in March so that is 31 flights plus another 5 for the 5 Mondays in March and another 4 for the 4 Fridays in March. Total flights 31+5+4 = 40 x 2 for the return leg = 80 flights.
828/80=10.35 passengers per flight.
There are no flights to Berne from Luton.
31 days in March so that is 31 flights plus another 5 for the 5 Mondays in March and another 4 for the 4 Fridays in March. Total flights 31+5+4 = 40 x 2 for the return leg = 80 flights.
828/80=10.35 passengers per flight.
There are no flights to Berne from Luton.
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Bangor (Gwynedd)
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They do look a little worrying, certainly. I imagine the Flybe franchise will wither and die by the end of the year, and Bern will not last for ever. SEN could well end up like Prestwick, with only budget sunshine routes and EZY instead of FR. I am praying Adria get decent numbers from MBX.
Join Date: Aug 2014
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Essexman, cut the childish vitriol.
LTNman, it was less rotations than you say because of the diversion I mentioned and I don't think Monday had an evening flight, at least not at the end of the month, I was there.
LTNman, it was less rotations than you say because of the diversion I mentioned and I don't think Monday had an evening flight, at least not at the end of the month, I was there.
For what it's worth I reckon there were around 35 rotations in March. For comparison in the last 13 days of April there were scheduled to be 15 rotations (taken from the Skywork website on 18th April). Whatever the actual number in March they are not exactly wonderful figures to say the least.
Join Date: Jan 2008
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I don't have any figures but if Skywork is selling seats at say £200 one way, how many seats must be sold to break even? What is the hourly running cost of the Dornier? There should be more active publicity for the Berne and Slovenia routes.
Join Date: Mar 2006
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Was looking at the stats LCY had 2208 last March
SEN had 828 this March which is not good at all even on 31 seater 328
SEN had 828 this March which is not good at all even on 31 seater 328
I had hopes that other marginal London City routes would follow Skyworks lead but Skywork has shown that with even an extra flight on Saturdays their passengers do not want to fly to Southend. This has no doubt sent a clear massage to other operators thinking about making the same move.
You would not think that the UK's favourite airport would find it so hard going with passenger numbers down 12% while the bottom two airports of Luton and Stansted were up 18% and 24%.
There seems to be a touch of Sheffield here with that airport also having a great start but then everything just ebbing away.
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Southend-on-Sea
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Southend Airport has a fantastic railway station and boasts up to 8 trains an hour at peak times. There are, however, major problems in connection with this and if I were Stobart's I would be hammering on the doors of Government about it until they got sick utterly of me. The Liverpool Street - Southend service is one of the most unreliable in the country and the trains are from another age. That is putting aside the fact that it is as though the railway timetable, with no early or late trains, has been designed with trying to put Stobart's out of business from the very beginning. I am not convinced that there isn't some truth there somewhere.
Regardless of the free 1st class rail tickets offered to Skywork passengers, one by one, they will be let down by the train service and most of the blame for that rests with Network Rail and their Government masters and not so much with the train company Greater Anglia.
When the new rail franchise is finally agreed and if new rolling stock is included, then possibly there may be light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. Even then, the light could be some distance away as the overhead power lines (which date back to the stone age) are being renewed over a period of, I believe, 5 years, or was it 500 years? In the meantime, the country can relax in the knowledge that HS2 is going ahead at the expense of Great Britain ever having a world class railway system.
All very depressing, me thinks!
Regardless of the free 1st class rail tickets offered to Skywork passengers, one by one, they will be let down by the train service and most of the blame for that rests with Network Rail and their Government masters and not so much with the train company Greater Anglia.
When the new rail franchise is finally agreed and if new rolling stock is included, then possibly there may be light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. Even then, the light could be some distance away as the overhead power lines (which date back to the stone age) are being renewed over a period of, I believe, 5 years, or was it 500 years? In the meantime, the country can relax in the knowledge that HS2 is going ahead at the expense of Great Britain ever having a world class railway system.
All very depressing, me thinks!
Join Date: Mar 2006
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Non airport infrastructure and mandatory public transport requirements is key and Southend is not befitting by any government initiatives and spending.
That Bedfordshire airport whose name gets stuck in my throat has just had £30 million pound spent on it upgrading its link road from the M1 to the airport turning the road into a motorway grade 6 lane carriageway for part of its route.
.
Not content with that the government mandated the new franchise operator into running more overnight trains to and from the airport as part of its terms and conditions. These extra trains start later in the year. Well I would be happy with their old service for Southend.
It seems to me that certain airports around London has the eye of the government on them and money is being spent and then there is Southend with one hand tried behind its back.
That Bedfordshire airport whose name gets stuck in my throat has just had £30 million pound spent on it upgrading its link road from the M1 to the airport turning the road into a motorway grade 6 lane carriageway for part of its route.
.Not content with that the government mandated the new franchise operator into running more overnight trains to and from the airport as part of its terms and conditions. These extra trains start later in the year. Well I would be happy with their old service for Southend.
It seems to me that certain airports around London has the eye of the government on them and money is being spent and then there is Southend with one hand tried behind its back.
If you cannot get infrastructure assistance as a result of government initiatives, nice as that might be, then you have to paddle your own canoe.
In relation to the lack of early and late trains that should mean operating Stobart coaches early from London and late to London but nothing seems to have happened, although I did have hopes it might do at last this Spring. It's not so much the volume of pax that would use the coaches but the fact that a shortcoming had been recognized and action taken. It's the sort of thing that impresses prospective airlines whom SEN is surely very anxious to attract.
If it looks like you're not really that bothered about addressing passenger access shortcomings then your offering becomes slightly less attractive and growth more elusive.
In relation to the lack of early and late trains that should mean operating Stobart coaches early from London and late to London but nothing seems to have happened, although I did have hopes it might do at last this Spring. It's not so much the volume of pax that would use the coaches but the fact that a shortcoming had been recognized and action taken. It's the sort of thing that impresses prospective airlines whom SEN is surely very anxious to attract.
If it looks like you're not really that bothered about addressing passenger access shortcomings then your offering becomes slightly less attractive and growth more elusive.
Last edited by Expressflight; 22nd Apr 2015 at 06:44.
Remind me again how many passengers pass through Luton Airport in comparison to Southend?
Join Date: Mar 2006
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I would rather not but the ratio is close to 11-1 and the way things are going it will soon be 18-1 with the new infrastructure that is going in. Passengers need to be put out of their misery and made aware of Southend's quaintly facilities.
Join Date: Jun 2011
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Southend Council received a lot of money from the government out of the pinch-point fund and subsequently have upgraded 3 major junction on the A127, and plans already in place to improve the final two.
However, my personal opinion is that these minor upgrades will only provide short term capacity (but they'll take what they can get at the moment!). In the long term the A127 needs a major overhaul all the way along. Plus if a new Southend by-pass actually does get built (15 year wait i'm told), the first section will link the Tesco Roundabout (A127) with the Harphouse Roundabout/Warners Bridge at the airport (A1159).
As for the trains, there's nothing left to say...
However, my personal opinion is that these minor upgrades will only provide short term capacity (but they'll take what they can get at the moment!). In the long term the A127 needs a major overhaul all the way along. Plus if a new Southend by-pass actually does get built (15 year wait i'm told), the first section will link the Tesco Roundabout (A127) with the Harphouse Roundabout/Warners Bridge at the airport (A1159).
As for the trains, there's nothing left to say...
Join Date: Feb 2015
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The new Tesco roundabout is very impressive, but the traffic just builds up elsewhere now! Driving to Southend Airport is a very slow process and feels longer than it is! The car parks are very convenient once you get there though, just outside the terminal and always lots of free spaces......
Join Date: Apr 2009
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I always come off the A127 at Progress Road, then Rayleigh Road, Whitehouse /Nestuda Way /St Laurence /Eastwoodbury Lane. Reverse the process when leaving Southend. You avoid a few bottlenecks that way (Kent Elms, Tescos, The Bell). Probably not much in it overall but its nicer to be moving slowly than not at all.
Either way, people need to get over the idea that being a ‘nice’ airport is sufficient in itself for success. I know that places like Southend will always have a fanbase that values convenience and efficiency, but the majority of the travelling public will continue to pursue the lowest fares and greatest choice of flights, and airlines will favour airports that offer the greatest commercial return. The larger the airport, the more these factors coincide. That’s why the big get bigger and the small either need to find a niche or accept a constant struggle to compete.
As regards infrastructure, I can’t see for one moment that there’s any conspiracy or favouritism. Our governments tend to be reactive rather than proactive when it comes to transport links, and the junction improvements between the M1 and Luton Airport are probably being carried out because the volume of traffic can no longer be ignored rather than as a result of the government doing Luton a favour.
Join Date: Sep 2007
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So, if SEN can't attract major new airlines it should focus on accommodating the major airline it already has. EasyJet have shown faith in the airport, but if the tale about their pulling the fourth based A319 because of on-going taxiway issues is true surely that's what SEN should focus on, along with offering improved facilities within the terminal.
The Amsterdam route has been a great success and could probably bear additional rotations. There are several Mediterranean destinations which would very likely be successful for EZY, not least Malta. It will be interesting to see how their new route to Mahon goes.
The Amsterdam route has been a great success and could probably bear additional rotations. There are several Mediterranean destinations which would very likely be successful for EZY, not least Malta. It will be interesting to see how their new route to Mahon goes.