SOUTHEND 5

[Cyrano]

Originally Posted by AirportPlanner1

The only possibility of a regular schedule to a domestic destination would be to Derry in my opinion and this would only work because there would be no other option.

Of course the other thing which would make Derry work would be the £2.5m of PSO money which is likely to be on the table... If the PSO calls for an aircraft based in Derry (to deliver an early morning departure and a late evening return) then an airline with low-capital-cost aircraft (thus not needing high utilisation) will be at an advantage. Step forward, the RJ85!

[Expressflight]

Taking up Cyrano's thoughts on LDY I wouldn't be surprised to see a couple of the SEN-based Cityjet aircraft night stopping elsewhere to give early arrivals into SEN.

[DC3 Dave]

Early arrivals at SEN work perfectly with the railway, and it gets even better as Crossrail connections open up. Why wouldn't you fly into Southend if you can get to your meeting in the city by 8.30?

Forgive me if it's been mentioned already, but FR are ceasing LDY - STN in March. Opportunity knocks.

[tws123]

Think LDY-SEN is a great opportunity for WX (or indeed any airline to LON).

[SEN Observer]

Cityjet/Stobart

Looks as though the deal is now expected to be finalised this month.

Cityjet take over of Stobart will be complete by mid-November - Travel Extra

[mikkie4]

PARIS ORLY no longer able to book from LCY till after APRIL

[tophat27dt]

Paris flights

Originally Posted by mikkie4

PARIS ORLY no longer able to book from LCY till after APRIL

If CityJet transfer their LCY flights to SEN do you think this will seriously affect EZY CDG loads or are the two Paris airports both attracting different customers?

[tws123]

I think that since EZY serve Paris-CDG 4x weekly at not business friendly times it's aimed more at leisure pax. If CityJet did want to serve Orly then they may go for better flight times for business pax and a higher frequency. However, they could be ending that route at LCY simply to free up an aircraft to switch over to SEN. I note that BE have announced they will continue their LCY-CDG service into the winter.

[DC3 Dave]

The local paper reports that 'more than 100 people' were on the inaugural easyjet flight from Southend to Gran Canaria. That's not too good. This time last year it was reported 175 were on the first flight to Lanzarote. I didn't see too much in the way of publicity for the new service and I do hope numbers pick up. I am a bit concerned that easyjet seem to have a negative outlook post Brexit (the orange dame having told the world of total disaster if we left the EU) and they're not exactly excitedly shouting from the rooftops trying to drum up trade. If easyjet lose out then so does the airport. Others seem to be trying hard at the moment to grab their share, so it would be nice to see a response.

[tophat27dt]

Originally Posted by DC3 Dave

The local paper reports that 'more than 100 people' were on the inaugural easyjet flight from Southend to Gran Canaria. That's not too good. This time last year it was reported 175 were on the first flight to Lanzarote. I didn't see too much in the way of publicity for the new service and I do hope numbers pick up. I am a bit concerned that easyjet seem to have a negative outlook post Brexit (the orange dame having told the world of total disaster if we left the EU) and they're not exactly excitedly shouting from the rooftops trying to drum up trade. If easyjet lose out then so does the airport. Others seem to be trying hard at the moment to grab their share, so it would be nice to see a response.

They rely on people searching their websites these days instead of adverts in the press or on billboard posters like i see in Germany.

[runwayman]

Ezy LPA pax load

The LPA passenger load was 144

[tws123]

I thought it was 100 on the inbound flight to SEN, which is actually quite good considering that 100 pax didn't originate from SEN.

[Barling Magna]

Originally Posted by runwayman

The LPA passenger load was 144

Not bad for a barely marketed start of a route.

[DC3 Dave]

144 is a whole lot better than I thought after reading the piece in the local paper. Thank-you runwayman and tws123 for the numbers. I will stick to my point about trying harder promote what's on offer at SEN and the danger of negative messages. I can't be the only one who thought the A320 was barely half full.

[tophat27dt]

The "problem" these days (if indeed it is one) is that airlines rely on the general public to know they exist from your local airport and that you will open up their website to make a booking. There are rarely adverts in the local press or on the buses, unlike Germany, for example, which has large billboards/posters to attract attention.

[viscount3]

unless you are Jet2 advertising a lot on national T.V. for there new hoilday flights from Stansted

[vulcanised]

Not only on TV !

They took a huge advert in the Southend Standard a couple of weeks ago to advertise their Stansted service.
.

[tophat27dt]

Pity Southend Airport dont advertise once a month all the destinations. It would benefit them too.

[SEN Observer]

Perhaps there will be a big advertising campaign once the new routes are made public. Maybe they think it would be better to wait and then a big splash on all the routes. Who knows, apart from the big boys/girls at the airport and airline? And, of course, the other 49 airlines circling and waiting to sign up to fly here!!

[tws123]

Don't know if anyone else had seen this quote from Cityjet’s Pat Byrne, who said 'Southend has great potential as an outbound airport but a lot of education is needed to be done to promote it in bound. Because LAMP restrictions do not apply, it can save 15 minutes on flight time.'