Southend-2
How has Malta been doing with KM?
Is it seasonal and are the stops in CAG and Sicily also popular for pax?
Is it seasonal and are the stops in CAG and Sicily also popular for pax?
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virginblue
As far as I know the financial risk for the Aer Lingus Regional route network is largely with Stobart Air. There may be exceptions where it makes economic sense for EI to ask EIR (STK) to take on an existing route but others here perhaps have the definitive answer.
What I would say is that the original plan, in 2014, was for the SEN routes to CFR, RNS, GRQ etc. to be operated under the AER brand but for some reason this did not happen and the deal was then done between STK and BE which currently expires at the end of May 2019. Maybe whatever precluded the EIR deal going ahead four years ago does not now apply and we could see EIR branding on the SEN routes. Definitely the uncertainty over the future of these routes which currently exists needs to be resolved as quickly as possible.
As far as I know the financial risk for the Aer Lingus Regional route network is largely with Stobart Air. There may be exceptions where it makes economic sense for EI to ask EIR (STK) to take on an existing route but others here perhaps have the definitive answer.
What I would say is that the original plan, in 2014, was for the SEN routes to CFR, RNS, GRQ etc. to be operated under the AER brand but for some reason this did not happen and the deal was then done between STK and BE which currently expires at the end of May 2019. Maybe whatever precluded the EIR deal going ahead four years ago does not now apply and we could see EIR branding on the SEN routes. Definitely the uncertainty over the future of these routes which currently exists needs to be resolved as quickly as possible.
rog747
From a pax numbers point of view I should imagine that KM are quite pleased with their SEN adventure on all three routes. The routes are not seasonal and are on sale for the whole of next Summer. I think CTA is slightly more popular than CAG this summer. One passenger's experience of loadings I saw this week said: MLA-CTA was "full" and all but 24 of the pax disembarked there and the CTA-SEN was also "full" on departure. As far as I know KM are the only operator that offers Business Class on their flights from SEN.
Last edited by Expressflight; 21st Sep 2018 at 15:00. Reason: rephrasing in part
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Not sure why they went for the BE brand at SEN in the first place. Maybe EI was unwilling to franchise its brand for an UK-based operation - or it was more expensive than BE. With the exception of the domestic destinations where Flybe has a sizeable presence, there was relatively little to gain from the BE brand as most of Stobart's destinations do not have Flybe services.
That said, an excellent second choice would have been Eddie Stobart, with green planes and adverts on lorries...
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Pretty sure it was that autumn I flew Gatwick - Vilnius with them. Everyone I knew asked why I flew via Dublin when I could have got a direct flight from Stansted. They definitely had an inbuilt image problem ...
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I honestly wouldn't want to run flights in the UK in that market any way other than under the flyBe brand. Not having any brand awareness has been the undoing of CityJet (and many others) in a post-travel agent world. There is limited room in people's memories for brands, and flyBEs is widely known, well advertised, and harmlessly neutral.
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I agree with the view that the ATR and ERJ networks are different beasts. Getting SEN on the radar of Ryanair, AirMalta and easyJet was it’s purpose. It’s been an expensive adeventure, although painting a pair of ATRs purple was relatively cheap, introducing the ERJs much more costly. Hopefully STK can find profitable work for them, otherwise they will become a noose like they were at flyBe.
That’s not how IAG works. IAG is concerned with driving profit with back-room synergies, handling, IT etc.
For an example of the independence of IAGs OpCo’s - EI has lent its brand to WX for LCY - the only competitor is BACityflyer.
For an example of the independence of IAGs OpCo’s - EI has lent its brand to WX for LCY - the only competitor is BACityflyer.
Flights to MJV in general are expected to transfer to Corvera when the former closes next year but perhaps there is still some uncertainty on this. I expect the 2 x weekly flights from SEN will be released in due course because the only two spare slots in the EZY Spring 2019 schedule are exactly those that are used to operate SEN-MJV this year.
There are no spare slots to allow a SEN-based aircraft to operate SEN-BUD so I wonder if that is indeed being dropped or will it operate on a W-pattern still to be released?
There are no spare slots to allow a SEN-based aircraft to operate SEN-BUD so I wonder if that is indeed being dropped or will it operate on a W-pattern still to be released?
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This got me thinking about the fact that BA itself works with franchise partners in the form of Sun-Air and Comair. Is there anything ruling out a 'British Airways operated by Stobart Air' operation?
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