Southend-2
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Hither and Thither
Posts: 575
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The NOTAM does not say "radar approaches suspended", only that SRA's, along with primary radar, are not available.
I would expect that Radar vectored ILS (or to a visual approach) are still available during radar published hours, and operators would typically not notice any difference inside CAS.
So no big deal, ASDF1234.
I would expect that Radar vectored ILS (or to a visual approach) are still available during radar published hours, and operators would typically not notice any difference inside CAS.
So no big deal, ASDF1234.
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: UK
Posts: 546
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The NOTAM does not say "radar approaches suspended", only that SRA's, along with primary radar, are not available.
I would expect that Radar vectored ILS (or to a visual approach) are still available during radar published hours, and operators would typically not notice any difference inside CAS.
So no big deal, ASDF1234.
I would expect that Radar vectored ILS (or to a visual approach) are still available during radar published hours, and operators would typically not notice any difference inside CAS.
So no big deal, ASDF1234.
EGTT/QPIAU/I/NBO/A/000/999/5134N00042E005
SRA NOT AVBL
The point is this reflects a reduction in ATC service which is in line with the airport's need to reduce costs.
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Hither and Thither
Posts: 575
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
How do you deduce it is to "reduce costs" from the NOTAM - it could be for technical reasons, ie: no primary radar, or lack of radar maintenance due factors outside of LSA's control.
The ATC service was reduced some time ago with the afternoon closures of the airport, already mentioned in the thread.
The ATC service was reduced some time ago with the afternoon closures of the airport, already mentioned in the thread.
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Luxembourg
Posts: 791
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
How do you deduce it is to "reduce costs" from the NOTAM - it could be for technical reasons, ie: no primary radar, or lack of radar maintenance due factors outside of LSA's control.
The ATC service was reduced some time ago with the afternoon closures of the airport, already mentioned in the thread.
The ATC service was reduced some time ago with the afternoon closures of the airport, already mentioned in the thread.
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Essex
Posts: 1,108
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
High quality drone footage of SEN showing the impressively well parked EZY airframes:
https://tinyurl.com/ybfb8ehh
https://tinyurl.com/ybfb8ehh
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: UK
Posts: 546
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
This from the Irish Independent...Connect Airways, the holding company behind Dublin-based Stobart Air, which operates the Aer Lingus Regional service, has fallen into administration in the UK, the Irish Independent has learned.
The move is linked to the recent collapse of Flybe. UK-based Flybe was also part of Connect Airways.
The administration means that accountancy firm EY now controls Connect and 49pc of Stobart Air. The other 51pc of Stobart Air is owned by its more than 400 staff.
Connect Airways is 30pc-owned by the listed UK Stobart Group. Virgin Travel Group, a subsidiary of Virgin Atlantic, also has a 30pc stake, while US firm Cyrus Equity Partners owns 40pc.
Yesterday, Stobart Group, whose CEO is Warwick Brady, warned investors that it’s evaluating how to manage liabilities it has to Stobart Air.
But with confirmation to the Irish Independent from EY that Connect is in administration, it means Stobart Group is now on the hook for guarantees given in relation to a number of aircraft leases.
A subsidiary of Stobart Group, Propius, engineered a sale and leaseback of eight ATR turborprop aircraft to German firm Goal in 2017. The aircraft are used for the Aer Lingus Regional service. Lease agreements under the deal total $15.4m a year and are for 10 years, it was reported at the time.
There’s an option to terminate the agreement in 2023, although the trading update issued by Stobart Group yesterday suggests that the guarantees could be significantly more material.
The current Aer Lingus Regional franchise agreement Stobart Air has with Aer Lingus ends in 2022.
Propius received $62.7m from the sale of the aircraft, according to reports when the deal was done. However, it’s unclear where those proceeds ultimately ended up following the creation of Connect Airways in 2019.
In a statement to the Irish Independent today, EY said:“Alan Hudson, Joanne Robinson, Simon Edel and Lucy Winterborne of EY’s Restructuring team were appointed joint administrators of Connect Airways Limited on March 10, 2020,” it said.
“Owned by a consortium of companies, Connect is a holding company that was set up in January 2019 to assist with the acquisition of the airline Flybe. Connect has no day-to-day trading operations itself.”
This is not great news for the owners of SEN. They have no cash available to them, no operating income due to CV, and now the administrators of Connect will be chasing them for the lease payments for the six ATRs totalling £150m over the next 10 years.
The Stobart share price has tanked meaning that they have little recourse to sensible debt options and the mortgaged Eddie Stobart shares are currently worthless. The leases and the ESL mortgage add up to £200m worth of liabilities.
I dont believe the airport is worth anything like the £800m quoted in the press; that now seems to have been an "accidently" leaked story to reassure investors and the Connect administrators. Airports sell for a multiple of EBITDA earnings and whilst the results are not yet out, I'd wager EBITDA is either zero or no more than £1-2m.
We could be witnessing the beginning of the end of Stobart's ownership of Southend Airport.
The move is linked to the recent collapse of Flybe. UK-based Flybe was also part of Connect Airways.
The administration means that accountancy firm EY now controls Connect and 49pc of Stobart Air. The other 51pc of Stobart Air is owned by its more than 400 staff.
Connect Airways is 30pc-owned by the listed UK Stobart Group. Virgin Travel Group, a subsidiary of Virgin Atlantic, also has a 30pc stake, while US firm Cyrus Equity Partners owns 40pc.
Yesterday, Stobart Group, whose CEO is Warwick Brady, warned investors that it’s evaluating how to manage liabilities it has to Stobart Air.
But with confirmation to the Irish Independent from EY that Connect is in administration, it means Stobart Group is now on the hook for guarantees given in relation to a number of aircraft leases.
A subsidiary of Stobart Group, Propius, engineered a sale and leaseback of eight ATR turborprop aircraft to German firm Goal in 2017. The aircraft are used for the Aer Lingus Regional service. Lease agreements under the deal total $15.4m a year and are for 10 years, it was reported at the time.
There’s an option to terminate the agreement in 2023, although the trading update issued by Stobart Group yesterday suggests that the guarantees could be significantly more material.
The current Aer Lingus Regional franchise agreement Stobart Air has with Aer Lingus ends in 2022.
Propius received $62.7m from the sale of the aircraft, according to reports when the deal was done. However, it’s unclear where those proceeds ultimately ended up following the creation of Connect Airways in 2019.
In a statement to the Irish Independent today, EY said:“Alan Hudson, Joanne Robinson, Simon Edel and Lucy Winterborne of EY’s Restructuring team were appointed joint administrators of Connect Airways Limited on March 10, 2020,” it said.
“Owned by a consortium of companies, Connect is a holding company that was set up in January 2019 to assist with the acquisition of the airline Flybe. Connect has no day-to-day trading operations itself.”
This is not great news for the owners of SEN. They have no cash available to them, no operating income due to CV, and now the administrators of Connect will be chasing them for the lease payments for the six ATRs totalling £150m over the next 10 years.
The Stobart share price has tanked meaning that they have little recourse to sensible debt options and the mortgaged Eddie Stobart shares are currently worthless. The leases and the ESL mortgage add up to £200m worth of liabilities.
I dont believe the airport is worth anything like the £800m quoted in the press; that now seems to have been an "accidently" leaked story to reassure investors and the Connect administrators. Airports sell for a multiple of EBITDA earnings and whilst the results are not yet out, I'd wager EBITDA is either zero or no more than £1-2m.
We could be witnessing the beginning of the end of Stobart's ownership of Southend Airport.
The previously undisclosed scale of the liabilities come as it's engaged in talks to acquire struggling Dublin-based Stobart Air and Propius, both of which it once owned outright.
Stobart Air and Propius are now part of Connect Airways, in which Stobart Group has a 30pc stake, and which is in administration in the UK."
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Essex
Posts: 1,108
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The UK’s Stobart Group has sealed a deal to buy a 49pc stake – and effective control – of Dublin-based Stobart Air for between £300,000 and £400,000:
https://www.independent.ie/business/...-39151870.html
https://www.independent.ie/business/...-39151870.html
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: UK
Posts: 546
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The UK’s Stobart Group has sealed a deal to buy a 49pc stake – and effective control – of Dublin-based Stobart Air for between £300,000 and £400,000:
https://www.independent.ie/business/...-39151870.html
https://www.independent.ie/business/...-39151870.html
If the buy back happens they will have pushed the problem further down the line but it certainly hasn't gone away. At the time I thought the disposal of the aircraft and their leases to Connect was a genius move. I'm sure Stobart could not have envisaged then that they would end up having to pay money to reacquire the problem!
In fact the Stobart Air Employees Trust controls 60% of the voting rights and Stobart Group 40% according to press reports. This arrangement appears to have been set up in February as a means of complying with EU ownership rules post-Brexit when Connect appeared still to be viable. I have no idea how successfully it will work in practice. Careful selection of trustees perhaps ? And what is the ownership of Propius Leasing in the aftermath of these changes ?
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: UK
Posts: 546
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
This news item doesn't explain how you get control with 49% but I can see why they don't want more than this as it may affect the airlines EU domiciled status.
Otherwise the article confirms the cost of the aircraft leases and the term of the agreement with the national carrier. This places a huge finamcial burden on the Group. "Many observers believed that Stobart Air, which flies regional services for Aer Lingus, would take the same step and seek to have an examiner appointed at some point. That airline’s situation is more complicated than that of Cityjet.
UK transport business Stobart Group bought it from examinership in 2010 when it was called Aer Arann, renaming it several years later. Stobart Group sold the airline early last year to Connect Airways, which the transport group established along with Richard Branson’s Virgin and other investors.
Connect was set up to rescue Flybe, a British regional airline, and help reposition Stobart Group as an aviation business. However, Flybe and Connect are now in administration, a corporate rescue system used in the UK, where the companies are registered.
Stobart Group is reportedly buying 49 per cent of Stobart Air back in a move that could give it control of the airline, which is based in the Republic, and therefore not part of either administration process.
This is all very well, but it doesn’t really solve several problems. Stobart Air leases its aircraft for about €14 million a year, but is now earning little revenue from flying.
Stobart Group guarantees those lease payments along with other liabilities, which means that it has to pay creditors should the airline be unable to do so. The bill for this could threaten the transport business’s own future.
At the same time, Stobart Air will have to rely on support from its biggest customer, Aer Lingus. The contract between the pair is due for renewal by 2022. Just how Stobart Group’s purchase of a stake in the airline answers any of these questions is not clear. Either way, Stobart Air is facing into a fair degree of turbulence."
Otherwise the article confirms the cost of the aircraft leases and the term of the agreement with the national carrier. This places a huge finamcial burden on the Group. "Many observers believed that Stobart Air, which flies regional services for Aer Lingus, would take the same step and seek to have an examiner appointed at some point. That airline’s situation is more complicated than that of Cityjet.
UK transport business Stobart Group bought it from examinership in 2010 when it was called Aer Arann, renaming it several years later. Stobart Group sold the airline early last year to Connect Airways, which the transport group established along with Richard Branson’s Virgin and other investors.
Connect was set up to rescue Flybe, a British regional airline, and help reposition Stobart Group as an aviation business. However, Flybe and Connect are now in administration, a corporate rescue system used in the UK, where the companies are registered.
Stobart Group is reportedly buying 49 per cent of Stobart Air back in a move that could give it control of the airline, which is based in the Republic, and therefore not part of either administration process.
This is all very well, but it doesn’t really solve several problems. Stobart Air leases its aircraft for about €14 million a year, but is now earning little revenue from flying.
Stobart Group guarantees those lease payments along with other liabilities, which means that it has to pay creditors should the airline be unable to do so. The bill for this could threaten the transport business’s own future.
At the same time, Stobart Air will have to rely on support from its biggest customer, Aer Lingus. The contract between the pair is due for renewal by 2022. Just how Stobart Group’s purchase of a stake in the airline answers any of these questions is not clear. Either way, Stobart Air is facing into a fair degree of turbulence."