Southend-2

[Buster the Bear]

The marketing manager of the #Sogaer, Dr. David Crognaletti, was announced last Friday at Air Malta. The connections will be a Malta - Cagliari - London Southend from May twice a week.

This is another step in the process of implantation of the Sardinian airport network well established and built by the arrival in Cagliari just two years ago by Crognaletti, manager of undisputed capacity in this area.

[tws123]

Catania is also a rumoured destination at 2x weekly.

[tophat27dt]

I wonder when will Stobart confirm all this.

[Expressflight]

I see that LSA have appointed Bernard Lavelle to the post of Aviation Business Development Director. He was Sales Director at LCY for the past 12 years so should have very good contacts within the appropriate areas of the industry. I'm not quite sure who was carrying out that role at SEN in the recent past.

[Barling Magna]

When did Mike Robinson leave that post?

[Expressflight]

He appears to have left sometime in 2017 and joined, it seems, Starbow in Accra who I think have since ceased operations.

[Barling Magna]

Oh dear..... not so good for him. On the other hand Mr Lavelle sounds like a good appointment for SEN. I suspect he wouldn't have let King Power slip through his hands.

[DC3 Dave]

Clearly Mr Lavelle has been inducted into SEN's inner sanctum. He has already been given a copy of Glyn Jones' script. (Commonly known as 'The Jam Tomorrow Papers')

ADS Advance - Southend Airport appoints Bernard Lavelle as Aviation Business Development Director

If they are to double pax within 12 months they surely must be close to announcing something substantial?

[Barling Magna]

"The plan is to double (passenger numbers) over the next 12 months"

Well, that's the plan. Maybe he's bringing a LCY operator with him....?

Or maybe he isn't.

[Expressflight]

Originally Posted by DC3 Dave

If they are to double pax within 12 months they surely must be close to announcing something substantial?

Well they were extremely close to clinching something substantial last autumn that would have generated at least 300,000ppa. I'll be accused of making excuses but I know how close this came to being a reality and but for the Monarch failure I believe it would have happened. I'm not revealing the carrier as I still believe it may be resurrected for 2019.

At least SEN now has someone at the business development helm with the knowledge and current contacts to, at the very least, start making phone calls and setting up meetings. Obtaining anything substantial though for S2018 looks unlikely over and above Air Malta which may produce some interesting developments in the near future.

[SWBKCB]

Bernard Lavelle, Aviation Business Development Director of London Southend Airport, said: “It’s not hard to see the huge potential for London Southend. With one million passengers a year, the plan is to double that number over the next 12 months. Ultimately, the airport has capacity for ten million which would go some way in alleviating the dire shortage of space in the south east.

So being generous, he has to secure the deal referred to by Expressflight and two bigger one's in the next twelve months - will be good going.

[DC3 Dave]

Looks like a real smart appointment by Stobart. The man is clearly doesn't lack relevant experience and has achieved much personally. I hope he makes a success of his new role, it can be really tough though to start again after 30 years in one location.

[rog747]

what happened to the NQY - did it not work?

[Barling Magna]

Ah, I thought the substantial carrier last autumn was Air Malta, so I'm pleased to hear that another airline is possible.

[inOban]

Apologies for intruding from 500 miles away, but aren't there a number of routes which started up during 2017, and so will operate for longer this year; and other new routes already confirmed, so there should be organic growth. Without any further announcements, what is predicted PAX numbers for 2018?

[Expressflight]

I would think they may make 1.3m to 1.4m in 2018 on the basis of routes already existing/recently launched or announced.

[Expressflight]

Some additional EZY frequencies have been added for the summer season to fully occupy the 4th based aircraft.

ALC is now 10x weekly, with additional flights on Monday, Wednesday & Friday.
MLA has a Tuesday flights added making it 3x weekly.
PRG is now 4x weekly with additional flights on Wednesday and Sunday.

[tophat27dt]

I still don't fully understand why low cost airlines love to jump in on existing routes, often on the same days. Will both survive? Or does this combined effort show growth for both airlines?

[tophat27dt]

I still believe there is a good enough demand for a 70-100 seater to Belfast, Nice, Edinburgh, Berlin, Munich, Innsbruck and Vienna.

[BA318]

Bernard is a fantastic appointment. He is very well respected and pretty much worked alone at LCY to attract airlines - and did very well at that so I think we might see some developments now.