Southend-2
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Downward spiral
The downward spiral began when Stobart gave easyJet a 10 year sweetheart deal to entice them to the airport. It was daft as no other airline wants to go head to head with the orange mob. Stobart spent £10m in the past 12 months on incentives to bring airlines to the airport. And all they got was Air Malta. Really??? Management state that they want to exploit the capacity restraints at London airports yet other London airports grew passenger footfall by 6m. And Southend pays £10m to get a few thousand pax to fly to and from Malta. The end of the easyJet deal cannot come soon enough. Once their free ride is over easyJet will return to Stansted and the airport can attract all those airlines that are currently scared away. If anyone doubts me about the free deal easyJet enjoy just look at the results. 1m pax and still not making money!
Once their free ride is over easyJet will return to Stansted and the airport can attract all those airlines that are currently scared away.
Thread Starter
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There are plenty of viable routes that EZY haven't tried from SEN, especially to Scandinavian destinations, so we can't really use that as an excuse for failing to attract more airlines. The Wizz Air/Monarch slots episode was unlucky for SEN though. How many pax have Wizz Air brought to LTN?
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5.5 million passengers to October 2017. This year with its new base that will increase to 6.9 million according to Wizz.
Not sure if those extra 1.4 million passengers are lost Southend passengers
https://wizzair.com/en-gb/informatio...london-luton#/
Not sure if those extra 1.4 million passengers are lost Southend passengers
https://wizzair.com/en-gb/informatio...london-luton#/
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The notion that IF easyJet leave Southend is a good thing is so far beyond ridiculous I am lost for words.
easyJet are the reason Southend has an airport, they're the only operator that can give Southend what it needs in terms of reach of routes and capacity.
easyJet are the reason Southend has an airport, they're the only operator that can give Southend what it needs in terms of reach of routes and capacity.
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Wizzair
I guess we will never know but last year apparently they were interested in starting with two departures a day, so approx 175x4x365 could have achieved roughly a quarter of a million.
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Easyjet
i am a believer that Easyjet will stay at SEN after the 10 years deal expires, because if they think that all their customers would happily move to STN too, they would be wrong. Loads are good on all of their current destinations. However, at the same time, I would not rely on them to add more destinations. For those, new airlines need to be encouraged.
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I think Easy was a real catch for SEN and gives them a different way to catch Essex and East London pax from operating ex STN where they are subject to predation by Ryanair.
If however there were others willing to operate routes from SEN why didn't they come forward to do so - and in their absence why did Stobart have to initiate services?
If however there were others willing to operate routes from SEN why didn't they come forward to do so - and in their absence why did Stobart have to initiate services?
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If what's suggested with regards to the Wizz Air speculation (that they were a lost product to ex Monarch capacity at LTN), hardly shows much of a proactive or confident approach to deliver organic growth from SEN.
Would be very worried if SEN's focus was based around effectively carrying an over-spill of traffic from rival airports. Reality is, slots would inevitably become available in some way, shape or form at some point in the future, at which time the airline would just up sticks and move back/consolidate to wherever (LTN in Wizz Air's case). Sadly, I fear Air Malta could've been enticed on rather similar terms and won't stay in SEN any longer than maybe a couple of years.
SEN needs to attract strategic long-term partners for a sustainable growth strategy. EZY, I think at least for the foreseeable future, is the only airline that can truly deliver that for SEN.
Would be very worried if SEN's focus was based around effectively carrying an over-spill of traffic from rival airports. Reality is, slots would inevitably become available in some way, shape or form at some point in the future, at which time the airline would just up sticks and move back/consolidate to wherever (LTN in Wizz Air's case). Sadly, I fear Air Malta could've been enticed on rather similar terms and won't stay in SEN any longer than maybe a couple of years.
SEN needs to attract strategic long-term partners for a sustainable growth strategy. EZY, I think at least for the foreseeable future, is the only airline that can truly deliver that for SEN.
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Maybe new owners would not be so enthusiastic about operations from SEN, though I guess they would be tied into the franchise agreement.
I can't see any more growth coming from Stobart Air, so let's hope the airport can deliver another way.
Does anyone else get the impression Mr Brady is sulking and maybe the board did not share his enthusiasm for a Stobart / Flybe merger?
Meanwhile back in the real world the third E195 for Stobart Air comes on line on May 25, EZY upgauge one based A319 to A320 on May 31, Loganair commence CAX services on June 4, and on July 24 the fourth based EZY aircraft arrives..
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Tagron
If you believe my views are fantasy, I'll have to take that on the chin given your experience and reputation.
However, “We have said we don’t plan to be a long-term holder of Stobart Air,” is a statement attributed to Warwick Brady, and the public expression of his view may have consequences in my most humble opinion.
If you believe my views are fantasy, I'll have to take that on the chin given your experience and reputation.
However, “We have said we don’t plan to be a long-term holder of Stobart Air,” is a statement attributed to Warwick Brady, and the public expression of his view may have consequences in my most humble opinion.
stewyb
The answer to your question is Yes. Two E195s were placed on the Stobart AOC at (approximately) the start of November. They had already been operating the Stobart routes from SEN since the previous summer under the Flybe AOC. This was a wet lease deal and I believe aircraft were rotated to and from SEN from the Flybe main bases so they were probably not dedicated aircraft. The current two (three as of next week) are the aircraft purchased by Stobart's leasing company Propius so they will be permanent..
The answer to your question is Yes. Two E195s were placed on the Stobart AOC at (approximately) the start of November. They had already been operating the Stobart routes from SEN since the previous summer under the Flybe AOC. This was a wet lease deal and I believe aircraft were rotated to and from SEN from the Flybe main bases so they were probably not dedicated aircraft. The current two (three as of next week) are the aircraft purchased by Stobart's leasing company Propius so they will be permanent..
DC3 Dave
It was not my intention to call your views fantasy, nor did I use that word. All I was trying to do was to remind people that there are positive developments in the short term, minor maybe but enough to maintain the recent positive momentum, which seems in contrast to the pessimistic outlook expressed in your posts.
As to how much store we should place by Warwick Brady's recently published interview, always assuming he was quoted accurately, all I would say is that I find it most unlikely that Stobart would carry out any precipitous move that would would harm the airport's development. "Not a long term holder" gives plenty of leeway for them carry on expanding the SEN operation if they so wished. This could conceivably even increase its attractiveness to a potential purchaser if the network matures successfully..
Let us not forget that only eighteen months ago they were prepared to sell out to City Jet in return for which City Jet were to base aircraft at SEN. Also that Stobart Air is more about DUB than SEN encompassing as it does the Aer Lingus Regional franchise and the Flybe IoM ACMI contract, about 15 aircraft at DUB as opposed to 5 at SEN.
It was not my intention to call your views fantasy, nor did I use that word. All I was trying to do was to remind people that there are positive developments in the short term, minor maybe but enough to maintain the recent positive momentum, which seems in contrast to the pessimistic outlook expressed in your posts.
As to how much store we should place by Warwick Brady's recently published interview, always assuming he was quoted accurately, all I would say is that I find it most unlikely that Stobart would carry out any precipitous move that would would harm the airport's development. "Not a long term holder" gives plenty of leeway for them carry on expanding the SEN operation if they so wished. This could conceivably even increase its attractiveness to a potential purchaser if the network matures successfully..
Let us not forget that only eighteen months ago they were prepared to sell out to City Jet in return for which City Jet were to base aircraft at SEN. Also that Stobart Air is more about DUB than SEN encompassing as it does the Aer Lingus Regional franchise and the Flybe IoM ACMI contract, about 15 aircraft at DUB as opposed to 5 at SEN.