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Old 22nd May 2018, 12:26
  #641 (permalink)  
 
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The likes of flymaybe, BMI are wishy washy, their constant chopping and changing is no reflection on SOU.
Really? I thought it was all the fault of the lackadaisical, unimaginative airport management and they're refusal to invest.

The central question is never really answered - if SOU is such a plum, why is it never picked?

Nobody flies from Heathrow unless it’s longhaul or connecting
interesting comment, what's your source?
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Old 22nd May 2018, 13:09
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I for one would agree with the above sentiment re. LHR. I live in W Berks (almost exactly equidistant between LHR and SOU) and will always use SOU for domestic and local Europe (where available) flights.

The fact that I can turn up at SOU, park outside the Terminal and be back in the car on the way home 10 mins after landing are always going to trump the LHR experience for short flights. In my time I've done GLA, EDI, BHD, BRU, FRA as well as JER and GCI from SOU and it's a pity some of those are no longer available/can't be made to work.
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Old 22nd May 2018, 13:12
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The central question is never really answered - if SOU is such a plum, why is it never picked?
Because everyone likes a 'prize plum'?
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Old 22nd May 2018, 16:16
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Originally Posted by Nakata77
I'd also be alarmed that the CEO up and left seeing more potential at BRS than SOU.
Might just be better pay. A previous BRS CEO moved from there to NCL then to LBA so perhaps he saw more potential in those airports. BRS has severe limitations with its site including runway, although perhaps not quite as challenging as SOU's site, but has managed to get to 8 mppa, with 12 mppa projected by 2025. That will be a challenge to a new CEO.
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Old 22nd May 2018, 22:11
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Originally Posted by SWBKCB
Really? I thought it was all the fault of the lackadaisical, unimaginative airport management and they're refusal to invest.

The central question is never really answered - if SOU is such a plum, why is it never picked?

interesting comment, what's your source?
Exactly!

I live approximately 5 miles from Southampton Airport and I am in my early fifties and travel a fair bit with at least 12 or so flights taken a year with the majority of them being short haul European flights with British Airways yet in all my life I have only ever use Southampton Airport on five occasions so I don't think your comment makes any sense.

I would love to use SOU more but with LHR just an hour away and LGW doable in approximately hour and a half and both offering the destinations that I need to fly to with the schedules that suits and that's where SOU fails, I was made up when we had a service to Barcelona a few years ago and used Vueling but now I have to drive past my local airport to get there.

There are many destinations that could be served from SOU and I personally can't see why the airport can't sustain such routes to key European cities.
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Old 22nd May 2018, 22:59
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Originally Posted by SWBKCB
Really? I thought it was all the fault of the lackadaisical, unimaginative airport management and they're refusal to invest.

The central question is never really answered - if SOU is such a plum, why is it never picked?



interesting comment, what's your source?
In response to your first point, simple, because there are limitations preventing the low cost lot from setting up shop. This has been discussed over and over. You aren’t going to get much trade up a goat path. Replace it with a motorway and you are in business. SOU is owned by a pension company, who unsurprisingly hire MDs internally (a safe pair of hands, or in other words a yes man). Basically they are happy to run with anything that falls in their lap. So rock (investment required to unlock potential) and hard place (airport with no need for aspirations).

Second point, Well why would you choose one of the busiest/most congested airports in the world to make a short hop to Europe?
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Old 23rd May 2018, 00:50
  #647 (permalink)  
 
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Love you too Rivet Joint. SEN is not an hour away from LHR, min of 90 mins if you're lucky (i.e NO traffic at all)

The airport should discourage Flybe from doing AMS and try and get KLM to do a more attractive 4-times daily schedule.

Anyway the future of SOU seems to lie in the hands of flylolo (wasn't that a comedic parody of flybe on bbc?)
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Old 23rd May 2018, 06:21
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You aren’t going to get much trade up a goat path. Replace it with a motorway and you are in business.
So the investment case is "build it and they will come"? Does history support this, for example what's currently stopping KLM doing multiple flights a day?
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Old 23rd May 2018, 09:37
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The airport should discourage Flybe from doing AMS
So, how exactly would they do that? How does an airport "discourage" an airline from operating a route?
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Old 23rd May 2018, 13:21
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Really?

Is this supposed to be for serious comment? Did I really just read Easy would cannibalise what they have at LGW and risk the split as ‘it’s all going to them anyway’ serious? Operational costs? Logistical costs? Revenue drops? Someone else picks up any vacation after the point is reached one or the otheris dropped? Vs leaving the operation 60 min down the road in major airport that handles traffic all weathers and all volumes happily generating decent returns for a short runway and a considerable issue with infrastructure.. and ‘base 6 planes there’? Where? Do they land 3 hours apart so the infrastructure doesn’t get overrun? What level of investment is that gonna take? Perhaps they can bury the motorway in a tunnel if money isn’t an issue..
Really? City breaks, smaller c series jets is best option of expansion, not a large LCC destroying its own 60 mins away market surely?
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Old 23rd May 2018, 14:05
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Originally Posted by FrequentlyFlying
Is this supposed to be for serious comment? Did I really just read Easy would cannibalise what they have at LGW and risk the split as ‘it’s all going to them anyway’ serious? Operational costs? Logistical costs? Revenue drops? Someone else picks up any vacation after the point is reached one or the otheris dropped? Vs leaving the operation 60 min down the road in major airport that handles traffic all weathers and all volumes happily generating decent returns for a short runway and a considerable issue with infrastructure.. and ‘base 6 planes there’? Where? Do they land 3 hours apart so the infrastructure doesn’t get overrun? What level of investment is that gonna take? Perhaps they can bury the motorway in a tunnel if money isn’t an issue..
Really? City breaks, smaller c series jets is best option of expansion, not a large LCC destroying its own 60 mins away market surely?
Not for one second do i believe EZY will base aircraft from SOU in the foreseeable future. However, they could quite conceivably operate a small number of routes from their EZY bases throughout Europe with rumours abound that PMI will commence next summer. I don't see how this will dilute the LGW operation when PMI and other med routes have operated successfully from SOU for years and EZY will most likely be taking on the mantle from the incumbent airline and the repeat business that this enjoys!

Last edited by stewyb; 23rd May 2018 at 14:16.
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Old 23rd May 2018, 18:01
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Originally Posted by stewyb


Not for one second do i believe EZY will base aircraft from SOU in the foreseeable future. However, they could quite conceivably operate a small number of routes from their EZY bases throughout Europe with rumours abound that PMI will commence next summer. I don't see how this will dilute the LGW operation when PMI and other med routes have operated successfully from SOU for years and EZY will most likely be taking on the mantle from the incumbent airline and the repeat business that this enjoys!
Of course they could open a base. Have you seen how many aircraft they have on order? Like with all low cost carriers, they are always looking for the next place to park a few. Why wouldn’t SOU with its affluent catchment and biggest cruise turnaround port in Europe not be an option?

Yes the runway is an issue, but Southend’s isn’t much longer? Basically, Southend is the antidote to every arguement against EZY basing at SOU. Larger stands can be created to the north east of the airport (see master plan). One of the options even included a second terminal to serve the north east stands (maybe EZY could have there own terminal).

do I think any of the above will happen, no of course not. To say EZY wouldn’t open a base if SOU provided them the right environment is not true though.
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Old 23rd May 2018, 18:09
  #653 (permalink)  
 
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Originally Posted by Nakata77
Love you too Rivet Joint. SEN is not an hour away from LHR, min of 90 mins if you're lucky (i.e NO traffic at all)

The airport should discourage Flybe from doing AMS and try and get KLM to do a more attractive 4-times daily schedule.

Anyway the future of SOU seems to lie in the hands of flylolo (wasn't that a comedic parody of flybe on bbc?)
flylolo will not work, especially from SOU. It’s much more a BOH operation (I.e a charter airline). You could probably say SOU and BOH are their own worst enemies. Neither management team appears to have much drive. At least BOH had the luck to be owned by a transport operator, SOU seems to only ever have been owned by pension funds. If only BAA sold to Stobart!
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Old 25th May 2018, 00:44
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Je2 will be launching BOH flights imminently, GVA may be among them
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Old 25th May 2018, 19:58
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In terms of proximity to London, SOU is not exploiting its existing infrastructure, being only 1 hour from Waterloo. National Rail Enquries tells me that LGW is 44mins from Waterloo. I would favour the one hour journey down to SOU and a quick walk into the terminal over the stress of LGW (and no doubt the North Terminal transit). If [FlyBE] were to sell rail+air tickets and heavily advertise in the Waterloo region (along with some decent post-work scheduling and routes) then I think SOU could pick up numbers. The reality is that not many people know of this connection (quicker than LHR, LTN and STN) in the Waterloo and Clapham area. It just requires marketing, no capex!

On that note - it is quicker to get from Euston to BHX than to any of the London airports...but that’s not for here!
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Old 27th May 2018, 13:50
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Southampton seems to be quite happy putting all its eggs in one basket with regards to the principle airline using it going back over many years. Air uk, BA express and now flybe. It seems to me that new routes are few and far betwen and rarely last long for a number of reasons. I did the bmi route sou to muc last year and timings worked well but had a poor load (22 people inc 8 in a stag party) so no wonder it has been pulled this year.
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Old 1st Jun 2018, 22:05
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Other there any indication s on how Lolo Skiathos bookings are doing?
Personally I can't see many of these flights departing from SOU,they surely will need to use BOU when it's warm due to runway restrictions?. Southampton has had little news about any form of growth for sometime,maybe it has reached its zenith with pax numbers and indeed will see a falling away of sun routes in 2019.
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Old 2nd Jun 2018, 10:55
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Charges double for drivers using Southampton Airport in price hike | Daily Echo

I think if people could see the airport being pro-active with infrastructure change and a better choice of airlines/routes being made available, then this additional charge would be a little easier to swallow!
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Old 2nd Jun 2018, 11:36
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More likely they would moan just as much - look what happens when Airport Development charges are introduced.
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Old 3rd Jun 2018, 00:08
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Free in the Long Term and catch the bus,there is a zero cost option.
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