Southampton-2
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That may well be the case but EasyJet have already announced some new routes for 2019 but if they do eventually add Palma from SOU with a based aircraft from Palma or a W pattern from another base it may we'll be down to scheduling and fleet utilisation before EasyJet can confirm the ''rumours''!
I would like to know where this so called rumour actually originated from as I've read nothing on the internet other than what's been mentioned on these forums but none the less I hope that it does come to fruition.
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It did, which results in a delay to this mornings Malaga flight. It maybe the first time this flight has diverted however it isn't that rare an occurence to see a Flybe flight divert because of the tight curfew.
Likely to cause more issues next year with Flylolo having 10pm departures scheduled.
Likely to cause more issues next year with Flylolo having 10pm departures scheduled.
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The realities of trying to get anyone to operate Southampton as LCC base - they simply can’t risk diversions to their next day schedules - at least if it’s a W pattern they are well out before the lights go out!
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FF
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Flitefone
What is difficult to understand is how come Southampton can't stay open later?,the airport has many more passenger flights then BOH.
BOH has a skeleton staff able to handle a late E195 at midnight or later?
This situation cannot continue at SOU if they wish to host any other carrier to the Sun,even Flylolo will fall short with SOU restrictions. The airport owners and management need to address the opening times urgently,but given there track record with little airside investment,don't expect any changes soon!
What is difficult to understand is how come Southampton can't stay open later?,the airport has many more passenger flights then BOH.
BOH has a skeleton staff able to handle a late E195 at midnight or later?
This situation cannot continue at SOU if they wish to host any other carrier to the Sun,even Flylolo will fall short with SOU restrictions. The airport owners and management need to address the opening times urgently,but given there track record with little airside investment,don't expect any changes soon!
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Unfortunately, the airport has a legally binding contract with Eastleigh borough council which was part of the agreement signed in 1990 to enable the airport redevelopment in the early 90s. This imposes extremely strict limits on activities during ‘night hours’, these being defined as 23.00 - to 06.30, and 07.30 on Sundays. The airport can, on exceptional occasions, accept flights later than this, for example emergency medical flights etc.
SOU is situated in an extremely urban residential area, Southampton being the third most densely populated city in the UK, with only London and nearby Portsmouth having a greater density of population.So, as I have said previously, SOU is far more like LCY in its location, and it’s operations cannot be easily compared to any other UK regional airport.
SOU is situated in an extremely urban residential area, Southampton being the third most densely populated city in the UK, with only London and nearby Portsmouth having a greater density of population.So, as I have said previously, SOU is far more like LCY in its location, and it’s operations cannot be easily compared to any other UK regional airport.
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When you say ''From within the airport'' can you be a bit more specific?
Surely the rumour didn't come from the Airports Management Team as it would be ridiculous for them to state something like that unless they have been informed by EasyJet themselves!
So from within the airport could mean anyone, the aircraft cleaners, security, ramp agents, check in staff, Costa staff or the over enthusiastic plane spotters on the top deck of the Multi Storie car park, the list goes on but your statement regarding ''From within the airport'' is very vague.
Surely the rumour didn't come from the Airports Management Team as it would be ridiculous for them to state something like that unless they have been informed by EasyJet themselves!
So from within the airport could mean anyone, the aircraft cleaners, security, ramp agents, check in staff, Costa staff or the over enthusiastic plane spotters on the top deck of the Multi Storie car park, the list goes on but your statement regarding ''From within the airport'' is very vague.
did a bit of sleuthing and popped in to a large branch of the biggest independent travel agents in Bournemouth (and Dorset) yesterday to inquire about the SOU-JSI flights...
sadly no one knew about them (5 staff in there) and when she went online on her vast booking engine systems to try to book it offered her via AMS with KL and HV...
I kept schtum, we found Lolo after abit of faffing and she said she could book it - but only as a 'package' ie with accomm transfers or car hire
she said had she known about these flights then their Company with dozens of local branches in Dorset and Wilts and Hants would have put out a flyer memo to all its staff - she said she could have sold loads of packages had she known about them...
so unless FlyLolo start to be proactive on selling these flights and make them known amongst the locals and the local industry then sorry but they will not succeed IMO.
sadly no one knew about them (5 staff in there) and when she went online on her vast booking engine systems to try to book it offered her via AMS with KL and HV...
I kept schtum, we found Lolo after abit of faffing and she said she could book it - but only as a 'package' ie with accomm transfers or car hire
she said had she known about these flights then their Company with dozens of local branches in Dorset and Wilts and Hants would have put out a flyer memo to all its staff - she said she could have sold loads of packages had she known about them...
so unless FlyLolo start to be proactive on selling these flights and make them known amongst the locals and the local industry then sorry but they will not succeed IMO.
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Currently not many positives for SOU it seems then, obviously still the lack of airside investment being the major one, now poor/non existent route advertising, it's almost as though they want things to fail and for the airport to remain stagnant.
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Again, avoiding going over the same ground, it just about sums up the nous of the people in charge at SOU that they ever entertained the Looloo sham. Did they learn nothing from Powdair? If a fake airline flying to the likes of Skopje once a week is more appropriate to them then finding another operator for the Munich route (which by all accounts was growing and growing - 40k a year?/not to mention subsidised) then we might as well close this thread. Charter airlines will never work from SOU, forget it.
Another pertinent point, David Brent has now left the building, but have we heard a single peep out of his replacement? Imagine being middle management somewhere for many years, all the while dreaming of your chance to be the one calling the shots, would you not at least make a statement on your first day in the hot seat via a press release? Maybe it is early days, but surely anyone with a bit of drive (or even a pulse) would want to make a difference? There was a time when SOU was the model for Southend to follow, how quickly the roles have reversed.
Another pertinent point, David Brent has now left the building, but have we heard a single peep out of his replacement? Imagine being middle management somewhere for many years, all the while dreaming of your chance to be the one calling the shots, would you not at least make a statement on your first day in the hot seat via a press release? Maybe it is early days, but surely anyone with a bit of drive (or even a pulse) would want to make a difference? There was a time when SOU was the model for Southend to follow, how quickly the roles have reversed.
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Dropoffcharge
it's true over recent years poor investment and lack luster management has resulted in a slow decline of Southampton,this can only accelerate with the present environment.
Unless there is radical change then expect further bad news on routes,passengers and customer satisfaction.
it's true over recent years poor investment and lack luster management has resulted in a slow decline of Southampton,this can only accelerate with the present environment.
Unless there is radical change then expect further bad news on routes,passengers and customer satisfaction.
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it just about sums up the nous of the people in charge at SOU that they ever entertained the Looloo sham. Did they learn nothing from Powdair? If a fake airline flying to the likes of Skopje once a week is more appropriate to them then finding another operator for the Munich route.
end holiday locations appealing to a more wealthy demographic, exactly the sort of clientele the airport should be targeting.
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Also, decline? Did the airport not just recently see record passenger numbers and welcome KLM and easyJet?
Yes, Flybe are still the biggest operator and yes, they are in retrenchment mode at the moment, but on the whole SOU seems to be making progress, albeit a lot slower than some folk on here would like.
It's actually a fairly successful small regional airport, not that you'd ever know it from this thread.
Yes, Flybe are still the biggest operator and yes, they are in retrenchment mode at the moment, but on the whole SOU seems to be making progress, albeit a lot slower than some folk on here would like.
It's actually a fairly successful small regional airport, not that you'd ever know it from this thread.
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As far as I understand Lolo are a specialist charter operator rather than a charge for handluggage and flog scratchcards outfit. Although the wealthy do fly on Ryanair and the like, unless you want a lengthy trip from Heathrow via Milan or Athens often LCCs are the only practical option especially from the regions. Until such time as BA or even Ryanair heaven forbid pitch up on the south coast with multiple frequencies to Tivat or Skiathos I would suggest Lolo could be quite attractive.
As far as I understand Lolo are a specialist charter operator rather than a charge for handluggage and flog scratchcards outfit. Although the wealthy do fly on Ryanair and the like, unless you want a lengthy trip from Heathrow via Milan or Athens often LCCs are the only practical option especially from the regions. Until such time as BA or even Ryanair heaven forbid pitch up on the south coast with multiple frequencies to Tivat or Skiathos I would suggest Lolo could be quite attractive.
I have tried to explained this before but to recap-
at present Lolo flights is, and has been a seat broker (think Viking Avro or Goldcrest here on a small scale) and travel agent selling its own allocation and/or having its own series of high season charter flights to the Canaries from MAN and LGW (using air europa) and now JSI from SOU (using flybe)
they have an ATOL (or use someones)
they have good reviews in the main for the product they sell
However, now they are branching out it seems, certainly from SOU, with their plans for many new and quite exotic destinations ex SOU for S19 to be operated by a 3rd party airline dedicated for them (think Palmair here) using the AOC of that airline - so far that airline and a/c type remains TBC, despite various rumours of using a Fokker 70/100 from Tus air. (I assume basing the a/c at SOU for the S19>?)
Here in lies the obstacles faced with alternatives if no airline can be found - there is simply very little availability of suitable smaller niche airlines and aircraft that have right capacity and range operating out of SOU to make their S19 programme work.
there are no UK operators that have the type of aircraft needed for these missions but with the possible exception of Flybe and BA city flyer (EMB jets) but I gather they have no capacity left to avail their use for this large programme Lolo have planned - BACF only fly their own charters at weekends anyway, a very big programme - the rest of the week they are well used from LCY
A320/737 is too big (rules out Titan, although they have a 318 in exec config for now) also rules out small planet and enter air whose a/c are all too big - although do SP still have their 733's? but they were old and clapped out - (ASL france has 737-700) both still too big with 148 seats
Germania has dipped into the UK market before - no idea why they quit, pax liked them and they were reliable, too high costs? - they had UK based a/c and crews for a few years both summer and winter.
their 737's and A319's 148/154 pax - again too big for Lolo though
W flying patterns cannot work especially with foreign operators into SOU due to crewing issues over the 4 sector days - any crews positioning in and hotac'ing would likely be operationally hard and add prohibitive costs.
thinking Volotea here, who could fly a W, say Verona-JSI-SOU-JSI-Verona - but crewing that would be a nightmare plus the associated cost and the B717's are going sooner or later (but they are the right size and have the range - just)
It could make sense to base a Volotea 717 and crews at SOU and to work for Lolo all season - I wonder if that path has been walked down?
Maybe there is no more space at SOU to base anymore a/c overnight....
As this area was much of my expertise during much of my long career in aviation I do find the Lolo flights saga at SOU fascinating - they do seem to have taken on a couple of 'right' folk for the job but as yet we don't see a lot happening.
dumping seats at £49 o/w and £99 return to the Greek Islands in high season is fatal imho - smacks of the 1980s when cheap seat only sales swamped the market when tour operators dumped seats they couldn't sell (long before Lo-co's were born)
I await with interest the next news
Last edited by rog747; 10th Aug 2018 at 10:40.
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Santa flight = high number of kids
Winter = low temps
It probably still went with some sort payload restriction, but as a one-off, the tour operator was probably happy with the risk, and could charge a suitable premium for a single flight.
You need to discount all of the above factors for a sustainable Summer series.