Birmingham-7

[Jerry123]

Aer Lingus are getting 2 QR A332s i believe.

[daz211]

I’m unsure as to when you last visited STN the parking is brilliant very convenient and offers parking to everyone’s need you can park in front of the terminal one level down in easy walking distance to the terminal or a few minutes free bus ride with a very convenient FREE drop off pick up zone situated in the same car park of course there are parking companies on the outer limits of the airport but all airports have this type of parking.
What people seem to forget is STN is the most convenient airport for the business/City district of London and not forgeting Cambridge and all it has to offer STN has an exceptional transport system for cars coaches and trains
I think once passengers have experienced STN and it’s convenients they will soon choose it as a first choice for London.

[southside bobby]

Yes more slightly stereotype comments concerning STN & an underestimation of EK themselves.

Without rehearsing again all the views/reasoning & stats quoted by EK & MAG for the commencement of STN it is not thru any default that the 3 class B777 is being introduced from day one.

Whilst Midlands traffic thru BHX will not really suffer dilution perhaps,an unknown factor for BHX could well be traffic from the Cambridge Corridor for which the STN service is being heavily marketed.STN will also give residents in East Anglia another choice of departure airport.

Only EK know at present if their Cambridge traffic flows North to BHX or South to LHR & LGW or perhaps obviously both.

It is apparent EK & MAG possess that marketing knowledge hence the EK banks at DXB the STN service deliberately connects with.

Together with the North & East London catchment, this service is going to be a winner & whilst not wishing to claim "One Echos`s" prize of a brussel sprout for first mention of the "big bus" it could well prove to be a quick upgrade only hindered perhaps by the greater belly cargo uplift of the B777 already being jumped over by EK Skycargo.

Happy days for STN & the best Christmas present.

[canberra97]

southside bobby

I don't always agree with you but on this occasion your post is absolutely spot on and I totally agree with everything you have written.

And quoting you it's definitely the best Christmas present ever for London Stansted Airport. :-)

[Skipness One Echo]

Daz211 in fairness, Stansted is not the best airport for access to the City, that’s LCY. Sadly STN has never (?) been able to support a single flight that was aimed at connecting to the square mile. Business travellers just won’t use it and Lufthansa, SAS and all gave it a go. Even American (twice) and Continental tried it out, the yield just has never been there up front.
It will be genuinely surprising if STN remains with F being offered by EK, in a good way, am not saying it won’t work, as Emirates are the exception to many rules.

[nigel osborne]

Originally Posted by daz211

I’m unsure as to when you last visited STN the parking is brilliant very convenient and offers parking to everyone’s need you can park in front of the terminal one level down in easy walking distance to the terminal or a few minutes free bus ride with a very convenient FREE drop off pick up zone situated in the same car park of course there are parking companies on the outer limits of the airport but all airports have this type of parking.
What people seem to forget is STN is the most convenient airport for the business/City district of London and not forgeting Cambridge and all it has to offer STN has an exceptional transport system for cars coaches and trains
I think once passengers have experienced STN and it’s convenients they will soon choose it as a first choice for London.

Hmm let's be honest here,

STN is a low cost airport and the only reason Emirates are going into it is because Heathrow and Gatwick are slot restricted.

[chaps1954]

Ah but MAG want it to be something else Nigel and are sitting on a gold mine and
just waiting for the right time which is I guess just about to arrive

[inOban]

There are certain posters who continually state that all the airlines at LGW would rather be at LHR. Now it's being suggested that airlines are choosing STN because LGW is full.
Looking from the other end of the UK, I would suggest that the SE of the UK covers such a huge and wealthy population that it can sustain the same destinations from several airports, and certainly DXB should work. I'm curious to see where next.

[crewmeal]

I'm worried that both our ME services will now see significant squeeze from CWL and STN but I'm more worried about QR.

I can understand your worries when carriers decide to expand into nearby airports. But I don't think that QR and EK are likely to expand at the expense of their well established routes that are doing well. From what I gather QR are doing very well at BHX.

However BHX needs to get its act together regarding ground services. For example immediate improvement in baggage services ready for the summer, handling agents to meet and greet arriving aircraft when they arrive on stand.

[The96er]

Wishful thinking I'm afraid - and it'll be the same at all U.K stations outside of LHR. Until the CAA are prepared to regulate ground handling, nothing will change, in fact, expect it to get worse.

[canberra97]

Originally Posted by nigel osborne

Hmm let's be honest here,

STN is a low cost airport and the only reason Emirates are going into it is because Heathrow and Gatwick are slot restricted.

Emirates could have easily gained slots at either LGW or LHR if they really wanted to but they felt that there was better opportunities by starting Stansted to Dubai.

Emirates last year announced a fourth daily LGW to Dubai but before it was uploaded on their systems it was cancelled, they could have announced their intention to go ahead with the forth daily flight from LGW but instead chose Stansted and for good reason to.

Again if Emirates wanted to they could easily have gained slots at LGW, although it's continuously said on these threads that both LHR and LGW are full airlines can find the slots if needed as other airlines have done recently.

Stansted is a world class airport despite it's image as a low cost airport, sure it's dominated by low cost carriers such as Ryanair, Jet2, EasyJet but there's no rule to say that it is just a low cost airport that's a ridiculous view. Stansted has gained quite a few new airlines over the last two years and the addition of Emirates is great news for the airport as it tries to attract long haul carriers adding to its current airline portfolio.

And not forgetting that 6.5 million people in the catchment area of Stansted including north and east London, Essex, East Anglia, the Cambridge corridor including Cambridge itself and and university as as well Peterborough, the Scientific and pharmaceutical institutes, a wealthy catchment area as well.

STN to Dubai with Emirates wasn't an if it was a when will it ever start as it's an obvious route for Emirates expanding their choice of London departure points giving the airline a full coverage out of three main London airports, the route has been along time coming but it was a inevitable.

Emirates will have all the relevant data to show how many of their passengers that currently use LGW or LHR come from the Stansted catchment area.

STN to Dubai with Emirates has success written all over it and I'm sure that we're soon be discussing an upguage to a A380 or the addition of a second daily flight before we know it.

[Centre cities]

EK.

Would not the new EK service be better discussed on the EK or Stansted thread.

[FRatSTN]

Well in fairness, if you were to look back at the original question posted which was how the new service would impact EK and QR at BHX, it's hardly irrelevant input.

STN is a valuable addition to EK in it's own right for reasons discussed and is not going to be a hindrance to BHX. STN may be dominated by the likes of FR, EZY, LS, but it is not run or managed as a low-cost airport in any greater capacity than the likes of BHX or EDI believe me.

[OltonPete]

Primera

Barcelona has appeared in their booking engine from October after the Palma ends but not yet bookable.

[Skipness One Echo]

There are certain posters who continually state that all the airlines at LGW would rather be at LHR. Now it's being suggested that airlines are choosing STN because LGW is full.

This has literally never been claimed by anyone to my knowledge. Let’s not overstate someone’s position to misrepresent. easyJet and Norwegian dominate LGW in a way that economies of scale make a (full scale) move unlikely. What IS said often, is that airlines serve the airports best suited to markets they are competing in. This is why Primera may succeed where AA and UA were losing. They were competing with themselves in that they offered a huge number of seats out of LHR which were, certainly on AA, a far superior hard product. Whereas local point to point low cost is a different segment which is capable of being much more focussed and costs less to fly.

In fairness, I remain puzzled as to why easyJet backed away from STN and EMA and aren’t even on the radar for BHX.

[chinapattern]

Originally Posted by OltonPete

Barcelona has appeared in their booking engine from October after the Palma ends but not yet bookable.

Looks to be daily which I find extremely odd; Vueling decrease frequency for the winter months and I don’t think MON were anywhere near daily in the winter either. Given all the uncertainty in Catalonia at the moment surely there are more viable options?

[nwoody2001]

Maybe but with Norwegian and Monarch now not on the route, BCN is one of those routes that has gone from feast to famine in capacity terms. On one day of the week this summer (Thursday I think) we have only 1x flight a day operated by Ryanair!

Though I must admit, to start the route daily in the winter season is brave. However, it’s still not bookable yet to maybe things will change?

[southside bobby]

Primera

& nothing showing yet in STN`s short haul destinations for Winter18...so hopefully a work in progress.

[Fried_Chicken]

With Emirates starting DXB-STN with a B77W, it'll be another place they can truck freight down to in addition to trucking freight up to NCL & GLA.
I'm guessing less chance of the dedicated Emirates freighter to BHX that has previously been rumoured?

[BHX5DME]

Primera Barcelona now bookable