Southend-3
Always wondered how the airfield stayed open in the days before the new terminal and no holiday flights. Was the maintenance and re-spray enough back then or did the council keep it afloat, probably 80s and 90s.
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https://find-and-update.company-info...history?page=1
LONDON SOUTHEND AIRPORT COMPANY LIMITED
To year ending 28th February 2021. Loss = £12,691,737. Passenger figure 147,208. Loss per passenger £86.21
To year ending 29th February 2020. Loss = £1,010,965. Passenger figure 2,142,310. Loss per passenger £0.47p
To year ending 28th February 2019. Loss = £38,241,296. Passenger figure 1,497,241. Loss per passenger £25.54
To year ending 28th February 2018. Loss = £6,494,112. Passenger figure 1,125,820. Loss per passenger £5.76
To year ending 28th February 2017. Loss = £6,815,247 Passenger figure 900,276. Loss per passenger
£7.57
I stopped taking notes at this point but I couldn't find a year the airport made a profit.
Deep pockets come to mind with £0 dividend payments.
(edit) A random look shows they made a profit in 2010 of £164,000
LONDON SOUTHEND AIRPORT COMPANY LIMITED
To year ending 28th February 2021. Loss = £12,691,737. Passenger figure 147,208. Loss per passenger £86.21
To year ending 29th February 2020. Loss = £1,010,965. Passenger figure 2,142,310. Loss per passenger £0.47p
To year ending 28th February 2019. Loss = £38,241,296. Passenger figure 1,497,241. Loss per passenger £25.54
To year ending 28th February 2018. Loss = £6,494,112. Passenger figure 1,125,820. Loss per passenger £5.76
To year ending 28th February 2017. Loss = £6,815,247 Passenger figure 900,276. Loss per passenger
£7.57
I stopped taking notes at this point but I couldn't find a year the airport made a profit.
Deep pockets come to mind with £0 dividend payments.
(edit) A random look shows they made a profit in 2010 of £164,000
Last edited by LTNman; 20th Apr 2022 at 19:04.
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I’m sure there was some creative accounting going on so the true loss would be hard to ascertain but the figures are suggestive the model was sound. Y/E 2020 loss per pax was minimal so a bit more volume through the terminal - which would easily have come in 2020 with the planned programme - would have pushed into profit.
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The year Ryanair arrived the airport spent £33,237,476 on “airline route development” costs, which explains most of that years £38m loss. Did Southend really pay Ryanair over £33m to base three aircraft at SEN?
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Very much doubt it. I suspect a lot of that cost was wrapped up in the Stobart Air operation which was effectively a route development activity as far as SEN was concerned. A quick google search suggests £16.5m of depreciation/write-offs so like I say probably some creative accounting.
Very much doubt it. I suspect a lot of that cost was wrapped up in the Stobart Air operation which was effectively a route development activity as far as SEN was concerned. A quick google search suggests £16.5m of depreciation/write-offs so like I say probably some creative accounting.
Last edited by Expressflight; 21st Apr 2022 at 07:23.
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So, given all the sound reasons stated why SEN is failing to bounce back, what is behind easyjet’s decision to return to the airport albeit very small scale? Obviously it is going to be relatively cheap and low risk. Perhaps they are already seeing problems ahead with growth at Gatwick and Luton, if so, a return of based aircraft at SEN may not be as crazy as it seems right now.
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So, given all the sound reasons stated why SEN is failing to bounce back, what is behind easyjet’s decision to return to the airport albeit very small scale? Obviously it is going to be relatively cheap and low risk. Perhaps they are already seeing problems ahead with growth at Gatwick and Luton, if so, a return of based aircraft at SEN may not be as crazy as it seems right now.
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Based aircraft are obviously what is needed doing 6-8 sectors a day so proper full time jobs can be generated. The odd flight through the week from Europe is of little use and will not plug the losses.
My own view is that if 2022 is successful in the wider sense, not SEN specific, there will be growth at SEN in 2023. I’m not convinced however there would be a base and there wouldn’t need to be. Most core destinations can be served from overseas. It’s also not out the question that there could be a winter programme. Geneva for example has been served by a non-based unit in the past.
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Presumably from landing fees and a share of the revenue from the concessions. Since non-based aircraft won't be arriving very early and the final departure will be earlier also, the opening hours of the facilities will be shorter and the staff hours will be less antisocial.
If you were the person responsible for persuading airlines to come to SEN... how much more difficult would it be if you had to admit in summer 2022 post-Covid, you had ZERO commercial scheduled passenger flights ? Having a little bit of scheduled passenger ops also preserves organisational memory, competence and external credibility of being able to service 150+ pax jets and thus scaling up ops is perceived as realistic rather than a start-from-scratch job
While Easyjet flies a bit... Southend remains "in the game" and airline network managers may be willing to listen to a sales pitch. Without Easyjet, Southend would be at risk of being perceived by passenger airlines as suitable only for props, or be seen as sufficiently desperate that it could be asked to pay a very large marketing fee.
While Easyjet flies a bit... Southend remains "in the game" and airline network managers may be willing to listen to a sales pitch. Without Easyjet, Southend would be at risk of being perceived by passenger airlines as suitable only for props, or be seen as sufficiently desperate that it could be asked to pay a very large marketing fee.
If you were the person responsible for persuading airlines to come to SEN... how much more difficult would it be if you had to admit in summer 2022 post-Covid, you had ZERO commercial scheduled passenger flights ? Having a little bit of scheduled passenger ops also preserves organisational memory, competence and external credibility of being able to service 150+ pax jets and thus scaling up ops is perceived as realistic rather than a start-from-scratch job
While Easyjet flies a bit... Southend remains "in the game" and airline network managers may be willing to listen to a sales pitch. Without Easyjet, Southend would be at risk of being perceived by passenger airlines as suitable only for props, or be seen as sufficiently desperate that it could be asked to pay a very large marketing fee.
While Easyjet flies a bit... Southend remains "in the game" and airline network managers may be willing to listen to a sales pitch. Without Easyjet, Southend would be at risk of being perceived by passenger airlines as suitable only for props, or be seen as sufficiently desperate that it could be asked to pay a very large marketing fee.
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Looking at the accounts 2,250,000 passengers seems to be around the breakeven point but there are massive debts to pay off, which are just adding to the problems.
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Probably not. But there is no shortage of money in this old world and big chunks of change seem to be found for aviation. Stobart/Esken got to within touching distance of a thin slice of the golden goose so I doubt whether SEN is ready to wither and die just yet.
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Southampton for example doesn’t have any ‘proper’ based units and all it’s 23 flights today were within a 12 hour window.
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The business model stays the same making the airport the first to feel any pain and the last to recover.
https://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/200...d-bounce-back/
As air travel continues to recover the London airport market will once again become capacity constrained.
Data from the Civil Aviation Authority showed Southend was among the airports with the largest reduction in passengers and flights.
Not quite. The stated emphasis now is "airline agreements that are profitable to all parties" and "We are more focussed on profitable and sustainable airline agreements than a rush to get maximum passengers.".
They have stated this previously in their post-Covid recovery plans and I for one am pleased to see this more sensible approach.
Whether that aim is achievable is, of course, far from certain.
They have stated this previously in their post-Covid recovery plans and I for one am pleased to see this more sensible approach.
Whether that aim is achievable is, of course, far from certain.