Southampton-3
There may be a difference in definition of the word "base".
To most on this forum the word means to have aircraft, crews etc located at an airport.
To corporate PR departments the same term is often used in terms of operating to an airport, so it marketing terms what SOU has / is getting is a "base" that will, with luck, grow.
To most on this forum the word means to have aircraft, crews etc located at an airport.
To corporate PR departments the same term is often used in terms of operating to an airport, so it marketing terms what SOU has / is getting is a "base" that will, with luck, grow.
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I'm so glad that I'm not the type of person who gets over excited. Especially concerning the number of unsubstantiated rumours over the last year regarding easyjet Sun routes at Southampton for summer 2024.
Hopefully, this announcement isn't part of a certain individuals claim in recent months that "everything will become clearer in October/November" 🤔
If that is the case, we'll I'm sure that I'm alone in commenting on the fact that it's a huge disappointment 😞
The only hope is that EasyJet, during the course of the next few days or so, might add, and I'll say it again, might add some more frequencies or at least two other destinations.
But at least it's a start, and it does show that easyJet obviously has some form of ambition for Southampton. Especially with the recent announcement that BFS and GLA to Southampton are going to be year-round and with increased frequencies.
Although it's not a huge increase in passenger traffic, at least Southampton Airport is now in a better position than before. A few months ago, Southampton Airport had one destination flown by EasyJet. Now, it has five.
If indeed easyJet is going to be at Southampton for the long term, then hopefully, there will be further expansion over the course of the next twelve months involving new destinations.
Obviously, Southampton would like to see more sun routes, but there could be plenty of other opportunities. It'll be nice if easyJet might consider a couple of additional destinations for the winter season 2024/25, such as Chambéry, Innsbruck, Lyon, and Salzburg.
If there is no further news from easyJet in the coming days then hopefully, the next announcement for Southampton Airport will be regarding Loganair and a resumption of a service to Manchester.
Another airline and destination I can forsee for Southampton in the near future is Lufthansa from either Frankfurt or Munich.
Lufthansa are planning on further expanding their regional presence in Europe over the next twelve months with their recently announced City Line subsidiary. Lufthansa are intending on using City Line to feed their hubs at Frankfurt and Munich in a similar way that KLM does at Amsterdam.
Over the last two years or so, Lufthansa have added or resumed service to their UK network such as Belfast City, Glasgow, Liverpool, and London Gatwick and to a certain extent London Stansted.
In my opinion, I'm fairly certain that Leeds and Southampton could well be two possible contenders in the future to see service from Lufthansa.
Hopefully, this announcement isn't part of a certain individuals claim in recent months that "everything will become clearer in October/November" 🤔
If that is the case, we'll I'm sure that I'm alone in commenting on the fact that it's a huge disappointment 😞
The only hope is that EasyJet, during the course of the next few days or so, might add, and I'll say it again, might add some more frequencies or at least two other destinations.
But at least it's a start, and it does show that easyJet obviously has some form of ambition for Southampton. Especially with the recent announcement that BFS and GLA to Southampton are going to be year-round and with increased frequencies.
Although it's not a huge increase in passenger traffic, at least Southampton Airport is now in a better position than before. A few months ago, Southampton Airport had one destination flown by EasyJet. Now, it has five.
If indeed easyJet is going to be at Southampton for the long term, then hopefully, there will be further expansion over the course of the next twelve months involving new destinations.
Obviously, Southampton would like to see more sun routes, but there could be plenty of other opportunities. It'll be nice if easyJet might consider a couple of additional destinations for the winter season 2024/25, such as Chambéry, Innsbruck, Lyon, and Salzburg.
If there is no further news from easyJet in the coming days then hopefully, the next announcement for Southampton Airport will be regarding Loganair and a resumption of a service to Manchester.
Another airline and destination I can forsee for Southampton in the near future is Lufthansa from either Frankfurt or Munich.
Lufthansa are planning on further expanding their regional presence in Europe over the next twelve months with their recently announced City Line subsidiary. Lufthansa are intending on using City Line to feed their hubs at Frankfurt and Munich in a similar way that KLM does at Amsterdam.
Over the last two years or so, Lufthansa have added or resumed service to their UK network such as Belfast City, Glasgow, Liverpool, and London Gatwick and to a certain extent London Stansted.
In my opinion, I'm fairly certain that Leeds and Southampton could well be two possible contenders in the future to see service from Lufthansa.
Last edited by stewyb; 7th Nov 2023 at 12:17.
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So SOU gets a weekly Alicante and Faro service which is good news to start with
I would imagine that these two routes will at least double in frequency soon as at present this isn’t really much good as a starter schedule for most people
I don’t think there are many airlines that don’t operate at least 2x week
The Alicante flight gets you in just before midnight so again not brilliant for most travellers
Re the rumours on the SOU Facebook page it’s how you interpret it
I read it more like “ my hairdressers neighbour told me “ given the poor grammar and style it’s written in but happy to be proven wrong
It’s a positive start though all things considered
I would imagine that these two routes will at least double in frequency soon as at present this isn’t really much good as a starter schedule for most people
I don’t think there are many airlines that don’t operate at least 2x week
The Alicante flight gets you in just before midnight so again not brilliant for most travellers
Re the rumours on the SOU Facebook page it’s how you interpret it
I read it more like “ my hairdressers neighbour told me “ given the poor grammar and style it’s written in but happy to be proven wrong
It’s a positive start though all things considered
Some years ago, EasyJet said that their minimum criterion for a base was three aircraft.
Their development strategy seems to have changed now - and perhaps Birmingham is a template. They started there with iirc two routes using non-based aircraft and used them to build brand/location awareness. A gradual expansion followed until they were in a position to announce a crew/aircraft base, which can be built on to established routes.
Perhaps Southampton has to be patient whilst EZY build their presence.
Their development strategy seems to have changed now - and perhaps Birmingham is a template. They started there with iirc two routes using non-based aircraft and used them to build brand/location awareness. A gradual expansion followed until they were in a position to announce a crew/aircraft base, which can be built on to established routes.
Perhaps Southampton has to be patient whilst EZY build their presence.
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Some years ago, EasyJet said that their minimum criterion for a base was three aircraft.
Their development strategy seems to have changed now - and perhaps Birmingham is a template. They started there with iirc two routes using non-based aircraft and used them to build brand/location awareness. A gradual expansion followed until they were in a position to announce a crew/aircraft base, which can be built on to established routes.
Perhaps Southampton has to be patient whilst EZY build their presence.
Their development strategy seems to have changed now - and perhaps Birmingham is a template. They started there with iirc two routes using non-based aircraft and used them to build brand/location awareness. A gradual expansion followed until they were in a position to announce a crew/aircraft base, which can be built on to established routes.
Perhaps Southampton has to be patient whilst EZY build their presence.
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The logic would be that they won't base an aircraft with restricted opening hours, however, though not a base they do overnight an aircraft at BHD, which codes are 21.30. Irespective of the reasons for that exception, they still do it. No reason why SOU couldn't have a based unit and extensive routes dependent on other bases like Paris, etc, as they currently do. Any ex Flybe route that has reasonable volume will be if don't interest you them or somebody else and this likely would be free of Ryanair competition at the airport (yeah they are up the road but it's another city), so ostensibly they'd have reasonable yield.
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Whilst I agree with the points made about EZY & BHX, if the same is true for SOU then you will need a LOT of patience, EZY launched GVA and BFS from BHX well over a decade ago and it's only in the last few years they started launching more routes before the base announcement.
Aside from the potential issue of opening hours, I guess any future EZY expansion at SOU will depend on what incentives/deals SOU can offer.
It is well known that for years BHX was apparently unwilling / unable to strike a deal with EZY and EZY stated that BHX didn't fit with their strategy.
A lot clearly has changed! If SOU can strike a deal, you may find EZY expansion happening a lot quicker than it did at BHX.
Without tempting fate, I'm beginning to wonder if the fact that new based BHX routes are still not for sale flight only is related to a move of the 3 A320's earmarked for BHX to SOU? Stranger things have happened ...
Aside from the potential issue of opening hours, I guess any future EZY expansion at SOU will depend on what incentives/deals SOU can offer.
It is well known that for years BHX was apparently unwilling / unable to strike a deal with EZY and EZY stated that BHX didn't fit with their strategy.
A lot clearly has changed! If SOU can strike a deal, you may find EZY expansion happening a lot quicker than it did at BHX.
Without tempting fate, I'm beginning to wonder if the fact that new based BHX routes are still not for sale flight only is related to a move of the 3 A320's earmarked for BHX to SOU? Stranger things have happened ...
Without tempting fate, I'm beginning to wonder if the fact that new based BHX routes are still not for sale flight only is related to a move of the 3 A320's earmarked for BHX to SOU? Stranger things have happened ...
The current Section 106 Agreement permits operations up to 2300HR. However in the case of delayed schedules, caused by a number of reasons including weather and ATC generated delays (ie normally slots) flights may operate beyond 2300HR.
From what I interpret from the 106, delays caused by aircraft unserviceabilities are not covered by the after 2300HR provision.
As mentioned in my earlier posts, the problem accommodating after 2300HR movements has historically been staff availability, something that will need to be resolved if any based aircraft are to get back for the following morning departures.
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Someone who has access to the ACL S24 data for LGW (and the S23 data) would be able to ascertain how many slots at LGW EZY/EJU hold there for next summer vs this summer which, after allowing for other slots they may gain for next year via leasing, other airline handbacks, etc. would give a good indication as to whether EZY may have to move aircraft out of LGW next year, although it won't tell you where they might go. I am sure there is someone who posts on here regularly who has explained to others, me included, that any questions can quickly and easily be answered by using the internet. Sounds like a job for him/her.
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The reason that the airport has shut at 2200HR during the winter is that there are no scheduled flights after that time, makes business sense?
The current Section 106 Agreement permits operations up to 2300HR. However in the case of delayed schedules, caused by a number of reasons including weather and ATC generated delays (ie normally slots) flights may operate beyond 2300HR.
From what I interpret from the 106, delays caused by aircraft unserviceabilities are not covered by the after 2300HR provision.
As mentioned in my earlier posts, the problem accommodating after 2300HR movements has historically been staff availability, something that will need to be resolved if any based aircraft are to get back for the following morning departures.
The current Section 106 Agreement permits operations up to 2300HR. However in the case of delayed schedules, caused by a number of reasons including weather and ATC generated delays (ie normally slots) flights may operate beyond 2300HR.
From what I interpret from the 106, delays caused by aircraft unserviceabilities are not covered by the after 2300HR provision.
As mentioned in my earlier posts, the problem accommodating after 2300HR movements has historically been staff availability, something that will need to be resolved if any based aircraft are to get back for the following morning departures.
Normally 2300HR, airlines cannot publish schedule flights beyond this. However if delays on a particular day are caused by the 106 Agreement definition of "Extraordinary Air Traffic Control Procedures", examples as per my earlier post, I would speculate that technically it could be all night. That said I sincerely doubt that anything more than a few hours after 2300 would be economically viable/practicable for AGS to accommodate.
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Talk on this thread by some over the past few months has been of new airline/s coming to the airport to offer expansion. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the whispers have in fact been easyJet all the way along and it is them who could launch a new base, as has been suggested rightly or wrongly on FB. Much points to this with them slowly building a route network so would expect this to be the most likely outcome. It’s no secret they have been eyeing SOU for some time and with the Gatwick fallout, this could be a good alternative option. At present FAO and ALC are one weekly, that may increase along with others added with based units. Again all currently up in the air and no one knows but my take would be this as the most obvious option. With regards to opening hours, I’m sure this would have been discussed and worked through at length with any operator to come to an agreeable solution!
Or they will just continue to pluck the low hanging fruit with non-based units and avoid the complications of a base. Doubt anybody knows yet and as always, it'll be a case of use it or lose it.
Either way, it will be making other potential operators think.
Either way, it will be making other potential operators think.
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Opening Hour Restrictions @ SOU - is it really a problem?
Below is a list of the EJU bases and shows the time that the last EJU based aircraft lands.
ORY - last based EJU flight lands at 22:30
NTE - last based EJU flight lands at 22:30
AMS - last based EJU flight lands at 22:35
BCN - last based EJU flight lands at 22:50
NCE - last based EJU flight lands at 22:55
NAP - last based EJU flight lands at 22:55
BER - last based EJU flight lands at 22:55
LYS - last based EJU flight lands at 23:05
BOD - last based EJU flight lands at 23:05
OPO - last based EJU flight lands at 23:05
BSL - last based EJU flight lands at 23:05
GVA - last based EJU flight lands at 23:10
CDG - last based EJU flight lands at 23:25
Not seen it mentioned yet, but for S24 the EZY BFS service is bookable 5 weekly (xTuWe) from the end of March, and the GLA service is daily, but not until 1st May (continues at current 2 weekly until the end of April)
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Definitely the main issue with late arrivals is having sufficient staff available. In 2018 I was on a very late running flight from Skiathios to SOU. With such a late departure, it was obvious that there could potentially be problems, although nothing was mentioned form the flight deck or from cabin crew before departure. About half an hour into the flight the captain broke the news that Southampton would be closed and we would be diverted to Exeter, not the easiest place to travel back from in the middle of the night. The cabin crew were marvellous, spending much of the flight going up and down the cabin trying to find out where people were trying to get home to so taxis could be arranged and where possible, doubling-up small groups going to locations that were close together. Just after passing Paris, the flight deck informed us that Southampton had agreed to stay open - so all was well and we landed at about 23.45.
What many people probably forget is the shear number of people needed to keep the airport open. Fire crew, control tower, apron staff, ground handling/baggage, border control, baggage reclaim, long-stay car park bus driver etc.
It relies on goodwill and the overtime bill must have been a considerable cost, but there again, so would the coaches and taxis!
What many people probably forget is the shear number of people needed to keep the airport open. Fire crew, control tower, apron staff, ground handling/baggage, border control, baggage reclaim, long-stay car park bus driver etc.
It relies on goodwill and the overtime bill must have been a considerable cost, but there again, so would the coaches and taxis!