Southampton-3
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Departure off R20 is obstacle limited with five trees fairly close-in requiring an emergency turn even for an ATR72. The new performance with the starter strip is a big improvement.
I flew in from Venice to SOU the evening on KLM via Amsterdam and both flights were full almost which was good to see, although I was the only person in Business Class from Amsterdam to Southampton on the evening flight.
What I did notice though that Southampton will need to improve their ground handling for Arrivals as when there could be two or maybe even 3 180-190 seat aircraft arriving at around the same time when the airport would simply struggle to cope with the Arrivals, the Border Force check controls (which are time consuming) and then the Baggage Reclaim area, so they do need to look at that once once an airline decides to operate in to Southampton with larger aircraft on a regular basis.
Baggage Handling and the Loading at both VCE and AMS was a complete shambles and caused lengthy delays to both flight's departures.
My commiserations to both of Flight Deck crews who seemingly have to endure this on many flights these days.
If I had taken the later VCE-AMS flight I wouldn't have made the 'booked' 45 minute connection from AMS to SOU.
Ground handling on arrival at SOU was OK, apart from just 1 Border Force desk open initially - but once the line was almost out of the door then desk #2 opened.
I was in the first 5 off so was not really an issue for me.
What I did notice though that Southampton will need to improve their ground handling for Arrivals as when there could be two or maybe even 3 180-190 seat aircraft arriving at around the same time when the airport would simply struggle to cope with the Arrivals, the Border Force check controls (which are time consuming) and then the Baggage Reclaim area, so they do need to look at that once once an airline decides to operate in to Southampton with larger aircraft on a regular basis.
Baggage Handling and the Loading at both VCE and AMS was a complete shambles and caused lengthy delays to both flight's departures.
My commiserations to both of Flight Deck crews who seemingly have to endure this on many flights these days.
If I had taken the later VCE-AMS flight I wouldn't have made the 'booked' 45 minute connection from AMS to SOU.
Ground handling on arrival at SOU was OK, apart from just 1 Border Force desk open initially - but once the line was almost out of the door then desk #2 opened.
I was in the first 5 off so was not really an issue for me.
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Taking a quick look at easyjet schedules for W23, there should be no issues with overcrowding in baggage/arrivals etc as the majority of days only have 1 or 2 flights arriving although Saturday does have 3-4 flights, albeit at differing times so no major problem. However the first real test will be next summer when easyjet will be running a much larger program from the airport and could have multiple arrivals at once!
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Taking a quick look at easyjet schedules for W23, there should be no issues with overcrowding in baggage/arrivals etc as the majority of days only have 1 or 2 flights arriving although Saturday does have up 3-4 flights, albeit at differing times so no major problem. However the first real test will be next summer when easyjet will be running a much larger program from the airport and could have multiple arrivals at once!
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However the first real test will be next summer when easyjet will be running a much larger program from the airport and could have multiple arrivals at once!
I as much as everyone else on this forum are hopeful in EasyJet announcing further expansion from Southampton. But until the day that EasyJet make an official statement it's all theoretical.
There are certain individuals who claim that they have inside knowledge and there are those that enjoy the consistent rumours.
We are all hoping that EasyJet announce expansion from Southampton, but until it's made official it's just rumours and wishful thinking.
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Unless the contributors are working directly for Easy's Route Dev department then it's just wishful thinking. Even if the airport are saying it, it means nothing. Airlines talk to many, many airports all the time and things change overnight.
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Alas it makes no difference. Southend was voted best airport year after year but now look at them with passenger totals so low they have been removed from the table, while the airports at the bottom of the list still maintain their high passenger numbers.
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So you seriously believe SOU will go the same way as SEN? This time next year the airport will most likely be operating 30-40 departures daily and could be back at 1m pax annually again, give your head a wobble!
Maybe read what was said? The comment was about the impact of Which surveys - PR said they are no guarantee of success, using SEN as an example, there was no implication that SOU would go the same way. I doubt they have any influence on where airlines chose to fly.
In the past I have been one if a very few (or even the only) passenger departing on a public commercial airline flight from an airport in a windiw of a few hours. The airport in question was pretty much empty - functioning effectively as a private terminal - making it a very enjoyable experience and I would have happily give a 10 out of 10 rating. Not sure that kind of experience is good for the airport though...
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I do hope the airport management will make an annoucement soon on Sun routes for '24,it seems Bournemouth are buiding up for '24 with further based aircraft,this could seriously impact SOU prospects for attracting additional med routes in '24.
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The BOH thread has rumours of 4, yes 4, based RYR aircraft for next summer. That would be interesting with their current terminal setup, just like SOU with its limited terminal capacity. It certainly spices up the competition for market share on the south coast, albeit nothing is yet announced for SOU next summer. However we can expect something fairly soon and will no doubt draw away a certain percentage of BOH regulars, interesting times!
Last edited by stewyb; 1st Sep 2023 at 21:45.
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The BOH thread has rumours of 4, yes 4, based RYR aircraft for next summer. That would be interesting with their current terminal setup, just like SOU with its limited terminal capacity. It certainly spices up the competition for market share on the south coast, albeit nothing is yet announced for SOU next summer. However we can expect something fairly soon and will no doubt draw away a certain percentage of BOH regulars, interesting times!
So I will say it again, BOH is completely irrelevant to SOU. It’s a poor airport, poorly located, with poor transport links that gets by with Poundland flights. SOU is an airport people actually want to fly from and can conveniently which is why for many many years people have paid a premium to do so. As a long standing poster and one of the few positive people I’m surprised by your post.
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Not sure how you can say an airport attracting an airline and passengers to be diverse is ancillary to their business. Isn't that the very nature of their business?
Also, if all of Southampton's eggs are in the easyJet basket than I would fully expect easyJet to low ball them into paying peanuts. Seems Southampton need them much more than do they do Southampton.
And is Southampton's surroundings really any more affluent than Bournemouth's? You suggest people wouldn't fly Ryanair from Southampton as they're too seemingly too posh. Yet they would fly Wizz?
The threat is, easyjet do not like getting into direct competition with Ryanair. They actively avoid it. But I don't think there ia enough of a threat from their BOU operations to jeopardise potential easy ops from Southampton
I'm sure if Ryanair could get into Southampton the airline and the local public would welcome them with open arms as much as they will easyjet.
Also, if all of Southampton's eggs are in the easyJet basket than I would fully expect easyJet to low ball them into paying peanuts. Seems Southampton need them much more than do they do Southampton.
And is Southampton's surroundings really any more affluent than Bournemouth's? You suggest people wouldn't fly Ryanair from Southampton as they're too seemingly too posh. Yet they would fly Wizz?
The threat is, easyjet do not like getting into direct competition with Ryanair. They actively avoid it. But I don't think there ia enough of a threat from their BOU operations to jeopardise potential easy ops from Southampton
I'm sure if Ryanair could get into Southampton the airline and the local public would welcome them with open arms as much as they will easyjet.
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So I will say it again, BOH is completely irrelevant to SOU. It’s a poor airport, poorly located, with poor transport links that gets by with Poundland flights.
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As discussed time and time again for many years SOU is not targeting penny pinchers paying a few quid to fly the awful RYR. BOH are probably getting peanuts from RYR to base there in the first place. It’s all just an ancillary operation for BOH to keep their business diverse and of course keep SOU in check. You could see from the extremely jealous and mean spirited letters BOH submitted to object to SOU’s runway extension that they know SOU with a low cost operator will be much more successful than them. Most importantly it looks like SOU will get the best low cost operator of them all in EZY who will not lowball SOU on charges and will be a better fit to the more affluent catchment. I also expect WIZZ to move their Eastern European flights to SOU given the huge Eastern European population there.
So I will say it again, BOH is completely irrelevant to SOU. It’s a poor airport, poorly located, with poor transport links that gets by with Poundland flights. SOU is an airport people actually want to fly from and can conveniently which is why for many many years people have paid a premium to do so. As a long standing poster and one of the few positive people I’m surprised by your post.
So I will say it again, BOH is completely irrelevant to SOU. It’s a poor airport, poorly located, with poor transport links that gets by with Poundland flights. SOU is an airport people actually want to fly from and can conveniently which is why for many many years people have paid a premium to do so. As a long standing poster and one of the few positive people I’m surprised by your post.