It's seems on the Luton thread that you think this will be a big deal/loss to MAG Really? A fortnightly flight to St Helena?

Yes you are probably right. Did they even try for such a minnow? In fact if Stansted got the service would MAG even bother to mention it after their statement about long haul in the same way that AENA hasn't mentioned it either but it did put a smile on my face.:)

I suspect WestJet is the only real disappointment to STN here - if they weren't chasing them then their business development people need shooting as they made no secret of the fact they were planning a London service. Still it's a competitive airport market now and that's what happens. The boys from the North West continue to find out the hard way what its like to be a small(ish) fish in a big pond.

Saying that I am not surprised WestJet chose Gatwick (much lower risk - maybe actual, certainly percieved), however they still have to secure/buy the slots at Gatwick - but as a new entrant they will get some priority there.

Yes that service wouldnt have much much of an impact, but not to sound like a famous supermarket advert......every little helps!

STN are looking to attract something a bit more mainstream hence the likes of TOM, TCX, BE and SK being the sort of airlines (other than FR) that are putting new capacity into STN and not smaller start-up carriers.

MAG will be talking to airlines such as the major US and Gulf carriers, and probably some other short-haul legacies to go with SK.

STN's redevelopment project has still got a way to go and I wouldn't expect a major long-haul airline to come in before that's all completed.

It seems SAS came to STN as second choice because they couldn't get anything close to the slots they wanted at LGW.

Itchin McCrevis

I'm not sure where you heard that? SAS to my knowlege had been talking to STN for a while and had quite a large operation from STN pre 9/11.

I would of thought a certain airline that has become a bit of a key player in LGW must have made LGW less attractive to SAS.

I see Stansted is following Luton's lead by raising the drop off charge to £2.50 from July 1st plus £2.50 a minute after the first 10 minutes. Oh and a further £20 if you return in under 30 minutes.

It is the number one issue for complaints at Luton so I guess it will be the same at Stansted but it is a good source for revenue.

Tirana
 

To disprove that MAG are only talking to the mainstream, FlyToAlbania.com will be operating 2x weekly on Thursday and Friday nights from mid-July until September using Small Planet.

The website is one of the worst I have seen in a long time.

STANSTED - 2
 

China Southern cargo starts into STN this weekend, another major scalp that looked at LGW and turned it's nose up

I don't think China Southern even looked at LGW as regards to their new cargo route from Guangzhou, it was Stansted from the start unless you have a link to state otherwise!

I'm with Canberrra on this one - much more likely it would be LGW that turned its nose up at a freighter service if it was ever even approached. I can't see freighters figuring anywhere in Gatwicks ambitions and rightly so, passenger flights are much more lucrative.

So LGW has secured yet another Canadian Airline.
Air Canada Rouge and Westjet but with Air Transat on the LGW-YYZ
can all 3 survive along side each other only time will tell
But I guess some good fares will be available next year.

Anything in the pipeline for STN. I heard EK people were in enterprise house last week but that could be to do with MAG Manchester I guess.

I flew Stansted- Toronto many many moons ago by Air Transat but they didn't hang around Stansted too long before retreating back to Gatwick. Seem to remember the aircraft was full.

I also flew to CANADA from Stansted well that was the plan
We were overbooked on FLYGLOBESPAN and were bussed to LHR and put onto AirCanada so the demand was at Stansted ... But I'm trying not to get into they should have chose STN because that's not my point.
I just can't see how you fill an A330 and 2x B767's each day
I think that at least one will have to decide to move to another London airport or pull the route all together but I am looking forward the the price war 😜

Gatwick has always been a traditional route to Canada from the days of charter flights and having to be a member of a club.

Agree totally but last year I flew AirTransat from LGW-YYZ in May
There was at least 40 empty seats I just can't see how adding two 767's to the route can work but like I say I hope it does I'm not being anti Gatwick
Just a bit shocked they both chose LGW and didn't look at the bigger picture

"I flew Stansted- Toronto many many moons ago by Air Transat but they didn't hang around Stansted too long before retreating back to Gatwick"

No they didn't hang around too long, just the 10-15 years!!!

Thanks for the info. Wonder why they left then?

They cut regional flights and focused on LGW, MAN and GLA. At one time they went to EXT (this was shared with STN for a few years), LBA and others.

STN had good links with Canada until more recent times. Through the 70s and 80s Wardair had regular service with DC10s and 747s, Worldways and others I can't remember came in as well.

Transat came in the 80s initially with dedicated flights and then shared from the late 90s to early 2000s.

Royal had up to 10/11 weekly flights to various destinations around 97/98 after being kicked out of LGW for poor timekeeping. They got back into LGW the following year but maintained 2/3 weekly flights at STN for a couple of years. So for a while there were two operators from STN to Toronto. I think Royal then merged with either Transat or Canada 3000, or went bust.

Thomas Cook flew to Vancouver for a summer around 2005 due to lack of slots at LGW. I'm pretty sure this operated over the school summer holidays either the year before or after.

Finally, there was Globespan and their daily service to Hamilton. Of the more recent links, this was the only one admittedly that wasn't a LGW outcast.

I'm sure I've missed some others, but although it should be noted the market to Canada has changed over time, flights from STN have always been popular when they have operated. I agree LGW has the larger traditional connection, but STN's place in the history of links should not be discounted.