I am definitely not doubting that Stansted could sustain a daily flight to New York it surely could along with a daily EK flight to Dubai but IMHO I think that any New York flight we'll be down to JetBlue 'if and when they announce transatlantic operations' which seem to have some relevance if you have read other aviation forums of late.

If JetBlue do intend flying JFK to London they would have no transatlantic competition at Stansted and it could feed it's New York JFK hub along with feed by Ryanair at this end.

You may well feel so, but the substantial spread of both departure times and operators from Heathrow means that a (maybe considerable) proportion of those who appear geographically favourable to Stansted would continue to go to Heathrow.

If the daily flight left at say 1100 you would be looking at an 0900 checkin, losing any business pax who wanted to go into the office first, and likewise those high-paying business travellers who change their flight, forwards or backwards, on the day as their meetings change. Heathrow allows this.


Likewise if I am a US high-mileage traveller with miles (possibly backed up by a corporate discount agreement as well) built up mainly on United, going to Canary Wharf, a Delta flight from JFK to Stansted won't have that much appeal.

Somewhat later on in the thread but still perhaps interesting ...

As a local resident (and user) when the current terminal opened, the USPs of the design were

1) that it was only a short distance from the front door to the shuttle to the gates ... and flat, so that everyone could have easy access and

2) that there would be plenty of natural daylight. (That seems so far-fetched once you enter the shopping mall airside nowadays!)

How are Menzies getting on with the Jet2 contract.The grapevine suggests they are not overachieving.

With only 2 airframes is it a little early to judge?
They seem to be leaving on time if that's a measure of anything

Its BECAUSE there are only 2 A/C,but maybe you are right,its early days

I think it's wrong to say that STN couldn't support a JFK service, STN is the closest major airport to the financial district and Canary Wharf in terms of travel time compared to LHR and LGW. It's also located in one of the most affluent areas of the UK, with Cambridge up the road and IT businesses in particular growing there at a high rate, there is plenty of demand.

We're going to see major changes in the long haul market in coming years with the rise of long haui LCC's and new aircraft types such as the A321LR. My guess is that what we saw with the rise of low cost, high frequency european travel will happen with the long haul US market in particular. Frequent flyer clubs will become less and less incentified and demand will focus more on price and connivence. I am a massive believer in Stelios' theory on the ignition price within aviation, if the price is low enough, demand will create itself. Based on these reasons STN could easily support a NY service.

However the airport is less known the US travellers and has a bad reputation within the industry because of it's Ryanair LCC image and a history of failed long-haul routes for whatever the reasons were.

The airport will get a NY service eventually but I hope they're wise in who they chase for one as it has to be a success, the likes of Thomas Cook to JFK would be a mistake. A Norwegian 787 service to a MAJOR NY airport would be a good fit.

The truth is the airport cannot cope with any new carriers until work is done to check-in and the main departure lounge waiting area, both are extremely overcrowded. They should never of knocked down Zone J/K.

Also if Norwegian Long Haul or any other carrier is serious about interlining with Ryanair, it will be most appropriate at STN with the sheer volume of destinations and frequencies to destinations across Europe.

Just a question, but why would TCX be a mistake?

They offer a daily service to JFK from MAN, which is probably right and fit for STN to have too at this moment in time, no point going more than daily at this stage. From MAN, They also offer LAX/SFO(not OAK like D8), MIA, BOS and MCO as well as a plethora of Caribbean and rumours of TPA/SAN, which would be a great route portfolio for STN if they could be convinced. I think people overlook just how much TCX can do, and what it currently is doing for MAN, they seems to be pulled in by the Norwegian hype while TCX just get on with it.

Always gets me how enthusiasts of an airport with no service at all to places then become very picky of who should serve the route, surely any service is better than none, it may also stimulate the market?

When Crossrail opens Heathrow to Canary Wharf travel time reduces to 40 minutes according to the Crossrail website and that service is direct from most of the terminals.

New Route
 

Jet2 to launch weekly Grenoble service. 1 weekly Saturdays, commences 23 Dec.

Thomson
 

Looks as if TOM have cancelled all long-haul for S18.

Remains 2 based aircraft but down to 26 weekly departures.

Cancelled Routes
Antalya
Cancun
Montego Bay
Orlando-Sanford

Frequency Cuts
Heraklion

Hardly much of a fight to Jet2!

[QUOTE=FRatSTN;9746380]Looks as if TOM have cancelled all long-haul for S18.


Hardly much of a fight to Jet2![/QUOTE

Maybe thats what Jet2 had reckoned on when they first decided to open shop there.

Are they retreating to South of the Thames or is Gatwick down as well?

Thomson Summer 2018
 

Here's what's planned

Corfu - 2 weekly (Monday & Friday)
Dalaman - 2 weekly (Monday & Thursday)
Faro - 2 weekly (Thursday & Sunday)
Fuerteventura - 1 weekly (Wednesday)
Heraklion - 1 weekly (Thursday)
Ibiza - 3 weekly (Wednesday, Friday & Saturday)
Kefalonia - 1 weekly (Sunday)
Kos - 1 weekly (Tuesday)
Larnaca - 1 weekly (Sunday)
Las Palmas - 1 weekly (Monday)
Mahon - 2 weekly (Monday & Friday)
Palma Mallorca - 3 weekly (Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday)
Paphos - 2 weekly (Wednesday & Saturday)
Rhodes - 2 weekly (Wednesday & Saturday)
Tenerife - 1 weekly (Friday)
Zakynthos - 1 weekly (Tuesday)


So apart from the loss of AYT and one less HER no real changes to the short-haul programme compared to this year.

Jet2 Summer 2018 being put on sale at the minute. Possibly another aircraft for next year.

Jet2.com Summer 2018
 

Looking a bit more encouraging than Thomson's release.

Increases to 8x based aircraft with several additional sectors flying in on ALC and PMI based aircraft.

No cancelled routes with a number of frequency increases.

Brings total so far from 96 up to 114 weekly departures with still a few gaps in the schedule, so new routes I dare say are imminent.

8 aircraft is staggering!! That's probably more than Thomson and Thomas Cook base at Stansted and Luton combined!

I don't believe there was ever this big a gap in the market. It's pretty clear as to why TUI are making capacity cuts north of the river.

Fantastic news....Jet2 to 8 a/c base in just one year of ops....must soon leapfrog into their 2nd largest base after that other MAG airport....& yes looks to be having a detrimental effect on sun route numbers @ neighbouring airports in Essex & Beds.....

I mentioned in a previous post 3848 a few weeks ago that TUI would not be flying long haul from STN in summer 2018 but it was disputed by others.