LTN man and his google
 

not sure which route your google map was taking you to stansted, but mine said from the centre on london by road to LTN AIRPORT 55 mins and STN AIRPORT 1 hour 2mins........7 mins longer

if you go from liverpool st station to LTN its 59 mins and the station is still 6 mins away by bus....liverpool st to STN is 52 mins and the station is under the terminal...hopping distance....even with the biggest bag.

i think that makes us about equal.

apart from all the fog and snow you get in the winter that is.:{

Fog at Ltn
 

Airport equipped with suitable landing system so fog not too much of a problem. Just mention fog/snow at EGLL...even bigger problems.

It will also be interesting to see how LTN deals with an ELAL B777 as STN did this weekend, fully loaded - would it even get out?

GRIZZLER, the Jewish community does not live anywhere near Liverpool Street or Central London. It is at the bottom of the M1.

G-APDK, well are you saying a national flag carrier does not look into such issues?

Time will tell - as I hope the mud slinging will stop. We are in a resession and airlines are looking at cutting costs which Luton now gives the over Stansted.

I used Stanmore for Google map as the place is full of Jews but so is Mill Hill and the surrounding area, which also sits alongside the M1 and the rail route to LTN. I am sure there are other areas of London that have large Jewish communities but I don't know where they are which might suit Stansted.

G-APDK you clearly don't understand. "fully loaded" what ? With pax? Fuel? Pax and fuel? Pax and fuel and cargo? If so it wouldn't need max fuel to get to Israel. What do you mean?
Silly old El Al, not realising the length of the runway. Get real!

B777 from london to Tel Aviv.....

Full of pax....full of cargo.....

It still wouldnt need anywhere near full fuel to get there.....

Think of the range of a B777 - think of the distance to Tel Aviv....no comparison

Hey

Does anyone know why there is no STN-Paris flight at all? I would have thought, as STN is a major London airport with the UK's largest LoCo's based there that there would be a few more flights to places such as Paris and Brussels. I know the channel tunnel is there to compete but EZY seem to do well on their LTN-CDG flight so why not something similar from STN? Maybe by FR to compete?

Valid point, if LTN can run a service when the Eurostar is only a 22 minute train ride away from the airport why can’t Stansted run a service when access to the Eurostar means a trek across London.

To address 2 posts...

Jewish community in London is centred on Hendon, but spreads from Belsize Park all the way up to Elstree - a lot Jews in their 20s and 30s have ended up moving to Borehamwood. The Jewish community in the East End of London is really quite small now, and the number of Jews in places like Ilford is shrinking - Ilford is increasingly becoming more of an Asian community.

The dominant LCC at STN is Ryanair. I believe they tried a Stansted-Brussels Charleroi route a few years ago (Eurostar at the time were running from Waterloo) but that it was dropped fairly quickly, presumably because the train was still too quick in comparison. A Stansted-Beauvais route would probably have the same problems. Easyjet have been shrinking STN as it's not a great money-maker. Which other airline would want to run a STN-Paris route ?

The only flights from London to Brussels are currently from LHR surely STN or LTN could at least support a twice daily flight? But obviously Ryanair found it unprofitable but maybe if easyJet operated the route into Brussels intentional they would have more success? Also does anyone know why easyJet sees STN as so unprofitable? They haven’t shrunk it that much there is still 14 A/C based there. They have just cut routes and increased frequencies on other routes.

Couple of points,

1) Brussels Airlines flys into LGW,

2) Did hear easyJet are transfering routes from STN to LGW( Any truth ? )

Hope You Enjoy The Security
 

We will miss the ELAL at STN, but not the security that goes with it......yes i know we and they need it.....but they are well over the top....i hope you boys and girls at LTN have got a good sense of humour.....first empty your pockets...no chewing gum if found,mobiles are a no no...then body search including soles of the feet.....then metal detector search....when your zip fly goes off they want you to undo your belt and look in your trousers....i dont think they have metal zips in israel....they use velcro....on more than one occasion myself and three others have dropped our trousers at the top of the stand to prove we have no metal objects on us .....it was that or he wanted to put his hand inside to feel.......this is no joke ...it was that, or they would not let us near the plane...also a colleague has a metal gauze patch fitted over his hernia...that made the metal detector go off so he did not get near the plane ....and they follow you about as if you are on a day trip from gazza.....if they loose sight of you or you go near a vehicle you are searched again.....ENJOY.

and i have not met one yet that would win the MR or MRS personality of the year award.

What's wrong with England footballers from the 1990s ?

ryand36 - VLM (Cityjet) also fly to Brussels from LCY

Good News For Stansted
 

London, April 21 2009 – AirAsia X has announced that commencing 1st July 2009, it will increase the frequency of its flights between London, Stansted and Kuala Lumpur to a daily service. Since its inaugural flight in March, the low-cost long haul airline has operated five times a week between Stansted and Kuala Lumpur, but unprecedented passenger demand has led to the introduction of a daily service less than four months after its maiden flight. We knew this service would be popular but to increase the frequency so soon is beyond our expectations :D.

AirAsia X CEO Azran Osman-Rani said, “Our aim has always been to open up travel for all. The popularity of the London-KL route is further testament to the pent-up demand for long-haul travel, provided the fares are low and the quality is high. That is the combination that we at AirAsia X are offering our guests. AirAsia X is providing fares people have never seen before for these routes, and making travel more affordable and accessible. From KL people are choosing from over 122 AirAsia routes. We are also offering an affordable and alternative version of the ‘Kangaroo Route’ – all the way from London via KL to Melbourne, Perth and the Gold Coast in Australia.” :ok:.

PIA is still available to book going forward. Some upcoming flights are showing full. They have some excellent fares available to Dubai - £267 return, all in. Now that is a good deal.

Seems we have some new posters who have not read the rules of PPRuNe. Rules that state you will not abuse, slander, libel, slag-off and make snide remarks.

In the last 10 (TEN) posts I have found the lot.

All of you know NOW that you stay on topic AND without casting aspersions or any of the above - OR you go back whence you came.

Behave in a proper manner please.

AA&R Mods.

PIA at stn
 

So why is the PIA not showing at Stansted?

PIA are taking a break until mid May due to very low loads and no indication of immediate improvement in bookings. Doesn't bode well for the future, but hopefully they will pick up again over the Summer

Pia At Stn
 

the talk is at STN that the PIA will not be back untill the end of september??????:{

Swissport have got the Air Arabia Moroc contract
 

should keep them going for a while

PIA at stn
 

So just when is the PIA coming back to STN? Also noticed BMI a/c at STN today---divert or new route?????

I don't think PIA will be coming back any time soon. They are maxed out with their A310s at LBA, GLA and cameo appearances at MAN!:ok:

BMI are LHR and LHR only...most likely a charter flight.

BMI operate a charter flight to Santorini on a Thursday! :ok:

Sam

Has the bar on Sat 1 gone for good? Used to be nice for a quiet pint and watching the action below. Anyone shed any light?

bmi also start a STN-RHO in july on a wednesday departing at 1720 local and for a few weeks in august on a saturday ABZ-STN-PMI

PIA have removed STN schedule from their website.

Obama's Prefer Stn
 

Obamas wing into Stansted - again -News - Travel and Transport - Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

:ok::ok::ok::ok::ok::ok::ok::ok::ok::ok:

Mainly because it causes so much more pain at Heathrow. Sooooooo much hassle for so many passengers! STN makes more sense.

On that rationale alone, why not make visiting bigwigs use London Manston instead ? Would cause hassle for no passengers ! :E

Alternatively, if (as it seems) the US Govt is finding money is a bit tight at the moment, land at Mildenhall, and by virtue of Obama being commander-in-chief of the USAF, the US won't have to pay any airport fees :8

Obamas
 

Stansted is the airport where all hijacks are sent to. In that respect the British (and US?) security forces will have outstanding knowledge of it and can thus easily plan for a presidential arrival:and they are meticulous.

I don't know if this is apocryphal, but when either Clinton or Bush jnr dropped in a pub for an 'impromtu' pint with Blair during a visit, the place was cased out for four days before, checked for guns and poisonous beer/food etc.

New STN route to Vilnius..............
 

Brand new airline Star1 starts a 4 times a week service to Vilnius from Stansted from the 3rd July.
Star1 Airlines - Home Page

Should I fly with new airline Star1? -Times Online

Good to see STN getting some work in at last.
Does anyone know who there handling agent will be ?

Looks like Aviance may have them

Does not seem that Servisair get anywhere near anything any more... what has gone wrong with them???

Baggage Times
 

Arrived back late last night along with many other fellow passengers and had to wait 1.5 hours for the baggage. I found out that the handling agent had just 03 baggage handlers on shift after midnight!!!

As an ex-ground handler, I know how it can be sometimes and maybe there is a plausable reason andthis is just a one off case however, upon speaking with some of the staff whilst waiting, it was apparent that this was a regular occurence after midnight.

Obviously Safety, customer service, and any Standard Operating Procedures, etc etc have completely gone out of the window for this handling agent.

Back in my day to handle a 737 you HAD to have a minimum amount of staff on each aircraft or the airline/operator penalised you however , back in my day it was exciting and enjoyable working for these airlines/operators ... LOW COST has literally changed it all.

It would be interesting to hear from anyone else who has experienced this or seen these and other handling agents working practices stretched to the limit.

I paid very little for my flight so naturally expected some form of low service but should this be allowed and accepted.

Do the BAA ever enforce anything for this sort of baggage delay or do baggage time checks on these airlines.

BAA publish customer service stats on their web site for each airport and in regard to baggage waiting times the scoring is overall rather than at specific times, so if you arrive at Stansted most times of the day the scoring indicates reasonable waiting times.

It's a while since I've experienced a late evening arrival at Stansted and it wasn't a pleasant experience then. Too many flights and pax arriving in such a short space of time resulting in no one on stand to meet the aircraft so a delay disembarking, once off the aircraft joining the massive queue at immigration which was so long that travelators had to be switched off for health and safety reasons so people weren't queing on a moving walkway. Then to baggage reclaim -if it's after midnight then it's possible the late shift have gone home and leaving just a few nightshifters to deal with the many bags that need offloading from several aircraft. Also it's possible the staff sickness rate increases on Saturday nights leaving even fewer people to do the handling.

Lengthy baggage waiting times during the late evening at Stansted do occasionally occur for these reasons and if several flights arrive a little later than scheduled (after midnight) then this doesn't help.

Stansted appeared to be very busy late last night when I too arrived back - the queues at immigration (EU/EEA only) were very long and (for some reason) the ABC trial gates were not in use.

Although I was travelling with hand baggage only and can't comment on baggage delivery, I'd have thought that the large volume of passengers was predictable given the fact that airlines publish their schedules!

Perhaps there were fewer Ryanair noshows than normal.......(just kidding!)

Immigration queues for arrivals around 11 pm Saturday or Sunday evening in summer (particularly if it's the weekend after a bank holiday) are always long, and holding passengers in staging areas before they reach the immigration hall is surprisingly frequent.