Air AsiaX
 

AirAsia X gears up for London launch-20 November, 2008

Anybody know about aircraft type / fares/ flight timings ?

Aircraft to be used is - A340, as for the rest we will have to wait until tomorrow :ok:.

I will be standing by with my credit card, maybe we will see some very cheap seat offers at the launch.

massive news for London.:D

Air Asia
 

5 x weekly from March, rising to daily, from £99 single. The maximum single fare will be £250. Connections available from £40-80 return to a host of destinations, Australia will be £350-380 return from STN.

Eventually the plan is to have a 5 daily Asia shuttle, though that sounds a little ambitious!

If the fares cited above to Australia are not just opening offers, I'd have thought that "legacy" carriers have much to worry about and that multiple daily flights might actually become reality.

The 5 a day may include MAN and another destnation aswell, I'm guessing DUS.

Maybe 3 x STN, 1 x MAN and DUS

wow
 

looking forward to march 11 to see AIR ASIA X. i have this feeling that it will last longer then max-jet eos etc. from what a mate told me its very hard to get a seat. so i just know this is what stn neads:ok:

APD + airport charges - Method of counting
 

Different airports may have their own way of doing this - I'm interested specifically in STN

An airline has to hand over money for APD to the Govt and charges to an airport per pax - and so there needs to be a way to count the number of pax for which this is due. I'm not interested in how to reclaim this money from an airline - that has been discussed elsewhere. I'm interested only in the method of counting for someone who checks in online. I can see 4 ways of counting this:

1) Pax checks in via Internet and prints boarding card at home
2) Pax presents boarding card at security for a barcode scan
3) Pax presents boarding card at departure gate, with part of the boarding card retained at the gate.
4) Headcount is taken on plane immedaitely prior to dispatch. Let's ignore the possibility of someone demanding to get off the plane after the doors are closed.

Methods 2 and 3 do not match in the event a pax gets waylaid in the shops and is left behind by the airline.

Methods 3 and 4 normally match - but not if the plane stops at STN as an intermediary stop on a flight covering 3 airports. Perhaps a theoretical difference, but nonetheless possible if an airline wishes to fly such a route.

Which method is used to count pax for both APD and airport charges ?

airport security
 

Sat 1
 

This could be said for all UK Airports !

As could the Airfield infringment at STN.
I did notice today passing SR Technics that there is alot more
Airfield vehicles doing laps around the Airfield.

Aaaaaah the good old the horse has bolted so lets lock the stable door technique.:ugh:

Aviance
 

Sorry to hear that Aviance have started laying staff off:(.....such a shame, some decent guys there, wish them all well.

Maybe the answer is buried in one of the 40 preceding pages - but I shall ask anyway:

I was wondering about the purpose of the apron to the right of satellite 3 / the terminal building - other than being a storage area for surplus Ryanair 737s? - as seen here:

Stansted Airport, aerial view at 3600 ft, showing the Terminal building and (from left) Satellites 1, 2 and 3. Below the Terminal is the Short-Stay Car Park and recently contructed Coach Terminal, June 2007. photo,Trackair,aerials,airports,digital,ex

Will the unpaved area be the site of a future satellite - and if so:
- what is the timescale
- how will it be accessible from the terminal?
- why has the area been paved only to some extent?

The area at the north end is indeed for a 4th satellite at some stage in the future. Gate utilisation is still not at the level to require this extra space, runway capacity at peak times and congestion at security are more significant items. The way Stansted has gone low cost with quick turnrounds means the ratio of gate numbers to runway capacity is way down on the design criteria of the 1980s. There aren't lots of long-haul widebodies sat at gates for hours like at Heathrow/Gatwick.

Access plans change over time. Satellite 1 has the cumbersome, very expensive and prone to breakdown Transit, one of those oh-so-brilliant design features of the terminal (like the unventilated toilets situated right in the middle of the main building concourses which pong everything around them) which got architect Sir Norman Foster all his design awards for the structure :rolleyes:; notice the Transit has not been repeated on Satellites 2 (Domestic) and 3 (Ryanair).

For low cost carriers look for a walking pier from the terminal. And when the Transit wears out, look for the same to be installed at Satellite 1.

Thanks. Very helpful insights into the dealing at STN :ok:.

Is the as yet uncovered half of the future satellite 4 apron about to be finished? From the aerial view provided by BAA, it looks as if this area is readied for some kind of paving.

Btw, where is Ryanair storing the droves of withdrawn 737-800s (if MOL is to be believed) over the winter? At STN, DUB or somewhere else ?

Shouldnt they finish Sat 2 before worrying about Sat 4 ?

The area concerned (Echo apron)was built to provide more remote parking for mainly B737-800 size types. The whole area wasn't paved because the business didn't demand it. Should a second runway ever be built then any new taxiways would easily link into this new apron.

Also it's located so if another satellite was to be built it would fit nicely between the two cul-de-sacs (Delta and Echo). As for terminal access to this new satellite if it was a walkway then the very long distance would be a customer service issue. If the transit was extended this would be a very costly project.

Given the present traffic downturn I think it'll be a long time before a new staellite is built. Maybe when Stansted is sold the new operator may look at things differently.

the transit train tunnell was completed there some years back, just needs the satellite to be built was rumoured the bearded one was looking at it but nothing ever came of it.

The transit train tunnel was built to existing Satellite 3 but decision was made to provide link walkway from Terminal, so no station infrastructure exists here at the moment. Any future new satellite between Delta and Echo apron to be served by transit requires extension of existing tunnel and all the station infrastructure that goes with it. Not cheap I think.

On a slightly different track, what is happening with the old "Est bar est" or whatever it was called in Sat 1. It used to be quite pleasing to sit of a late afternoon with a pint and watch the world go by, but it is now all boarded up. Will it be back?