There are some affluent areas in Essex and Herts, along with a fair few BA card holders.

Not everyone wants to travel with Ryanair or Easy on their jollies.

Just five years ago who would have thought you could cross the pond to Mexico, Florida or Las Vegas from Stansted? Times are changing and it's good to see some diversity at long last.

It will be interesting to see what happens next.

For all the improvements at Stansted it is worth remembering that these BA summer flights are primarily about using BA aircraft that would normally be stuck on the ground at London City airport for 24 hours due to the weekend curfew. Aircraft on the ground means they are paying airport fees but not earning any revenue whatsoever.

Anything else beyond making revenue out of normally curfewed aircraft is purely a bonus to BA.

Note to pedants - yes I know strictly it's BACF but they are 100 % owned (give or take) by BA so as far as IAG shareholders are concerned it is all BA.

Every airline out there is out to make money, it's a given that aircraft on the ground don't make any money. That's why you send them where the money can be made :ok:

Hardly rocket science.

I believe DJ6's point is that some on here are reading too much into these flights - taking them to be a Strategic play by BA with regard to Stansted when they are nothing more than a purely Tactical play to improve aircraft utilisation. Incidentaly they are looking to expand this tactical play to more airports for Summer 17.

LCY parking overnight for the weekend closure between a Saturday am arrival through to Sunday pm departure costs just £134.95 +VAT.

An empty positioning flight would be charged at the full rate according to LCY pricing document and thats from £570 to £1,608.00 charged on the previous arrival.

No wonder that BACF are routing over Berlin to avoid that cost.

I don't think anyone on here is reading too much into it. I'd say that having observed the Stansted thread for many years that most of those who support their local airport and contribute here have a good knowledge of the aviation world and how it works. Same can't be said for some of our neighbouring threads. If the BA flights had gone to 'elsewhere' they would have been met with huge fanfare on here by some fan boys, with the speculation of 'where next?' and the talk of BA operating multiple A380's from XXX- 'stick a pin in a map and choose a destination'. Unfortunately with some of the haters on here, good news at Stansted will always be manipulated or turned in to a negative. Haters will always hate. BA chose to operate flights from Stansted because aircraft sitting idle on the ground at LCY don't make money. As I've said before it's not rocket science, BA did their home work and chose Stansted. Some of you do appear to have an ever growing chip on your shoulder.

Pamann

Excellently worded response, well done :-)

Unfortunately with the amount of paranoia on here, crumbs of good news at Stansted will always be desperately over-hyped....

....there fixed that for you.

Users are warned that any attempt to introduce balance, context or (heaven forbid) educational furtherance into this thread will be considered a crime against the community and punished by veiled references to a building site adjacent to a former refuse tip in Bedfordshire.

Poor post Pamann, I have read back through several pages and nothing I have seen could be regard as negative but more of stating of facts.

While some posts appear to you as coming from people with chips on their shoulders for being what I see as balanced, you could be viewed as having whole potatoes on yours with your narrow Stansted fan posts

Sorry Pamann, smell the coffee come to mind, if you are going to be harsh on others then expect a response from people who would normally not comment on this thread. :yuk:

Does anyone know about a (possibly charter) airline called FlyOne operating flights between Stansted and Chisinau in Moldova ?
FlyOne ? Orar zboruri

Flight times seem different from the Air Moldova flights. I'm trying to work out whether this is a well polished school project, someone's fantasy, or whether this might actually turn into reality

FlyOne
 

Their flights to Antalya appear on the arrivals/departures on the Chisinau Airport website - there's one about to board. Appear to be using A.320 ER-AXJ.

They are definitely an airline but currently operating just holiday charters. London was one of many destinations on their list of intended scheduled services. If they have poached any ex-Air Moldova people then Stansted would be in with a good chance as Air Moldova liked Stansted.

Air moldova
 

Have Air Moldova stopped flying to stansted?

.....Air Moldova liked Stansted last time I spoke to them some time ago and I have no reason to believe that has changed.

...before someone launches into another anti-Stansted conspiracy theory tirade.

Balanced! Some of you wouldn't know balanced if you were given a set of scales!! And my posts are narrow in what respect please? I don't post tripe on here like some. As for being a fan, yes I like Stansted as an airport, but unlike some of the 'airport fans' on here, I don't need to worship it here like its some kind of football team. But I will share what comes to hand news wise. Some of you need to take a step back and accept some criticism! It may just prove that you're more of a balanced individual than trolling an Internet forum with your own agenda.

I don't think there's anything wrong with showing a level of support for an airport you have close links with (and by that I don't mean your favorite to go jetting off on your summer hols or spending an afternoon spotting at)

I like STN as an airport and make no bones about it, I think there's a lot of potential there. I'm generally quite balanced though, I think, with respect to the wider business.

For instance, I don't particularly like LTN airport personally and again I make no bones about it. There's the odd occasion, such as with TO or VY where I think it's a bit of a shame they went for LTN as could have been a good fit for STN. That said, I welcome any new business and development our airports get as I recognize the overall economic benefits, the job creation and strengthened connectivity it brings.

The thing that's frustrating and just plain childish is the ignorance of some of the 'fanboys' on here who sit in their own little magical bubble where the industry seemingly evolves around their favorite airport and any development of any kind at any rival airport is doomed to fail.

To support pamann the following is a fact:

Heathrow
Gatwick
Stansted - 2
London City - 2
Southend - 6
Luton - 8

Two airports stick out as having far more posts than other airports with far more activity. To be fair you can forgive SEN a couple of threads given the amount to discuss from the airport's rise. But overall this says to me that talk doesn't translate to tangible news.

Thanks guys for backing me up :)

By order of popularity on pprune LHR should be a regional airport on par with Teeside!

For some on here it will always be a popularity contest with a clear display of sour grapes on occasion. When you've been on pprune long enough you know exactly who they are and can predict their posts.

Well only the brave are going to bother posting anything other than "oh Stansted I love you so much and wanna have your baby" on a thread that seems to be policed by the MAG PR mafia

veiled poke at LTNman again I assume (must be something about the name), well to his credit he does a damn fine job of keeping those of us not local informed about what is happening at his namesake aerodrome - both good and questionable

Sorry - now I realise you are being ironic, good one..!

The best thing Pamann can do is to not read the Luton threads but we all know that he will because he can't keep away or stop having digs at others.

FRatSTN states he doesn't particularly like Luton. Well I will tell you something, neither do I. The place is a shocker and I say so but it is posing a real threat to its Essex neighbour and a few fan boys here don't like it.

One of the reasons for all the LTN posts is because so much is going on. If posts here are far a few between then I suspect there is very little going on or no one can be bothered to report the news and YES trivia. Trivia keeps the thread ticking along but trivia to some is news to others.

On the Luton history thread there are nearly 1500 posts and 293,000 hits. There isn't a Stansted history thread because no one is interested in starting one. So why is that then?

What will be interesting is when Luton gets a terminal to London travel time of 30 minutes, which is planned for by 2020, but even if it knocks 20 minutes off the Stansted travel time Stansted will always be the better airport for no other reason than it has the room and space that Luton lacks but it will reinforce the view of many that Stansted is further out from London than it really is.

So from 2020 Travel times to London:

Heathow 15 minutes
Gatwick 30 minutes
Luton 30 minutes
Stansted 47-53 minutes and no overnight rail service

Not looking good is it?

To be fair LTNMan you need to chill because I for one wasn't having a dig at you. In general I think your posts have matured in your older days and are generally balanced compared to your earlier ones which showed a huge lean towards that airport on a hill. However, as for reading the LTN thread, if I'm honest weekly updates of amateur photos of half built car parks, hangers and general building mess don't really do it for me, so I'll use my spare time wisely and pass on that one thank you. I'm sure the usual Lutonian fan club enjoy it as you seem to have them praying at your feet with your posts.

And one other thing, why are you so obsessed with travel times to London by train? Do you think everyone lives in London and everyone wants to travel by train? You believe this to be the number 1 reason for an airport's popularity? If so why is Luton not as popular in reality as your fan boys thread seems to be? To be honest Stansted is easier than Luton from where I live and I happen to have a London post code. Luton is a total ball ache of an airport to get to and hardly fills me with joy so I tend to avoid it like the plague where I can (my personal view of course). So you are basing all these travel times and distances on a belief that every London passenger, in fact every London airport passenger originates or resides in Charring Cross? Your system is flawed. Ever considered that some folk arrive at an airport by coach or by car? Stansted has the biggest use of public transport of any UK airport when arriving or departing by coach. It also has one of, if not the biggest open air car park in the whole of Europe. So based on those two points do we 'Stansted' win two points in your stupid game of 'My airport is better than yours'?
Please? Haha

So everyone sees the battle between STN and LTN, which STN has clearly won and will continue to do so as it has the capacity to allow Ryanair to grow but it has never come close to taking on Gatwick.

With regards to Gatwick and Stansted, Stansted is the equivalent of Luton when comparing Gatwick to Stansted. So far, for all the money MAG have put into the place nothing has changed and still it hasn't picked up a single long haul passenger scheduled service.

I can't help but think that STN should be doing better as most of its growth is once again coming from the Irish Harp and as history has shown they can just as easily remove it if they don't get their own way.

Here we go again

Yawn :hmm:

Absolutely not, you have come to your own conclusion about that.

True, but 8 threads worth? In that time LHR got themselves a brand new terminal plus total renovation of another, not to mention the never-ending saga of the additional runway. LGW has had much work, plus the push for a new runway. STN had the rejected runway, a new owner and a lot of work. LCY have had a new owner and proposals for development. SEN pax-wise effectively got themselves a brand new airport. LTNman, I find your development updates interesting but I'm afraid that thread also has a lot of hot air.

That sounds like total rubbish. Please back up that statement with some facts please.

Public transport is key to an airport being successful and should be promoted by all parties.
So would I if I didn't live so close to it

I can second that... STN does have the highest proportion of passengers using public transport of any UK airport. I think it's about 40%. I can't be bothered at the moment to find a link to be brutally honest, but should be quite easy to find somewhere.

So on to some real news ...

The Ryanair route from Stansted to Oslo Rygge will transfer to Oslo Gardermoen from
29 Oct 2016 due to new tax laws.

Actually you are way out with an under estimate but you are right that Stansted does indeed lead the way.
Public or private transport, how do you get to the airport? Latest CAA passenger survey highlights stark regional variations | UK Civil Aviation Authority

Yesterday the Independent on-line reported the launch of a new airline which plans to fly between Stansted and Amritsar and Ahmedabad in India using an Airbus A330-300. Called flyPOP - "People over Profit" it is being part funded through crowdfunding and aims to give 51% of all profits to charity. It was officially launched on Sunday at the Indian High Commission in London and has quite an impressive website. It proposes operating as low-cost all economy.

The idea of POP is appealing initially but I'm not sure it's a good idea. Airlines like any other company need to make a decent profit for shareholders, and to be able to comfortably pay off any money they borrow in the form of debt, AND reinvest in their product and people. If not, the outcome is often (eventually) customers finding their airline has financial difficulties and the original flight timetable not being honouref

Very nice website it looks very good not a school boy project by a long shot
Hope it works out for them.

Well you've got to say they seem to have thought it out and put a lot of work in before rushing out for PR - which is always a good sign and it does not seem to be run by an ex-pilot which is another :E

Whether a "crowd funded charity shop" model will work in the airline industry remains to be seen, I predict a bumpy financial ride, but then they said Branson was crazy back when he started, and in the words of GBS "all progress depends on the irrational man".

This bit made me smile:
"First 7000 Gold Pass investors to have their name on aircraft belly of POP’s fleet"
That's one complicated decal - unless it's going to be one aircraft each?!

Lots of holding for Stansted tonight anyone know why? Poss weather?
Also see that according to flight radar 24 flight FR211 DUB - STN diverted to LHR
And and EZY to SEN.

Poor visibility. LVP's in place.

I really like the flyPOP livery. The name may have to grow on me.

In fact their website with the coloured circles reminds me of the old Stansted based 'Go-Fly' ads.

yes they had already been christened "goPOP" in our office :O

FlyOne.aero
 

Can't see this mentioned in previous posts and have not heard any chatter.

Fly One has been operating charter flights to Antalya, Heraklion, Rhodes, since April, 2016 and starting with June 2016, it will have regular flights to 9 European and Russian destinations as Verona, Parma, London Stansted, Dublin, Lisbon, Barcelona, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Voronezh..

FlyOne is a Moldovan airline operating from Chisinau. 2 weekly flights starting 27th June with planned A320 aircraft.