Ryanair launching 2x daily Frankfurt am Main in W17.

I was under the impression that TUI are not operating long haul from STN for summer 2018 I had read it somewhere it could have been on here or one of the several online travel websites, which is a real shame as I was hoping for more long haul expansion from TUI at STN. Maybe at some VS may consider adding a STN to Orlando flight in a similar way as they do at BFS and GLA.

I was under the impression long haul was only cancelled for the winter months and returning in S18. Flights aren't out yet so we will have to wait and see, unless anyone has a link on the flights being cancelled all together?

The British are an odd bunch, wanting to go long-haul in the summer months during hurricane or monsoon season. Crazy when you consider that the weather is probably a lot better with just a 2-4 hour flight within Europe in the summer months.

I wouldn't be surprised however if we see MBJ/CUN return for summer '18 seeing as these are both key markets and growth areas for Thomson/TUI specifically.

I am always puzzled by the UK PAX going to Florida in the summer. The Americans must think we're mad. They only go there in the winter. Did you know that the Agusta golf course in Georgia closes for the summer after the Masters?

Simply because it's CHEAP! Being to Florida many times but only in November, February and March.

Depends on your definition of 'Cheap' I guess. But two weeks in Orlando or Cancun in August is 99% more likely to be more expensive than the same two weeks spent in say Corfu.

What I was meaning is that it is far cheaper in the summer than in the winter months - October to March - not comparing with European summer holidays.

LOL read some of the reviews of the Canary Island hotels from the summer on trip advisor or some of the travel reviews sites........
No air conditioning ,
too hot
too sunny
brouchure said it wouldn't be that hot.etc etc

Kind of like you heading to equator in Summer and you expect it to be mild.

Reading the traveller review sites is hilarious as Americans insist that for a 11am flight from Heathrow / Gatwick you should stay overnight as trains out of London won't work etc etc and be at airport for 7am. Europeans a lot more chilled thinking an hour is ok,

Regarding Brits abroad - I know it is a little of piste so to speak - but my partner and I were having the usual fish meal at a chiringuito (beach bar) when a Brit shouted to a waiter 'do you do apple pies here mate'. We wanted to slide under the table. A friend of mine complained to me recently when visiting Vietnam and the Philippines that there were no tea or coffee making facilities in the hotel bedrooms. Brits abroad don't you just love them!j

I remember a nice lady in Egypt shouting to her partner. "they don't do proper bacon" don't we just love them!

Been reading that Stansted-Osijek will stop later this month.
Anyone able to confirm ?

It has already been terminated.

I believe it was because the airport refused to give FR concessions on advertising.

From Travel Mole:

Traffic dips at Stansted

There was a 2% drop in the number of passengers using Stansted last month compared with last February, which the airport blamed on the fact that 2015 was a leap year.

On a 28-day like-for-like basis, passenger numbers were up by 24,000, a 1.4% rise over the previous year, it said.

However, the airport also admitted that it had been affected by a temporary reduction in Ryanair capacity on some routes over the winter.

In the 12 months to February 2017, the airport handled 24.3 million passengers, a 6.1% increase over the previous year.

CEO Andrew Cowan said: "The slight drop in passenger numbers during February was anticipated due to the effects of the additional leap year day in 2016 and a temporary reduction in flight frequencies on some Ryanair routes at the tail end of the winter season as previously indicated by the airline last year.

"However, we have already seen this year Ryanair announce a host of new services and increased capacity on a range of popular routes for the summer season as well as British Airways confirming they will offer even more services from Stansted this year.

"This is in addition to Jet2.com preparing to launch its first ever flight and holiday programme in the south-east from Stansted at the end of the month, so we are extremely confident we will see strong growth return and the airport top 25 million passengers a year for the first time in the very near future."

Maybe that overcrowded airport to the west had a 35 day February?:E

easyJet grew seat capacity at STN by 6% during 2016, making it EZY's 2nd fastest growing 'London' airport after Luton.

Only tiny increase, but still good to see.


This summer, STN will represent approximately 10% of EZY's London capacity.

I still personally believe Paris and Zurich are two massive gaps in STN's route network. With demand for Zurich growing and CityJet/Flybe withdrawal of Paris Orly/CDG routes from LCY that accounted for 100,000+ pax p.a. EZY should jump on these routes here and finally show some firm commitment.

Eurowings; Salzburg
 

New route STN to SZG starting 29th October 2017, 4x weekly.

Arr. STN 18:25 1357
Deps. STN 19:10 1357
A320

with the few flights that EZY do 30,308 people flew to CDG from SEN last year that aint bad for the 1st year ,so maybe another few flights from STN might be a good thing for both airports

Is that in addition to the Euro wings service to Munich?

Yes.

From October Eurowings will operate up to 8 daily flights.

W17/18
Cologne (1-3 daily)
Hannover (6 weekly)
Stuttgart (1-2 daily)
Vienna (6 weekly)
Munich (6 weekly)
Salzburg (4 weekly)

On Wednesday 22 March 2017 it was announced on RoutesOnline that Kuwait Airways will be using Stansted as a tech stop rather than Shannon on it's daily Kuwait to New York JFK route using Boeing 773 aircraft.

Arrival times at STN from Kuwait are at 14.00 with a departure to New York JFK at 16.30, the return flight from JFK to Kuwait will be non stop, the airline has no traffic rights from STN to JFK but I'm not aware if they do from Kuwait to STN.

Good to see Kuwait Airways using Stansted albeit only a tech stop and especially it being another middle eastern one adding to the airports ever increasing portfolio of airlines.

I hope MAG can eventually secure Emirates to STN in the forseable future and try and poach back EL AL and also maybe give a 'sweetener' to Vueling for transferring there small amount of flights over from Luton.

2.5 hours tech stop? I'm guessing passengers remain on board whilst it's refuelled? Crew change?

Full re-screening of pax and baggage, as long as KWI airport security is not to Trump's liking. Previously the westbound KU flights to USA were going via SNN for same reason.

EasyJet W17/18
 

Little change so far with EZYs W17/18 schedule. Perhaps the odd increased frequency here and there, No routes dropped and stays at 6x A319s and 1x A320 based.

EZY @ STN
 

Quite surprised that Malaga isn't even daily in the winter? Though I'm guessing this isn't the first winter the schedule has been sporadic? It's been a while since I've taken any notice of the EZY schedules.

It's a shame they don't make more of STN. I did wonder if it would be used as a bargaining tool against LTN, but if that was the case you'd expect them to do more than launch a once weekly service to MAH this summer to give it some credibility?

My only thoughts are they must be making some yield on the routes they operate ex STN to make the operation worthwhile?

EasyJet's relationship with Stansted is still probably better than Ryanair's relationship with Luton after their raiding party on Luton's most popular route although I can still remember the big announcement by Stansted management about their agreement with easyjet for a massive increase in numbers. For whatever reason it never happened.

I think the Flybe slot sale at Gatwick happened.
It's 100% logical that EZY put their effort into maximising their operation at EGKK.
Luton is their home airport so EGSS will always be at best their 3rd London priority.

Every spare airframe goes to EGKK or EGGW while there is capacity. Knowing the new airframes from airbus are late I'm actually surprised EGSS has retained based numbers over the past couple of years. As capacity starts to run out there is a chance of EZY expansion at EGSS in the next couple of years but I suspect only on routes with decent yeild where they don't fly/have enough capacity from EGGW

whitelighter

Without coming across as being pedantic but could you possibly use the correct airport IATA codes than your own personal ones as your post is rather confusing to say the least.

Gatwick LGW
Luton LTN
Stansted STN

I think he is using ICAO codes albeit 50% of them:

Gatwick EGKK
Luton EGGW
Stansted EGSS

Forgive me, I assumed we all knew the airports under discussion were in the U.K. So omitted the EG from the designator.

I think the IATA codes are generally easier for everyone.

So with the Kuwait airways transit KWI STN JFK flight how will the passengers transit?

With 330+ capacity it will be the largest regular pax jet into STN, with that many pax how will they physically transit? Will they screen and stay in sat 1 or will they somehow be re-screened and sent back to the main departure lounge? Possibly spending £££ in the main terminal/shopping centre.
2.5 hr transit time is quite long.

STN-LDY with Ryanair finished today after 17 years.

When does the BMI replacement start (assuming LDY = Londonderry)

whitelighter

BMI commence STN to LDY on the 02 May 2017.

The answer to your question plus your recent enquiry concerning the LGW to CPT flights on the Gatwick forum can easily be obtained by searching Google or the relevant airports Wikipedia pages, honest it takes seconds it really does and it's so much nicer when you find the information yourself.

I haven't posted on the Gatwick thread any such enquiry

Though thanks for the info on the BMI service

whitelighter

My apologies it was someone else on the Gatwick forum that asked about the BA Cape Town flights not yourself.

Probably a daft question, but why does a Boeing 777-300 need a tech stop? 5,500 nautical miles, so around 12-13 hour sector?

It's not necessarily a 'tech stop' for refuelling as obviously a Boeing 777-300ER can make it from Kuwait to JFK non stop, as with the previous Shannon tech stop and similar to Pakistan Internationals stop at Manchester on route from Pakistan to JFK it has more to do with US immigration issues as the country doesn't allow direct flights from these two countries. Am sure someone else can put it in a more eloquent fashion.

Deeper investigation.

Did Kuwait Kick Out United Airlines In Retaliation Against US Government Non-Discrimination Rules? - View from the Wing