That will be a first!
http://www.augk18.dsl.pipex.com/Smileys/hidecouch.gif

Told today that ES have now declined to pursue the purchase, anyone confirm.

Interesting if that is the case, as I believe there were no other bidders willing to pay the hefty price tag that RAL wanted . . .

They should of sold the airport months back, they could of got a lot more for it . . ..

HZ123


...... and I have been told this morning that the information you received two days ago was incorrect.

Sorry to disappoint you.

So we can expect ES to be named as the new buyers soon then?

Interesting, I wonder if they actually have the original amount of capital that was requested to develop the airport . . . orwill they mainly focus on a freighth hub for their fleet of trucks?

whats happened to FLYWATCH?
 

Their website says they have suspended AOC operations!! Have they closed down? is the owner Tony Gunn still flying?

Flywatch - back in the spring?
 

According to CAA website:

OL/B/542 Flywatch Ltd - This Operating Licence has been suspended at the licence holder’s request until 25 February 2009.

So perhaps he will be back in the spring when the economic position may be clearer?

Since this thread has popped up again.

Anyone else feel that the sale is turning into a bit of a farce?

Even if it happened today it must surely impact the time-scale, if not the plans themselves, for the developments.

The London Stock Exchange have just announced that the Stobart Group Limited have agreed the acquisition of SEN from RAL.
The purchase price is £21 million of which £5 million will be payable only after certain aspects of the airport's development plan have been achieved (the runway extension planning approval perhaps?).
SEN MD Alastair Welch will become MD of Stobart's air operations, which will include SEN and the Group's wider air-related activities.

Thanks for that!

IIRC that's not the original asking price ?

Also announced on the BBC tonight that Stobart have bought Southend.

A difficult purchase to fathom, especially given Stobart's questionable track record of aviation invesment in these trouble commercial times but hopefully this will turn out to be a success.

No doubt the ability to invest in some infrastructure on the airport site might have swayed Stobart?

Pity Richard Gooding and London City are not heading along the Thames.

I am sure that we all wish the staff of 'Flightline' the very best for the future. To my reckoniing they have been around at least 20 years, they must have earned a small fortune from BA alone but clearly not enough. Sad loss from the aviation scene, a rare company to get the best out of the 146's.

The first stage of a plan to link Cumbria to London and Europe by air has been completed with the owners of Carlisle Airport buying Southend Airport for £21m.
The Stobart Group has signed a deal to acquire the Essex airfield, once London’s third largest, and will immediately begin a multi-million pound programme of improvements.

The purchase is a key plank in Stobart chief Andrew Tinkler’s plans to create a thriving passenger and freight service at Carlisle Airport.

Provided planning permission is given for the Irthington development, Southend would act as a southern hub linking Carlisle to London and Europe.

Southend, which is the closest airport to the site of the London 2012 Olympics, will eventually be linked to the centre of the capital via a high speed train line.

Its runway will also be lengthened to accommodate flights to and from southern Europe; it is currently only able to serve northern European airports.

Mr Tinkler said passengers would eventually be able travel from Carlisle to London’s Liverpool Street station in under one-and-a-half hours. Flights could also be boarded at Southend to destinations like Spain and the south of France.

Mr Tinkler’s plans for Carlisle Airport, which also include moving the Eddie Stobart road haulage business there, will be decided on by Carlisle City Council later this month.

He withdrew the proposal earlier this year after it was ‘called in’ for a public inquiry by the Government, who said it did not fit in with the local plan for the area.

He said he was confident the redrawn plans now complied with the local plan.

He told the News & Star: “This has been going on behind the scenes for a long time, but I couldn’t say anything. I hope this proves how serious I am about Carlisle Airport.”

Mr Tinkler has threatened to move the Stobart business out of Cumbria if the airport development is not permitted by February 2009, when the lease on his Kingstown HQ expires. He added: “People are saying these are threats, but they aren’t. I don’t believe in putting pressure on.”

On the Southend purchase, Mr Tinkler said: “This is part of our plans for a multi-modal business.

“It makes sense for a transport company to own an airport. We are not just about road and rail, but sea and air as well. We need a southern base. Southend was the third largest airport in London and it is the closest to the site of the London Olympics (at Stratford).

“There will be a high speed rail link built which will get you to Liverpool Street station in 49 minutes, which goes through Stratford. That means its as close to the centre of London as Luton or Stansted airports.

“The advantage of Southend, though, is that you don’t fly through London airspace, so you miss out on all that traffic. With express terminals that we are developing at both ends, I think you will be able to get from Carlisle to the centre of London in about one-and-a-half hours, give or take.”

A multi-million pound development plan is on the table for Southend, including a new control tower, terminal building and high-quality hotel, plus the new airport railway station and rail link.

Mr Tinkler said the Stobart Rail arm of the group would take over some of that work, including building the station.

Southend Airport managing director Alistair Welsh keeps his job after the deal.

Stobart is paying the vendor, Regional Airports, an initial £16m for the airport and could pay a further £5m subject to the “achievement of certain aspects of the airport’s development”.

To help finance the deal, the company is raising £11.5m by issuing 15.75m new shares at 73p each. Mr Tinkler is expected to buy a number of those shares.

Stobart will use £10m of the proceeds of the share issue and a £6m vendor loan note to pay the initial £16m.

Southend has been included in the Thames Gateway blueprint plan, projected to become one of the UK’s fastest growing development regions, and which includes the new DP World London Gateway Port, opening nearby in 2010.

Southend, which is the closest airport to the site of the London 2012 Olympics, will eventually be linked to the centre of the capital via a high speed train line.

have they heard of London City?

Second-hand atlas required
 

Noy only is London City almost on the Olympics' doorstep, but Stansted is a couple of miles clcoser to E15 than is Southend. But why let facts get in the way of a bit of promotional spin?

Stobart Group have just announced to the London Stock Exchange that the purchase of Southend Airport was completed today, following the successful share issue to raise much of the funding for the acquisition.

Hopefully we should now see work commence on the railway station, due to open in October 2009, and also progress on the new control tower and airport hotel, all of which form Phase I of the development plan.

HZ123

In the grand scheme of things BA was just like any other customer for Flightline. We did lots of flying for other operators as well! :ok:

Lots of aircraft activity from around 0630 today - rather odd since the airport is supposed to be closed!

Didn't see any of them, but no light aircraft heard.

Good to see that the airport appears to be going somewhere finally!
I really hope the pressure is kept on Mr Tinkler and Mr Welch to actually
get on and put the plans into action as history suggests that this will be another round of broken promises. Although if you head over to STN right now you'll be seeing a round of cost cutting, redundancies and all growth parked whilst the inevitable sale comes about..... Come on Southend willing you to pull it out the bag!!