As TartinTon says, it is largely because the French public are still fairly Air France fixated and will be happier booking CFR-SEN and RNS-SEN under an AF flight number. Companies' travel departments will also appreciate being able to do so.

Air France are reportedly considering adding further domestic destinations from CFR so it may be that they would connect with the Flybe flights, although I would think that such connectivity would be limited.

Must confess I'm very surprised at the EZ decision to scrap the Krakow flight. I used it myself three weeks ago and the flight out had the odd empty seat and on the return was full. From what I was told at SEN it was a popular flight. (And hats off to the CC for dealing very capably with a rather obnoxious drunk on the way back. No, not me....)

It was my first time from SEN and I was delighted with it and will certainly use it again. Not to KRK I guess.

From what Expressflight says the KRK route seems to have been a victim of it's own success.

I suppose there's economics and airline economics! :}

EZY
 

EZY at SEN have a sweetheart deal. They can introduce or cancel routes at will. Once the 10 year deal expires they will act commercially - right now it is just as well to welcome the routes they continue to serve.

Krakow flights
 

I too don't understand why EZY are stopping this route. I do wish airlines would at least give some explanation. Do they expect their customers to fly with another airline to London or via a different airport? Obviously yes. If the aircraft were half full it would make sense, or if the route was poorly supported during the winter months, it might all make sense to stop, then start again next Easter. There are no signs of new routes from SEN for next year. Disappointed.

I doubt that there is anything too sinister about their decision. The reason must be that they can make more money with the aircraft on another route from another airport.

Or is it really as simple as that......... ?

Barling Magna
 

You are probably 100% correct.......so does that apply to all the routes from SEN then?

sounthend easy
 

I think it has been said before Airlines are run by accountants nowadays,
so common sense his hard to understand!

I don't think that it applies to the sunshine routes, or to AMS either. I'm sure there's a consistently strong demand for them which enables EZY to make a high enough income yield. EZY will be paying far less to use SEN than they are LGW or LTN, but MAG may have made an enticing deal so that STN is closer to SEN's cost level. I think it's MAG's takeover of STN and subsequent deal with EZY which has led the airline to cut back on its earlier expansion plans from SEN. I can see SEN staying as a 3 aircraft base.

I could be wrong about future growth, of course, and I hope I am.

Well we're certainly not seeing any signs of EZY making any go at all with the MAG agreement at STN.

With Southend being closed to Easyjet overnight stops the airline maximizing the utilization of their Southend based aircraft. Looking at the arrival boards of other Easyjet airports there are a stream of arrivals in the early hours.

Does anyone think this makes a difference to the number of aircraft easyjet are willing to base at Southend seeing that aircraft only make money when they are flying?

I should imagine that the restricted hours during which passenger movements can be scheduled must have some impact on easyJet's thinking. It obviously wasn't a deal-breaker two years ago so I doubt it will be in the future and as long as the SEN operation overall generates sufficient revenues my guess it will stay at about the same size as now. Whether or not that means a 3 or 4 aircraft base for 2015 will become clear in due course - probably the former is my feeling.

As others have mentioned I likewise find it odd that KRK is being dropped. I had heard that it was adversely affecting the LGW-KRK route, and it did look that way in its early months, but recently both routes seem to be achieving good loads and yields.

Did Jota get their RJ out of MSE and into service yet ?

FLYBE/STOBART AIR
 

FLYBE/STOBART AIR adds 2,500 extra seats on its french routes from SEN due to popular demand...FLYBE/STOBART AIR will add an extra 28 FLIGHTS PER WEEK 10 TO RENNES & 18 TO CAEN starting 27 JULY:):):):)

It's actually 28 additional flights over a four week period, not "28 flights per week" as the SEN Press Release incorrectly states.

SEN-CFR will operate 6 x weekly during that period, with Tuesday and Saturday flights having been added, and SEN-RNS gains an additional Saturday flight. It's certainly encouraging that demand on those two routes has exceeded their initial expectations.

Yes, that's excellent news. La Belle France is clearly popular in Essex. Maybe flyBE/Stobart Air should go a little further south and give such places as Tours and La Rochelle a go too.....?

There are some jolly encouraging items copied to Youtube originally produced by the respective authorities / airports / TV in Groningen / Rennes / Antwerp giving publicity to the new SEN Flybe / Stobart services. Also the extra Summer services to the French destinations is the front-page story in todays Southend Echo. One must hope that all publicity is good publicity!!


Sorry to be a complete spotter - but - as a total aside - there is also an interesting Youtube post of a Lufthansa A321(?) performing tests up and down the SEN runway a couple of days ago. Unusual to see such a large aircraft here!!!!

I'd like to see a few ski flights this winter. Geneva is great obviously. But some dedicated ski flights, early morning to salzburg or Innsbruck etc

SARF
 

Apart from seeing it, would you use the route ?

Salzburg. I reckon 4 or 5 times a year. Using that is. Seeing depends on what time they fly over my local

Does anyone "in the know" have any information on what the currently boarded-off shopping / catering areas in the new Terminal extension (airside) are going to be? I am sure I heard some months ago that a new bar was going to open in Summer 2014 - but I may be mistaken. A Wetherspoons would be fantastic!! (I have not used SEN for a couple of months so my apologies if I am behind the times!).