No surprise at all unfortunately. It's hard to make an argument for Wizz staying at SEN once European flying restarts in a more organised way.

With close by LTN serving Wizz and once RYR jumped on the same routes, it was never going to succeed!

Looks like Ryanair are having a cull at Southend this winter with only 1 based aircraft operating between Friday - Monday

SEN - ALC - SEN - AGP - SEN - DUB - SEN

Better than nothing and they have left the door open for better days.

The Spring 2021 schedule currently seems to need two aircraft to operate it. It's possible, of course, that additions may be made to that schedule in coming months.

Not good but surely the good times will return at Southend in the medium term.

https://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/185...us-worse-9-11/

Wizz have dropped its Vilnius route but Bucharest remains 3x weekly. The app only shows routes which are bookable and is sometimes more accurate than the website (which shows a number of routes from around Europe with no available dates)

There is an element of whistling in the dark, but also some truth in what Glyn Jones says:“There are two things in our favour, the first is we are still very largely a leisure-based airport, leisure will come back before business for practical reasons.

“We’re a short haul airport and I think we have got a good chance of coming back early and a chance of getting more share, but you have to work really hard for it.”

Time will tell.....

Southend looks to remain a three aircraft RYR base next summer with the Summer 2021 schedules starting to appear on their website. So far ALC, REU, CFU, DUB, FAO, AGP and PMI are bookable and presumably other destinations will appear, as RYR normally drip-feed their route releases.

Unlike local rivals Luton, Gatwick and Stansted?!?

Wideroe have announced a new Bergen to Southend service operating 2x weekly on their E190-E2 from 31 August 2020.

Flights operate on Mondays and Fridays

BGO 8:30 - 9:20 SEN
SEN 9:50 - 12:50 BGO

Are they going to fly to Bergen from every London airport?!

Sadly I think this may be temporary, they’ve got slots at LCY I believe so wouldn’t be surprised if both this and Kristiansand shift over come winter

Why wouldn’t they go straight into LCY now if that’s the plan for winter, it’s not exactly full?

I think payload would be an issue LCY-KRS on the Q400

You could be right as far as BGO is concerned because it's only bookable from SEN between August 31st and October 19th. KRS seems less likely as that is bookable from SEN right through to Summer 2021, when it increases to a daily frequency.

https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2020...ockdown-eases/

So what is this quote all about?

Maybe the checks are the equivalent of what the Greeks would have given on arrival so it’s a bit like US customs clearance in Dublin? Shame there aren’t many flights between SEN and Greece!

I think Mr Jones has been doing what I call an Everley Brothers - All I have to do is dream, dream, dream!

Might have something to do with the article below. I remember laughing at the time when it was published as it was practically saying it was safe for me to travel from my local airport in Edinburgh but sixty miles down the M8 Glasgow wasn't. Southend was also mentioned as being "Safe"

https://www.thesun.co.uk/travel/1179...-july-airport/

I would imagine the comment stems from this EASA document: Annex 1 to EASA SD No 2020-01 and SD 2020-02

Further update to the above post.

Bergen (BGO) now on sale 2x weekly through to 21 June 2021.
Kristiansand (KRS) remains on sale at 5x weekly, rising to daily from 28 March 2021 through to 24 June 2021

Wideroe have also responded to a specific enquiry regarding a possible move of the BGO route to LCY that it will not be the case.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/travel/1199...newcastle/amp/

easyJet
 

Where do they stand having signed up for 10 years with SEN in 2012?

No doubt there were numerous break clauses in contract!

Terribly bad news for the staff and the airport, not entirely unexpected especially now with the high probability of no-deal Brexit to throw into the toxic mix.

They say a presence will be maintained at all three airports, hard to see SEN having much of a network though as few existing routes are bases.

Perhaps Wizz will be offered a deal they can’t refuse...I can’t see in the imminent future where else replacement would come from.

This is awful news for Southend but Southend was always vulnerable to an Easyjet withdrawal. The surprise is Stansted so it would appear the airline will focus on a single base north and south of the Thames. Southend was always at a disadvantage as it could not offer the airline a 24/7 operation.

The question is will they return when the world gets back to normal? I really hope so but again it might rely on the other London Airports becoming full again with Southend catching the overflow.

The worst case scenario is that passenger services become unviable for Southend and Stobart closes the terminal to cut costs. I can’t see Ryanair doing much at Southend as their focus will be at Stansted. As for Wizz it can only be a matter of time.

Stansted is not a shock, Jet2 have pushed their way to No2 at Stansted with massive growth, Easyjet just stayed stagnant, I’m surprised they have stuck around this long.

Sad news for the airport and its staff and seems that EZY are going forward with a London two base strategy north and south of the river. Remains to be seen how much appetite there will be from EZY to continue non based flying and would imagine this will reduce to a handful of destinations from current EZY bases. RYR may jump on certain routes although now is not the right time for large expansion, unless you are Wizz who seem to be throwing caution to the wind throughout Europe and may see this as an opportunity, but with Luton close by and Wizz’s determination seemingly to grow Gatwick, SEN is probably not being thought of!

It will be fascinating to see what messrs Brady and Jones have to say about the latest bad news for the airport. Probably Wizz to follow - expand at Gatwick and consolidate at Luton.

Warwick Brady will say the same as usual that SEN is doing well and will only grow, he is blind to what is going on and refuses to accept that the situation is not good and future is going to be extremely difficult, he is simply in denial if you will.

I wholeheartedly concur. My surprise is both SEN and STN being cut

Same, I think one might be saved by the end of the consultation

Wizzair have picked up enough slots at Gatwick to base 4 airframes this winter.

Ryanair quoted today that if the price is right a 15+ airframe base could happen at Gatwick.

Don’t agree, EZY operating at SEN, LTN and STN may have been ok in normal times pre Covid but the fact that they are all within touching distance of each other and serving predominantly the same destinations, over capacity is no longer a problem and EZY can pick and choose where they wish to place aircraft, staff and reduce overheads! SEN has to be careful or else RYR and Wizz will also exit what with LGW looking to slot fill the BA/Virgin departures!

The Stobart Group prospectus that was published a few weeks back to support the shareholder fund raise, explicitly stated that none of the based airlines are contractually obliged to keep a minimum number of aircraft at the airport. Given the millions that the airport has spent on route development fees ( aka airline incentives) I was surprised that none of the airlines are obliged to stick around. I cautioned against these sweetheart deals from the beginning. Yes, I know route development incentives are common place but if you truly believe you are the owners of a London airport that provides additional capacity in a squeezed marketplace, why pay the airlines to turn up? And if you do pay them, write into the deal that they stay, at least long enough to show the airport a positive return on investment.

What are you expecting him to say publicly? Very few business leaders are going to say “well the company is f**ked”.

From the recently published Stobart Group prospectus:

Actions taken by these significant customers such as reductions in operations or the use of the Group’s services could materially adversely affect the Group. Stobart Aviation is particularly exposed to this risk, as the operating contracts with the airlines operating at the Group’s airports do not commit either party to specific volumes of activity. There can therefore be no assurance as to the level of the Group’s future aeronautical revenue from any one or more airline operators. However, even where the Group does have contracts in place with its significant customers, if these customers suffer financial difficulties they may be unable to fulfil their contractual obligations.

A year ago Stobart must have thought the world was their lobster. Not 1 not 2 but 3 LCC’s, a 30% stake in a regional airline that would bring many a new route SEN’s way and pax numbers rapidly growing towards levels they’d promised for years.

Then the Flybe purchase started to go horribly wrong.

Then Covid-19. The weakness of the airport exposed and their even, by now, hopelessly weaker owners probably unable to do anything to dig in, especially when the government support dies up.

So so what does the future hold for SEN? I don’t know, but I’m saddened by events and in no mood to kick anyone when they’re down. Not even Warwick Brady.

Addition:

https://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/185...syjet-closure/

I suppose, clutching at straws, that there is one card left to play as the 10 year deal winds down. Stobart could always offer say 5 years more of sweetness, something STN would not be able to do even if they were daft enough.

The question is was Southend told by Easyjet that they were off or did Easyjet and Stobart hold negotiations and could not agree a new deal?