Flybe/Stobart split
 

Is it possible to determine which of those destinations will be Stobart flights operated under the Flybe franchise agreement and which are pure Flybe flights?

Wonder if they will get DAME SHIRLEY BASSEY to sing a song about DIAMONDS BEING FOR EVER for the very first flight?

Is this the news everyone was talking about last week or is there still more in the pipeline?

I think this a battle Stobart could win. VLM aren't even selling flights on their website yet for flights beginning at the end of the month. Plus perhaps people will no longer trust VLM given they went bust last time.

Altho not related to the SEN news....All over the business & travel press this AM that shares in BEE dropped up to a fifth this morning on a profits warning blaming higher mx costs on the Dash...

Also the post about the new Antwerp has since been removed from their Facebook page. Bit strange that...

The Flybe timetable will clarify. At present the E195 flights are shown as operated by "Flybe on behalf of Stobart Air". With the start of the winter schedule this changes to "Stobart Air". I am guessing this might be connected with Stobart putting the E195s on their own AOC.

I don't see anything particularly significant in this new announcement. The increase in the SEN fleet by one ATR72 and one E195 is already known. 230 flights presumably means 115 rotations per week, which is about right for 2xATR and 3xE195 in peak season. 15 destinations would suggest that three of last summers seasonal routes will not return, and the additional aircraft may thicken up the schedules on the remaining routes.

Antwerp may have disappeared from the Facebook page but it's still showing on Twitter. Anyway, why are they doing Antwerp? Haven't they already been there, done that and withdrawn? Wasn't that where they based an ATR overnight for an early flight in? Or am I confusing it with somewhere else?

It's also just been announced in an article on the Southend Echo website....not that an Echo story is a guarantee
of anything, let alone facts.

It's probably a better time to launch a SEN-ANR route than before considering that CityJet have pulled out and VLM are going through a restart process. Perhaps passengers will see BE/STOB as a more reliable/certain and cheaper airline to fly with?

We can trust the Echo on this occasion. This is clearly a press release from Stobart. If there were other destinations planned I think there would have been a hint.

Even though Reus, Venice and Perpignan have gone, personally I think that overall the introduction of the new routes this year can now be considered a success. What do others think?

Higher frequencies on the remaining routes is certainly a good idea. I know some people who would have flown from SEN had there been a more convenient flight time and day. Think generally the numbers have been quite good on the remaining new routes - perhaps someone has more details on performance to prove/disprove this?

My experience of Antwerp is that it's a great city and if you live in Essex the SEN service made for a very easy journey.

Unfortunately my flights had loads of 15, 12, 12 and 9. I'm not really sure what is so different now, if you need a train from SEN to London you might as well have just got one to Brussels and made your way from there at greater frequency.

No. This has nothing to do with the negotiations which apparently are delayed one month. Personally, I think if we hear nothing by 1st November, we can forget about that one, and move on. Not all exciting plans work out.

Antwerp. I was a bit surprised by this announcement. Was it all set up before VLM announced their 4x daily from LCY? But if marketed well as a summer short break city (both ways) perhaps the 4 flights a week could attract profitable loads. The old town in Antwerp is great for 3 or 4 nights, and Belgian beer is very good.

At 4 flights a week this is clearly aimed at leisure pax, hence why there was no rush to start it at the end of October when the CityJet flights cease.

Just looked at a tweet from the airport, and read the report in the Echo again. Maybe I'm wrong, but it's the first time I can recall ever seeing (in the context of announcing a new route) Stobart Air featuring rather than just Flybe.

It's looking very much that way.

Phase two (particular in the case of Manchester...) seems far more risky, so it'll be interesting to see how those go. When they announced the big expansion I said it was an interesting test that would demonstrate the capabilities of the airport. I think they've done that and that they've demonstrated what kind of routes can (and can't) work. I think the demonstration may have turned out well for them; it looks like there are lots of types of route that can work, and I suspect they might find airlines interested in (and able to) operate some of them.

Obviously the limits on the airport are unfortunate (I feel from what we have seen that it is likely Air Baltic could in commerical terms operate a C-series to Riga; would that work practically?), but I think that makes the demonstration they've provided all the more important and useful!

Wonder if there is a link between Stobart investing £2million in the new AirPortr luggage delivery service and BA, since at the moment BA seems to be the only airline signed up? Why would Stobart invest in a luggage system that isn't used by any airlines at SEN? Maybe just a company with potential and a mere coincidence.

Don't tell me that BA is the mystery news....... SEN lost that opportunity a while ago, I thought.