SEN lost BA Cityflyer to STN, not BA. I'm just joining two potential dots. I don't see why Stobart would invest heavily in a luggage system that wasn't going to be used by an affiliated airline at SEN. BA are the only airline at present using AirPortr, with another airline to use the system from next month.

The BA (branded) operations at STN are of so little significance (remind me; was it 4 flights a week in the summer?) that they can't be compared to a decision regarding basing aircraft. I'll still have to eat my hat if it's them though; just seems like not their kind of airport!

For the record & just saying....The w/end Embraer operation @ STN along with some other airports IS British Airways/BAW & the services (of which there were/are 9 destinations this year @ STN for a total of 15 departures per w/end) are operated by BACF who obviously have spare capacity available during LCY`s w/end curfew & also exploiting perceived potential/gaps.
So effectively a win win for both units..Whether it is a permanent model I think no one has ever concluded in the forums..The only permanence & influence I guess being LCY`s obligatory curfew.

I see this morning's flight to Groningen was cancelled, as was the morning flight to Rennes earlier in the week. And it happened last week as well. Always when there's a later flight. Perhaps there's a good explanation.

Oh! It looks as the divert season has officially started.

4th based Easy confirmed from S18
4th based Flybe confirmed from W17
5th based Flybe confirmed from S18

Good explanation? Yes. Both destinations had fog.
SEN received 4 LCY diversions this morning, KLM, 2x Luxair and one FlyBe.

Thanks tophat27dt Can't argue with the facts!

Stobart Results
 

One less London-Rennes service after Vueling announced it is stopping the route from Gatwick.

Did the vueling flight have much of an affect on the sen route to rennes?

Don't think so. It was at a lower frequency to the SEN route so less appealing to business travellers.

Stobart results
 

From what I can fathom at a quick glance, and the results are couched in accountancy mud as is usual for Stobart, the Aviation Division results include the revenue arising from the sale and leaseback of the eight ATR aircraft. That revenue was £115m. I think the stated loss for the aviation division of £896k is therefore understated and the loss of £13m under the adjustments and eliminations heading is in fact attributable to the Aviation Division.

Financials to one side, the total passenger numbers look promising at 610K for the 6 months although this hint of an upturn is dampened when you realise that revenue per passenger is down as are passenger loads on the Stobart Air aircraft.

I still question the wisdom of Stobart trying to grow their airport with flights operated by their own airline - it makes little financial sense but I'm guessing they are trying to show other airlines that Southend can generate traffic. Only time will tell but 2.5m pax by 2018 is not an achievable target anymore.

Now I know I've said before I'm a premium bond man, but should I be tempted by this statement from Stobart's report?

"The Group has the financial resources in place to support the dividend to 2022 at which point the dividend will be supported through operating income".


Can't lose..... can I?

Directorspeak for “By 2022 we’ll run out of things to sell and then we’ll fund a dividend by actually making money”.

"hopefully"....

If they can see 5 years into the future, it should be easy for them to tell me next weeks lottery numbers......

4.5 p a quarter.
Over 6 per cent yield
There is nothing wrong with selling assets for a profit and returning money to the shareholders via a dividend.
If they sold the airport tomorrow for a billion and returned 3 quid to the share holders and the share price went to 52p. The shareholders would still be happy

It's not sustainable.

When this happens, it's generally in the form of a one off "special dividend". That's not what Stobart are doing. They've sold off assets to prop up a dividend which is not covered by earnings. The honest thing to have done would be to keep the money in the business and make clear it's there to support development of their aviation business.

A billion! Dream on...... You are aware that Stobart don't actually own the leasehold to SEN, aren't you?

Pardon? Who does own the leasehold then?

My apologies - I meant the freehold.......