It will be good to see an early morning arrival next year. After all, it is supposed to be a London airport.

Forgetting the mild sarcasm for a moment, lots and lots of early morning arrivals must have been envisaged at one time. The value of the fast plane to train transfer will really benefit arriving passengers heading for the city. It will be interesting to see how well the 0710 GRQ-SEN does.

Looks like BE are in the process of increasing LYS from the 5 to 6 x Weekly. Extra flight showing as operating on a Saturday. However only LYS-SEN is currently available to book 6 x weekly. SEN-LYS still showing 5 x Weekly

The GRQ aircraft is not really GRQ based, it is a SEN aircraft that night stops in GRQ and then operates a full schedule through SEN.

To me it sounds as work in progress for the schedule to Groningen. I expect the original departure time to Groningen to change to Rennes. This way both could become double daily.

1 GRQ-SEN-GRQ-SEN-ANR/CFR-SEN-MAN-SEN-GRQ
2 SEN-MAN-SEN-RNS-SEN-RNS-SEN-MAN-SEN

Just a guess...

AMERICAN CONNECTIONS
 

Just a bit more info; this gives some idea of ticket prices.

You can now fly to these destinations from Southend Airport | Echo

As was to be expected following yesterday's announced increase in frequencies connecting flights from GRQ to DUB, GLA and MAN are now on sale wef 26th March 2018.

It's not quite sorted yet. For example, only one departure from GRQ offering a connection to MAN is available, and none are available for a return - except on Sunday. (I looked at 8/9th May).

So perhaps there's some more to come as suggested by koninchske.

I think it's more a case that the first GRQ-SEN cannot connect with the first wave DUB, GLA & MAN departures so maybe they're just playing safe offering the middle of the day departures to DUB and MAN/GLA at this stage. I must admit I didn't look at the return flights and having done so I cannot quite see why only a Sunday return from DUB and MAN is bookable.

Maybe there's some more to come as you say but with respect I don't think there's anything in the suggestion made by koninckske regarding additional RNS flights replacing some of the just announced GRQ schedule.

Those connections are pretty bad. There should be connections on the evening wave. The GRQ flight arrives at 17:25 and the flights to Dublin and Manchester depart at 18:30/18:35. So that's a convenient transfer of just one hour. Maybe it has something to do with the minimum connecting time in Southend? Does SEN have transfer facilities like a transfer desk and transfer passageway?

The problem seems to be that Flybe quote a Minimum Connection Time (MCT) of 90 minutes at SEN (the same as for STN and LHR although LCY is only 45 minutes) so the evening connections to DUB and MAN don't work.

That MCT certainly seems excessively long for SEN and perhaps they should look at that. MCT at MAN is only 60 minutes for domestic/international transfers and that would seem more reasonable.

And considering SEN's size and speed of transit you would expect it to be nearer 60mins or maybe even less.

There was also a big press launch today at GRQ for the increased SEN service from April next year. A roughly translated press release reads:

From April 2018 the connection between Groningen and London will be greatly expanded. Flybe, run by Stobart Air, is flying three times a day from Groningen Airport Eelde to London Southend Airport. The unit starts and ends the flights at Groningen Airport Eelde every day. A fantastic development for the airport and for the Netherlands.

Marco van de Kreeke (Director of Groningen Airport Eelde): "With this expansion we offer an excellent product for travellers from Northern Netherlands. For them it is now possible to have breakfast at home, to switch to a meeting at noon and to be home again in the evening. Traveling to London? There is now no further argument to fly from another airport. "The traveller can park directly for the terminal, check in advance immediately and need only 40 minutes before departure. Choosing for Groningen Airport Eelde means choosing time and comfort.

Ciaran Smith (Network Development Manager Stobart Air): "The route between Groningen and London has been a popular connection for business and leisure travellers since the beginning of 2014. We see a great demand for service and want to meet this demand with this expansion of air frequency. Now we can offer our passengers more choice and build our good relationship with Groningen Airport Eelde. "

Transfers to Manchester, Dublin and Glasgow

From April 2018 it is also possible to fly through London Southend Airport with a seamless connection to destinations such as Manchester, Dublin and Glasgow. The transfer times are between 45 and 90 minutes.

Incoming travelers

The expansion is also interesting for the tourist ambitions of Northern Netherlands. Michel Aldering (Marketing Groningen) is pleased with this development: "Due to the direct connection from Groningen Airport Eelde Eelde, the region of London has been one of our focus areas for many years. The expansion of flights will increase accessibility and increase in visiting (business) tourists in Groningen. Which of course is good for the region's economy! "

LCY had low cloud problems this morning so once again SEN attracted 7 or 8 diversions I believe, although their arrivals board was very slow keeping the info up-to-date.
KLM, FlyBe, Luxair and BA Cityflyer. Any news on the type of aircraft Powdair plan to use into SEN soon?

Re the arrivals board, just came across this article from last year.

https://www.internationalairportrevi...rport-systems/

Here are the CAA published pax figures for August.
If anybody knows how to calculate the loads factors, it will be interesting.

Dubrovnik 1543
Zadar 1417
Caen 2091
Lyon 2681
Paris-CDG 4830
Perpignan 1170
Rennes 4719
Cologne 3407
Milan 4127
Venice 1275
Amsterdam 15871
Groningen 2804
Faro 14903
Alicante 12152
Barcelona 4981
Ibiza 3978
Mahon 2375
Malaga 9384
Murcia 2686
Palma 15099
Reus 2700
Prague 4213
Budapest 2479
Vienna 2210
Jersey 5254
Florence 83 (diversion)
Aberdeen 114 (diversion)

TOTAL 128546

CDG is a real stand out figure for me. Didn't think it would survive given the drop in tourist demand after it was launched.

GRONINGEN up 23% on last month, STOBARTS must be pleased with the figs or they wouldn't have increased the flights

GRQ was up 23% on August 2016 I think you mean. July was up 28% on last year as well so very good numbers.

Gaps
 

If I am reading the Flybe roster for S18 correctly they’re still a couple of gaps where routes could be flown.

For instance on a Tuesday the first Dublin returns at 10:00 but doesn’t depart again until 14:40. Glasgow
Returns at 10:45 and then departs for Dubrovnik at 15:10. On Monday’s these gaps are filled by Cologne and Lyon.

Do we think anything else will be added or are these gaps being left as is ?

There also seems to be availability from 13:15 onwards on Saturdays on one aircraft assuming that isn't a line maintenance slot.