As I have intimated previously and fully agree with you all, it beggars belief why SOU are not putting money in to airside improvements, of which are long overdue and would almost certainly reap rewards very quickly. Easy have dangled a big orange carrot in front of the airport management/AGS and if they still refuse to invest then this could be seen as negligence. With regards to airlines that come and go, SOU is not the only airport to have been affected by this and airlines/routes have been and will always be tested for load factors and yield levels. For all Flybe's faults, they have been a good fit for the SOU model up to now and could still be if they can sort out their many issues. The one underlying priority that SOU requires is competition, both from a choice of destination and price perspective, and this is where a LCC like Easy could thrive, again dependant on much of the above. The airport has never been in a healthier position from a passenger footfall and transport link stand point and it would really be a shame if this was not taken full advantage of now!

Stewyb
I'm afraid you are still not grasping the reality,and that is without stand improvements/extra stands,taxiway introduction,and possibly RW20 starter strip,Easy are not going to entertain a Southampton operation.
The future for Southampton looks clouded at best,unless there is a major change in thinking by the owners and management.
What happened to the important autumn announcement proposed by the MD?
The airport could be flourishing way above its present state,given improvements, especially with London
Airport full capacity,but I fear there's more negatively coming ,with airlines leaving rather then starting at SOU.

Quite the opposite, I have clearly stated that the opportunity to attract a larger Easy presence is a real possibility but this is wholly dependent on airside investment

AGS don't seem to have a great relationship with easyJet at any of their airports.

He made it clear it was based on investment? I don't think anyone is in dispute about that. Good point about the autumn statement. Funny how SOU's resident Napoleon has gone quiet. From past incidents he likes to claim credit for other people's work, so perhaps he was going to claim credit for redevelopment happening at the old Ford site but had a rare moment sense. I did a list a long time ago of the numerous things local to SOU that present opportunities to tap in to. Even I was staggered by the list and I was the one that created it! I mean look no further than Southampton being the cruise capital of Norther Europe! The average ship nowadays holds 2,000-3,000 people and there are often a couple in at once (5 or 6 sometimes!).

This thread really is descending into farce...

Hit the nail on the head. Flymaybe are more of a unfortunate convenience for me though. I have lost count of the amount of flights they have cancelled and the complete disdain shown in response. You expect it from Ryanair but then you are paying peanuts unlike Flymaybe's fares. They have systematically put nearly every other regional out of business and judging by their behaviour north of the boarder lately, they are trying to add another long respected operator to the scrap heap. Plenty of examples of routes operated from SOU that they swamped to push other operators off only to abandon them after a short period of having a monopoly. Brussels or Frankfurt anyone? Surprised Eastern linked up with them after the amount of times they have tried to push them of the Leeds, Newcastle and Aberdeen routes. What about the fact they have started to only release their summer routes in dribs and drabs so people are forced to make alternative arrangements? Unfortunately SOU has small minded management who are in turn in the palms of a poorly run and overly territorial airline. Net result, same old same old.

Does the easyJet flight take up two stands?

easyJet operates Geneva from a number of UK airports and nothing else. Even Birmingham only gets a couple of other destinations out of them - Belfast and Grenoble.

It was easyJet Switzerland and not easyJet that decided to fly into SOU. Their commercial teams are run almost at arms-length.

If I was SOU management I would also be a little hesitant to allow easyJet to compete with Flybe on too many of their services for fear of losing Flybe. easyJet isn't a perfect fit for SOU given operational limitations mentioned ad-nauseam.

EasyJet are continuing into mid April with the Geneva service allowing for the Easter holidays

The flights change to Tue , Thu and Sat with the Sat flight now operated by A319 aircraft

Good to see an extra month added!

Some interesting quotes also from Easyjet in this article - https://www.inthesnow.com/easyjet-la...ton-to-geneva/

Looks like Eastern putting the Saab 2000 on both the morning and evening weekday SOU-LBA-ABZ rotations next summer.

Breaking news: Autumn investment revealed
 

Meanwhile out on the ramp!

I'm sure the airport only ever spends money on shops, toilets and where to buy another latte!

You are not realistic with the comments..
SOU probably derives as good a return from retail as it does from those movements out on the ramp!.

You are probably quite right, its just that some of us would like to see a little more money put in to air side facilities to aid future growth and profitability!

Certainly..would be with you from that viewpoint.

Maybe they don't WANT to invest in airside improvements to aid further growth? You can want it all you like but your desires are irrelevant.

Quick question, is there any particular reason why Flybe use the E75 on the Nantes service?

This is a Birmingham based aircraft that flies BHX-NTE-SOU-NTE-BHX