Stobart Air
Effective 05 Jun 14. Formerly Aer Arann
ICAO code effective 03 Aug 14

Does anyone know the registrations of the 3 BE E195’s that are to transfer to Stobart Air?

G-FBEL, G-FBEM and G-FBEN which are owned by 'Propius Leasing' - the leasing arm of Stobart Group. When the press-release came out that they'd been purchased from GOAL, it said:

"The aircraft are currently on a lease agreement with European regional airline Flybe PLC, running to the second half of 2018."

All the other Flybe E195s are owned by Falko Regional Aircraft Leasing which they acquired from Avolon. No end-date to those leases were published in the press.

Stobart Air to be hived off from Stobart Group?
 

The Irish Independent carries a story that Stobart Air may be hived off in order that it can secure outside investment to pursue "consolidation opportunities". Presumably this means acquiring other operators that might be ripe for a take-over. This tallies with hints in recent Stobart Stock Exchange statements on similar lines.

Likely take-over candidates could be .........?

.....Flybe?

Consolidation
 

An airline with 17 props, operating mainly on a ACMI basis for another carrier and very little on its own commercial responsibility is unlikely to be buying other major airlines. Not only do they not have the management experience to take on another carrier but it is unlikely they will be able to raise funds on commercially useful terms from outside investors. Assuming the story in the Irish Independent is true (and I have no idea as to the veracity of the story) this is just spin for saying that Stobart Air is up for sale. It seems nobody is interested in purchasing Stobart Air through a private sale, so the airline has been told to stand on its own merits and no longer have recourse to the Stobart Group balance sheet

I for one don't agree with that interpretation of the matter. Still time will perhaps tell what the reality is.

I also don't think it's correct to say that Stobart Air are "operating mainly on an ACMI basis for another carrier" because my understanding is that STK carry the commercial risk on the routes they operate as Aer Lingus franchisee.

The only ACMI work carried out by Stobart Air is the operation of two ATR72s for Flybe on the Isle of Man routes.

OK - I accept I could well be wrong about the commercial responsibility of the Aer Lingus routes, but would repectfully point out that Stobart is not in the same position as Loganair were regarding the relationship against the larger franchising carrier. I still just don't see Stobart Air being able to take over (and make more profitable by virtue of consolidation) anything but very minor players

I would contend that from a financial point of view they could embark on a buying spree. They could buy Flybe tomorrow without much difficultly. The recent sale and leaseback has freed up a lot of cash already, credit is cheap and easy to obtain, Stobart have a venture capital arm and lots of good quality links to the City.

Whether they have management experience is another question but, any acquisition may come with that experience already onboard.

Consolidation has been the way the industry has been moving for years. These small carriers need to consolidate to survive.

....& Flybe could sell tomorrow without much difficulty if anyone was mis-guided enough to offer..

Correct, EI take a fee per passenger the rest is down to Stobart who discuss possible opportunities with EI.

EI offer exclusivity on certain routes to them.

But they have Warwick Brady ..... Hang on, I'll get my coat :)

European expansion
 

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/b...-36472736.html

Who else could they strike up a franchise deal with?

Good luck to them....lets hope that southend gets something out of it

With flybe shares at a near record low, I think stobart could be eyeing up Flybe. They could offer shareholders an offer they can't refuse and aquire a large airline for a good price.
They are slowly buying E195 up at a far cheaper price as to what flybe originally leased them at and with an again fleet of Dash8 could slowly replace them with the ATR, it's clearly served them well and with short routes the ATR and Dash flight time comparison is only marginal... Passengers would not notice any increase in flight time.

Also if they are looking to buy up Airlines could Blue Island be an option? Small airline and by combining operational resources could make the airline a good buy? Still operate current routes but move the small head office to Southend head quarters. A good buy when even looking at freight options

I'm told that a Aer Lingus Regional ATR72 operated the late SEN-DUB yesterday for Flybe.

If that was at short notice Stobart would have had to pay Stobart big bucks for that.

How do Stobart pay Stobart ... By bank transfer or credit card?

DC-3 Dave

I assume you meant to say it would have cost Flybe "big bucks". It certainly would have cost something but seeing as it was a Stobart Air ATR72 that was already sitting idle at SEN not a great deal.

I suppose Flybe could be a theoretical target for Stobart but I would suggest such a move would be 'courageous' in Sir Humphrey's parlance.

Do we know yet if it will be stobart air operating the Carlisle airport flights.....or will it have another airline on there behalf.