It was a long time LHR flight that ended up at STN when they were banned from EU airspace and the slots were (I assume) lost. The B77L was not uncommon at LHR back in the day. No strategic damage to STN I would say.

Probably also worth nothing that using LHR will be a matter of pride. Profit/loss will likely be secondary given its Government ownership. Not sure what fares they charge but I’d imagine the agricultural workers (who are spread thinly round the country) will be taking the cheap way home even if it’s 2+ stops on Ryanair, Wizz, Pegasus etc

Turkmen prior to COVID and then being banned from airspace served both LHR and BHX and did so for many years starting off with 737, then 757 and 777 (the latter only occasionally seen at BHX). The BHX service was 4 X weekly and had very high LF's. The reason: they operated ASB-ATQ and DEL which filled the flights from BHX

I can't speak for LHR but AI arrived at BHX and have seemingly mopped up on the BHX-ATQ and DEL routes since resuming flights post COVID, although they both co-existed at BHX happily enough before 2020.

T5 don't fly onward to either ATQ or DEL anymore hence the lack of pax from STN and I assume now LHR. BHX without a connection to ATQ will never return and even if it did, AI are now dominant on the route.

A 1 X weekly LHR service is but a shadow of what they operated to/from the UK prior to 2020.

Fully approved by Gov https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-67279365

Excellent news, and certainly a positive step in the right direction for STN :) Having just flown from STN over half term, it is now very clear that the terminal can no longer cope with current passenger through flow (that is also continuing to increase), so hopefully the extension will alleviate overcrowding in the departure lounge and arrivals hall. Having used the TTS multiple times, I'll be a bit sad to see this go, as this helped cut journey times to/from the satellites for years, hopefully walking times won't be too bad once the new skylinks open. Are MAG set to begin work on the project imminently? Now that planning permission has been secured, hopefully it won't be long before more detailed design plans become available :) Hopefully this time MAG will also be investing in modernising SAT 2 and possibly SAT 3.

Probally a few years of misery though, but arn't most airports now.

I think most of the work can be done outside in, with the joining up at the end with minimal inconvenience.
The walk way can be built and also joined up practically overnight, with no need to stop the TTS.
I have witnessed 2 terminal extensions over the years and from in side the terminal you wouldn’t even know work was going on.

Why aren’t there electronic barriers at the airport’s train station? Twice I’ve used Stansted in the past few months and queues to have your ticket manually checked by 1 or 2 people is horrendous!

Nothing to do with the airport. Greater Anglia the train operator controls the area. Airport management has little to do with its operation.

Emirates 3rd daily
 

Have it from a reliable source , EK will be 3x daily from stansted from 1 April , along with opening of an EK loungue @ STN

Excellent! :) I'm assuming the 3rd flight will also likely be on the 77W with the new F cabin?

logically it will be EK69/70 arriving 0700-0800 departing around 9:30-10am

A new route as well as a new airline to London Stansted. But this was originally announced on aeroroutes.com on 23rd August 2023.

A few people on here including myself discussed it at the time. It's even been listed on the London Stansted Wikipedia page since it was first announced. It seems a lot of other outlets are late to the game regarding this new airline announcement.

Hopefully this new route will be a success and not end up the same way as so many ill fated routes previously attempted from secondary airports in Switzerland.

Hi it's in Italy.

Regards.

You are absolutely one hundred percent correct 👌

I put my hands up for making such a mistake.

I don't know what was going on in my mind when I was thinking that Bolzano was in Switzerland. The city of Bolzano situated in northern Italy in the South Tryol is actually closer to the Austrian border than it is to Switzerland.

Thinking of Bellinzona maybe? That's a nice little place in the Ticino region of Switzerland.

The market for SkyAlps on London-Bolzano is similiar to Skywork on London-Bern

CSA Czech Airlines. Limited time charters:
 

CSA Czech Airlines will begin a limited run of charters in January.

‘9 round-trip flights are scheduled on board Airbus A320 aircraft. The following schedule only covers 01-07JAN24.

OK648/QS8648 PRG1200 – 1250STN 320 01JAN24 / 02JAN24
OK648/QS8648 PRG1745 – 1835STN 320 07JAN24

OK649/QS8649 STN1335 – 1620PRG 320 01JAN24 / 02JAN24
OK649/QS8649 STN1920 – 2205PRG 320 07JAN24’

Information from Aeroroutes.

CSA Czech Airlines are coming back to STN... briefly
https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/231113-oknw23stn