Eujet cease operations/Manston(Merged)

[befree]

looks like another sad end.

RNS Number:2470P
Planestation Group PLC
25 July 2005


PlaneStation Group PLC ('the Company')

Suspension

On 28th June 2005 the Company announced that the passenger numbers of EUjet, the
Group's low cost regional airline based at Kent International Airport, would
fall below planned levels during the current year. As a consequence the cash
requirements of EUjet would be greater than originally planned. The directors
indicated that this shortfall in cash would be funded by asset sales and at the
same time announced that the Company had entered into an exclusive agreement to
dispose of 75 per cent. of its interest in Kent International Business Park.

The Company's bankers were fully informed of the Group's position and the need
for ongoing support and an extension of facilities whilst the disposal was
completed. Until now the directors had no reason to believe that support from
its bank would not be forthcoming. However, discussions with the Company's bank
over the last 48 hours have not been positive and the Company has been informed
this morning that the bank is no longer able to support the Company with
additional facilities. The Company has therefore requested a suspension of
trading in its securities pending clarification of its financial position.

A further announcement will be made in due course.


ENDS

[HZ123]

What does this mean in laymans terms ?

[LGS6753]

In layman's terms:

The company's Bankers won't lend them any more money. As a result, the company has asked the Stock Exchange to suspend dealings in its shares. That means speculators can't drive the price down further, and current shareholders are stuck.

In reality I think it will mark the end of EU Jet. The Planestation group has tangible assets, mainly in the form of property. All that EU Jet represents (financially) is an on-going liability. It doesn't own any aircraft, and can only continue to operate if its losses can be financed. Its Bank has said no to that, and they will know as much about the company and its prospects as anyone.

The only hope for EU Jet is that someone will want to buy it. But with poor load factors across a third-rate route network, an eccentric choice of aircraft, and the likelihood of more losses, that seems a pretty remote possibility.

[IB4138]

Shame.

The Manchester- Manston route has been very handy for my aged aunt. Instead of a five+ hour drive in my cousin's car she has been doing door to door in just three. He hasn't been grumbling either at missing out on a 12 hour round trip!

[jabird]

Tried a test booking, site was about to take £200 off me for MSE to VLC return, then got this:

RUNTIME ERROR CONDITION

mkdir /: Permission denied at d:/inetpub/wwwroot/skylights/lib/Storage.pm line 992


Do they have a web developer doing the consumer a sneaky favour, or is this just a co-incidence?

[neidin]

Sadly - also lots of money lost by passengers who had prebooked sun holiday seats out of SNN. SNN to the sun were there best performing routes.

[tilewood]

I also heard a report that Gatwick,allegedly, have denied
EUJet any further account/credit facilities when diverting
from Manston.

They can only use Gatwick on a cash only basis, and consequently
EUJet are looking for other 1st alternate airfields.

Presumably though any other airport will require cash only too.

[5milesbaby]

From the BBC here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/4714283.stm)

Shares in airline firm suspended

EUjet began commercial flights from Manston in September 2004
The future of budget airline EUjet could be in doubt after shares in its parent company were suspended.
The PlaneStation Group's shares were suspended after bankers said they could not support any additional finance for EUjet, based at Kent's Manston Airport.

PlaneStation said passenger levels for 2005 would fall below planned levels, meaning it would need a cash input.

EUjet runs four Fokker 100 aircraft, flying from Manston to 18 destinations in the UK and Europe.

It began operating in September 2004 and has already axed two of its destinations - Madrid and Glasgow - because of low passenger numbers, and postponed plans to start flights to Cologne.

'Meetings taking place'

EUjet hoped to have 500,000 passengers in its first year of operation but in its first three months of flights carried only 71,000 people.

It lost £6.5m in the second half of 2004.

Last month PlaneStation had to sell off its 75% interest in the Kent International Business Park in Manston, blaming EUjet's poor passenger numbers.

PlaneStation said discussions with its bank over the past 48 hours had "not been positive" and the bank said it was no longer able to support the company.

EUjet's commercial director Stuart McGoldrick said: "We are due to operate 16 flights today. There are meetings taking place to see what happens next."

PlaneStation has also become involved in a row with Thanet Council over the funding of a consultative committee supposed to monitor the airport's impact on the local community.

PlaneStation has not paid bills for the committee since June, but said it was aware of its responsibilities and felt "the issue was better dealt with between the involved parties".

[airborne_artist]

Flew with them as pax in Feb to Nice and return. Easy, BMI etc all full both ways due to a major conference in Cannes. Outbound was 85% full, return 35%, yet I know of people who flew to Marseilles with Easy and hired a car to get to Cannes.

No-one I met at the conference had any idea there were flights available - EU's marketing can not have been effective. Added to that Manston is miles from any decent sized centre of population. The plus side is that you can park long-term only 90 seconds from the check-in/arrivals!

[King Pong]

So has Manston got a future now that it looks like EUjet is going belly up. I wouldn’t have thought that the odd cargo flight is going to pay for the upkeep of the airport.

[Flap43]

The company is going, going, gone..........
the management are looking for investors to fund eujet. they may be flying tomorrow, but i dont think the end of the month is looking too bright!
who would put money into an airline that has just caused one company to go bust?
all those in favour say "I"....................
and the management wonder in the silence of the boardroom...............

[befree]

It is the parent company:- Planestation who is going belly up first. It was of couse killed by eujet. It is not yet dead just critical. The bank has turned off the life support. if anyone has a spare £50 million I am sure it could be saved for a year or two.

And without the debt mabe someone will takeover marston who can spend enoguth to advertise it.

[bobdee]

Dont you just love the accuracy of some of the BBC reporting. They quote bookings from the first three months of operation . Had they bothered to look at the latest published figs they would have seen for June:

Load factor represents a new monthly high.
EUjet has now flown 306,388 passengers since scheduled services began in September 2004.
Total net bookings since commencement now total 402,765.

Seems a pretty good performance to me but I guess not to the banks.

On another point does anyone know what happens to the mega amounts of money paid in advance bookings? I was told by a senior EU jet man some months back that EU didnt actually get their hands on this until the flights actually flew. If thats the case isnt it sensible to let the summer schedule fly as planned?

[Flap43]

may be sensible to fly summer, but u cant book tickets, off the website anyway, so i think it is done and dusted.............

[Andy_S]

Seems a pretty good performance to me but I guess not to the banks.
I think if you look at the total seats available since they started flying in September, 306,388 passengers represents an average loading of about 35%.

I'm not sure what your idea of a good performance is, but that's pretty shocking from my point of view.

[Powerjet1]

Booking engine seems ok at the moment for flight res.

[bobdee]

Andy S

My point was that the forecast passenger level wasnt that far out. The last figures quoted a load factor of I think 54%. The initial utterances from the company was that they could make a profit at 50%.

Its an amazing story of a complete lack of marketing expertise. Having said thet and having flown as a pax with EU many times the service they offer (Lets use the present tense) from Manston is second to none.

Fingers crossed for an "Angel"

BobD

[airhumberside]

Surely the best thing for Manston would be to be taken over by someone like Peel or CityHopper who could do something similar to DSA (after all without EU Jet, Manston has very few flights)

[Andy_S]

I don't really think - in terms of location, transport links or infrastructure - that Manston is comparable to DSA.

It's interesting that although the Planestation Group has been financially weak for a couple of years, no one has tried to take them over. If they had, I would have thought that Planestation would have welcomed them with open arms.

[Andy_S]

Hello, my earlier reply seems to have disappeared, possibly because I mentioned someone by name. Ooops!! Let's try again.

The only time I'm aware that EUjet mentioned the 50% breakeven figure was in a television interview with one of it's executives. The trouble is, that figure doesn't really mean a lot without some sort of context, i.e. what assumptions were made about the fares - was this based on a range of fares, or all the seats being sold full price? I couldn't help but be sceptical, because to make money out of half full aircraft surely they either need to be getting top dollar for the tickets, or have an extremely low cost base.

Even if they are making a little money at the moment, it's the middle of summer right now. Aren't they going to get stuffed during the winter months?

[airhumberside]

I don't really think - in terms of location, transport links or infrastructure - that Manston is comparable to DSA.
No, but take away EU jet, MSE has virtually no flights so it is like starting from scratch, comparable to DSA

[Lee-a-Roady Moor]

According to their booking office, it's business as usual. "No problems....media have blown it out of proportion ...... we're not worried about our jobs..... etc..." BUT they're not prepared to put that in writing.....

Will they be saying the same thing this time tomorrow? I doubt it. And even if flights are ok today, what happens the pax who depart today?? Not a pleasant feeling to be heading off on hols with the stark reality that they are likely to be stranded.

Presumably there is a bond that will ensure that pax will get home.

It has been said some time previously that some flights were cx due to reduced load factors leaving people with an extended stay. Rumours like that, once started, are very difficult to shake off and it would not have helped them on their way.

It was a good opportunity for Manston and the area in general. It will be a shame if it is the final whistle.

Will anybody replace them? Probably not. Will there even be an airport, if PlaneStation are brought down....

[bobdee]

Here , (IMHO), are some of the reasons they are now in trouble.

1) Too little research into route viability.
2) No destination local advertising.
3) Crazy timing for the special seat low cost seat promotions. (Major upsetting of passengers who paid a relatively high ticket price, when they see “free” flights advertised a few weeks after they booked. Net result of this type of marketing is to make all regular flyers delay booking to await the Super Discount offers.
4) No attempt to poll passengers as to their reasons for travel. i.e.. Business, Holiday or owners abroad.
5) Very poor PR from the parent company. Late publication of even the good news. Even now , assuming they are not 100% dead, there should be something on their web site to reassure or otherwise inform the customer base as to what is happening.

No doubt other more knowledgeable folk could add a few more. Some good input here might yet save the day or at least permit others to learn from EU’s mistakes.

I do believe that the flights this week are virtually fully booked. Even before this morning news the EUJet fare for two people to Alicante at the end of August was around £600 total compared with the “normal” spring price of around £120 for the same flight. That has to indicate high load factors.

Bob D

[Andy_S]

No, but take away EU jet, MSE has virtually no flights so it is like starting from scratch, comparable to DSA
Perhaps I should have explained myself better.

Even starting from scratch, DSA, in my opinion, was always going to be attractive to an airport operator because of it's wide catchment area, proximity to large cities and being situated close to strategic road and rail links. I just don't think Manston has the same qualities, and as such is unlikely to be so attractive to Peel et al. Let's face it Planestation never managed to attract a viable carrier, and have (it would seem) failed in trying to run their own airline. Who, now, is going to look at Manston acquisitively?

NB. Realising the above appears negative, I would like to acknowledge that there are employees of Planestation and EUjet, and others besides, who face an uncertain future right now. I do wish them all the very best of luck.

[bacardi walla]

And where are Debis Air Finance when all this is kicking off ??

[bish-bash]

Nice hanger, enlarged to hold a DC10, i bet i know one cargo airline that is looking with intrest?

[nipplesucker]

BANKRUPT, NOT YET im sure PJ will pull out a big white fluffy rabbit from his hat.
Good luck PJ

:ok:

[Dash-7 lover]

and fingers crossed it never happens!

[The Real Slim Shady]

Nipplesucker

Slim wake me up when you have finished ZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz

WAKEY WAKEY!!!!!!!!!

[nipplesucker]

ok Slim you got me their Mate Ha Ha

[The Real Slim Shady]

Nipplemate,

Best of luck in your search for another job. You, and your colleagues are victims, not the perpretrators.

Slim

[bish-bash]

According to soth-east today, an offical statement will be issued to staff in the morning, good luck to all concerned.

From the money today website.

Bank pulls the plug on Kent Airport owner
Nick Goodway, Evening Standard
25 July 2005
PLANESTATION, which owns Kent International Airport and no-frills airline EUjet, called for its shares to be suspended today after it lost the Bank of Scotland's support, and pulled the plug

The group raised £30m from shareholders in December, and said that was enough to allow it to buy the 70% of EUjet it did not already own and give it working capital for 12 months.

But EUjet has not lived up to expectations with bookings of 402,000 reported at the end of June since services began last September. It is reckoned the group\'s five jets, which fly to 19 destinations ranging from Malaga to Prague, needed to carry 800,000 passengers a year to breakeven.

Planestation said last month that it could fund the shortfall by selling assets and had entered negotiations to sell its 75% interest in Kent International Business Park, which adjoins its Manston airport.

Last December's re-funding was largely underwritten by stockbroker Evolution at 10p a share. The shares were today suspended at 5.35p after they fell more than 8% in early trading.

The group said: 'Until now, the directors had no reason to believe that support from its bank would not be forthcoming. However, discussions with the company's bank over the last 48 hours have not been positive, and the company was informed this morning that the bank is no longer able to support the company with additional facilities.

Debts are thought to total more than £22m. Bank of Scotland declined to comment.

[Flap42]

It's not over just yet we are still flying aeroplanes and it's business as normal tomorrow (apart from the aircraft at EDI).

Sounds like PJ is going to try and save the day by starting to wet lease again. The end of MSE though.....

Shame because ATC have just started letting us get off the rwy now on our own! and what is vultchure going to do all day long?

;)

[Buster the Bear]

Mac Gold Trick. YET Another airline bites their dust. How many more are they allowed to ruin? I cannot Lift Heavy these days!

I for one, wish everyone associated with EUJet, the best of luck for the future!

Where does this leave Manston. Seriously, who owns it? Who owes money to whom and is it security for the bank that is owed money by PlaneStation?

Could solve some of the South East's future housing needs if sold for home building? Whoops, crap roads and infrastructure!

A good friend bailed out when Wiggins went mad, investing in very unpopular airports, then formed an airline! Probably one of the few smiling tonight? Wiggins sold off good property portfolios to concentrate on Black Forest and Manston. They even bought Melbourne......in Florida and a landing strip in Scandinavia that is impossible to pronounce!

http://static.zsl.org/images/width150/bear-04-web-305.jpg

[Lee-a-Roady Moor]

You know, upon mature reflection, I really cannot see EUjet getting out of this, one way or another. There is no smoke without fire, and there is quite a lot of smoke on this occasion.

Even if they do manage to rise above the smoke, will people have the confidence to continue to book with them??

If there is any doubt as to the prospect of a flight operating on a particular date, then the more cautious may well choose to look / book elsewhere.

As I said previously, it will be a shame. Only a couple of days ago, I looked at the prospect of flying into Manston and onwards. It looked viable, seemed like a good option and passing through an airport with reduced "hassle" when compared with 'other' Airports, was looking very attractive indeed. Quick & easy passage seemed like a good option whilst maintaining adequate security.

Okay, so I didn't book this time, (it was only a option on this occasion), but the opportunity and potential was there. It will be a shame, but I fear the writing is on the wall.

I hope not, but, maybe, just maybe, I will be wrong, but we'll see.....


PS Any comment from Flap42......

PPS When EUjet cancelled the Glasgow/MSE route, they apparently offered full refunds for anybody who had booked for later in the year - will the same apply for pax who have booked for the next couple of days/weeks/months....?


PPPS Manston does have a lot going for it, but it will take time, and unfortunately a wad of cash. Reduced throughput (thus speedy passage), very reasonable parking charges, access to European ferries, etc. There have of course been other carriers who have tried, but with McGold**** there, his experience/knowledge of Ryanair should have been a huge help.

[Taildragger]

Right....when I dared to stick my twopennyworth in earlier, I was pilloried, lambasted etc etc. I said then that I knew a thing ir three about this airport and its ops, and a bet was made....remember.... It was if the airline was around in a year from start I bought cases of the stuff....if it wasnt.....they bought ME the stuff. Own up who was it before I have to go trhrough the posts. Manston just does not have the catchment and an airport should never, never, never, never, and again, never, put their hard enarned dosh into an airline operation, especially when wishes are the collateral. Sorry guys, it's a cruel world out there and Manston is crueller than most......The end of the M2 is indisputable and Geographically in position.

[Lee-a-Roady Moor]

PPPS Booking Engine around 18.00 seemed okay.

Now around 23.40, booking engine now says:

RUNTIME ERROR CONDITION

mkdir /: Permission denied at d:/inetpub/wwwroot/skylights/lib/Storage.pm line 992


Mmmm.......


Perhaps that says it all......:sad: :sad: :sad:

[Taildragger]

The Hangar is THE main asset..and is occupied by Jet Support.....MSE is buggered for about the 27 5/8th time. When will you guys get it into your heads, there is NO bloody catchment area. Many have tried, many have failed. You cannot manufacture pax out of thin air.
The best that could be hoped for is a cargo base. With slots tightening up, its a possibility. Nobody, but NOBODY passes Stanstead and Luton Heathrow and Gatwick to get to Manston. The small numbers who live in Canterbury love it, and rightly so, but nobody else.
Check my posts and replies for the past six months on this subject with people calling me a rotter to EU Jet....and then tell me I was wrong.

[Twitcher]

>>>
The Hangar is THE main asset..and is occupied by Jet Support.....
>>>
Jet Support folded in Sept 2004!

[tephlon-don]

Just remember alot of these guys were ex gill air, they have been through the mill! in aviation terms. Hope its all a load of rubbish and they are still trading. If not suppose the good news is that the market is the best its been for at least seven years,. Shame loyalty isnt as high on the agenda as hours though!

[jamesbrownontheroad]

Note the bit I've put in bold...

July 26, 2005 02:10 AM ET

EUjet owner on brink of collapse

(from ft.com)

PlaneStation, the UK aviation and property group, was forced to suspend trading in its shares in London on Monday, after it revealed that it was in severe financial difficulties.

It said that its bank, the Bank of Sotland corporate division of HBOS, was "no longer able to support the company with additional facilities."

PlaneStation management was in emergency meetings on Monday in an effort to avoid a collapse into insolvency.

The group owns Kent Internatonal airport based at Manston as well as EUjet, the Irish registered low cost airline, which operates from two bases at Manston and Shannon in the west of Ireland.

EUjet was still operating its flights to 21 destinations on Monday, but a spokesman for the Irish Commission for Aviation Regulation said that the operating licence would "come under close review during the next 24 hours," as it was unhappy with some of its "financial elements."

PlaneStation said that discussions with its bank in the last 48 hours had "not been positive."

The group, which had set its main hopes for financial recovery on the development of a new low cost carrier at Manston, said on Monday that passenger numbers had fallen below planned levels. The airline has also been hit by a big jump in its fuel costs due to the sharp rise in the oil price.

It said that the cash requirements of EUjet would be "greater than originally planned."

It is understood that its debt with Bank of Scotland totals between £20m and £25m.

The loss-making group managed to raise £28m in a deeply discounted rescue rights issue at the beginning of this year, but the airline has consumed far more cash than was estimated seven months ago.

The main institutional shareholders all with stakes of more than 10 per cent include M&G Investment Management, Goldman Sachs and New Star Asset Management. Other investors include Artemis Investment Mangement, Morley Fund Management, Gartmore Investment Management and Cazenove Fund Management.

PlaneStation had already been forced itself to take over EUjet, its main hope for generating cash at the airport, after the airline's founders had been unable to raise the necessary capital.

It had been hoping to fund the cash shortfall through asset sales but had been unable to complete any deals.

EUjet is a start-up Irish airline founded by PJ McGoldrick, a former chief executive of Ryanair, and it finally started flying scheduled low cost operations out of Manston in September last year despite warnings by both Ryanair and EasyJet, the leading no frills carriers, of a looming "bloodbath" in the sector.

The airline had previously been majority-owned by the McGoldrick family with PJ as chief executive and his son Stuart as deputy CEO. It started operations in May 2003 offering aircraft leasing and charter services from Shannon.

PJ McGoldrick was chief executive of Ryanair for three-and-a-half years to 1991, when the airline was still struggling with heavy losses and had not yet espoused the low cost airline model, which has since made it one of the largest short-haul airlines in Europe.

Manston, an under-utilised south-east of England airport on the coast of east Kent, is one of the main assets of the long-troubled Planestation group, which was formerly known as Wiggins, and had previously been chiefly used by air cargo operators.

EUjet operates a fleet of five Fokker 100 jets, leased from Debis Air Finance, and has a workforce of around 500. It flies to 21 destinations, with flights chiefly from Manston to holiday destinations in Spain, but also to Austria, France, Switzerland and Ireland. It also has three domestic UK routes.

It carried 36,000 passengers in May but managed to fill only 55 per cent of its available seats.

Last December PlaneStation estimated that the main working capital requirements for EUjet during the following 12 months would be £16.4m for aircraft lease, crew and maintenance costs, £10.6m for fuel costs, £12.4m for route, airport and handling costs and £3.3m for marketing and distribution.

Before last December's rights issue PlaneStation said that it was "in severe financial difficulties." Bank of Scotland warned then that without the equity issue, which was underwritten by Evolution Securities, it would withdraw support and would seek to recover existing loans.

Without the rescue rights issue PlaneStation would have had to apply for administration or to start an insolvent liquidation of the group at the end of last year.

At the end of June it claimed that since the subsequent restructuring of the group, EUjet had made "considerable progress" and had "proven the demand for low cost air travel" from Kent International airport, previously "an unknown market."

Copyright 2005 Financial Times


That fat lady has not yet sung, but she sounds like she's almost done gargling. :(

*j*

PS... I must confess to feeling bad about being unfairly harsh to EU-Jet in the early days, but if that happens, we\'re into a whole new ball game. I\'m sure a money issue could be resolved, but when the licence becomes involved....

Good luck to everyone at this morning\'s meeting,

James

[nickmanl]

Suppose the only real success of EUJet was that it lasted this long!

What happened to the investment from last year which was supposed to see them continue operations for at least another year? That must highlight how much this airlines was not financialy viable to lose that much money that quickly.

[PBD 1]

Now let me think.......Bank of Scotland......where have I heard of them before!!!!!

[The Real Slim Shady]

PBD1 - Is this Deja vu??????

[thgilf]

Just heard all EU Jet flights have been grounded.. very sad news.. unless your name is Mc Goldtrick :mad: Looks like EU Jet dragged MSE down way too much IRISH baggage (bitch)
Want to wish all who work there the very best and a big thanks for trying to make the best effort possible.

[Tad]

THE CURSE OF P.J STRIKES AGAIN!!! I AM EX-TRANSAER AND I KNOW HOW IT FEELS I JUST WANT TO WISH ALL THE STAFF AT EU-JET MY BEST WISHES AND HOPE YOU ALL GET JOBS VERY SOON.

[Lee-a-Roady Moor]

Quote from EUjet Website:



EUjet Alert

Alert
Please be advised that today’s flights to Dublin, Edinburgh, Newcastle & Belfast have been cancelled.
EUjet apologise for the inconvenience caused and will contact passengers directly. Normal operations will resume shortly.

[lowfaresbuster]

going .... going .....

from Rte.ie (Irish National Broadcaster) (http://www.rte.ie/business/2005/0726/eujet.html)


Finance problems halt EUjet flights

July 26, 2005 12:43
Flights operated by regional airline EUjet are reported to have been suspended, as its parent company faces financial difficulties. EUjet operates eight routes from Shannon and two from Dublin.

Shares in Planestation, which owns EUjet, were yesterday suspended in London after talks with its bank on further financial support broke down. The company said it had requested the suspension, pending clarification of its financial position.

Last month Planestation said passenger numbers at EUjet would fall below expectations and it would need more cash. Planestation, which owns Kent International Airport, had planned to fund the shortfall through asset sales. It had been in talks with its bank on additional financial support while the disposal of a 75% stake in Kent International Business Park was completed, but said today that talks in the last 48 hours had not been positive.

[oliversarmy]

Gone.

BBC News reporting all flights suspended.

[fire3]

all flights now cancelled

http://daisy.kia-m.com/

[pamann]

What a shame......

But what is odd is that they are still taking bookings so is it all doom and gloom or just trying to get some more cash from unsuspecting customers??? Seems to be unfair if that is the case.

Have just gone through to the booking stage/seat assignment for a few routes over the next few days and they are pretty much 90% full if not more on their flights, a lot of unhappy customers if they have truely folded.

It is a shame though, everyone has given EU a real good bashing on here from day one. Maybe their goals were set too high, I have used them and Manston which is much further than my usual London departure points and can honestly say the experience beat them all. It was worth the 70 mile journey for a relaxing and no stress airport/airline experience. Baggage reclaim to car in about three minutes and thats no joke!!!

Wonder if Ryanair are gonna jump in their grave???

[neidin]

It just goes to show how poor the financial regulations are around airlines. So many people are likely to lose money on seats they have bought - particularly the SNN seats which were invariably booked way in advance.

The authorities in Ireland should have been far more vigilant about letting EUJET continue under their perilous finacial state and keep taking bookings. Shame on you IAA. The dogs, cats and rats on the street knew that EUJet was a basket case for months.

[jon01]

All Eujet F100's now being ferried from Manston to Dinard, France.

J01

[bacardi walla]

It was only a matter of time. Flawed business plan right from the start. MSE was never going to attract high levels of passenger throughput, certainly not enough to keep an airline in business.

For those of you out of work as a result of today's news, I wish you luck. God people will always be snapped up quickly.

As for PJ. I suggest someone has a closer look at his financial affairs :confused:

[lowfaresbuster]

easyjet to the rescue (http://www.easyjet.com/EN/News/easyjet_to_the_rescue.html)

easyJet to the rescue - Stranded EUJet passengers offered rescue package

Following the announcement that EUJet has suspended all of its operations, easyJet, Europe's leading low-cost airline, will offer those passengers stranded at their European destinations, a special rescue fee of £25 1 to return home to the UK.

easyJet has made this offer available to any EUJet passenger due to travel inbound to the UK during the next seven days (offer available until 23:59 Tuesday 2 August).

To claim the exclusive £25 rescue package, passengers should call easyJet customer services on 0871 244 2366 (other telephone numbers: in Spain 90 229 9992; in Switzerland 0848 888 222; in the Netherlands 023 568 4880; in France 08 25 08 25 08; in Greece 210 353 0300; in Germany 01803 654 321; in Italy 848 887766; in Denmark 7012 4321; in Portugal 808 204 204; in Republic of Ireland 1890 923 922; If you are telephoning from a country not listed above, you can call us on 0044 870 6 000 000) where a maximum of £25 will be charged for the flight. Passengers must provide the agent with their EUJet booking reference number and present their EUJet booking confirmation at check in as further proof of booking.

1 Includes all taxes and charges

[anna_list]

"PlaneStation Group PLC ('the Company')

Appointment of Administrators

The Company regrets to announce that following yesterday's announcement that its bank was no longer able to support it, Grant Thornton have been appointed as administrators to the Company. At this stage the Directors do not anticipate that the administration will result in any return to equity shareholders."

[KCDW]

I and my family were/are due to fly out to Murcia with EUJet on Sunday.

It would seem that this may not be the case. We have tried to contact them, but with no joy.

Anyone have any advice?


JO1 - "All Eujet F100's now being ferried from Manston to Dinard, France."

Do you know why? This seems a bit premature given the last statement that the suspensions were temporary until the next communication.

[neidin]

You will not be flying with EUJEt or anyone similar on that ticket - they are gone bust and you will be way down the line of unsecured creditors. You will not get your money back.

Book somewhere else quickly or if you paid via your credit card stop it or block it as soon as possible. Ring your credit card company right now. Ask for a chargeback immediately. They will not want to do a chargeback so scream and roar. Then roar some more to ther supervisor and insist that you institute a chargeback on EUJet. With a bit of luck the moeny may not have transferred to EUJet from your card if you booked in last 72 hours.


Edit I have removed the last two lines of your post. It is potentially libellous. Please use some sense. These pages are for you to use that way not to get PPRuNe fighting libel. Yellow card!

: I also deleted your third paragraph for much the same reason.

[bobdee]

I remember being told by a senior manager at Eujet some time back that Eujet did not get their hands on advance booking monies until the flight flew. Is this the case? Was there not a third party holding company for EUjet booking amounts?

BobD

[lowfaresbuster]

bobdee,

yes this would be pretty much standard practice for the merchant Account provider (the bank that looks after the incoming credit card monies).
It isn't the first time an airline/travel comapny has gone bust, and they are weary of companies using advance booking monies as company credit lines.

Ryan/Easy get away with it OK.

I did hear that the CEO of planesatation was taking a £2500 a day consultancy fee- I wonder upto when was he being paid?

[bobdee]

Low Fares
Does that mean that there is a chance for the folks that have future bookings could get a refund?
BobD

[FireFoxDown]

Just want to say that I had the privilege of working with a really great bunch of people in the past - hope it all works out for you . . .

[flap15]

EU jet have suspended operations for the day due to the banks withdrawing finance as they have not achieved pax loades that were required. The parent companies shares have been suspended. Does any one have any further news?

[The Greaser]

easyJet are allowing any EUjet pax who are stranded to get back to the UK for a flat fare of £25.

[kooyheier]

Easyjet to the rescue

Now that's nice.... BUT, if you would like a FREE upgrade and travel in style:

Monarch to the rescue

Rescue package for stranded EUjet passengers

Low cost airline, Monarch Scheduled, is to fly to the rescue of passengers left stranded in Spain and Portugal by collapsed airline, EUjet, this week. For just £25 plus taxes, passengers left marooned by the airline’s demise can get a flight back home to the UK with Monarch Scheduled.

The rescue offer is available to EUjet passengers due to travel inbound to the UK from Monarch Scheduled destinations in Spain or Portugal within the next seven days, on production of an EUjet travel itinerary.

The offer is valid on the following routes:


Malaga to Luton or Gatwick


Alicante to Luton or Gatwick


Faro to Luton or Gatwick


Lisbon to Gatwick


Granada to Gatwick


Palma to Manchester


Barcelona to Manchester


Gibraltar to Luton

Passengers wishing to take advantage of this special rescue offer should produce their itinerary at the Monarch Scheduled ticket desk in Alicante, Malaga, Granada, Palma, Barcelona, Gibraltar, Faro or Lisbon. They will then be able to purchase a seat back to the UK for £25 plus taxes, subject to availability and for travel before 23.59hrs on 03 August 2006.

Looks pretty damn rosey in Luton at the moment
(And I'm not talking about that Ugly faded orange you see there!!!!)

PS. Good luck and all the best for the people who are stranded at the moment, including personel.


cheerio

:cool:

[wingandprayer]

The fat lady sang at 4pm. All out of work. Ops,cabin crew, pilots, airport staff, the whole shooting match. Believe manston closed.
Will have a knock on effect for all businesses on the airfield. Sad day for all. Lots of very nice people looking for work. Pleasure to work with you all.

[lowfaresbuster]

bob dee

there is a chance, phone your credit card company and scream, as prveiously mentioned.

The sooner you do it the better.

[tilewood]

Regrettably it was so inevitable. Wrong business plan,
wrong management, wrong airport and wrong aircraft.

But what was RIGHT was the great team of people who worked
flat out to make it work. My thoughts are with the aircrew and ground staff today.

They are the ones who deserve better than this.

[san diego]

A very sad tale, and one that most of us in the travel industry had been predicting for months, in fact many were surprised at how long they lasted. The losers are the unpaid staff and the passengers yet to fly, credit card bookings may be protected by the Consumer Credit Act but as an Irish airline, where did they process the payments? If it wasn't in the UK, there is legal precedent to say the credit card companies have no liability to repay at all and everyone using a debit card is completely adrift if the money has already been taken.

The bizarre and worrying fact is less than four weeks ago this Government was encouraged to legislate to protect all passengers of scheduled airlines so that they would have the same protection as customers of ATOL holders. During the second reading of the Civil Aviation Bill, the government refused to extend the protection, if I was one of the customers out of pocket, I would demand an urgent explanation from my MP!

[Charley B]

A very sad day for all the employees of EUjet.Such a shame there were not better rail links with the airport---it might have worked then ,who knows.
Do hope that something can be done at this late stage.

Well done Monarch and Easyjet for stepping in and saving the day.

[tilewood]

Wing & Prayer states 'Believe Manston closed'

Has anyone confirmation of this?

[Jes]

Manston is not closed. It's operating normally (!), and there are "three offers on the table".

With the destruction of the debt there is an opportunity for a new owner to get things moving. Planestation never had any cash, and what they had was squandered on pie-in-the-sky projects around the world. Just look at the list of airports that they've dumped since M May took over.

EUjet was also short of cash, and had an incredible business plan. The cash that was wasted on ludicrous routes!

posted 8th May 2005 11:53
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Visitor to KIA Manston last week
Overheard in the "Jolly Farmer" in Manston. David Bryon (MD of BMIbaby) was seen flying into Manston last week and was met for a 2 hour meeting by the airport director and someone from EUjet. Flew in one of his company aircraft, had the meeting then departed.........anyone heard any more ?


Today\'s rumour is that Bmibaby is interested in Manston.

[atco-matic]

Manston is NOT operating normally. As I understand it, the airport is closed until at least 0700 tomoro morning (27th July) as they have no insurance in place. Whether this is because of the demise of Planestation or not I don't know.

All the EUjet Fokker 100s (well at least 5) have been flown to Dinard this afternoon. Anybody know why? Is it just cheap parking there or something?

[bish-bash]

local bbc tv news are stating that Manston is closed, local MP states that all will be done to re-open the airport, as the airports operation is pivitol to Thanets re-development, and employment prospects, BBC state all staff at airport have been laid off, not just EUJET staff, 500 job losses in total. Fokker,s have been returned to Debis Finance, the aircrafts owner's, do you think this redeployment of the fleet may just have been pre-planned!!!!! One aircraft has been impounded by the BAA at EDI, yesterday afternoon.

[bmibaby.com]

bmibaby would certainly have more luck running a low-cost schedule from Manston than there attempts at establishing some kind of low-cost flying from the south-east out of Gatwick. With bmibaby's love of changing airport names, not sure what Manston would end up as though? :p

I'm very sorry to hear that EUJet has folded operations. I've had the pleasure of flying from Manston, and everyone I came across were both extremely friendly & professional. Best of luck with whichever company you move onto. ;)

[STN Ramp Rat]

Presumably the Aerodrome operators certificate was held by Plane station directors obviously the management of the company is now with the administrators

can the administrators hold such a certificate, this will have some bearing on the possibility of Manston re-opening

a very sad day for all

[jon01]

Notam issued today:

From: 2005-Jul-26 Tue 16:21 To: 2006-Jan-06 Fri 17:00
ICAO: EGMH MANSTON

REVISED AIRPORT OPENING HOURS 0700-1700


So still open for (some) business

J01

[Charley B]

I'm sure that I read somewhere that an American Airline was going to use Manston for cruise ship charter flights this summer?Wonder what is going to happen with these?

[Euphoria]

i would just like to express my condolences to the staff at EUjet, espec the ex Maersk / duo staff.

'euph

[jon01]

I'm sure that I read somewhere that an American Airline was going to use Manston for cruise ship charter flights this summer?Wonder what is going to happen with these?

They were in today, 2 World MD11's.

J01

[Baron rouge]

All the EUjet Fokker 100s (well at least 5) have been flown to Dinard this afternoon. Anybody know why? Is it just cheap parking there or something?

EUJet A/C were maintained there by TAT Industry, Debis Air , the Owner probably wants them ready as soon as possible for another lease.

[Taildragger]

I feel so sorry for all the people connected with Manston who are tonight wondering about new jobs and money etc.
The Isle of Thanet is Job challenged at the best of times and the airport was (IS I hope) saviour to many.
Whilst all this is going on there is a lot of speculation as to who may be interested in taking over Manston. Would you.??
Lydd and Manston have both tried (Good on them for that) but they can't beat Mother Geography.
Hope you people out there get back to work soon. :{

[runawayedge]

Neidin
Your last comment borders libel. I hope the moderator withdraws it. Your continuous lambasting of every Irish airport and airlines that operate to them with the exception of NOC is disingenuous to the people of Ireland and all other air access points. Attempting to bring about the demise of another carrier by such self assured rubbish for self fulfilment in full view of the general public and the press for self serving reasons is a total disgrace. In your own conscience, how would you feel if you were working for this company, providing for your family, and this post appeared, making investors, bankers and potential passengers nervous. Shame on you....and your low-life post, using the demise of one carrier to spread scurillous PR on another! Best of luck to the EU guys and gals....hope you find work soon.

[homefireburning]

EGMH is not closed. There are some issues regarding the insurance which will affect flight ops but hopefully these issues are being sorted out and will be done by 0700z tomorrow.

The EUJ aircraft have gone to Dinard because of the maintenance facilities, presume they will be off back to Debis after that.

We are all just waiting for the administrators to decide on the staffing levels required and make the appropriate decisions. Some people will sit tight and hope it floats, other's may make the decision to leave but we are basically waiting on word from the administrator's which will, from their word, come within the next two days.

Very sad that this has happened but hopefully manston will rise under the control of somebody with more knowledge of running an airport (can't be difficult compared to Planestation) and money (see last coment)

We're all keeping our fingers crossed

[5milesbaby]

EGMH was closed at about 1630 local this afternoon for the rest of the day due to lack of insurances, and hoping to reopen for reduced business tomorrow at 0700.

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

Condolences to all negatively affected by this failure. It came as no suprise to anybody I know professionaly. Its mildly suprising it came in peak season. Perhaps the dark winter months ahead will see more.

This is a crazy business to be in. So much investment, so much effort, so many variables - so little return.

Cheers

WWW

[lowfaresbuster]

re credit card bookings

from Irish Examiner

'Mr McGoldrick said last night that customers would be able to recover money paid over for flights from their credit card companies.'


http://www.irishexaminer.com/pport/web/business/Full_Story/did-sg-IyZG8pXxcAsgDQQ5wn3uAIg.asp

[mini]

I thought McGoldrick sold the show, hence the move fron Shannon to Manston?

Why is he advising customers?

[Mr @ Spotty M]

I think Mr McGoldrick may be a little off the mark about the credit card customers.
I think your credit card bill for your tickets must be over £100 to be covered, l might be wrong?
Good luck to all.

[Sky_Captain]

Todays report from the Irish Independent:

ABOUT 500 Irish travellers were left stranded across Europe yesterday when EUjet, an Irish-registered airline, collapsed. A further 10,000 Irish customers who pre-booked flights with the airline, which operates on eight routes out of Shannon, will now have to book alternative flights. The closure of the airline will also lead to job losses for 200 staff, 50 of whom are based at Shannon.

Like all new airlines EUjet, which was launched by Irishman PJ McGoldrick last October, was not expected to turn a profit in its first few years. The airline is owned by Planestation which also owned Kent International Airport (KIA), EUjet's UK base. Yesterday Planestation said it has lost the support of its bankers, was closing KIA and was withdrawing its support for EUjet.

Stuart McGoldrick, the airline's operations director, said he and his father PJ had done everything they could to save the airline but they had to accept that it was permanently grounded. He said: "We have spent the past 24 hours working on an alternative deal but I doubt now if you will see the airline's brand flying again. This wasn't about EUjet needing cash to survive. On Monday morning at 9am if you had asked me, I would have said everything was fine, but then at 10am, Planestation got a call from their bankers saying they were withdrawing their support and everything went from there."

In a statement to staff yesterday, PJ McGoldrick conceded that the UK business had performed poorly, but said that traffic at Shannon had "exceeded all expectations".

He said: "As I am sure you can appreciate, marketing a new airline operation from Kent International Airport, which had no recent history of passenger operations, has been difficult. Unfortunately, these circumstances have meant that we have not hit targets set."

My condolences to all the staff involved

S.C. :(

[KentSeaSider]

The following was released to KIA staff approx 1610 26th July 2005 - the first bit of information anyone at the coal face received !!

"Staff Announcement

As you are all aware, yesterday Planestation advised that it had encountered a serious difficulty with its bankers. Some weeks ago, Planestation announced that they needed to divest of some property assets to fund the group companies, however, after a delay in a property transaction, thte bankers withdrew their support of the group.

As a consequence, Planestation notified EUjet that it could no honour the agreed funding of the company. Since that time, EUjet management have been in discussions with various third parties regarding its funding requirement.

However, today EUjet were informed that the situation with Planestation has worsened and that it has failed to secure further funds from its bank and it would no longer be able to keep Kent International Airport. As a consequence, it would seek volountary administration for Planestation Group PLC and Kent International Airport.

Under this context the Directors of EUjet can no longer expect any deal with third party organisations to rectify the situation, as without operations from Kent International, EUjet cannot have the expectation to continue with its existing business. Therefore, it is with regret that I must advise you that EUjet has had no alternative but with immediate effect to suspend all airline operations and appoint an administrator in Ireland who will continue discussions with third parties over the purchase of the company and AOC.

With respect to our customers, you should be aware that our policy of not drawing down on funds until passengers have flown means that we have all their money in escrow and passengers will be able to claim a credit from their credit card company. All passengers will be contacted by the commercial team about the cancellation of their flights.

As I am sure you can appreciate, marketing a new airline operation from Kent International Airport, which had no recent history of passenger operations has been difficult. Unfortunately, these circumstances combined with the fact that we have an aircraft out of service for the whole summer, has meant that we have not hit targets set. Whilst EUjets operations from Shannon have exceeded all expectations, the under performance in Kent combined with reduced aircraft availability, a high fuel price, the failure of the Group to develop the cargo business, difficulties encountered with group property transactions and the unexpected withdrawal of banker support resulted in an irresolvable conclusion for the group.

I know this is terrible news for you all, considering the time, effort and passion that all of you have shown in building the business. However I have one final request to make of you all. Namely that you will, like I will, leave with your heads held high about what we achieved with Ejet.


To Highlight just a few points:

-Since September 2004 when we commenced scheduled operations
from Kent and Shannon we have taken circa
450,000 bookings.

-As an organisation, from bottom to top, we worked as
a team to eradicate the problems of weather experienced this winter to being able to boost the best on time record of any airport in the UK in recent months.

-We created a strong brand and customer loyalty which is
testified that consistently we received more complementary
letters than complaints, a boast I am sure that no other air-
line can claim

-The market has expanded and our services attracted customers
from across Kent and South East London.

-We are now hitting our first peak season and the loads on the
leisure flights are high.

Ultimately for reasons outside of our control we will not have an opportunity to build from this base but today I can say that I am proud and honoured to have worked with such a fantastic team and to have together created and shared such a memorable airline, I wish you all well with your future endeavours and please be aware the the HR department or the administrator will maintain contact with you concerning you circumstances.
Further anouncements will follow over the course of the next few days from the adminstrator.

Regards
PJ "

[ORAC]

EUjet goes into administration (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/4717881.stm)

Thousands of passengers have been left stranded after the parent company of budget airline EUjet filed for administration and stopped all flights....

About 5,000 passengers are thought to be stranded abroad unable to get home. The jobs of about 500 staff working at the airport or for the airline are also in doubt.

The first two passenger flights of the day left the airport as normal, but all later services - 10 in total - were cancelled. Passengers were left waiting at the airport, with no flights into or out of Manston except freight flights.

Holidaymakers due to be flying back to the UK with EUjet were left trying to arrange alternative flights with other airlines.....

A spokeswoman for the Association of British Travel Agents (Abta) said clients with future bookings were unlikely to get any sort of refund unless they had spent more than £100 and paid by credit card.

[bacardi walla]

Maybe they should have kept to the ACMI work and left low cost ops right alone !!

[idle stop]

I have every sympathy with those at EU who have lost their jobs, and am really sorry that EU has failed to make a go of it from Manston.
But I have to say that the manner in which stranded passengers were told of their plight- a copy of a one-line email- was a pretty poor show, and, more than that, the inability or unwillingness of local staff to help the pax was shameful. At least in Prague: where my 16 yr old stepson and 3 school friends were handed back their bags and told to leave the airport! This after hours of waiting at the Gate with no info forthcoming from staff.
Enough said.
Thanks, Easy, for recovering them and the other pax on that flight to LGW for a very reasonable £25 'ish each.

[neidin]

Is is really true that P.J was drawing down a CEO salary of EURO 2,400 per day through an offshore company routed through SNN. Is that true anyone know?

That could pay for a few passenger refunds!

[bmibaby.com]

Is anybody aware as to whether an administrator has yet been appointed for EUJet? As mentioned, I've had the pleasure of working with Manston Airport (and flying from there) and certainly believe that the place has a lot of potential. I just think the financial situation at Planestation was never going to keep EUjet afloat, especially with some of their poor business choices.

I hope everyone at EUJet finds a job elsewhere with relative ease & comfort, and that MSE can be saved by an alternative established or start-up airline, as it's a wonderful little place!

[KentSeaSider]

BMIBABY.COM

I believe the adminstrators are a firm called Grant&Thornton


MINI
There are many at KIA Manston who were/are wondering about
PJ's role/status in the Airline, we'd heard he was no longer involved then occaisionally a company e-mail would appear signed by him mmmm.

[wasdale]

I have been made redundant several times by the failure of small (shoestring?) airlines for which I preferred to work, rather than join a large corporation and just be a faceless number on the payroll, and my sympathy goes to the employees and stranded passengers.
Is it not time to ask whether the financial integrity of such start-up (upstart?) companies should be investigated further before acquiring a licence to operate?
This happens so often that I have to wonder sometimes whether someone is making a killing somehow by intending their new venture to be short-lived before it even has a chance to succeed. Can they be getting a tax advantage to offset losses somewhere else?
I’m no financial expert, but there is a very strong smell of fish.

:confused:

[GLAcabincrew]

Hi all!

have just been listening to Radio Scotland and all EUJ flights have been suspended with EZY and MON agreeing to carry affected passengers for GBP 25 per sector.

Sounds like the end to me!!!!

[The Real Slim Shady]

Whilst everyone is entitled to an opinion...free speech and all that...at the moment it would of immeasurably greater benefit to the staff if anyone with any inside info on available jobs passed that on and the analysis was left for later.

A lot of these folks have been through this before with Gill...same bank..similar time of month....just before pay day.

[TwoDots]

My sympathies to all ... I was with Maersk/Duo at the end, so know what this feels like.

For what its worth, in a relatively short space of time, everyone who wanted a job got one ...

We has an excellent Flt Ops man at the time, who called all the airlines the day after the collapse, and many of them came to talk to us as a group ... holding recruitment days at our old HQ and a couple of airlines did roadshows for us etc ...

This kind of thing might be worth trying to organise.

Good luck

[MorningGlory]

Very sorry to hear about the end of EUJet.

I hope the flightdeck and all other staff involved will find alternate work very soon without too much trouble. All the best.

[Jamesov Bondski]

Why is it that PJ McGoldricks name is so often associated with small airlines that go out of business. He was invloved in the HeavyLift Cargo Airlines going down & TranAer. Is he someone who gets called in to assist in an attempt to try and recover, or just someone who comes in to help clean up? Either way I have seen 3 or 4 final 'Sorry Chaps' statements from PJ to ground staff and air crew, and had the misfortune to have been working for a couple at the time.

[sidestickhumper]

Check now http://www.eujet.com

Sadly, all speculations were true

[STN Ramp Rat]

Did Manston actually open for business today, I was speaking to someone briefly today who was there and it did not sound like it was open.

[ProcATCO]

My sincere condolences to all at KIA and EU Jet for the news.

I recently went for a job in ATC at KIA and was awaiting a reply when I heard the news, so to some extent this has affected me directly.

The ATC staff were very pleasant and helpful when I was there, and I wish them the very best for the future.

A sad day for UK Aviation and UK AIrports.

:{ :ugh: :{ :ugh:

[Jes]

For the nth time: the airport is open.

[Twitcher]

Air Atlanta were advised to fly their last 747 out by the weekend as it seems it may be their last chance.

[bakerloo]

Good luck to all
B..

[DogsDiner]

So P.J. strikes again.

Another cunning plan to do things cheaply?

Oh no not another airline gone bust?

Ah well least I got the customers money.

Maybe someone in authority might now take a look at the back ground of people trying to run airlines before issuing licences.

[niceguy]

I am amazed.

On a forum with so many people that could do a better job than the people who are actually trying to start airlines and run airlines, how is it that anyone in the aviation business is even slightly surprised by this.

It was a dead cert that Ejet could not work, just like DUO couldnt work.

One was never going to sell enough tickets from nowhere and the other would never sell ducks (DUO advertising).

I too am sorry that people will be thrown into unemployment. It is always sad, but I am sorry to say I posted on this back in about March or April. Told you so.

[tilewood]

I agree with Niceguy.

This was like watching a slow motion tram smash. Everyone knew it was inevitable from the beginning.

Unfortunately Manston does not have a catchment area that is sufficient to support a high frequency schedule service operation. In fact where is Manston's catchment area?

In the 60's and 70's when Invicta was in business it's limited success was based on IT charter flights where passengers were mainly coached to Manston. Those days are gone.

I wish Manston and it's staff a secure future, but I don't think it will come in the guise of a low-cost scheduled operator.

[dionysius]

Interesting article in todays Telegraph about PJ, although most of the content already known.................

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1711086,00.html

:suspect:

[Jes]

"Unfortunately Manston does not have a catchment area that is sufficient to support a high frequency schedule service operation.

In fact where is Manston's catchment area? Er, KENT, E SUSSEX AND S.E. LONDON. REMEMBER THE DICTUM - THERE IS NO CATCHMENT AREA FOR LOCO AIRLINES.

In the 60's [60s] and 70's [70s], when Invicta was in business it's [ITS] limited success was based on IT charter flights where passengers were mainly coached to Manston. Those days are gone. THE WHOLE AIRLINE BUSINESS HAS CHANGED. NEVERTHELESS, IN JULY 9,000 CHARTER PASSENGERS WERE COACHED FROM AND TO MANSTON.

I wish Manston and it's [ITS] staff a secure future, but I don't think it will come in the guise of a low-cost scheduled operator"

EUJ HAD SOME CRAZY ROUTES, BUT THERE WERE BANKERS. THEY STARTED TO GO UNDER BY REDUCING AMS AND MAN TO ONCE A DAY, DESTROYING A GROWING BUSINESS MARKET. THE PLANES WERE TOO BIG FOR MOST OF THE BUSINESS SERVICES, AND THEY RAN TOO MANY SUN SERVICES ON TOO MANY ROUTES.

BUT THE MAIN FACTOR IN EUJ'S DEMISE WAS YEARS OF FINANCIAL MISMANAGEMENT BY PLANESTATION - THE DEBT MOUNTAIN WAS TOO GREAT.

THE DEBT HAS NOW GONE. AN AIRPORT WITH GOOD FACILITIES IS AVAILABLE IN KENT, ONLY AN HOUR'S DRIVE FROM THAMES GATEWAY - WATCH THIS SPACE.

[matching]

I worked for EUjet and take exception with some of the comments expressed, like the comment about passengers loosing their money which they paid for future flights. We are all aware that EUjet only used passengers money after they had flown passengers therefore can get there money back.

I enjoyed my time working with some of the best people I had the privilege of working with.

Yes it was a long shot operating out of an airport that didn’t have an existing business but if there was no people in the world prepared to take a chance there would be very few jobs.

Yes EUjet didn’t develop fast enough but don’t for get it was the first year, fuel prices increased by 300% and the cargo business at the airport disappeared. Is it any wonder that PlaneStation had difficulties?

It was the failure of PlaneStation which brought EUjet down and this failure has been blamed on the PlaneStation’s Bank who wouldn’t support the company while property was been sold.

EUjet was controlled by PlaneStation as was the Airport; EUjet was run by Martin May and all the senior people reported to him. When the staff met management it was Martin they met not PJ McGoldrick who announced earlier in the year that he was resigning from the Board and reducing the time he would work for the company.

He became more involved towards the end (a good indication that things weren’t going great) and when the company stopped operating it was Stuart McGoldrick who talked to our people in Kent and I believe PJ did the same in Shannon.

There was no sign of the PlaneStation people

[Andy_S]

Yes EUjet didn’t develop fast enough but don’t for get it was the first year, fuel prices increased by 300% and the cargo business at the airport disappeared.
Didn't develop fast enough? What!! They were flying 20 odd routes less than a year after start up!!! What really killed them off was overambition - trying to be a major airline from day 1 when they really should have started with just a couple of destinations to see how well they worked. The cargo business that disappeared BTW - MK Airlines - was being handled at a loss by Planestation.
It was the failure of PlaneStation which brought EUjet down and this failure has been blamed on the PlaneStation’s Bank who wouldn’t support the company while property was been sold.
That's funny. A lot of people would have said the exact opposite - that it was the crippling losses racked up by EUjet that dealt a fatal blow to Planestation. The bank isn't a charity and shouldn't be expected to behave like one; they had already supported Planestation to the tune of £40 million or so; perhaps they were fed up throwing good money after bad.

[skyman771]

In the 60's and 70's when Invicta was in business it's limited success was based on IT charter flights

Ahh those were the days, loved their DC 4's !

[LGS6753]

But even then, in the early 70s when Invicta acquired Vanguards and later still 707/720s, they based them at Luton for most of the charters. Presumably because that's where people wanted to fly from.

[Buster the Bear]

Invicta only survived on the back of the UK Govt trooping contracts and the charter services flown in the main from Luton.

[tilewood]

If Manston has as much potential as Jes obviously thinks,then why haven't Easy or Ryanair staked a claim long ago?

Neither airline is slow when it spies an opportunity.

It comes back to what so many people have stated already
on this thread. Manston does not have a catchment area
that would sustain such an operation.

It is the 'bottom line' that counts these days, the banks and the accountants are king.

[The Real Slim Shady]

Time out chaps!!!!

Now before anyone has a go at anyone, PJ or Stuart or anybody else involved in EUjet, let's get things in to perspective....airlines come....airlines go.

Examine, if you will, certain facts: I realise that this is distasteful here, but it does stop the character assasinations etc.

PJ is a businessman: he is not the head of a charity. He sold the business he had founded, EUjet, to Planestation. Ergo, it is down to PTG, not PJ.

If PTG thought,or believed, that Stuart was the man for the job, take it up with them, not PJ. Anyone can spend £35 mill in a year in the airline businees; Stuart's record doesn't even come close to the US majors.

I hasten to add that I am not PJ's greatest fan: it is my opinion that he sticks his head up his ass and surrounds himself with butt kissing acolytes who shield him from the realities of life, won't listen to the harsh truth, but hey, he own's the company, that is his call.

So, in summary, get off PJ's back; he sold the company to a mug, or a bunch of mugs. That is business. Harsh, but c'est la vie.

The writing was on the wall.....and in the email...12 months ago.

[thgilf]

I am an employee of KIA and I knew from day one when Plane station (Wiggins) bought into EU Jet, that was the end.
There is no other airport that owns its own airline (that is not how airports make there money)
There are several parts of this thread that I disagree with.
1 PJ's statement that it was KIA's fault that operations ceased, well PJ must have some sort of sort term memory loss, as it was Plane station (Wiggins) that saved them after one month and has kept them going for this lenght of time, so really it is thanks to EU that after many years employed at Manston I have lost everything ( I am just wondering whether PJ is wondering where the hell he will find the money to buy his kids a loaf of bread as I am). He was also blameing the fact that 1 plane was out of action for the summer months (well he must have ordered it not Planestation (Wigins) Come on PJ it is about time you started accounting for your own actions.
2 Martin May (the big whizz kid) yeah right, I attendented sevral staff briefings from this man and I thought then we are in real trouble with this idiot at the helm, he is a top notch accountant but if you have no money what is ther to count ??? was he drawing a wage I am wondering.
Let me pose a question if no other airport in the world owned it,s own airline why should Manston,??????
There were lots of domestic routes flying with 20 or 30 pax per flight twice a day, yet all the international flights ie: spain france portugal were flying at almost max capasity, which to a untrained eye would show what route EU should have been flying but not so many times per week or day on some routes (it is not rocket science), also I wonder whether Martin May was aware of what was going on as he cleared his office out and dissapeared on the 21st July 05. (Spineless wonder), as usual our boss Mr A Robinson was left to pick up the pieces.
3 Manston is not in the wrong place ..... for the right flights.... it is in the wrong place for domestic and business flights twice a day, holiday flight have proved different, they were booked full and thanks to the Mc Gold Trick, Manston has lost a lot of good will and trust, every one employed there gave passion, time, devotion, and a lot of very hard work against all odds to make sure that customers had the very best service through Manston and on that note there were no complaints, all complaints recieved were EU Jet based and not KIA.
I am now hopeing that I genuine buyer is now intersted in Manston it does have a very succesfull future both as a passenger and cargo airport (closest to europe and with a deep water port and most up to date B.I.P. in europe) with a company that does give a damm, Wiggins were a bunch of idiots who used Manston to line a lot of pockets, EU was the last nail in the coffin.So heres hoping..............
4 Stuart Mc Goldrick well what can I say,,,, a puppet on a string caught up in all of this.
As it stands now I am set to loose everything I have worked for over the years, I loved working at Manston and was hoping to be part of it's development, thanks to two very clever, and now very rich people we are now back at square one.
But we will succeed the staff have the devotion and we will make this airport sucsess again.
When MK were here we were loosing 4 million a year whiz kid Martin May took over then we were loosing 2 million a month, surley this man must be now unemployable (and rich)
Love to hear thoughts from other employees

[Devonair]

My heart goes out to you guys in Kent. I must admit many of the EU Jet routes seemed most bizarre when they announced them last year! Just one point though:

"There is no other airport that owns its own airline"

Sutton Harbour Holdings owners of Plymouth City Airport, also own Air Southwest.

Good luck with everything at MSE hope this is just a 'blip'. When BA announced they were pulling out of PLH there was talk of it closing. OK its only a tiny city airport but it just had its busiest year on record. The best thing to happen to PLH in my opinion was BA pulling out.

[wakehead]

I was going to remain silent in this whole matter, but I just need a quick gripe.

I used to fly for Eujet and thankfully am now with a major. However loads of my mates who are now going through their 3 redundancy are left to scratch their heads.

An infamous lawyer in Cork said from day one what the problems were, but nobody listened. He wrote a long email to the entire company including PJ. Instead of listening, he ridiculed this bloke. When Planestation took over, he warned May about the problems and still was ignored.

My heart goes out to my mates stuck in the UK, but you will get sorted.

As for the freaks who ran Eujet and a certain contract employer from the IOM who told me to stop belittling the company 6 months ago when I put my concerns across, well, I really hope you are all held accountable for your actions.
:yuk:

[alibaba]

I heard on the grapevine that Ryanair were looking to help the pilots from eu with jobs....

They are in need of drivers due to there planned expansion and aircraft delivery program over the winter :ok: I wish everybody concerned with the demise of eu the best of luck for the future:ok:

[thebrother]

wakehead - it would be interesting to read extracts of that email from the lawyer in CORK. Could you possibly publish part of it - or even bits of it in bullet points. Educational.

[ebenezer]

Neidin - you're talking a load of :mad:

Anyone who has bought tickets with EUJet using a credit card (NOT a debit card or charge card) is covered and will receive a refund from the credit card company.

Don't go winding people up with inaccurate so-called "advice" - people who have had their travel and holiday plans disrupted by EUJ's collapse have enough grief already...

:*

[jabird]

"There is no other airport that owns its own airline"

Sutton Harbour Holdings owners of Plymouth City Airport, also own Air Southwest.

And let's not forget TUI's lease on CVT - but I think we are in a very different situation here. CVT's problems can be solved - dispute with WDC almost done, and new terminal likely to be on the way. Also in this case, the airline bought the airport in order to start operations, whereas it is the other way round at MSE.

Manston can't be moved 50 miles up the M2, so they'll just have to wait until London's congestion spreads out far enough to make the airport viable. I can think of some routes which might work at the moment from MSE, but the kind of outfit might be very different for each one - e.g. turboprop feeder into AMS, weekly 757 to Malaga etc. EU Jet's attempt to do too much too soon can't help the case for other operators to offer inbound rotations there though.

[frostbite]

In case it's of any help to anyone, I heard Southend ATCO say this morning that Manston Radar is currently operating 0700-1700.

He didn't say Zulu so assume local time.

[Nakata77]

like wakehead i was going to remain silent but i just can't help it

TOLD YOU SO!

all those poor people who started working for such a dodgy company i feel bad for, but did you do any research into the company?! Everyone who knows anything about aviation was predicting its demise and not to touch it with a bargepole.

so i'm afraid my sympathy is limited.

did the staff recieve ANY money for the month of July just worked?

[ATP_Al]

Sorry to see EUjet go, and I hope that everyone affected finds work elsewhere soon.

Manston does have a future. It just needs to be used for the right purpose. The new management will need to stop playing international airports and try hard to attract some tenants that may not be as glamourous but will at least pay the bills.

As someone who lives in Kent, I see no need for yet another airline selling flights to Southern Spain. If you're travelling abroad for your annual holiday, knocking 45 minutes off your travel time doesn't make that difference, especially if you consider that those travelling to Gatwick or Stansted will have all the extra choice of destinations offered by the established carriers. BUT if you need to travel to Manchester, Bristol, Edinburgh etc once or twice a month then avoiding London and that extra 45 minutes DOES make a big difference. So why doesn't isn't there a low cost small turboprop operator flying out of Manston (or Lydd for that matter)?

Another area where Manston could make money is training. A large amount of commercial and instrument training is done in the South West at airports such as Bristol, Bournemouth and Exeter. These are now brimming with commercial traffic and turning away most non home based aircraft, with the result that it is very difficult of most students to practice IR test routes. Yet in the South East we have plenty of instrument capable airports desparate to attract traffic - Manston, Shoreham, Southend, Lydd (when they their ILS sorted) but few commercial flight schools.

Surely these kind of ideas can take MSE forward.

Al

[wingandprayer]

I am with 'Slim''on this one.

All the 'coal face' workers can do its fly the schedule as dictated by Commercial. If the commercial department hasnt bothered to obey the basic rules of business then there was no hope. Ultimately poor commercial decisons are taken by the Group Commercial Director, in consultation with the board.

Too much ambition, very little market research, almost non-existant advertising (until too late).

The airline was started as wet-lease, which it was profitable at, just. However, it went 'pear-shaped' during the latter part of the wet-lease venture by to do too much.
That led to problems in italy, with impounded aircraft, court cases etc, (hence cancellation of planned italian routes).
All caused by the commercial department. I wonder who was the head of that department?

Coincidence, .............maybe.......

[jabird]

Love the way today's ttg continues to push for another £1 lobby on flights, pointing out about how many within industry have known this was going to happen, whilst still running a full advert for said airline "the hassle free alternative", saying how MSE is on GDS and "travel agent friendly", and how it is now even more simple to book.

Ebeneze, the ttg article suggests that consumers might NOT be protected, as the transactions took place via Shannon, and therefore outside consumer credit protection. I know which side of the fence this publication sits on, so can anyone comment further?

[KentSeaSider]

THGILF
Good Points.
1. Management- From day 1 the communication from management has been virtually non-existant. Even on the 'last' day all I saw was the e-mail from PJ.

2. We used to wonder if any of them had really ever been out on a ramp. Especially after PTG moved its head office down to Manston from London.
EUjet can't complain about the availability of money whilst they were operating, when they moved in to Manston, it seemed that money was no object, from stationary to personel....what they asked for ....they got, the rest of us had to get on with extremely keen and willing people but with equipment and facilities that belong in a museum.

3. Routes - as thgilf says the holiday flights were doing very well, people wanted to use Manston, so what if it only saved them 15-20-30-45 minutes instead of going to Gatwick, they like(d) the small airport atmosphere and facilities.
Why we were sending a 108 seat aircraft up to Belfast and Newcastle and filling only 15 to 25 seats on average made me wonder as well.

4. Marketing - too little to late. Passengers used to say they saw no EUjet advertising away from Manston at the destinations.

5. Manston in the right hands could prove to be a very good airport and operation.
-good wide and long runway
-cargo facilities, the BIP etc
-Road and rail links are'nt the best....but with investment (extend the M2 and the proposed high speed rail link)
-Room to expand (Farm land on 3 sides of the airport)

6. The row over building new runways/airports in the S.E. In the arguments over plans to build at Cliffe in NW kent, no where did I see anyone put forward a plan for an existing airport to be developed.... i.e. Manston.

The people at KIA are good people and deserved better.

[Jetscream 32]

i am part of a group that will hopefully make things better in the coming weeks - hopefully for good, and obviously only if we are succesful in our bid.

Plan is to take over airport as going concern - but guess what! without trying to smash an egg with a hammer.

:-)

[durlockminster]

Noe of the EUjet staff have been paid a penny. Pay day should have been today. KIA staff all got paid a few days before the annoucement, as did caterer's etc. Cabin/Flight crews are also down on sector pay as it is paid a month in arrears, so missing Jun & July secotr pay, basic salary, june/july comission and holiday entitlement pay.

[Mr @ Spotty M]

ebenezer
Where do you get that info from, reference credit card refunds, as l reported on the 27th, you need to have spent over £100.
This was also added in a later post.
"A spokeswoman for the Association of British Travel Agents (Abta) said clients with future bookings were unlikely to get any sort of refund unless they had spent more than £100 and paid by credit card".

[fj1]

BBC KENT were sayng early in the week

All future customers money has held by a third party(debis), and is being returned automatcally if you paid by Credit Card.

If you paid by Debit Card or Cash when write to

'The Examiner'
EUjet
debis AirFinance House
Shannon Airport
Co. Clare
Ireland

P.S IIRC "£100 and paid by credit card" only applies to UK companies and EUJET is not one of the them

[Andy_S]

In the arguments over plans to build at Cliffe in NW kent, no where did I see anyone put forward a plan for an existing airport to be developed.... i.e. Manston.
Not true. In the government White Paper of a few years ago on future airport capacity in the London & the South East, Cliffe was discussed, as were Manston, Lydd, Biggin Hill and (I think) Farnborough.

Manston was assessed in this document as being able to contribute modestly to capacity in the S.E. - I think a figure of 2 million pax / annum was mentioned, as well as the freight capability - but was not seriously considered for many of the reasons already mentioned in this discussion; distance from London, lack of catchment area, transport links. I believe one of the local MP's (Ladyman?) subsequently tried to rebut this by asking questions in parliament, but got short shrift from Alistair Darling.

[adm1n]

A message forum has been created for ex planestation employees, here you can keep in touch, share recruitment information etc.
Hope its of use for you guys.



http://planestation.proboards55.com

Good Luck to you all in finding new employement.

[Buster the Bear]

Rumour has it that Manston is closed until Aug 3rd, due licence and insurance problems and not the 0700-1700 opening daily on the NOTAM.

Trading Standards confirmed today on the BBC, that you will get a FULL refund if you used a Credit card and the bill was over £100 for the air fare purchase.

http://static.zsl.org/images/width150/bear-04-web-305.jpg

[jabird]

Ladyman is singled out in the "Just for £1" campaign as he was against it two weeks ago. Presumably he would have been aware of the rocky situation at MSE, or perhaps not?

I'm not convinced about the arguments for this one yet, sounds like yet another charge for muggins passenger, this time to prop up financially inept airlines, but a one way Ryanair flight (without taxes and charges of course) says he'll do a u-turn by the end of August.

Buster, I'm still miffed on what's going to happen for the passengers who paid by debit card, or who paid less than £100. I understand average return fare was just £48. At sub 50% occupancy, it still seems amazing that the airline lasted so long.

[Charlie Fox]

RAC : FROM 05/07/29 16:30 TO 05/08/03 07:00 C2954/05
E)ATZ AND AD CLOSED WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT

[HZ123]

What now to for Lydd's grand plans ?

[Hobbit]

Just as a final word on EUJet.
In my simplistic understanding of the business ACMI is money for old rope. EUJet spent the majority of 2003 and 2004 flying some lucrative ACMI contracts throughout Europe. They should have started at MSE with pockets full of money. The whole of last summer saw EUJet struggling to run the very simple scehdule imposed by their contractors. V Bird was a straightforward schedule. The contract for the Milan operation was so poorly written that Milan and Naples were considered to be the same base! The contracts with Air France, Air Luxor and German Wings could have been extended. Indeed I think it would be fair to say that EUJet were partially responsible for driving Volare and V Bird out of business with their appaling record. With a history like this, it does beg the question, why did Planestation invest in them. Due diligence is surely a prerequisite of any business venture. Mr McGoldrick's dubious history, as detailed in the Telegraph, and the airline's inability to operate throughout the previous summer should have given Planestation food for thought before they invested their shareholder's money in such a dodgy enterprise.

[kellyoldsmunt]

deep down i think the majority of staff at mse knew that it wouldnt last. wrong routes, wrong aircraft, un-reliable aircraft, poor management and an amazing rate of spending money. there was direct orders not to market the cargo operation yet the marketing of the pax operation abroad was none existant. we get the feeling that the whole thing was deliberately run into the ground. so much for MM's reputation in the city now,unless those in the know were fully behind the 'planned' demise of planestation. the only ones that come out on top are the mcgoldricks. and as for pj saying he plans to re invent the airline flying from snn to the sun, who in hell is going to lend this tripple failure money?
a sad end to a lot of dedicated hard working staff,many of whom will not even get paid, shame pj wont put his hand in his own pocket, but hopefully someone will get it rolling again, there is huge potential here, dispite what a lot of gloom mungers say.
good luck mse

[bish-bash]

Come on then Jetscream, let us all know who your employer is, whould it begin with an S********* and involve 4 146's by any chance??

[KentSeaSider]

"A message forum has been created for ex planestation employees, here you can keep in touch, share recruitment information etc."


adm1n - What do you know that we don't !!.....as far I as know, no KIA staff have been told their services are no longer required at KIA Manston......so are we "ex" employees then ?

I understood that we were having to wait till the administrators did their work, then the results would be told to us before being released to the outside world.

[adm1n]

It says Planestation employees, as in Eujet, Planestation and KIA.
It was mainly created now for the people departing from Eujet to stay in touch with work colleagues from the rest of the company, who ARE still employed.

[tilewood]

Aircraft working other ATC units are being told
Manston is closed UFN. No dates are times are being mentioned.

[kellyoldsmunt]

'ex employees' is of course those eujet people who have been told that they lost their jobs last week. as for the rest of us, we will be told tommorrow that all is lost,except for a few senior positions required to keep the place 'ticking over'. what about the rumour that bmi have bought the old place already?

[bobdee]

Notams now show EGMH closed until 8th August 7 a.m.

[kellyoldsmunt]

correct.the atz is closed until the 8th when no doubt another notam will be posted.
heard a rumour that someone will sign on the dotted line next week, however no one seems to know any facts.
isnt it amazing how quiet this forum has become since everybody is now unable to use the companies computers!
come on, get them rumours working...............

[Buster the Bear]

Seriously, rumours of the airport being sold and turned into a theme park!

[tilewood]

No change there then!!:rolleyes:

[MSF]

Wind World, Land of Snow or how about Freezing Rain Wonderland.

The most likely outcome will have either houses or cabbage in its future.
I dont know how the Fire School will impact the outcome as they usually fill the sky with smoke every once and a while.
I would imagine the RAF may have some say in its future development and there may have been some provisions in its sale to Wiggins.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have just checked my inbox to find....

Dear All,

Below is an update on the current situation which has been issued by our Finance Director. As we do not have e-mail contact details for all staff I would greatly if you could pass this information on.

Regards,

Human Resources



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


An Update on current position for employees.



The last number of weeks have been very difficult for all of us and we thank you for your patience during this time. I have outlined below how your claim for arrears of wages, holiday etc will be processed. We have dealt with this on a Question and Answer basis



Q: When we I receive my P45



Irish Employees



We expect to be issuing P45’s to you on Friday this week. The P45 will record your payment of salary to 30th June 2005. We will also enclose a letter explaining the circumstances for you to hand, if required, to your local social security office.



UK employees



We expect to be issuing P45’s to you during next week. The P45 will record your payment of salary to 30th June 2005. We will also enclose a letter explaining the circumstances for you to hand, if required, to your local social security office



Q: How much will I be paid?



We are calculating your claim for unpaid wages, holiday pay, notice pay and other expenses where we have the information. For the avoidance of doubt your employment was terminated on 26th July 2005 but your wages will be calculated to 31st July. When this is done (we expect to be able to issue the calculation next week) we plan to email or write to you so that you can check the claim. If you dispute any item then we will need written evidence to support your dispute and you should email [email protected] or write to HR, EUjet in Examinership, debis Airfinance House, Shannon Industrial Estate, Shannon, Co. Clare, Ireland.



Q: When will I be paid and will I get it all paid?



Your claim for unpaid wages, subject to certain limits and unpaid holiday pay will be a preferential claim in the insolvency. As the process of securing an Investor for the Company and the formulation by the Examiner of a scheme of arrangement to deal with historic debts of the Company is on-going, as well as the need for approval by the Irish High Court of the scheme of arrangement the actual amount and the date of payment to you cannot yet be determined. We are however trying to do this as soon as possible but it will be at least a month.



Q: what can I do about the amounts that I may not be paid?



As Eujet is insolvent, you may be able to make a claim under the Employment Protection legislation in each Country. Relevant information on how to make a claim can be found:



For Irish residents: http://www.entemp.ie/employment/insolvency/index.htm

For UK residents: http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/redundancyandinsolvency/whatcanido.htm

or

http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/pdfs/guidanceleafletspdf/guideforemployees.pdf



Q: What about a reference?



References: HR will be issuing to you a standard employer reference to your home address. To avoid any confusion please re-confirm your home address so that we ensure the records are up to date.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BOHICA!

[airborne_artist]

Apologies if this has been posted before;

www.eujet.com is showing a page explaining what to do if you have booked or travelled with the airline, and how to get your money back (!) or return to UK.

The header for the page reads: Eujet, the hassle free alternative :sad: :sad:

[Maude Charlee]

Well, I suppose at least it looks on the face of it as though the staff are being better informed than was the case last year at EAAC. Just hope you all get your money.

[kellyoldsmunt]

EUJET, THE PASENGER FREE ALTERNATIVE
but there again it always was.

as for the mail from the HR dept. we were told that the HR dept was dissmissed at manston because the administraters had their own, and nobody liked her anyway.
my advice would be to fill out the form given by the administraters and dont hold your breath.

if they turn it into a theme park they could always bring back FZ and turn it into a cafe(plenty of wild life around for fresh meat), and if they had one of those roundabouts with little red planes on it, would it work?, or would anyone want to ride on it? we could have a 'spot the concrete with no weeds'competition or
spot the working taxiway light.
youve got to laugh..............

[niknak]

I've heard that the administrators have kept a number of staff on (ATCOs', Engineers, AFS and Ops) but they are only to be paid until the end of August.
Alledgedly thaye have been approached by 3 potential buyers, 2 of whom are credible, but they are not 1)BAA 2)TBI or 3)Peel Holdings.
One wonders if a bunch of Mc Venture Capitalists with interests in the Broads and a certain Dutch city with strong EEC connections may be involved. :rolleyes:
Last but not least, it is alleged that their are certain issues regarding public liability insurance, and that the UK Insurance industry requires a bond to cover past and future payments, ther is allegedly no money for this, which is why, allegedly, the airfield remains closed, (allegedly).

[kellyoldsmunt]

'watch out' in the local paper, EUjet boss seeks court backing to continue flying. the man states that he is looking for a backer as he wasnt prepared to invest any of his own money,well theres a shock. it also says £500,000 is owed to staff not paid, this wouldnt be too big a dent in his bank ballance if he did the decent thing and paid the loyal hard workers that got him his money. he also says he is retiring,i thought he already did this.
there are too many questions in this sorry tale, and i would hope someone would request an inquiry as to who, why and how this all went tits up.:yuk: :yuk:

[HZ123]

It is encouraging to read that there maybe an offer for the airport. My avaition involvment stands at 30 years and having spent a period at STN 72-74 and having seen the likes of LTN and a number of regional airports birth and growth, I cannot see who is going to purchase MSE. In the last 20 pages it has been said so many times that the airport has never made any monies nor attracted regular traffic (excepting GA and cargo). I believe it has even had a number of SSC charters but this is all history and it will take a blind man surely to invest. Futhermore if there are fiscal issues to resolve these may takes months or even years. That said I hope something does turn up as arriving at LHR today you realise what a dump it is and many must wish for flts from there local airports, hassle free.

[bobdee]

With the ever present benefit of hindsight, and assuming that the original intention of EUJet was to become a sucessful airline, it would seem that had they concentrated on the Spanish and similar routes, the story today might have been different. Eujet proved that there is a market from Manston for traffic fom Kent to Spain and although the average load factors for the airline never exceeded 54%, the Spanish routes must have approched an avarage of 80%. I personally flew as a Pax on nine return trips and all of these had at least 80 passengers and two were 100%. The early days of three flights to Manchester, Edinburgh Amsterdam per day, must have drained a fortune from the company coffers, and made a wound that the company never had the time to recover from. It still seems a doubtful decision by the Banks to withdraw support just as EU were about to fly what would probably have been their busiest three months ever, bearing in mind the reported 100,000 passengers who are now owed money for uncompleted flights. One assumes the would be purchasers for the Airfield would have access to the real figures, and perhaps they can see more of a future for Manston than is generally realised.

[niknak]

Planestation promised the bank/other investors that they would have an average of 600,000+ pax six weeks ago, they couldn't achieve 300,000 two weeks ago. The remainder of the business plan was also going rapidly south - little wonder that the plug was pulled.

The only future Manston has would perhaps be as a freight airport, even that is extremely unlikely as there are many issues to sort out, which cannot be funded by the administrators.
A cash injection of £1m is required simply to get the place up and running, and that's assuming that key staff such as engineers and atco's can be persuaded to stay on the books.

No one in the private sector with any credibility will be interested, and no one in their right mind will stay if another job is available.

It doesn't look good.

[tilewood]

niknak is right.

The only future for Manston that I can see is possibly
as a freight airport. Even then it is a poor location for trunk road and mainline rail access, unlike Coventry or East Midlands that
are very centrally situated.

However strange things happen,Ostend seems to be fairly successful with freight, and that's on the edge of the known
universe too!!

[bish-bash]

Perhaps this article is approching the truth? taken from todays Kent Messenger,

Expert claims airline was doomed from first flight

by Trevor Sturgess
EUjet was a flawed business model that was bound to fail, according to an airline expert.

The low-cost airline and its owner PlaneStation, which also owns Kent International Airport at Manston, crashed into administration on July 26 after the Bank of Scotland pulled the plug on PlaneStation’s credit line, thought to be around £25million.

The collapse left thousands of passengers stranded overseas, cost hundreds of jobs and cast a shadow over the longer-term viability of scheduled services operated out of Kent.

It was also embarrassing to Kent County Council which had invested £100,000 in the fledgling airline to bring it to Manston.

One expert who long ago pointed out potential problems with EUjet is Dr Michael Grimes, an airline consultant based in Cork, Ireland, close to EUjet’s registered base in Shannon.

He warned Kent County Council, the Civil Aviation Authority and PlaneStation but says his warnings went unheeded.

Speaking to Kent Business as joint administrators at Grant Thornton attempted to sort out the financial affairs of PlaneStation and London Manston Airport Plc – Irish-registered EUjet is subject to different rules – Dr Grimes said the business model was flawed in his view.

He claimed the fare structure was unrealistically low and that the Fokker-100 aircraft used by EUjet were uneconomic and unreliable.

P J McGoldrick, the airline’s colourful Irish chief executive, whose son Stuart became EUjet commercial director, revealed that one plane had been out of service for most of the year.

Dr Grimes said: "They might have had a chance if they’d had a proper plane for the job but the Fokker-100 never made any money for anybody."

He claimed that leasing charges on the aircraft were exorbitant and he had serious concerns about P J McGoldrick. He was previously involved in Ryanair at a time when it was a loss-making airline.

Kent County Council was aware that Mr McColdrick was also involved with an airline that collapsed in 2000 with reported multi-million pound liabilities and the loss of hundreds of jobs.

Dr Grimes said he had sought an investigation into the running of EUjet and PlaneStation but no action was taken.

He claimed that his letters to KCC leader Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart went unanswered and telephone calls were blocked.

"These people have themselves to blame because all these deficiencies were notified to the relevant authorities, including Kent County Council, who did nothing."

He did not see much of a future for Manston as a passenger airport – it is already a successful freight terminal – except for shuttle services across the Channel.

Cllr Alex King, KCC Cabinet for regeneration, defended the council’s investment in a private sector venture.

"EUjet would not have come to Kent without that £100,000," he said. "I do not regret it for one moment.

"That was an investment that brought an airline to Manston. That airline has demonstrated you can fly those routes.

"We believe that Kent International Airport has demonstrated its viability over many years as a cargo airport. We believe EUjet, against tremendous difficulties in the aviation world, has demonstrated the potential for Manston as a passenger airport."

Andrew Conquest, a partner with Grant Thornton, said: "Our intention is to continue to operate the airport while we seek buyers for the business and we are currently reviewing the funding requirements to enable the airport to continue to operate in the short term."



Report from Kent Business




And here is part two, from the Kent Messenger





Questions still remain over EUjet collapse
by Trevor Sturgess



MYSTERY surrounds the delay in appointing administrators to failed airline EUjet.

While Grant Thornton partners are sorting out the financial affairs of PlaneStation, the airline’s parent company that collapsed with estimated debts of £22million, and subsidiary London Manston Airport Plc, EUjet is not subject to the same rules.

The Irish-registered operator, which was grounded last week with the loss of at least127 jobs and left more than 5,000 passengers stranded, is still run by its directors, including chief executive P J McGoldrick.

The airline is subject to Irish law and an "interim examiner" is understood to have been appointed but this person does not have the power of administrators.

Dr Michael Grimes, an airline consultant based in Ireland, said the delay suggested that the banks were happy with Mr McGoldrick.

"I would say he’s left PlaneStation holding the baby," Dr Grimes said.

Administrators asked awkward questions, he added. The present situation left EUjet creditors "in limbo" not knowing against which company to claim.

EUjet is clearly pinning the blame for its grounding on PlaneStation.

Callers to its Shannon offices are told that flights have been suspended "due to financial difficulties experienced by our parent company PlaneStation".

This has angered Grant Thornton which blames PlaneStation’s demise on EUjet.

A spokesman said: "The airline consistently failed to meet the numbers and ran out of money and at that point PlaneStation wasn’t in a position to offer any more."

At no time did the Bank of Scotland lend any money to EUjet, he said. It all went through PlaneStation.

PlaneStation kept pumping cash into the airline but the credit line eventually ran out.

"PlaneStation went to its bankers who said 'we’ve never lent a penny to an airline and we never will,"

Administrators hope their decision to keep around 70 staff at the airport will signal that it could quickly be brought back into use.

But they warn it could take months to find a "credible" buyer.

Meanwhile, Kent County Council, chastened by its failed gamble to pump £100,000 into EUjet, has rejected calls for an official investigation into what went wrong.

Cllr Alex King, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, said: "It would be unfortunate if anyone asked for a DTI inquiry."

He admitted KCC’s investment, from the Kings Hill development fund, had been a risk – he knew that many people had questioned EUjet’s viability – but risks had to be taken to lift the county.

The opportunity to get a passenger airline operating out of Manston was a major opportunity that could not be ignored.

And it was a significant achievement that EUjet had operated for nine months and carried more than 300,000 passengers.

He dismissed speculation that the airport, a key plank in KCC’s economic strategy, could be used for housing development.

"The county council is determined that Manston will play its part in the transport infrastructure of Kent as an airport," he said.



Well that's £100.000 of KCC's money down the toilet pan of life then!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MarkD]

Take anything Michael Grimes says with a barrel of salt.

See his website if you want to know why:
http://www.kellstransportmuseum.com/

also google Michael Grimes and "High Court" for more such as:

his disqualification as a liquidator/examiner and restrictions in holding company officerships by the High Court and the dismissal of his appeals by the Supreme Court. see page 3 of this pdf (http://www.rdj.ie/articles/NewsletterSummer2002.pdf)

Indeed, this 2002 judgement of Mr Justice Francis D Murphy (http://www.courts.ie/judgments.nsf/0/5b689b0f7c6ba8ed80256cd700223066?OpenDocument) shows many reasons why Dr Grimes has no reasons to be throwing stones from his glasshouse.

[tilewood]

Notams now show EGMH closed until 13th August.

[bish-bash]

Closure could be a lot longer than the 13th August, if this guy's deal comes off!!

Space camp idea for airport site

A skeleton staff has been kept on at Manston while a buyer is sought
Proposals are being heard on Wednesday for a space centre to be based on the site of Kent International Airport.
Businessman Alan Cornwell, 63, from Meopham, is discussing his idea at a preliminary meeting with Thanet council's economic development unit.

He wants to set up a "space camp" with interactive learning exhibits for children and adults.

The Manston airport was shut down after its operator PlaneStation went into administration at the end of July.

Mr Cornwell said he currently had "nothing at all" in terms of finance for the project, but was confident of being able to fund it.

"It's only been over the past two weeks when I was reading in the newspapers about the unemployment in the area [after the collapse of PlaneStation and EUjet], and I think that this could encourage employment in a big way," he said.

A space centre is already due to be up and running in Queensland, Australia, in the next couple of years, according to Mr Cornwell.

It's like training at Nasa, but for the public

He said the developments would include eight domed areas with flight and weightlessness simulators and mission control mock-ups.

"It's like the space camps they have in America, it's an education centre more than anything else.

"It's like training at Nasa, but for the public."

Mr Cornwell said building a space centre at Manston could cost about £20m.

Administrators Grant Thornton are looking to sell PlaneStation and the airport "as a going concern".

A spokesman said serious expressions of interest would be considered, but they would have to be formal offers with a "realistic business plan and financial backing

[Taildragger]

I am saying again in addition to other posters...... will MSE ever make it as a Regional VIABLE (Keyword) Airport.?? Never.
Will Campbeltown.?? or Wick.?? or Sheffield.?? NO...for the same reason.!! No catchment area, therefore no Pax. Geography dictates end of the road and also end of the coastline. Good little airport for Canterbury and environs, but that is not enough for a viable airport with lots of Pax. The demise of EU jet was foreseeable as was the Lydd operation. The only winner was Seabourne who set up a lease with the MOD and sold it to Wiggins. Clive Bourne took his money and made a big profit...well done CJB.

[airhumberside]

The demise of EU jet was foreseeable as was the Lydd operation
Demise of what Lydd operation? Lydd Airport is open for business as it Lydd Air.

[jamesbrownontheroad]

I am saying again in addition to other posters...... will MSE ever make it as a Regional VIABLE (Keyword) Airport.?? Never.

Will Campbeltown.?? or Wick.?? or Sheffield.?? NO...for the same reason.!! No catchment area, therefore no Pax.

Sorry to go off topic, but have to correct you there.

Campbelltown, true. Wick, true. But Sheffield is the fourth biggest city in England, and SZD's infrastructure connections (proximity to M1 and other motorways, train and tram) were equal, if not better than DSA. Manston was not viable, whereas SZD was run into the ground because the operators had conflicting interests at DSA where the potential for expansion was better, and because if proven not to be viable, they could buy SZD off the city (who largely bankrolled it's development) for nothing and then make a mint selling off the land to developers.

Right, that should have lit the touchpaper, I'm off to hide now... :E

*j*

[onion]

Jamesbrown, sorry Sheffield airport was not run into the ground by Peel, although maybe when they took over they had little interest in it as anything more as an airfield for club, private and business jet operations.
The fact is that Sheffied has was built with a too short a runway and when it originally opend it was not allowed to operate single engined aircraft although this has changed. The problem was that although there where operators willing to use the place this was to little to make the place viable. If they had had the single engined stuff from the begining this might of been different. Then on top of this 9/11 happend and airport around the world were effected. Sheffield unfortunately was unable to cope, new airport that had been constrained from the word go just wasn't going to survive in that climate as an airport offering scheduled flights.

[The Real Slim Shady]

Now, now children.

EUjet's failure, and the dragging down of MSE has nothing whatsoever to do with the geographical location of the airport.

The demise of the airline was down to greed and stupidity. Simple as that.

And before anyone tells me I don't know what I'm talking about...put your credentials on the line and we can compare!

[king cotton]

And sheer incompetence......

As you pinpointed many times Slim
but they didn't like the whistleblower
serve them right.....no place for improvisation
in this fierce competition.....
Vae Victis !!!

[bobdee]

A glimmer that could be a pointer to a brighter future:

www.tfly.org.uk

Here's hoping!

bd

[PUO]

Great news about TG being able to fly again!

Well done Mark and his team... real shame you were all caught up in all the PTG miss-doings but at least you can move forwards again!

[idle stop]

Well done Mark Girdler and his team.
GA in Uk just cannot afford to lose yet another airfield in the South East.
Great news.

[Lee-a-Roady Moor]

Synopsis from a regional newspaper:

Accountant John McStay has been appointed by the Dublin High Court as Examiner to EU Jetops Ltd in an effort to rescue the business.

.....in order for EU Jetops to survive, the company would have to relocate all its operations back to Shannon.....scale back on staff....recommence leasing aircraft... with the aim of securing 44 core jobs in the company.

The company still holds a valuable Airline Operating Certificate and one of the options available to the company is to find a new investor that owns aircraft and needs an Irish certificate.

€6.2m would be refunded to customers who paid by credit card....but cash-paying customers would not be receiving any refund, the High Court has heard.

[thayrd]

can anyone tell me who David Curtiss and Alistair Robinson are?I am very concerned because on two occasions was given completely incorrect information regarding the B747 S2-ADT that has been parked at manston since Feb.05. Is there perhaps another B747 parked there as well?

[Jarvy]

4 747's parked last time I looked

[EGMH]

In reply to thayrd

747's at EGMH currently are: LV-AZF, S2-ADT, N218BA

Can't see the last two ever leaving.

[Lee-a-Roady Moor]

Slim!

Credentials aside, curiosity makes me ask what additional criteria you consider contributed to their demise......?:ok:

[blazing_air]

Alastair Robertson is the Airport Director.
David Curtiss was the Cargo Manager.

[bish-bash]

From Kent on Sunday, an airport for sale with no infa-structure!!!

Key equipment at troubled Manston airport has not been paid for – including the runway lights.

An inventory sent out to potential buyers shows previous
owner Planestation was still paying for vital gear including Xray
machines, three fire engines and a truck for towing aircraft.

Paperwork issued by the administrators for Planestation – which
collapsed last month – shows it didn’t even own taxi and approach lights on the runway.The deadline for bids to take over Kent International Airport at Manston passed at noon on Wednesday.

As KoS went to press it was understood that an announcement
about a preferred bidder could be made this weekend.
But administrators Grant Thornton said they will not necessarily
accept the highest bid. In a letter from Andrew Conquest, the joint administrator, bidders were told: “The administrators
will only accept an offer for the assets if they consider it in the
best interests of the companies.

“The administrators may accept any offer at their absolute discretion and are not bound to accept the highest offer.”
The letter outlines the land on offer, including that at Manston
Aerodrome, Acol, the car park known as the ‘cabbage patch’ and
property leased to the Ministry of Defence Racing Club.

Holdings in the Czech Republic and Germany are up for grabs.

The letter also reveals that the South East England Development
Agency has indicated it will give the balance of a £150,000 grant towhoever takes over.

Other paperwork leaked to KoS shows the full list of equipment
that will be inherited by the new owner of Manston airport.
Among the items are 50 luggage trolleys (with brakes), six stainless steel conveyor belts and 57seats of varying sizes from the departure lounge.

The future is unclear, however, for several pieces of equipment
Planestation acquired through finance deals, including a 12-ton
diesel TT40 truck used for towing aircraft, two vehicles for carrying
baggage and three fully-equipped Cobra fire engines.

Even equipment in the control tower, including radar monitors, did not belong to Planestation, which went under with debts of more than £22 million. A US-based consortium was
among those understood to have submitted bids for the airport by Wednesday’s deadline.

Also following the situation closely is Kent entrepreneur Alan
Cornwell, who – as reported in last week’s KoS – wants to build a
£20m space camp on the site. Consisting of eight futuristic
domes, the centre would have a range of high-tech, hands-on displays for people of all ages, including a space shuttle simulator.
Mr Cornwell, from Meopham, is trying to win funding for a similar
scheme in Australia He said: “The administrators have agreed to put forward my ideas to whoever takes over. I’m very happy with their response.”

Meanwhile, EUjet’s flying licence has finally been revoked, following the collapse of parent company Planestation.
The Commission for Aviation Regulation stripped the budget
airline of the licence this week –despite reports its former chief
executive PJ McGoldrick was attempting to resurrect its operations
in Ireland.

[kellyoldsmunt]

believe me, the equipment at the airport isnt worth a w.
sorry, worth a dime. except the B.I.P., only used once( by a little old lady on a sunday)

[mudworm]

Any news of what will hapen at Manston?:confused:

[speakers corner]

Rumour has it Buyer found... who though watch this space.:p

[kellyoldsmunt]

airport has been bought by an airport operator,who it is cannot be announced until the ink is dry,
come on get yer finger out!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jetscream 32]

Prestwick is my favourite to get it - Morrison & Co:}

[aeroground]

Agree with Kelly the equipment is not worth much, and anything good is suspect owned by them not on lease as put bid in for equipment, and adminstrator said crucial part of ongoing business of the airport, hope it is for all concerned

[thegypsy]

Did Quentin Wilson get paid for all those adverts on TV for EU Jet I wonder??

[STN Ramp Rat]

and Prestwick it was ......

Infratil Purchases Kent International Airport

Infratil has agreed to purchase the assets and business of Kent International Airport (KIA) for GBP17 million from the Administrators of Planestation PLC. Completion of the purchase is expected to occur by Friday 26 August, upon receipt of final title searches.

KIA is located approximately 110 kilometres east of London near Ramsgate in Kent, England.

Infratil chairman, David Newman said: "Infratil is pleased to have bought Kent International Airport. While the Airport has, for a short period, been in administration following the failure of Planestation PLC, we believe that it has strong prospects as a freight airport servicing the south of England. It is also well situated to provide regional airline passenger services to Kent and the eastern side of the London conurbation, with 1.9 million people within a 60 minute drive."

"KIA fits well with our existing European airport, Glasgow Prestwick, and will be managed by Infratil Airports Europe Chief Executive, Steven Fitzgerald and his management team.

Both airports are set up to service the fastest growing air transport segments, low cost airlines and air freight."

KIA has:

A 2,752 metre runway capable of servicing Boeing 747s and the new Airbus A380s.

A recently refurbished passenger terminal presently capable of handling up to 700,000 passengers per annum.

A new 3,200m2 cargo facility, including a fully licenced Border Inspection Post. This facility enables the import of meat and fish into the European Union.

Regular operating hours between 07.00 and 23.00 with the ability to handle night traffic outside of these hours with some restrictions.

Infratil expects to grow the freight and passenger businesses at KIA to reach an operating (EBITDA) surplus within 3-4 years. In the first three years capital expenditure is expected to be approximately £9 million, with operating losses of £8-10 million.

Steven Fitzgerald said: "Our acquisition business case recognises that it will take some time to bring KIA to profitable operation, as there are no existing services. However the quality of the existing assets and the location of the Airport in South East England, close to London, makes us confident that demand for both freight and passenger services is there."

"The first services to be reinstated at KIA will be freight operations. We have already had informal talks with freight operators who are keen to bring business to KIA, because of the fast service that it can deliver and its proximity to distribution centres and London."

"Recommencement of passenger operations will take somewhat longer as passenger airlines need to make fleet allocation decisions and commence marketing and ticket selling for a period before flights begin. We expect KIA to be a strong outbound market to the popular tourist destinations in Spain, Italy and France, as well as having the potential to link Kent with key business destinations in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. Being only an hour from the M25 London ring road provides longer term potential."

"I have been impressed with the spirit of the management and staff I met during our due diligence process. They clearly believe in the potential of the Airport. The Airport currently has around 70 staff and more employment will be generated as traffic grows."

Further information about KIA is provided on Infratil's website Kent International Airport FAQS and Kent international Airport and in an analyst presentation.

[airhumberside]

Before Planestation went into administration, First Choice had a Lapland daytrip planned and Newmarket Holidays some special departure holidays. Have these been cancelled or will they still operate?

[KentSeaSider]

The plan for Manston is at :

http://www.infratil.com/1/5394.htm


Wish them all the very best and hope that most if not all of the 127 made redundant will be able to get work there again.

[speakers corner]

not all will want to come back i'm sure. and some they won't want back.

Like the look of this lot though. Realistic outlook on handling figures from the out set, not made up to suit PTG share holders.

KIA needs a kick up the **** to fulfil its potential, lets hope this is it with an actual airport operator stepping in and not truck drivers and property development companies.

:p

[pee]

Well, Infratil got it. And you know how close relation they have with Ryanair. So, is Manston becoming an other stronghold for FR?

[Lee-a-Roady Moor]

Mmm, interesting question. FR are astute as we all know, and tend only to go to places where they feel they can make some money (not unreasonable..) They haven't paid any interest previously to Manston, but with new facilities, could they be tempted? They are also well known for operating a route and then dropping it if / when it doesn't produce favourable results.

EUjet have done some of the ground work. Why not another airline - FR or another - to pick up and develop that; albeit on a smaller and slower scale initially.

FR have the resources, and don't need to base people / aircraft there, and it is unlikely to affect their pax base who use other airports, significantly.

The local people, having got used to the convenience of a pax airline on their doorstep, would surely welcome any airline with open arms.

An interesting discussion I think.

[jabird]

Looking at Infratil's other assets, I can see some good bargaining chips between them and FR.

Consider:

PIK - low cost Mecca for Central Scotland
LBC - low cost alternative to Hamburg

Now add:

MSE - FR might previously have shown little interest, but basing a couple of a/c there would be pocket change for them, and would be a serious alternative to more expansion at STN, which BAA is going to want substantial amounts of cash for. LTN also limited capacity atm.

At 110km from London, MSE would be high up the Ryanairport table distance-wise, but still a few kms short of the likes of HHN and TRF.

Finow - possible alternative to Berlin SXF / Brandenburg, which would be very expensive to develop. EZY have made great progress there, but presumably no deal has yet been good enough to tempt FR. €400m cost of new BBI is going to keep FR well out, and even if existing terminal stayed open, I would imagine they wouldn't want to use it if it meant a lot of cross-runway taxiing.

FR seem to prefer to send a/c in from other bases first, but would not be surprised to see them doing something more substantial at MSE, even if the operation might be loss making in its own right.

[MarkD]

jabird

re:STN - especially as FR are seriously winding up BAA over the costings of the second runway, which FR are accusing BAA of bundling taxiways (fair enough) and terminal additions (questionable) to create a 3bn mountain out of a 90m molehill. Moving aircraft down the road to MSE might be a bargaining chip there.

[Jetscream 32]

I can assure you that FR did have an interest in MSE - i had an offer from them on the 16th Sept 2002 to operate from MSE to PIK then SNN.

The fat controller at the time didnt like the deal so said no! Tw$t

:cool:

[The Real Slim Shady]

Interest...yes.

Passing interest...yes.

It does not make sense to dilute the stronghold at STN by opening up routes from MSE. How many routes do they run from LTN?

[fj1]

pee,

your rumour/question seem to be gaining ground, made it to local TV and Radio :ok:


airhumberside,

local TV said passanger flights would restart to france, italy and Spain, that sounds like the newmarket(KM) charter flights .

[Lee-a-Roady Moor]

I wouldn't have thought that the STN base would be diluted significantly. LTN is reasonably close, however MSE as we know is considerably further away. If EUjet had been the cause of dilution, FR wouldn't have been too shy about doing something about it.

You could argue that BOH would dilute LGW pax, but FR operate there. You could equally argue that LGW being closer to London would dilute STN, but....

MSE is a different / additional catchment area. Price it correctly, and people are likely to choose it as an alternative airport, with a more speedy throughput. For those outbound, very reasonable car parking charges is attractive.


*Edited for typos!*

[kellyoldsmunt]

seems that old mac gold rich has lost his operating licence, or is this just a vicious rumour?
cargo flights to start soon, two a week apparently, but no more staff reqd as yet, b**ls.
no word yet on pax flights

[blazing_air]

As of 15:00hrsl today Kent International Airport (Manston).
Is notamed at Cat 4 and looking for business.
It's not Cat 6 full passenger operation yet, but it's a damn fine start.
Well done Infratil.

[templar]

As I understand it now the AOC is gone. The examinership officially wound up the last tuesday in august. Interestingly enough the examiners appointed ( Luby/McStay) are the same ones appointed when Pj's previous bubble, Transaer, burst. Anybody else smell something ratty? Apparently there were several offers to buy the AOC, some were immediately discounted and some were given some credence but in the end it seems that they, if 'they' ever existed in the first place, were not inticed by what was on offer, acquiring the company debts and also the rumoured insistence of Big Daddy PyJamas having lil Johnny back at the helm. I mean in all fairness, would you? As for all the yakedy yak about this guy Dr Michael Grimes ( where did he get his doctorate I'm wondering and what in?, perhaps it's one of the Ian Paisley ones from Bob Jones uni in the US.) As was mentioned earlier, stop quoting this guy as if he were some oracle of aviation knowledge, he's not! He's a well known eccentric nut job in various circles. I know that alot of the Eujet staff, particularily the longer serving ones, were hoping that something might happen before long and that they might be either paid their july salary ( which has not and will not now happen) fairly soon or that they would be re-employed in whatever fashion the company might re-emerge (this isn't happening either). The ones resident in the uk are lucky enough not to be bogged down in meaningless and antiquated labour laws and so have or will soon be paid by their government. The ones in Ireland have not got that luxury and so are still waiting for the examiners final report to go through, as is required by the afformentioned meaningless and antiquated labour laws. Do not hold your breaths as some ex Transaer folk are still waiting for their beans since Y2K!! If you dont believe me then check it out. The big PyJamas is no twit and has his jet pipe well and truly covered in this respect so you can be sure that he is not, and is not going to be at any time in the future beholden to you are anyone else daring to put forth a claim. Leaves you wondering how he managed to pull this stunt off yet again considering his historical track record of flunking and being not just the buachaill dana but the amadan at the back of the airline class too. Perhaps it has something to do with his many pals at the IAA in Hawkins St. D1 who were only too happy to furnish him with a spanky new AOC and give him another shot. For those of you out there that are feeling hard done by and perhaps teetering nervously on the edge of becoming bitter and twisted,let me say this, don't be. At least we can all walk off at the end of the day with our reputations intact. I know this does not pay the bills but it will at least go some way to securing you employment in another establishment. This is more than can be said for your former CEO whose already dubious rep has now got more holes that a tetley tea bag and were it not for his considerable wealth, would now be in a much worse off situation than any of the rest of you. Let's face it, no one on this side of the planet will want to hire his 65 yr old failed arse or that of his 'mini me' add on top of that a very distinct surname that sets off alarm bells whenever it is mentioned and you can be sure they will be quiet on many a front for some time to come.

On a separate note, would the moderator of this thread kindly remove the irrelevant posts about planestation and the future of mse airport. I thought this was an eujet thread.

T+

[king cotton]

Well said Templar...I love it.....

God bless

[airhumberside]

On a separate note, would the moderator of this thread kindly remove the irrelevant posts about planestation and the future of mse airport. I thought this was an eujet thread.
The thread is called

'Eujet cease operations/Manston(Merged)'

So also covers the future of mse

[king cotton]

AirHumbleside, !!!
No offense to you, but .....
Is there any "FUTURE" for MSE.......
well under invested and so far behind industry standard.....
I hope you win the Jackpot ?!?!

All yours

[blazing_air]

Is there any "FUTURE" for MSE.......

king cotton - what do you know about the future of Manston.
When you last visited Manston (if you ever have).
I take it you didn't actually open your eyes long enough to see the newly re-furbished terminal, or the latest state of the art Border Inspection Post a new 1000 space car park perhaps or the few million quid spent on upgrading the taxiways and main apron?
No ?
Didn't think so....
Thats just what can be seen by anyone happening by the Airport.
A far cry from under investment or below industry standard.
As the future of Mnaston..
Well thats anyones guess, but we have a new global company with other airports in it's portfolio and and a willingness to get the freight and passengers moving again after the last six years with planestation.

Thats me off my soap box for now...... i feel so much better

[king cotton]

Hey Blazing,

don't get me wrong ,I wish you luck
to all of you in " Kent International " .
**********************************
When you last visited Manston (if you ever have).
**********************************
not very long ago for the last time,
and landing twice daily about five days a week for the last 12 months......
methink...there is more than cosmetic re-furbishing to be done....
runway, taxiway, approach, lights , ILS on both QFU,deicing equipment,tugs.......ETC and the list is long , but and foremost improve the ATC terminal area.....

again Good luck !

[blazing_air]

king cotton
This wasn't a personal attack, just fed up of all the knockers out there who don't see the big picture.
The Airport was in a terrible state when sold by the M.O.D and it has had 6 years worth of investment to bring it up to the level it is now.
Admitedly it's not perfect and still more needs to be done, but it is a long long way ahead of the old R.A.F days.

[kellyoldsmunt]

here we go again, when will people like king cotton (brain) stop putting down mse ?
every airport starts somewhere at the bottom its just that we have had no one, until now, to guide us upwards.

gold air biz jet in this morning, two air atlanta 747 on bravo and african dc8 on echo this afternoon, starting to look like an airport again, well done Infratil.
onwards and upwards me old mates.......

[king cotton]

Smunt

I love you !

Pax Vobiscum

[MSF]

kellyoldsmunt

It's going to take a lot more than 4 movements a day for it to be called a success.

Lets face it , the local population didn't want to support it.
This fact cannot have escaped FR and any other LoCo airline thinking of operating out of there.
You just have to look at how much the number of routes and the frequency of flights were massacred from day one.

There has never been a successful pax airline operating out of MSE.
It gave stirling service during the war , but its greatest post-military use was as the London major emergency airfield.

I wish it every success as a cargo hub, for which it is ideally suited, but it will never be a major passenger airport, not as long as the majority of Kent's population live closer to LGW - and lets face it, the road access to MSE is a joke and how about the non existant rail link.
Lets just not even visit the topic of weather !

LOCATION, LOCATION,LOCATION !!!!!!

I like airports.
I dont 'put them down' for fun.
MSE was a major part of an air defence system in the 30's , and 40's.
It was then developed as a REMOTE OPERATING LOCATION for nuclear bombers and was then sold when the MOD had no further use for it.
REMOTE, REMOTE, REMOTE !!!


Like many people , I will not see a penny in redundancy, or , unlike the Planestation staff who were paid the Friday before the whole thing went belly-up(conspiracy theorists, unite!), will never see my July wages.
The whole administration con will be dragged out until the Administrators and management have eaten up the money that should have gone to the staff.

[blazing_air]

but like the murphy's - msf is not bitter .......

[king cotton]

Hey blowing_air ,

And what about you...?!?!



Maximum respect. !!!

[blazing_air]

one of the lucky ones king cotton.
Still at mse, still getting paid, still looking for the future.

[kellyoldsmunt]

YAWN!

obviously you didnt recognise the fact that when the bog trotters went ta-ta the aircraft that flew to the popular destinations were almost full, every flight, just when it came good it went belly up.
another reason why an enquiry is a must.
pax flights can suceed if it is run properly and with some intelligence, sadly lacking with the other lot. sorry you didnt get your redunancy money, once again a limitation of the weird laws over the water.
p.s.
I did say it is starting to look like an airport..... from little acorns and all that.
yall go careful now.

[Hew Jaz]

Any update? How are things there?

[blazing_air]

Light G.A traffic with a bit of cargo at the moment, but i hear lots of talks for passengers in the new year.

[niknak]

The new owners pulled Prestwick from the abyss, and the Manston scenario is not too disimilar from Prestwick's.

I hope that Manston shares the same success, but there's a lot more competition in the south east than there was at Prestwick, good luck to them anyway.

[Taildragger]

Hey guys.... a lot of sense talked here and a lot of the other stuff too.
Manston, suffers from a problem that can never be fixed...location.
It has a finite SLF resource around Kent, and not from outside the area. Past operators did not seem to realise that, but the present, new, owners seem to have taken a large dose of reality mixture, and are looking at attracting this catchment area, and developing the freight aspect. if the Cargo operators can be enticed away from Heathrow and LGW and see the commercial sense of operating ex MSE, particularly as they are squeezed out of the airspace around there, which is more and more needed for self Loading Freight, there is hope. The roads are better now, and trucking pallets has an appeal. I, personally, wish them the VERY best of luck, but say again, that good wishes and a desire to see the airport do well, are/is just not enough, There IS money to be made in a niche market, but NOT as a competitor to Gatwick or Heathrow, Southend sufferred from Geography, and so, I am sorry to say, does Lydd. Same problem as Manston
Go for it I say, but lets keep it real.

[El_Kapitano]

Your post is completely unacceptable and I have deleted it. If you wish to name names and to comment on their integrity do NOT do it on PPRuNe unless you are willing to give us your personal details so that we can protect PPRuNe from libel.

PPP

[kellyoldsmunt]

go on name names,we are all dying to know what you posted.

[MSF]

In liquidation as of yesterday.
Another one bites the dust - no surprises there !

[niknak]

Who's in liquidaion/ The new company or the old?

[MSF]

EUjet were for sale with a 'prospective buyer' and had the period of administration extended several times , but were not granted any more time and went into liquidation this week.
This means that people should be paid.

[Buster the Bear]

SCHEDULED passenger flights could be back at Manston as early as next summer, the airport’s new owners hope.

And the arrival of a Jumbo cargo jet at the airport on Sunday morning could also herald the return of a crucial customer and the creation of new jobs at the site.

Infratil Airports Europe chief executive Steve Fitzgerald said he was hopeful that scheduled passenger airlines would be back at Kent International Airport by next summer.

He accepted that the collapse of low-cost airline EUjet had been a blow but that experience had not put off other airlines.

He has spoken to more than 30 at a recent conference and several had expressed strong interest. But he admitted he was some way away from an announcement.

He said: "Next summer is a reasonable target. The evidence is that there is demand but the business model by EUjet wasn’t able to make that profitable. We think other airlines can be."

An MK Airlines 747 freighter recently flew in from Nairobi with a cargo of fruit and vegetables.

MK Airlines, which operates a fleet of six Jumbos, quit Manston in August 2004 after refusing to pay landing fees charged by the former airport owner PlaneStation.

But Infratil is trying to woo MK Airlines back to Kent. Mr Fitzgerald hopes the one-off flight will bring MK Airlines back in numbers.

He said: "We are comfortable about the deal we have offered them. It’s a crucial deal that makes sense for us and we hope the whole package makes sense to them.

"If MK becomes a high-volume regular operator, we will probably need a handful of more people on the cargo side."

More jobs would also be needed when passenger services returned, Mr Fitzgerald said.