STANSTED - 2

[Mr Flaps]

The latest news on Maxjet does not sound to hot. What will happen to Aviance?
Avaince will be like S/Air if Maxjet go bust. They are investing at lot in the new contarct but is it money well spent?
I think time will tell with Maxjet.
If they do go bust, the fixture of their aircarft outside SR will be missed. Will it???

[Powerjet1]

Reduced winter schedules by Ryanair & Air Berlin, saw STN Nov pax numbers down -6.3%, compared to Nov 06. By contrast, LGW was up +6.2%, no doubt mainly due to easy.

Must be the first negative pax drop at STN for many months.

[Hounddog1]

And guess there will be other drops in pax figures due to BAA's policy and the increase in landing fees, not really good buisness sense, increase fees, watch airlines go to alternative airports where costs are lower.

Fewer passengers going through Terminal, means less money spent in shops, so is there really a need for a second runway on this type of management?:ugh:

[FEROMAN]

It seems to be mentioned a lot in the news, but could BAA staff (security?) really be going on strike over Christmas? I thought this was about pension changes for new members of staff only, so I can't see why current members would vote for industrial action if it doesn't directly affect them.

[South Side 1]

Well thats a new one I haven't heard, surprising as there's so many staff on different contracts and that there seperated into two sectors now (outside & terminal). They've never really struck me as being a union strong work force.
Very interesting.

[jack_essex]

I was just watching the local BBC news and there was a spokesman from American Airlines. He said the new STN - JFK has been very successful with lots of very strong loads in both economy and business. A friend of mine flew with them last week and said the flights were fully booked both ways.

[FEROMAN]

American Airlines are often fully booked and even occasionally overbooked at the moment and have had to pay some passengers a lot of money to go from Heathrow. Wouldn't surprise me if they don't start that second daily service due in March a little earlier.

[jack_essex]

I am really glad that this route is doing well for AA. I will be flying with them on this route in March.

[Mr Flaps]

Good Luck to all the staff at Maxjet, Servisair and Avaince. Shame to see thier planes leave STN.

[Mr Angry from Purley]

Can anyone confirm that Air Berlin are dropping their STN-LEJ-STN (Leipzig) service early Jan? :\

[FEROMAN]

Looks like there's just a Sunday evening service until 13th Jan. Then nothing until a Weds & Sunday evening from the 6th Feb through to the end of March; but maybe they'll scrap that too. :confused:

[D-ABAA]

Can anyone confirm the following:

EOS to start up STN - Newark as mentioned by an Eos rep. Start date March??

PIA - to fly a weekly service again to Islamabad, bookings are being taken from March also.

SPANAIR - not sure of frequency or routes, but a VERY strong rumour has them operating from STN from March.

[Powerjet1]

See that STN handled 23.76m pax in 2007, a slight 0.3% increase on 2006. Dec 07 figs were down -8.6% on Dec 06.

[sat1]

PIA - to fly a weekly service again to Islamabad, bookings are being taken from March also.


Woopeeeee!!!!!!! can't wait for that. modern,reliable aircraft........not!!!!

[MUFC_fan]

B777-200/200LR/300ER are all very new. Infact, on delivery of their 777s they often fly it into MAN from SEA to pick up fare paying PAX back to Pakistan!

If they are to operate these aircraft then it would be a very good service with MODERN aircraft.

If it is the A310...well...your right...it will be poor.

[FEROMAN]

If they happen, PIA should actually be twice a week - Tuesdays & Fridays with an A310 starting 1st April.

[FEROMAN]

Starting 30th March EOS are planning a daily 757 service to Newark for the Summer. 08:30 Mon & Sat, 13:15 other days

[Hollymead]

Blue 1 are switching their Helsinki route to Heathrow .

[poshnramp]

Who was you informant on the Newark route then???:O

[Stanstedeye]

To-night ISR101 03.15 dep STN-JFK

[tommyc2005]

The Israir JFK flight has been dropping in a few nights a week for fuel for the last couple of weeks, not sure if it is a permanent arrangement or not. Similar to El Al in the old days.

[Stanstedeye]

Thanks for the info

[Musket90]

Is TLV-JFK schedule and continuing strong jetstreams/headwinds over Atlantic presumably occasionally requires fuel stop.

[Stanstedeye]

That would explain why East-bound flights were running early today.

[Mr Flaps]

Very random question. But what is happening to the old Maxjet lounge. Is EOS going to have it? Or is AA going to come across from Sat 2?

[Stanstedeye]

In early January VR were using it for their flights to Cape Verde, but it does appear that their flights have now stopped.
Any more info on VR from STN?

[Keyvon]

Centralwings has decided to withdraw all flights operating from Stansted, eff. from March 31st.

[LGS6753]

So how many operators have left Stansted now, presumably as a result of the BAA charges increase?

Blue 1
Centralwings
Sky Europe
Maxjet (receivership)
Air Berlin domestics and Leipzig
Ryanair reductions (7 aircraft?)
Globespan

Any others?

[sam dilly]

I noticed at Aviance today that TITAN are operating 4 Lourdes flights in
February.Its a long time since we have seen winter traffic on this route
not since BRITISH WORLD,and certainly not since a low cost carrier has been offering Pau.
Lets hope that this is a sign of more charters coming back to STN since the FR reduction and cut backs.:):ok:

[Avitor]

LGS6753

Any others?

XL have moved to EMA.

[Stanstedeye]

They were back today with a TFS. Was this a one-off?

[Shed-on-a-Pole]

LGS6753,

No-frills airlines enjoy the opportunity to whinge about airport user charges when circumstances permit (more free headlines), but these are just one of many factors in determining the viability of an air service. Fuel costs are still historically high with crude oil around USD$90 per barrel of oil; USD$100 has already been breached once and will no doubt be seen again afew months down the line. And the likelihood of recession is also a major concern for airlines; discretionary travel is very much in the firing line as consumers tighten their belts. High energy costs, instability in the banking system, "credit crunches" and faltering property prices all point to a difficult year for the airline industry. STN is not alone in suffering cutbacks and I suspect that the user charges at the airport are not the most significant factor causing them; look at examples of cutbacks listed on other airport threads where airport charges are not the "issue du jour".

All the best. SHED.

[LGS6753]

Shed -

Fair comment about general economics, with which I agree. However, Stansted does seem to have lost a lot of business of late, whereas the likes of Luton, Bristol, East Midlands and others have experienced growth. These other airports have had setbacks too, of course, especially with the consolidations in the charter market.:ok:

[Mr Flaps]

Besides the others already posted. CSA pulled out back in October. BRS keep using STN bassed easyjet planes because they dont have enough.

[Chopper69]

LGS6753

I'm afraid that the ecomnic realities that you have correctly identified will also apply to the strip on the hill as well!! MInd you, at least the 'rounbabout' might be a little lest congested!!

Chopper

[PAXboy]

If anyone gets excited about a licence apparently being granted to the South African company 'Civair' hoping to trade as 'Redair' operating from CPT to STN - don't!!

This may well be a re-run of a similar attempt that the same man tried in 2004 that went nowhere and many prospective pax say they never got their money back. He has no a/c but says that he is shopping. The thread running in another website forums says some very nasty things about him.

[D-ABAA]

Next time ICTS ask to check your I.D just think about this for one minute.

Taken from Mirror.co.uk

Illegal immigrant Stansted airport cleaner jailed for two years



An illegal immigrant cleaner has been jailed after she used a friend's passport to work on the cordoned-off air side at Stansted for two years.
Amanda Banda, 21, admitted using a false passport, in a security breach "almost defying belief", a court was told.
The Liberian borrowed the document from a Portuguese pal to be vetted by ICTS security firm and got a cleaning job at the Essex airport.
Banda, of Harlow, had been given a security pass.
http://m.uk.2mdn.net/viewad/817-grey.gif (http://ad.uk.doubleclick.net/click;h=v8/365e/0/0/%2a/x;44306;0-0;0;21034181;4307-300/250;0/0/0;;~sscs=%3f)
She was jailed for six months at Chelmsford crown court.

D-ABAA

[Hollymead]

6 Months for being a cleaner , isnt that longer than the Afghan hijackers served ??

[PAXboy]

She was jailed - what about the people who did not check her passport correctly and GAVE her the air side pass???????? :*

[carbootking]

that would be the overpaid baa staff in enterprise house,theyr loosing their jobs anyway as its all being moved to scotland i think. if any more airlines pull out or decrease their flights at this rate well all be out of a job.

[aeulad]

Apologies if this has already been reported, but Aegean twice daily A321 Athens service starting this Spring.

Regards

Mike

[Alan Tracey]

Also FlyLAL (Lithuanian Airlines) daily 737 from April

[airhumberside]

Are FlyLAL moving from Gatwick?

CH Aviation reporting Transavia are pulling out

[Musket90]

According to Transavia web site STN flights are not bookable or in timetable after 30th March, so it appears they are pulling out.

[Stanstedeye]

Today is their first departure for Ovda as TOM8725, after pulling Las Palmas.

[jack_essex]

Sorry if this has already been posted.

Eos Airlines will start flying from Stansted to Newark (already on the Eos website) on May 5th and daily flights from STN to Dubai on July 6th. Flights will be bookable mid Feb for EWR and March for DXB.

[Xcircustiger]

FlyLAL service starting May08 through to end of S08. 1 flight 7 days a week and additional to their LGW service. They operated briefly around Christmas and New Year and loads pretty good by all accounts..

Shame about Transavia ... If it wasn't for the web we'd have no idea what's going on !! (Blue 1 departure confirmed same way)

[FEROMAN]

American Airlines have announced that they will be delaying their second STN-JFK daily service until August 2008. Apparently due to pilot shortages.

[Shyted]

Sounds like the honeymoon period is over.

My feelings tell me that they only came to STN to get rid of the likes of Maxjet and EOS. AA main hubs are ORD and DFW....not JFK. I have lost count on the amount of flts between London and New York, but i reckon there is close to 30 a day. I really do think that AA are scaremongering and using the pilot shortage as an excuse.....

Maybe im wrong, but open to discussion

[egnxema]

Well you are certainly close with the number of flights.

Wed 05MAR08 there are 33 departures from all apts in LON to all in NYC.

[oncemorealoft]

Shyted - absolute rubbish


The pilot shortage is a major embarrassment to them as you can read elsewhere on PPRUNE and very real.

Work starts in the next few weeks on AA's dedicated Business Class lounge replacing the temporary facility they’ve been using at Stansted since service launch. AA wouldn't make this sort of investment without being committed to the route.

I also know for a fact that they are in the middle of recruitment in anticipation of the additional service.

ORD and DFW may be their main hubs but JFK is the principle UK transatlantic destination and you might want to take a look at the new Billion dollar investment they have made in a new Terminal 8 at JFK

Speaking to one of AA sales team before Christmas, Maxjet wasn't even a fly in the ointment, although she was a bit reticent about EOS.

[carbootking]

every day i go by their check in, some days they are queing round the corner, it looks a busy flight .

[Skipness One Echo]

As regulars of pprune know, it's not about load factor, it's about YIELD. American are believed to be moving their last Gatwick flight to Heathrow in November. Consolidation would make more sense.

[spanishflea]

Considering LHR flights were mved to STN at the time LGW flights were announced to be canned its not as if the two airports are in the same situation here.

AA are in STN for the long haul, unless the pilt situation goes OTT.

[Skipness One Echo]

How do you figure Heathrow flights were moved to Stansted? They dropped a JFK rotation to accomodate Gatwick to Dallas and Raleigh / Durham, and put pressure on Maxjet. Now they have got a slot to move the last Dallas flight from Gatwick, Gatwick yields are higher than Stansted.....

[spanishflea]

DFW-LON yields are high, it has nothing to do with the service operating to LGW, LHR or STN.

The STN flight was setup when an LHR frequency was dropped. The STN services have anticipated high yields as they are being actively supported by some of AA's big corporate customers who want to avoid LHR.

[D-ABAA]

Eurocypria are to operate flights for TOM this summer from STN. Couldnt find any other info. Anyone else with info on this?

D_ABAA

[airhumberside]

Think its a weekly Heraklion charter

[FEROMAN]

:D Eastern Airways are upping their weekday service STN-MAN to four a day from mid April and will offer a low cost option - from £49 One Way all inc .:ok:

[FEROMAN]

Quote -
An airbridge update for Stansted
Yes, the airbridges on Satellite 1 are long past their sell-by-dates and maintenance has been a little sparse, but there will be 10 new airbridges on satellite 1 early next year. Even A10 will be replaced despite it being a relatively new one. All brand spanking new from Thyssen - 5 in March and 5 in May I believe. :ok:


http://www.pprune.org/forums/images/icons/icon15.gif Flying Pigs
Hey Feroman, does Ryanair fly to the planet your living on? 'cos clearly you aint on planet earth. 10 bridges!! all brand new!!
On a more realistic note....does anyone know who has got the cape verdi contract? people are suggesting its servisair.

So, as I said back in October - 10 new Satellite 1 Airbridges are coming with the first install starting the week after next. Should all be completed by the end of June. Of course, whether anyone will be trained on them by the end of Summer will be another thing entirely!

[sat1]

we wait with baited breath..................................

[WHBM]

Came through Stansted last night, walked down from the Ryanair satellite. When we came to the escalator that makes the quite considerable rise from the low level passageway up to the customs area there was a notice stating blandly "This escalator may be out of service due to operational reasons". Which indeed it was. And a number of elderly passengers were having quite a struggle getting up the several flights of stairs.

I am wondering just what are the "operational reasons" behind the fact that this escalator "may" be out of service.

[The_Bean_Counter]

The "Operational Reasons" are that there is not enough staff or booths in immigration for last wave arrivals and the escalator has to be turned off to prevent a continuous stream of people spilling into the queing area. Rather than fix the problem BAA have been turning off the escalator for the last 18 months.

[MAN777]

If thats the reason, then it is a disgrace that elderley people are being made to take the slow route just to thin out and trickle feed the immigration desks. Any reporters reading ?

[carousel]

Even when the escalator is switched off there is a 12 person lift right next to the escalator for those who cannot or do not want to use stairs, and for passengers with child transport. As for the reason for the delays at Immigration and Border control surely you can't hold BAA responsible for the lack of staff at a Goverment controlled agency the recruitment of staff is out of BAA's hands.

[FEROMAN]

and the "Operational Reasons" are actually safety reasons. If the queue is at the top of the escalator and people are still being taken up the escalator then where do those people go? Can you imagine being at the top, no where to go and more people coming up behind you? :eek: Very messy :ouch:

[WHBM]

Then what idiot designed a building where an escalator carrying high passenger volumes leads directly into a congestion point ? This is architecture class 1.01 stuff. The "queueing area" seemed very small and liable to be overwhelmed by just one aircraft load.

My recollection is that the orginal building design by Norman Foster envisaged the satellites being connected by the transit and the walkways are subsequent variations to the design.

[ATNotts]

But until the Government decided to make the UK border about the most difficult to cross in the whole of the EU it wasn't going to be a congestion point.

Join Schengen and the problem's solved - fat chance of that happening though!!

[Buster the Bear]

http://www.uk-airport-news.info/stansted-airport-news-060308a.htm

[Stanstedeye]

The STN web-site has deleated all XL flights for summer 2008.

[carbootking]

the first of the jet bridges have arrived i heard sitting over north side

[TOWTEAMBASE]

they are probably awaiting the removal of "welcome to Heathrow" logos from them :ugh:

[jack_essex]

Just in case anyone would like to know, we have just flown with AA on STN - JFK - STN, we left on Thurs and came back yesterday. The flights were great, on time and landed an hour early coming home. The only downside was that there were no individual seat back TV's, but we did know about that before we booked. The STN - JFK flight was completely full, hopefully a sign of good things to come. The AA check in agent in JFK said that the Stansted flights are very frequently overbooked.

[Hollymead]

http://www.businessweekly.co.uk/2008032631656/travel-and-transport/stansted-could-soon-offer-flights-to-oz-for-under-five-hundred-pounds.html

[Departures Beckham]

Two 330's to be delivered this year (http://news.airwise.com/story/view/1206612280.html)

[Stanstedeye]

Although pulling out of STN, today TOM used two aircraft, TOM4924 to LPA & TOM8352 to Ovda.

[Barnesy2006]

Thomson are pulling out of Stansted???

[aidoair]

Yes TOM will stop operating from Stansted with based aircraft from 1st May when the summer season finally kicks in again... however there will be a weekly 737-800 flight to and from Palma with TOM operating on a W-pattern from Luton. All Thomson booked holidays flying from Stansted will be operated by First Choice Airways A321s from the summer season.

[Barnesy2006]

I see there keeping SSH for next winter season though, will that be done with the 321?

Also the airbridges are well underway now, and Sat 1 shouldn't take too long to finish. Will Sat 2 be having new bridges aswell?

[FEROMAN]

Sat 1 airbridges should be finished by the end of June. And Sat 2 may well be all replaced too next year, but far from confirmed just yet.

[carbootking]

does anyone know what new shops will be in the new extension , some people have said mcdonalds others say no, also is it marksand spencers or sainsbury local. another thing whats the hanger go up by fls or what ever its called now , doeas anyone know where the spotting area is going to be built or is that hanger it. thanks

[FEROMAN]

...only definite I've heard is Marks & Spencers, though I don't think that will be in the extension - there's a lot to be moved around in the W.H.Smith and Costa Coffee area. I think most of the new bit will be the likes of Taxi, Car Hire, Train & Coach desks etc. Though I guess BAA's need to make money from retail too might see something new introduced.

[TUGNBAR]

another thing whats the hanger go up by fls or what ever its called now , doeas anyone know where the spotting area is going to be built or is that hanger it. thanks

I think I am right in saying that the new hangar being erected next to the diamond hangar is for Ryanair.
As for the spotting area, that will be located close to the roundabout just before the hilton hotel.

[j41cac]

Yes, Eastern starting new low cost outta STN. Mmmmmmm! You must book 8 weeks in advance for that £49 one way though and its only available on the 3rd rotation. Nothing against the company though! :rolleyes:

[Stanstedeye]

TCX are operating two aircraft from STN tomorrow LPA (again) and the normal Dalaman.

[Flaps5speed180]

The new hangar next FLS is going to house some of FR's new simulators (means we don't have to drive all the way to EMA to have our sim checks:)). And I think it's also going to be for maintenance aswell, but don't quote me on that!

One things for sure, it's going up at an alarming rate!

[Barnesy2006]

Yes its also going to be used for engineering, the hangar will be 5 berth being able to acommadate 3 whole aircraft and 2 nose sections.

[carbootking]

normally ryanair annonuce when they are building hangers i didnt hear anything , is there anything else being built there as theres lots of land

[Barnesy2006]

At the moment as your aware theres the Ryanair hangar, Terminal expansion which is not too far from completion and i believe cargo area expansion.

[TUGNBAR]

is there anything else being built there as theres lots of land
There is lots of potential for many things with the amount of land available. Now that the old tower has been demolished I know next on the list is the old FLS Hangar 4.........Is this all in preparation for the new/extension of the Long Stay Car park? (G2)

[carbootking]

i thought the old tower was a listed building.when was that knocked down

[sat1]

Lots of room for EOS to go northside self handling?????

[stuinn]

I thought silverjet tried to use north side and were refused before going to Luton.

[TUGNBAR]

i thought the old tower was a listed building.when was that knocked down

The only list that building was on was BAA's to knock down list. It was knocked down about two weeks ago.

[sat1]

I thought silverjet tried to use north side and were refused before going to Luton.

money talks................

[TUGNBAR]

I think had Maxjet not ceased operation EOS would have looked Northside for sure, although the BAA would no doubt have put a stop on anything like that happening, hence why SilverJet went to Luton.

[daz211]

I think BAA have bigger plans for the old terminal, (North side), there is so much room over there, to let one Airline make it its home would be madness, if anything they could move the cargo area from where it is now
to the north side and build a new departure building on the (now) cargo area, this would provide extra stands for the terminal and give the cargo operation room for expansion at the old terminal.

[FEROMAN]

Haven't you seen the G2 plans on the Stansted website? Try watching the video - it's all happening Southside. http://www.stanstedairport.com/portal/page/StanstedFuture%5ESecond+runway%5EVideo+-+Flyover/7886b64a37388110VgnVCM20000039821c0a____/448c6a4c7f1b0010VgnVCM200000357e120a____/

There's no expansion plans Northside other than development of Long Stay Car Park. Cargo will not be going anywhere and if anything will develop further Southwards from the Zulu apron and/or West towards the SRT Diamond Hangar.

[TUGNBAR]

The option of cargo stands on the Northside was looked at back when Fedex expanded their operation but obviously the Zulu stands was the result. Fedex will no doubt want to expand even further and I can the Zulu cul-de-sac becoming the same size as the Alphas one day. Looking at that G2 clip it cleary shows the Northside as a carpark.
I wonder what will happen to Titan airways Hangar?

[FEROMAN]

Same fate as the old Control Tower I would think - another victim of progress

[carbootking]

it has been rumored for years that all the staff carparking will move over there

[Hollymead]

What's the plans for the Enterprise House car park ? Looks like they are making another entrance so i presume they will block the gap between upper and lower and make it 2 seperate car parks ??

[carbootking]

think its they r just changing the route in theres a board in enterprise house which explains what they r doing i think they r putting another checkpoint just past the old entrance an a roundabout

[G-APDK]

From the plans circulated to local residents the Titan hangar and a single linked taxiway appear to remain, at least initially, with almost all remaining area north of a line running east from from Harrods to the Fire training area earmarked for long term car parking. A new public border road is planned to by-pass Burton End (running approximately along the line of the current airfield boundary, linking up with the minor road to Elsenham east of the Fire training area.

Someone mentioned earlier the building of the visitor centre; its access will be from the current LT car park mini-roundabout and located close to the 05 threshhold. Its location, for the majority of the year, will only give views of the undersides of departing aircraft and very limited views of most arrivals on 23. The BAA (unsurprisingly and arrogantly) ignored offers of help from the local (enthusiast) community with its design, location and help to build something useful which has been long overdue at Stansted. Consequently BAA have missed a good opportunity to win friends and have a potential white elephant in the making.

[Jamie-Southend]

Are these plans / layout viewable online, maybe via the local authority?

J

[Stanstedeye]

Will these plans mean an end to the local bus company parking area at North side, i.e. Excel ( which have just been taken over by Arriva).

[G-APDK]

See http://www.stanstedairport.com/assets/B2CPortal/Static%20Files/Drawing_3n.pdf

From this it appears that the coach park will remain north side until 2015 if it is designated as an ancillary service

Additionally my information about the new link road, which is not shown on the map, came from a BAA leaflet issued to local residents.

[TUGNBAR]

Has anyone else heard that the runway was apparently shut last night coz a deer had some how got on the airfield!!

[pamann]

Well ThomsonFly/FCA/TUIFly what ever it’s to be called have 2 B738’s to be based @ STN Summer 2009. The programme so far (Edition 1) Looks like this….

Antalya (New for TFly) Friday
Arrecife (Lanzarote) Thursday
Bodrum (New for TFly) Monday & Thursday
Corfu Monday & Friday
Dalaman Monday & Thursday
Faro (New for TFly) Sunday
Fuerteventura Saturday
Heraklion (Crete) Tuesday & Sunday
Ibiza Wednesday & Saturday
Kephalonia (New Destination!) Sunday
Mahon (Menorca) Monday & Friday
Larnaca (Cyprus) (New for TFly) Wednesday
Palma (Mallorca) Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday & Sunday
Paphos (Cyprus) Wednesday & Saturday
Reus (Costa Dorada) (New for TFly) Tuesday
Rhodes (New for TFly) Wednesday
Tenerife South Fridays
Zakynthos (New for TFly) Tuesday

Note that “New for ThomsonFly” was probably previously operated by FCA Summer 2008.

New destination of Kephalonia and increased frequencies on some routes, so for a base that was supposed to close (TOM) that’s a bit of a turn around at least! :D

[sat1]

any truth in the rumour that ryanair parked one of their a/c in the grass last night????

[Barnesy2006]

Yes very true (EI-DLF), took them 7 hours to get it out!

[Stanstedeye]

Some good Charter news at last, thanks for the info.

[jack_essex]

It was announced yesterday but Ryanair will start summer only routes from STN to Beziers and Rimini. They will operate in June, July and August.

[TC.RET]

What a shame it has gone!! I had the privilege to work in that building from 1969 until 1973! I was there when the "new terminal" was built and the "old terminal became the staff canteen!! At times the new terminal was too small, even then! Remember Channel, Lloyds, American Flyers, Saturn, Trans Med with their CL 44's doing charter flights to Ostend and other near European destinations! Memories!! How times move on, but the memories of Stansted as it was in the late 60's and early 70's remain! Good luck to all that work there now and may it be as good for you now as it was for me then!!

[Stanstedeye]

What a shock to hear that EOS is to end flying as from today, a sad day indeed. Best wishes to all concerned, Essex will miss you.

[muppitt]

This is sad news!

You can hear the back slapping in Waterside & Dallas from here. AAL can now pull the JFK services.

Sceptical, moi? :eek:

[TUGNBAR]

What sad news indeed, good luck to all who were involved. Another one for us to add to the list.

[sat1]

Its a real shame to hear that EOS have not survived.Unfortunately this just reinforces servisairs resolve to implement their split shift initiative,but as they say,time will tell.Going to be an interesting year at STN.Best of luck to all EOS staff.

[daz211]

I hope the slots are not filled with FR and EZY:ugh:.

[Musket90]

DAZ - Don't think timing of EOS slots are prime to the likes of FR and U2 as they had no departures during the first wave period. It may mean some "tweaking" by 15mins or so during mid-morning tho'.

[sunday8pm]

Does anyone know which Charter airlines will be flying STN to TFS this winter?

[toledoashley]

TCX I believe.

[Stanstedeye]

Does anyone know which Charter airlines will be flying STN to TFS this winter?

Tuesday TCX346
Tuesday FCA5202
Friday TCX391
Friday FCA5518

[daz211]

Airline prepares for Stansted – Lithuania flights

05.05.08
On May 17, flyLAL-Lithuanian Airlines, the Lithuanian national carrier, is to start twice weekly direct flights between Stansted to Palanga, the Lithuanian resort on the ‘amber’ coast.
In addition the airline will launch a four flights a week service between Stansted and Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital city.
The new flights to Palanga will operate each Thursday and Saturday, departing from Stansted at 08:15 and arriving at Palanga International Airport at 12:50. The return flights leave Palanga at 06:55 and arrive at Stansted at 07:25 (all times local).
The new flights will be operated using a Boeing 737 – 300 aircraft. :D:ok:

[mickey71]

and of course aegean starts twice daily athens from the 15th may!

anyone got anymore news on air asia x, and i am not interested in which party says which handling agent will have it wrapped up in the bag before its announced officially and i do not mean unofficially in the nerve centre of aviation news and airport gossip that is the smoking hut!

just interested if anyone nows is it any further foward in happening taking into account trying to obtain the aircraft,price of oil and the general world economic state!

[sunday8pm]

What is the current situation with passenger numbers from Stansted? Is it still down on last year like it was in December after the Ryanair and Air Berlin winter cut backs.

[Powerjet1]

Prov CAA stats show April down, -5.6%. For the rolling 12 months, down -1.4%.

[sunday8pm]

Why? Is this situation likely to turn around over the summer? I therefore don't understand the need for a second runway.

[LGS6753]

I would anticipate numbers being down from now on, for a year or more depending on the economy. STN has lost a number of its operators (Sky Europe, Eos, Maxjet, etc), and others have cut back, notably FR - the largest.

With increased fuel prices and recession beginning to bite, numbers are likely to be down almost everywhere, and STN will be no exception.

As for the second runway, I would not be surprised to see changes to its spec as BAA comes under the microscope of the Competition Commission, and as it tries to cut back on capital expenditure. Unless, that is, the whole airport is sold off. Then all bets will be off.

[sunday8pm]

I can't understand why Stansted doesn't have low-cost operators to the Canaries.

Why is it that the charter operators don't seem to like it much either?

[Barnesy2006]

I don't know why that is, i've always thought the same thing and could only think that it's maybe because Luton is only down the road with Gatwick also not to far away.

[Stanstedeye]

Both GO and GSM have tried daily flights to TFS from STN.

[LGS6753]

Never mind, Sunday.

Luton has lots of Canaries flights, to TFS, LPA, ACE and FUE. It's not far from Sudbury, and it's a far better experience than Stansted!:ok:

[HKLCY]

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080528/law021a.html?.v=1

AA are cutting JFK-STN from 2nd July.

[daz211]

So short lived, at least we know it's nothing to do with loads.

So what next ? Ryanair to Newyork ? :oh: ?

[Alan Tracey]

I guess it reached it's aim.......of getting rid of Maxjet and Eos.......

[jack_essex]

I find this so sad, especially how the flights were usually always busy.

[Skipness One Echo]

Bums on seats, as has been said many times before does not equate to a profitable route. The name of the game is yield and Stansted was always unlikely to be drowning in high yield traffic IN COMAPRISON with Heathrow.

The fact that the route isn't even surviving the summer tells that much.

[TUGNBAR]

Such a shame and feel very sad for the guys and gals that will lose jobs........ but as previously said by a fellow ppruner the aim was merely to get rid of MJ and EOS and use they are just using the fuel costs as a good covering excuse.

How is this going to affect the decision on the second runway??

Will this make Ferrovial think about selling Stansted now??

Not looking very good is it!!!

[pamann]

There is a demand there however, there are enough of us living on the right side of London (or wrong) who find Stansted an easy 30 min drive and having flown thru there a number of times lately I have to say it's been a pleasure for a change. My flights with AA to NY however I'm guessing I'll be having to take the very long schlep to LHR and get on the phone to them tomorrow to re book. Not everyone who lives in London lives in Hownslow or W1 or Luton for that matter. But as usual the Stansted bashing will start again (wrong place/grass field in the middle of no where etc.... boring move on):ugh:

[daz211]

Well said !

Some people on here seem to think that everone in the UK live
and work in London, I hate LHR and LGW.

There are may people living in Hertfordshire, Essex, Suffolk and norfolk
who would rather fly from STN than LHR or LGW.

Its about time BA or VS the so called flag carriers start
giving people what they want, (local airport departures).

[pamann]

It's just the same thing on here everytime (as I've noticed over the years)....

Airline goes bust/cuts routes @ Luton = Oh How sad, my sympathy to all who've lost jobs, It should have worked, Luton is the center of the Universe!

Airline goes bust/cuts routes @ Stansted = SHAME!

Lot's of people who work in the city and Canary Wharf live in Essex, infact most of the work force at Canary Wharf commute from Essex so business traffic ex STN should be good. Not forgetting Cambridge and the rest of East Anglia, East, North East and North London. I do agree however that AA probably did go in to put EOS/Max out of business, but with EOS/Max gone then AA should at least be able to sustain a daily JFK (rather than the 2 proposed).

You watch now and no disrespect to anyone who works at SilverJet or due to travel, BUT if they go under this week that thread together with the Luton thread will read like a book of condolences. However AA pull out of STN and the same people will no doubt come and trample all over the Stansted thread with the same old comments (it was doomed to begin with.... and all the same old drivle).

Get over it and get on with it, if you don't like Stansted, don't fly from there however understand there is a huge amount of people who want to and do which makes it the UK's 3rd busiest airport, low fares or not. My fare to NY was more like £550 each return not a 1p plus tax, Zoom from LGW was £355 or similar so we can't just argue that it's ONLY low fares that attract people to use Stansted.

Right go on someone with an LU.. post code stick your two pennies worth in.:ugh:

[nt639]

Agree with all the latest comments I live in Norfolk & would always choose Stansted over any other London airport. We are going to Orlando in December & are having to travel to Gatwick & because of the distance/early check in we are having to travel down the night before.

Also funny how people who normally post good news on the Luton thread always seem to post the news of traffic reductions at Stansted:rolleyes:.

[Mr Flaps]

Having worked at STN, now LHR. I can say STN looks like an airport unlike the tin can that is Luton. Luton is the one that sits up a dirt track. AKA the M1 and calling it London Luton what is all that about.
Gutted AA have given up. Day 1 of the route in Sat 2 was an interesting day.
But I am sure another US airline will be back to carry on. Maybe the new Delta/Northwest airline may give STN another go.
Just think when **** happens at any other airport, STN has to pick up what is left and deal with all the diverts.

[Skipness One Echo]

Stansted will suffer as all the majors are able to carry more yield from Heathrow and now they all have access. Even Gatwick is losing US carries left right and centre with NWA, US and DL contracting and AA leaving. I use STN a lot flying Ryanair to PIK but in all honesty, it always strikes me as pretty downmarket and cheap. PLEASE DON'T FLAME ME but with so many passengers being Eastern Europe migrant workers it just has that vibe......( God that doesn't read well but it's true alas )

[LGS6753]

/Tin hat on. Head above parapet/

I'm one of those who supports Luton and denigrates Stansted. The reason? Stansted only exists because of monopolistic practices by the BAA. It is those practices that have damaged Luton over the years and prevented it from growing, as it certainly would have done if the industry had been left to market forces.

I certainly don't wish anyone out of their job (I've just suffered several months' unemployment myself), but Stansted has won much of its business unfairly, to the detriment of my local airport. I reckon I've got every right to feel aggrieved at that situation.

/Tin hat off. Duck to avoid incoming/

[sunday8pm]

Its not looking good for Stansted is it. It won't be the UK's #3 for much longer I suspect.

[stanstedsteve]

Its not all doom and gloom here at Stansted, still looks very busy to me !!
Plenty of air traffic coming and going (passenger and cargo and private jets on northside)
All the airbridges are also being replaced, infact quite a lot of building and revamping going on.

[daz211]

Second that !
I spoke to someone high up in BAA this morning about the state
of aviation and how it was affecting STN, He told me that
BAA STN are in talks with five Airlines, three are almost certain
to launch routes this winter, the other two are in the early stages
of talks he would not name any athough one was hinted as being from
Asia guessing it to be AirAsiaX.

The loss of Maxjet, eos and AA wont make that big of an impact on STN position as number three.

And dont forget afew new airlines have started new routes his month alone.

[BIZZYBOY]

Hey to all you Doom and Gloomers........get positive will ya and take a look over the Northside and just count all the Bizjets.......oh and bring a friend coz you will need use his fingers and toes as well.

All three FBO's have their ramps and hangars full, does'nt that show that people do like using Stansted.

BIZZYBOY

[FEROMAN]

The Northside Business Aviation activity is totally irrelevant as far as airport growth is concerned. That's not where BAA make any significant income and will come and go in a flash. And if any part of it is required for Southside growth (e.g.Long Term Car Park) then there will be little reason not to reduce the operation regardless of how well it is doing.

[BIZZYBOY]

How can it be irrelevant.....all those aircraft are parked on BAA concrete and paying top price parking rates.
These aircraft mainly come in and sit up for days or weeks sometimes months and they are mainly big jets, and this is all revenue for the BAA no outlay just pure revenue, they would earn a lot more having a B747 sitting on the tarmac there than a load of cars.
My point earlier was purely to tell you that people do want to use Stansted it wasn't about airport growth.

[Musket90]

I agree Feroman - BAA do not see Northside as an area to develop for Business Aviation. It is an adhoc operation and therefore there is no future strategy in place for it. The Stansted future masterplans indicate some of the existing Northside to be used for car park extensions. All future developments for expansion are planned for southside, subject of course to planning approvals.

[daz211]

I agree with BIZZYBOY !

Money for no work and as for the Northside as a whole, its huge,
lots of space for new car parks and for biz-jet parking.

Lets get one thing straight, STN is growing and a slump in the
industry will not stop the growth or development going ahead.

[FEROMAN]

whilst I don't disagree that some BAA income is gained from parking charges Northside, it is very much more from fare paying passengers and the additional money they spend in the main Terminal so that's where the focus is. And anyway, no parking revenue is gained from those aircraft that park on Harrod's or Inflite's ramp areas - and that tends to be most of them.

BTW - anyone noticed the new terminal extension is partly open now landside - no arriving passengers coming through that area yet until the end of June, but you can use the new loos and see how much bigger it will be. And I believe Immigration are putting in some new automated desks that will mean you can go through without queueing with everyone else. Maybe.

[OLNEY 1 BRAVO]

Most of the biz currently at Stansted are only there because they can't get into Luton. A number have been arriving at Luton to drop off the passengers and position to Stansted to park up.

[nt639]

Not a very good advert for Luton then is it!

[BIZZYBOY]

it is very much more from fare paying passengers and the additional money they spend in the main Terminal so that's where the focus is.

completely agree but if the BAA are looking at business aviation as a whole who knows we may see some change in the development

Most of the biz currently at Stansted are only there because they can't get into Luton.

I would not say most but yes some of the aircraft do come from Luton.
But what future development is there at Luton.........not much if any left, and with more and more business coming in its all positive for STN and not forgetting that STN handle a large amount of the worlds wide-bodied bizjets where all the other airports are restricted on what size can land.

[WHBM]

whilst I don't disagree that some BAA income is gained from parking charges Northside, it is very much more from fare paying passengers and the additional money they spend in the main Terminal so that's where the focus is.
So what is the airport's prime purpose then ? A naional transport resource or a revenue stream for BAA plc ?

It's a worthwhile point to consider because for many issues, such as noise for surrounding communities, or the ability to get Compulsory Purchase Orders for the new runway rather than having to negotiate with all the landowners, because that's cheaper, the attitude is that a national facility is being developed for the benefit of all, which would be fair enough if it was actually run as such. I don't care for this "now we're a national resource, now we are maximising our revenue" vacillation depending on the point at hand.

[sunday8pm]

Its about time Stansted had a Madrid route. Ryanair just announced STN to MAD. That will be a winner and a permanent fixture from now on I'd expect. Still neesd the Canaries and a Paris route.

[JulietNovemberPapa]

Yep, 2x daily MAD-STN-MAD using MAD-based machines.

[PAXboy]

For a LON to TLV trip in September, a booking engine pointed me to ISRAIR AIRLINES out of STN. I have never heard of them, could anyone enlightenment? Any feedback on service etc?

Thanks.

[Buster the Bear]

They have been flying into Stansted for a good while. A credible alternative to El-Al.

[FEROMAN]

Not flown with them, but they seem reliable. Regulars out of Stansted using an A320 (max 174 passengers) departing 22:45 on a Wednesday or 20:50 on a Sunday. They are in direct competition to EL AL who tend to use B757s or B767s departing Fridays 09:45, but also have flights on some Mondays and Wednesdays.

[PAXboy]

Thanks FEROMAN, very helpful and reassuring.

Hey, Buster, what are you doing over at this field??? Get Back; Get Back to where you once belonged! :p

[stuinn]

Anyone know why Air Bee came in to Stansted today around 15:30 and went to Sat 1? Looking at their website they only do internal flights.:confused:

[airhumberside]

Charter probably. They had one at HUY the other week and I think have some regular weekly flights to some UK airports this summer

[allanmack]

Flew into STN today from PIK. Flight FR 416 bang on time, flight time 55 mins. Parked as close to main terminal as is possible so how come it took 40 minutes to have the luggage delivered to the baggage reclaim. Must be all of 200 yards?

[daz211]

FR416 STA= 1130
ATA= 1104

So I guess because you landed early the agent due to unload your baggage from the Aircraft would be still dealing with another Aircraft.

[allanmack]

Thought that might be a factor although STN was the quietest I have ever seen it. Anyway at least I got my bag back. BA lost it last time I flew with them!

[WHBM]

FR416 STA= 1130
ATA= 1104

So I guess because you landed early the agent due to unload your baggage from the Aircraft would be still dealing with another Aircraft.This is a unique feature of UK airport handlers.

Elsewhere in the world scheduled arrival times, as in the UK, are approximations. You can arrive early or late (sometimes very late). Despite this, in my experience when arriving at overseas airports a gate is always available and a handling crew standing there on the ramp ready and waiting.

It is a unique UK feature that nobody seems prepared to look at the actual anticipated arrival time or to organise themselves to handle the aircraft when it arrives. Nobody seems to understand the STA is an estimate rather than a fixed time. If the incoming flight is 5 minutes early some stations seem determined to sit around drinking tea so the bl00dy passengers don't get one minute of advantage from the early arrival. Life would be SO much easier without passengers.

Before anyone starts having a go at this, please explain how overseas, including LCC handlers, they can manage this all so much better.

[FEROMAN]

...if it wasn't for those pesky passengers! LOL.
But some airports in the UK, and certainly Stansted, are regulated for runway slots. So this means airlines do generally have to operate on time or they can get penalised up to £20,000 by the co-ordinator - see link :8 http://80.168.119.219/UserFiles/File/Misuse%20of%20Slots%20Enforcement%20Code%202007.pdf
So there's an air of expectation of the handlers for an on-time operation and they plan their resources around this. Many foreign airports only have the odd Ryanair flight a day so they're champing at the bit for something to do and love it when it arrives early. Still doesn't explain your luggage really and if you actually waited 40 mins after you got in the baggage hall then that's far too long of course. I'd say 15 to 30 mins after parking is about normal.

[Musket90]

Published airport schedules are on/off stand times and not landing take-off/times. So for the STA1130 a landing time of 1120-25 is on schedule. If the ATA of 1104 was the landing time then the flight was 15-20 mins early.

Handlers often work in teams being allocated flights where flight timings allow them to move from one aircraft to the next. So it's possible the early landing meant the team were still busy handling another flight.

Stand availability can be a problem at peak times when arriving aircraft land early on the schedule as often the allocated stand is still occupied by an aircraft not yet departed. this creates ground congestion problems for ATC and the allocators often having to park the aircraft somewhere else then this messes up the aircraft handling plan.

So while landing early may be nice for the passengers and crew it can often seriously affect others on the ground.

[WHBM]

So while landing early may be nice for the passengers and crew it can often seriously affect others on the ground.
Sorry guys this just does not cut it. Example :

BA Heathrow to St Petersburg, Russia, a couple of months ago. Arrives early due to good tailwind. No BA staff, they use a handling agent. Airport where they have had no investment in ground equipment etc for years (example, Follow Me ramp vehicle is still an old Lada, but they are always waiting for you). Huge blizzard in progress, active snowploughing of both ramp and taxiways is going on, Lada leads us by alternative taxi route. Straight to gate, everybody standing round (yes, in the snow, big coats, hats and gloves on) and ready, ALL ramp equipment on hand. Same going on at adjacent gates as well, it was quite busy. Bags and pax all start unloading in a minute, fuel truck positioning, etc. bags on belt inside terminal in 10-15 minutes, before most are even through immigration. Terminal from the 1950s but everything neat and clean.

BA St Petersburg to Heathrow a few days later, lands somewhat ahead of time, nice CAVOK day, gets held up taxiing to gate but approaches there pretty much to the minute. Holds for 10 minutes as nobody on stand. Eventually taxies in, another 15 minutes to get the door open. Five staff, all the wheelchair team etc, all in the jetway and had been hanging round for an age but nobody qualified on the jetway itself. Walk down through terminal where, as ever, all the ceiling tiles have been ripped out yet again to expose he wiring - and just left with nobody working. Wait at belt over 45 minutes for first bags. Very few bags coming through anywhere in the hall at all, it was quite quiet.

You see, read that quote at the start again. It's the attitude that is key, not what resources you have or have not got.

[aeulad]

Does anyone know how the new ATH A3 service is doing? I thought twice daily 321 was a bit overkill, but is it holding up?

Regards

Mike

[FEROMAN]

Aegean. Going for a month now and had both full and near empty loads, but generally just under half full on average which I guess they will be happy with.

[sunday8pm]

Is the Charter schedule for this winter at STN going to be seriously depleted?

With Ryanair grounding 20 aircraft there too, numbers could continue to fall.

[airhumberside]

The merged FCA/TOM operation will have 2 based aircraft next summer, up from just 1 this summer

[Seat62K]

This thread seems to have gone quiet, so I'll try to get it re-started. Let's see.......mmmm...
Ah, yes! Does anyone know what's going to happen to mid- and long-stay parking? Apparently, meteor will no longer be operating these car parks. Is BAA bringing them in-house? Heard a rumour that mid-stay will be rebranded as a kind of "Long Stay Express", with bus stops for departing passengers being replaced by a fleet of small minibuses roving the open zones and picking up customers from where they are parked. Is there any truth to these speculations?

[mattcam]

does anyone know of any long haul flights that might start soon. wasnt air asia x going to start flights into stansted and what about an airline starting routs that were lost by maxjet , eos and american surly there is a market for it as i heard that the flights to the US where always quite full. and what about ryanair doing long haul , if they do, when would they lickly to be started

[pabely]

mattcam - sorry but I find your comments very funny! Haven't you heard about the price of oil recently???:ooh:

[wantabe_crew]

Is That Aircraft On Compass Point An New Cargo Airline this evening?

[TUGNBAR]

wantabe_crew - There is an Antonov sat on the Compass Base at present are you talking about that?, if so it is operated by Ruslan International ex Volga Dnepr.......so no is the answer

[sunday8pm]

It looks as though Stansted is about to be granted permission to expand to 35m passengers.

However, it served 23.4m in the 12 months to May, down 1.6%. Who thinks it likely STN will ever reach this level given the current climate?

[Stanstedeye]

London Stansted - Malaga
London Stansted - Basel
London Stansted - Fuerteventura
London Stansted - Ibiza
London Stansted - Katowice
London Stansted - Tenerife South

[Barnesy2006]

Who are these routes operated by?

[daz211]

Looks like Ryanair to me !
lets hope so :ok:

[Barnesy2006]

No news on there website though!

[daz211]

All info on the Ryanair (THREAD):ok:.

[FA10]

now also on the RYR website - no dates / times yet.

[carbootking]

i heard yesterday long stay is going to be run by national express group

[Seat62K]

At last! Someone responding to my earlier post (no.685). Thanks, but do you have any further information? (I'd heard that BAA was going to take over directly, so as to keep all the profits, not that I imagine the current operators make much money anyway:}.)

[Seat62K]

Trying to resuscitate this thread (again)!
As a frequent user of Stansted, I must say that the cloud of Ryanair and easyJet's reduced flying programmes this winter has a silver lining: a less crowded terminal:}! I'm looking forward to quicker transits through security (unless, of course, BAA disproportionately reduce the number of lanes in use), toilets which you don't have to queue to use and being able to get my morning 'paper at WHSmith's without having to join a line which snakes all around the store (not to mention getting back into the country more swiftly)! Can't wait until the summer rush is over!

[mattcam]

seems that it might be a more pleasant experiance flying through stansted this winter. on anouther note do you think this will make the goverment decide to not let the airport expand to 23 mill pax a year , let alone a new runway to expand even further, i did notice on wiexpiedia{sorry about spelling} stansted airport ,that it had air asia x as one of the airlines serving stansted starting march 09 .

[mattcam]

sorry 35 million , not 23

[Musket90]

I don't think the drop in traffic will impact government decisions on whether or not to permit Stansted to increase passenger throughput from 25 to 35 mppa. Stansted is part of the south-east airports future transport policy. Stansted's immediate problem is their traffic is dominated by two or three airlines and therefore are more at risk should any of these customers cut back.

[stuinn]

I see an article today in the telegraph indicates that flights between Stansted and Kuala Lumpa are looking to start next year and final talks are taking place now. Anyone have any further information as this has been ongoing / rumoured for some time and would be good to see a new long distance airline into the airport.

Todays article here:- Air Asia X to launch UK-Malaysia flights - Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/2469038/Air-Asia-X-to-launch-UK-Malaysia-flights.html)

Is it :ok: or :ugh:?

[pee]

BAA has begun legal action against Ryanair to force it to pay it a recent 15% increase in airport charges at Stansted airport in London, writes the Irish Times. Ryanair wrote to the BAA in May to inform it that it would be withholding the increase in airport charges at Stansted, which took effect on April 1st. As it's already known, FR claimes that the increase constitutes "excessive pricing" and is an abuse of BAA's "dominant position in the London market and contrary to the public interest".

[Ian Brooks]

This could get very messy with a very big punch up and maybe someone
throwing a lot of toys out of the pram


Ian

[fireflybob]

Ryanair's O'Leary eyes Stansted takeover (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/08/08/cnryan108.xml)

[Matt35]

Sub headline could read...

"Gatwick becomes more attractive overnight"

Matt?

[llondel]

I'm trying to visualise an airport run as a low-cost operation. Just imagine things such as paying an extra £5 to go to the front of the security queue, £1 to have your shoes x-rayed, £2 to use the little train between terminals (seeing as those terminals would be used by the competition), £1 to have your passport checked at arrivals, £2 for a baggage trolley, 50p to stand at the best part of the baggage carousel...

[grundyhead]

"O'Leary International Airport" does have a ring to it....;)

[daikilo]

What if instead you looked at how you could take all the "frills" out of a terminal.

What if you took Stanstead and you repackaged it to meet the minimum need and then added the frills that pay for themselves.

What if an airport was run by the airlines and not by entrepreneurs.

What if an airport was run by a user group (e.g. passengers).

MOL may be agressive but he does focus on leaving cash in my pocket.

I suggest the real issue is that when you do the above (except user ownership) you find that it has been done and the rest is pure profit at our collective expense.

That said, someone took the "risk" of building the airport.

[the grim repa]

maybe someone should tell the emperor that he is wearing no clothes!!!

[Lord Lardy]

Yet again more free publicity to get the brand out there at a time when their share price hit an all time low last week. It's never going to happen yet the media jump at it. And the cost of it all. Absolutely nothing!!

[daikilo]

MOL has a point, assuming it is indeed valid.

Some of us spend part of our time as SLF and would prefer to park our car at the door of our aircraft. We accept this is not always possible and are ready to accept an additional cost to allow SLF to pay for what they expect.

MOL has many very-low cost airports. He understands the model and it ain't complicated.

[42psi]

"I'm trying to visualise an airport run as a low-cost operation. Just imagine things such as paying an extra £5 to go to the front of the security queue, £1 to have your shoes x-rayed, £2 to use the little train between terminals (seeing as those terminals would be used by the competition), £1 to have your passport checked at arrivals, £2 for a baggage trolley, 50p to stand at the best part of the baggage carousel... "



Funnily enough I think that's what many are visualising the future as anyway ... it's just slow getting from "here" to "there" so as not to alienate the travelling public .... MOL won't worry about that bit.. he'll just do it anyway :E

[goldhanger]

you have hit the nail on the head.

[daikilo]

I suggest this is exactly the opposite of what SLF expects.

What SLF has a problem with is paying "charges" when all we want to do is show our boarding EMail print, have our PC checked and then sit down in seat 12A, in both directions.

And we may well have paid a flex fare.

And we never carry anything remotely "dangerous" and even if we would never use it as all we are interested in is getting to our destination on time and returning as planned.

This is a mindset issue and MOL understands.

[42psi]

daikilo

I meant it's what airport operators are visualising not the "users" ..

funnily enough instigated by MOL's standard line telling airport owners to

"make their money from the hundreds of punters he brings them each day and not FR!"


I think you'll find all airport operators are very focussed on just that, even those that don't currently have FR as a customer.

Hence the emphasis on shopping/car parking for example.

As an example:

Why do you think MAN has revamped all it's shopping/car parking recently and is currently constructing an area of concrete adjacent to T3 .. no a/bridges etc... just concrete for parking......




If you think MOL wouldn't want to charge for trolleys etc I feel that would be in error.....

FR encourage no hold luggage .. so why do want a trolley?? ..... if you choose to have hold luggage then you simply pay FR/Apt the fee...

[StoneyBridge Radar]

Quote daikilo MOL may be agressive but he does focus on leaving cash in my pocket.



And the nominations for this year's Darwin awards are..... :cool:

MOL, the Mother Theresa and patron saint of travellers; now there's a laugh. :E

Newsflash: O'Leary focusses on every contrived, devious, pernicious means possible to relieve you of every spare cent in your pocket.

But of course, if you wish to believe he actually makes money by charging €ZERO for tickets, who am I to burst your Utopian flier's bubble. :ugh:

[daikilo]

I think you prove my point, and that of MOL.

But that will not stop me using e.g. Gatwick if costs remain reasonable. MOL, pls do what you can to keep LGW honest.

[daikilo]

As I understand, he does make net profit, on average.

What exactly do guys like you focus on? Flying aircraft and SLF from A-B or more extravagent visions? This is PPrune!

[M100S2]

I'm trying to visualise an airport run as a low-cost operation. Just imagine things such as paying an extra £5 to go to the front of the security queue, £1 to have your shoes x-rayed, £2 to use the little train between terminals (seeing as those terminals would be used by the competition), £1 to have your passport checked at arrivals, £2 for a baggage trolley, 50p to stand at the best part of the baggage carousel...

....£5 an hour to consume a 79% Nitrogen/21% Oxygen mix during the time you are in the terminal, 8p per step in the terminal to compensate for floor erosion, £5 per visit to the toilets....

If MOL really wants to own an airport and play at being god/baa then let him build a new one. Can I suggest somewhere in Ireland?

[daikilo]

The ad in left column of yr post was for Rayan Air? PPrune regulators may wish to intervene.

That said, why aggress MOL. We need to minimise our ground cost structure and he has hit the headlines.

[boaclhryul]

"O'Leary International Airport" does have a ring to it...

IATA: MOL, ICAO: EMOL.

[Nov71]

MOL certainly does not like middle men getting some of the action.
It is reported tonight that as of Monday, Ryanair will not honour any tickets booked through a price comparison website.
Anyone know why?

[Teddy Robinson]

Simple.

Ryanair is not THE low cost airline, it is AN aggressively marketed airline trading on the principal that if you shout loud enough often enough people will believe the message.
The alternatives more often than not work out cheaper as our recent holiday demonstrated clearly.

Even without all the hidden charges FR was 3 TIMES the price of the booked seat, wine with meal, 30kg baggage allowance alternative.

Price comparison sites do what they say they do and the last thing Ryanair want is the truth coming out.

Headline fares of 0.01 euro one way are fine, but dig deeper and the picture is not always as Ryanair would have everyone believe.

[58730]

"I'm trying to visualise an airport run as a low-cost operation. Just imagine things such as paying an extra £5 to go to the front of the security queue, £1 to have your shoes x-rayed, £2 to use the little train between terminals (seeing as those terminals would be used by the competition), £1 to have your passport checked at arrivals, £2 for a baggage trolley, 50p to stand at the best part of the baggage carousel..."

Try to understand the fact that you already pay for these things through the price of the ticket. The difference with Ryanair is you would only pay for what you use.

Yes do imagine O'Leary international where you pay £10 to go through fast track security, £5 to get a train rather then walk between terminals, £2 for a baggage trolley (largest coin), £20 for access to a premium lounge and £5 for priority boarding. This gives you most aspects of a business class product for the price of the average fuel surcharge.

[virginblue]

STN and MOL would be a perfect fit - how one has to fight one's way through the shopping mall maze in order to get to the planes at STN is pretty similar to the Ryanair website :}

[Seat62K]

In your opinion, should Stansted remain as a BAA airport or would it be better if ownership were to change? Insiders' views particularly welcome!

[carbootking]

it all depends who buys it stn should only expand for long haul not ryanair short haul. if ryanair buys it then heaven help the area. come to that anybig airline group will expand aggresively or try to , but the town of bishops stortford is geared up for the airport with lots of people renting there , lots of passengers waiting on their next flights go there , as for the new area currently being built that should have been done years back , so someone else owning stn and with deep pockets will do these projects a lot quicker.

[Musket90]

I think it's right for BAA airports to be split. The investment needed for the SE airports alone based on Government's future airports policy is surely beyond BAA's means without significantly increasing charges and maximising income from wherever possible. As for Ferrovial, BAA has gone from bad to worse since this involvement - more departmental re-structuring, more key experienced people either being made redundant, leaving or moving to areas where there skills and knowledge are not being fully utilised.

If STN is sold off then the main problem for the new operator's will be how to get new and different product airlines attracted to the airport to supplement the LCC product which currently accounts for a large percentage of the traffic. Something BAA has tried very hard to achieve but as long as LHR and LGW are around then it will always be difficult. If the second runway is given the go ahead then airlines may look differently at Stansted however the new operator will need to find ways to fund the massive development.

As regards the airport itself, I can't imagine it'll change very much whoever operates it as most of the BAA operational people are likely to remain but in different uniforms and the Terminal building and airfield aren't likely to change.

[Seljuk22]

Hi,
heard that Air Berlin will cancel TXL-STN flights. Is it right and what about the future of Air Berlin at STN? Maybe it is a reaction cause FR increasing STN-SXF from 2 to 3 daily this winter.

[Hollymead]

Air Berlin bringing back Glasgow route ???



Air Berlin To Begin New Glasgow Airport Flight Route - Compare Airport Parking (http://www.compare-airport-parking.co.uk/news/1105/Air-Berlin-To-Begin-New-Glasgow-Airport-Flight-Route.html)

[tommy212]

that link doesnt seem to show any info about air berlin bringing back the glasgow route, if anything it seems like air berlin are reducing services from stn rather than adding. latest appears to be MUC on top of the TXL cuts, though FMO seems to be goin twice daily? any more info on this?

[tommy212]

o and also forgot to mention, the daily WIZZ air flight is also leaving stansted end of summer schedule

[jack_essex]

No surprise to see WIZZ leaving, what with Ryanair flying to Katowice daily from October, and with the current £10 each way including all taxes.

[daz211]

I have been told that the AirAisaX contract for flights to STN have been signed and flights will go on sale soon for a 2x weekly flt to Kuala Lumpur.
The Aircraft to be used is one of two A340's.

we will also be able to book flights from Stansted to Melbourne with a A/C change in Kuala Lumpur, the Melbourne leg of the flight will be on a A330.

[TUGNBAR]

Just been passed on the A120 by 4 police cars and two fire engines heading towards the airport.

Anyone know what the emergency was?

[Avitor]

BBC Look East...'A Cyprus bound aircraft reported a security alert on board. Given permission to land at STN, met by armed police who stated that there was 'no security alert' No further information.

[Charlie Roy]

From the end of October Romanian LCC will introduce flights from Stansted to Brussels (BRU).
Initially the flights will operate on Wednesdays and Sundays, later a service will be added on Thursdays.

The aircraft will operate BBU - BRU - STN - BRU - BBU, arriving in STN at 1410, departing at 1500.

[FEROMAN]

Apparently it diverted in because a passenger found a bomb warning written in the in-flight magazine and showed it to the crew. It was parked on a remote stand and the passengers offloaded until things had been checked out.

[nt639]

Looks like Aegean must be doing well

Greek airline adds Stansted flight frequency : Stansted Airport News Stories (http://www.uk-airport-news.info/stansted-airport-news-071008.htm)

[A4]

Just announced......

BBC NEWS | England | Airport expansion gets go-ahead (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7660806.stm)

Increase in pax from 25 million to 35 million per year. Kind of ironic that after nearly two years of consultation and Public Enquiries etc etc it gets the go ahead as the whole industry is contracting and the global economy is on the verge of meltdown!

Can't see the second runway getting the go ahead in the current climate..... give it another 10 years.

A4

[Powerjet1]

Passenger Cap lifted

http://www.saffronwaldenreporter.co.uk/content/saffron/news/story.aspx?brand=SAFOnline&category=NewsSaffron&tBrand=HertsCambsOnline&tCategory=newslatestSAF&itemid=WEED09%20Oct%202008%2012%3A01%3A17%3A243

[LGS6753]

Yet another political decision to support this white elephant airport which is quite simply in the wrong place.

Geoff Hoon MP (Massive Prat), the new Minister of Transport, said that London could not fall behind hubs at Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Paris, etc. He obviously hasn't mastered his brief or visited Stansted, as almost all its services are point-to-point, not hub-and-spoke.

Still, he won't be in power long, we hope.

[TUGNBAR]

Sets Stansted up nicely for 2012 though.

[Buster the Bear]

Runway 2 has not been approved.

The de-restriction on passengers makes it easier for the BAA to sell with the Olympics coming up in 2012.

[eidah]

Its all very well increasing capacity to 35million a year however STN are having difficulty keeping pax numbers as it stands. American Airlines pulled out, Maxjet and EOS went bust and as of yet no other airline has taken there slots Ryanair reducing capacity for the winter down to 28 aircraft instead of the 41.

[Falcon666]

LGS6753

You are spot on !


From a Southern Hemisphere position ( where i currently am) STN will never be regarded as a serious alternative to LHR or LGW until BA or any real established international carrier start regular flights or have a base there.

Doesnt look like that will happen sometime soon.

BA had serious conviction for STN from day one didnt they-started up Go(to take out Easy , which backfired fortunately),that was it.
Maybe somebody should ask WW for his views on STN development

[Musket90]

It makes total sense to lift pax capacity from 25 to 35mpa on single runway. It's in accordance with Government White paper and provides SE with much needed extra capacity.

Stansted may be in "the wrong place" to some but the 23-24 million pax who pass through it each year may say otherwise. In present times Stansted and many other airports will experience traffic decline but the lifting of this cap gives the airport operator, whether it be BAA or someone else, the opportunity to now focus on getting more business to the airport in future.

[pabely]

With STN running at 100% capacity for a good part of the day, where will this capacity increase come from unless they can attract significant heavy carriers? I don't believe any night restrictions have been lifted?

[Musket90]

There's plenty of spare capacity outside the peak morning and evening periods. Night restrictions would have a very small impact on passenger increase as the majority of extra movements would occur during daytime. Achieving 35mpa does require larger aircraft mix, eg Gatwick, but the fact that the 25mpa cap and movement limit has been increased means the schedulers have more flexibility in slot allocation and passenger numbers to what they have presently. It doesn't necessarily mean that the 35mpa figure will be reached but it ensures best use of the single runway and terminal. The terminal and aircraft parking areas would need some more development though as passenger and aircraft movements increase.

[Skipness One Echo]

With STN running at 100% capacity for a good part of the day,
Not even CLOSE outwith the morning rush mate.

[Stanstedeye]

As the cost of fuel is now well below 90$ a barrel, the LC airlines maybe tempted to increase their winter schedules.

[daz211]

Dont forget AirAisaX.

Flights now due to start early 2009, bookable late 2008.

A/C to be used is a A340, with Pax able to book Stansted to Melbourne I
think the passenger numbers will be high.

[nt639]

LGS6753, white Elephant? (Double the passenger numbers of LTN, sour grapes I think), how is it most of the negative comments on this thread always come from people that always post positive comments on the Luton thread?

[LGS6753]

nt639,

Sour grapes, perhaps.

I see Stansted as the airport that no-one wanted. In the 70s and 80s it had almost no traffic. At the same time, Luton built (and lost) substantial business with Court Line (bankrupt), Ryanair, TNT, charter traffic, etc.
Governments were always antipathetic towards LTN since they didn't own it, and they owned STN through BAA. The decision to build the current terminal at STN was a political decision, based on Government ownership of BAA and not much else. There were certainly no hordes of passengers asking to fly from there. When BAA had spent £400m of taxpayers' money on the terminal, they subsidized airlines to use it. First Ryanair (who moved from Luton on financial terms), then Go, who always preferred LTN but couldn't resist the BAA shilling.
Since the early 90s, STN has received cross-subsidy from other BAA airports, allowing it to unfairly compete with the only competitor to BAA amongst London airports. Yes, it handles 20m + passengers, but do they want to fly from rural Essex? Of course not! They are lured to STN by cheap flights, subsidized by BAA, and that's what has made STN 'popular'. Now that BAA has been prevented from cross-subsidizing, airlines are moving back to Bedfordshire - a better location for them despite less opulent and extensive facilities. Witness Ryanair basing 4 aircraft within 40 miles of their main base, lack of route development by EasyJet, Sky Europe moving, and now Transavia.
Make no mistake - airlines want to be as close to their passengers as possible, and LTN scores over STN in this key regard.
Why the emotion? Luton was/is a local, municipal enterprise in which local people have a stake, and pride. Stansted is operated by a faceless foreign multi-national, previously by a London-based bureaucracy. No pride there.

Sour grapes? Perhaps. But based on local connections, proprietorial interest and pride.