SOUTHAMPTON

[stewyb]

with a little investment (not before time) on the northern taxiway and maybe re-arranging stands 1-5 to say 1-3 to accommodate A319 size, surely this would be a viable solution. If as many say, that Flybe are transferring to a Q400 fleet only from Southampton, could they not utilise the remaining stands 6-14?

[canberra97]

Stewyb

I totally agree with your statement, job done:ok:

[TCAS FAN]

The problem holding back SOU development isn't simply the runway length. Due to a requirement to provide a minimum length RESA (runway end safety area) 73 metres is lost from the 20 TORA, resulting in only 1650 metres being available, less than SEN. Secondly there is a horrific tree problem off the south end of the runway together with the hill. These are performance (ie take-off weight) limiting. The hill cannot be moved, the trees can. Reduction of one group (ie believe called Marhill Copse) would significantly improve the situation and permit an increase in take-off weights/range.

The taxiway situation isn't simple. When the site was re-developed many items of the family silver were given away to secure quick planning consent. This included the punitive night flight restrictions and an undertaking not to build a northern taxiway that would take aircraft closer to houses in Southampton Road (Eastleigh) than they would be on the runway at its north end. Consequently, any extension will have to either be on the east side or stop short of the northern end of the runway (effectively ruled out due to building of another of the many car parks).

Thanks to BAA SOU is a catalogue of missed opportunities which will hold back long term development without multi-million pound investment, how deep are the new owner's pockets? Or is it just a case of eventually throwing in the towel and selling off the site for non-airport development when growth isn't worth the investment?

[compton3bravo]

Personally, Rivet Joint I would stay well clear of Stobart regarding Aviation matters. I have said on a number of occasions they should stick to what they know best i.e. logisitics or as we old gits know as road and rail transport. Even though Southend has again come out on top in the Which airport survey the airport is still well underused and passenger numbers are declining.

[adfly]

More details on the Germania charters to Chambery this winter, source is AirlineRoute:

From 12th Dec 2015

ST3798 SOU1320 – 1555CMF 319 7
ST3799 CMF1035 – 1115SOU 319 7

Indeed I am also hopeful that the new owners may invest a little more into the airfield and address some of the current restrictions.

[stewyb]

TCAS FAN

Surely the simple answer would be to build a taxiway linking stand 14 out to the runway that would alleviate the need for backtracking from the middle point of 02/20. This I don't see as interfering with houses on Southampton Rd at the northern end of the airfield and would not be cost prohibitive.

I'm probably barking up the wrong tree but this plus my suggestion of reducing the number of stands at 1-5 to accommodate larger aircraft would not attract huge financial outlays and might just start to sow the seed of thought in new airlines minds!!

[canberra97]

Yet again Stewyb I fully agree with you on all accounts, a simple and cost effective way of sowing the seeds for any future expansion i.e. EZY

[TCAS FAN]

Stewyb

Would considerably improve the current situation. One of the catalogue of the BAA missed opportunities that I mentioned. When we were resurfacing the runway, with the asphalt production plant on site, we inquired as to the cost - under £50K to install it!

Canberra97

Role on the Neos!

[MARKEYD]

For those that were wondering if BA Cityflyer might make an appearance next year they are now scheduled in to operate a few Malaga charters for Omega holidays who seem to be operating quite an enlarged programme next year from Southampton

5 flights are scheduled to operate on Sat 23 July , 6 , 20 , 27 Aug , 24 Sept with flight times of 1425 dept and 2040 arrive

[MARKEYD]

Inghams Ski have provisionally placed an Austrian DH8 400 to operate the Innsbruck flights on a Sat morning

Last year it was an FK 100 jet

[canberra97]

That's a shame I was personally hoping it would be the EMB 190 or even A319 but of course we still may see either on the Innsbruck route.

Sean

[TCAS FAN]

The local press has announced that "business leaders" are bidding for government cash to create the Southampton Gateway Enterprise Zone adjacent to the northeast corner of the airport and the former Ford's site.

Hopefully the new airport owners (unlike their predecessors) will have some long term airport development plan in mind and not, if the cash is forthcoming, permit the building of a surface level road (necessary to access the northeast site, which they probably took on when buying the airport) between the airport boundary and the rail yard. Unless this road goes into a tunnel, the possibility of runway development to the north, which of course is the only way that it could go, will be removed.

A tunnel is not going to be a cheap option as a major gas pipeline runs through the same area, and will probably need diverting.

Provision of the road will of course open up the chance of east side airport development, hopefully not just more car parks!

Time will tell if the new owners are serious about future airport development.

[stewyb]

I see that Exeter and Norwich have summer/winter sun flights with Flybe back on the timetables, is SOU next to be announced or do you think we are discussing alternatives with other airlines?

[NickBarnes]

I see that Exeter and Norwich have summer/winter sun flights with Flybe back on the timetables, is SOU next to be announced or do you think we are discussing alternatives with other airlines?

Summer 2016 is released on the 10th November so hopefully they will announce something similar for SOU

[adfly]

Omega have announced a few more 1 week holidays from Southampton, I presume they are all using a BA E190 like the 6 Malaga flights are.

'Sorrento, Amalfi and Pompeii' - 14th Aug

'Summer in the Austrian Mountains' - 21st Aug

'Switzerland and the Glacier Express' - 21st Aug

A small addition but a very welcome one, it is nice to finally see some growth in charter flights from SOU.

[MARKEYD]

The extra flights to Naples and Friedrichstafen are being operated by Titan airways probably the B 737 300

[adfly]

In what could be an interesting development it seems that the Volotea flights to Palma next summer will now actually be a scheduled route rather than just charters for Thomson, making it the first for the airline in the UK.

Currently bookable from 29th May - 4th September

VOLOTEA - Destinations (http://www.volotea.com/en/destinations/)

[Sharklet_321]

The service operates on Wed and Sat, twice per week.

This is exactly what the airport needs with the uncertainty from Flybe on their S16 schedules to Spain

[uptoncol]

That means 4 flights a week with volotea next summer including the 2 chartered ones by Thomson on a Tuesday and Saturday,let's hope some more routes to follow .col

[adfly]

That means 4 flights a week with volotea next summer including the 2 chartered ones by Thomson on a Tuesday and Saturday,let's hope some more routes to follow .col

You are more observant than I am it seems! I presumed Thomson would be selling seats on the scheduled flights next year, much like they used to do with Flybe.

Thomson charters - Tues/Sat
Volotea scheduled - Weds/Sun

[stewyb]

Can we therefore expect an announcement from Volotea in the near future on additional S16 sun routes to replace Flybe? Would fit the SOU model perfectly!

[adfly]

As has been bought up in the Leeds thread Eastern are to upgrade the ~4 Daily SOU-LBA route to a Saab 2000 from 2nd November, helping to compensate for the loss of seats resulting from Flybe dropping the route (again!).

[BAladdy]

As has been bought up in the Leeds thread Eastern are to upgrade the ~4 Daily SOU-LBA route to a Saab 2000 from 2nd November, helping to compensate for the loss of seats resulting from Flybe dropping the route (again!).
Notice that the aircraft no longer continues onto ABZ.

[adfly]

That may be the case, but SOU-ABZ via LBA is still bookable on their website.

[Buster the Bear]

Just over £300 for three adults to fly return to Palma at the end of July, that is about half what Flybe were charging!

[fjencl]

Fantastic prices from SOU - PMI with volotea airlines.
:D:D:D:D:D

[stewyb]

More route announcements by Volotea please!:ok:

[darren1]

If only they would add NCE. BCN. ALC. AGP. VCE. SPU. DBV and TLS. Nice kicking for BE and about time.

[adfly]

VLM did a little better in September, no figures available for Antwerp but 678 people flew to Hamburg, resulting in a load factor of around 31%. Hopefully things will keep heading in this direction.

Around 2 weeks after it appeared in the booking engine, the Volotea flights to Palma have been formally announced.

Volotea to start its operation from Southampton next summer 2016 | Rus Tourism News (http://www.rustourismnews.com/?p=49250)

Depending on which post you read on their FB page the Flybe summer schedule will be released on the 10th, in the middle or by the end of November, hardly confidence inspiring for people looking to book early for next summer!

[NewquayJacob]

It looks as if the sun routes will not return next year as all the Flybe E195s are now based at EXT, NQY, BHX, CWL, MAN & DSA for S16 - unless ALC/PMI may appear on the Q400?

[RW20]

I notice from notams that there are various airfield things u/s including lights on hold position,met post etc.Is this normal for a fairly busy airfield?
Down the road at Hurn there never seems to be these problems.

[adfly]

I'll do a full post later as not all flights are currently released. As it stands ALC, AGP and FAO run until 3rd April.

AVN, MXP, BIA, PMI, PGF all appear to be dropped.

AMS and DUB are now ~4 daily, GLA and MAN are back to 5 daily, BOD is now 2 weekly.

DUS continues, as does the double daily GCI.

[Wycombe]

Online timetable not yet updated, but yes looks like there are weekly (weekend) flights to AGP, ALC and FAO re-starting just before Xmas and running to beginning of April.

These routes all ended last week (after October half-term holiday), so odd that they are coming back for a bit, but then stopping at the start of S16.

I guess the needed Embraer is then committed elsewhere.

[gavinhicks]

will dol, biq and tln be moving over from bournemouth when that base closes

[fjencl]

Maybe Southampton airport management need to task Volotea or another operator to run schedules operating to FAO, AGP, ALC, from April Onwards.
:ok:

[adfly]

Looks as though the loss of the Embraers is confirmed, as I have said on the Flybe thread already I've no idea how putting them on the likes of DSA-NQY will make more money. Echo article suggests that AVN, BES, PGF will return.

Flybe pulling out of south coast airport - but will fly new routes from Southampton (From Daily Echo) (http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/14007165.Flybe_pulling_out_of_south_coast_airport___but_will _fly_new_routes_from_Southampton/)

Lets hope the management at SOU are in discussions with other carriers to take over said routes.

[stewyb]

Today's announcement although disappointing gives an opportunity for Volotea to take up the slack in ops to Spain/Portugal during the summer months. As mentioned previous, Volotea pricing seems very competitive and would surely become a popular choice of airline from SOU. In fact have we not been saying for some time that the airport has needed another airline as competition for Flybe? maybe that time has come!!

[fjencl]

People can email
[email protected]

and tell them you want more flights for ALC, AGP & FAO

Good luck

[RW20]

I guess the management team at SOU have known for a while Flybe sun route Intention's, hence the introduction of volotea to palma announced recently. Would volotea have the capacity to fly to Alicante/Malaga etc from Southampton next Summer?

[TartinTon]

I hear that there's a 2nd round of flying still to be announced by Flybe towards the end of the month....still hope for S16 sun flights yet....

[EI-BUD]

Perhaps opportunity area for Cityjet?

[bean]

No hope for the sun routes because no Embraers left to fly them

[Cloud1]

No hope for the sun routes because no Embraers left to fly them

I see the winter sun routes are operated by the E175. Are all these allocated during the summer? What's to stop say an E175 doing EDI-SOU-AGP-SOU-EDI for example?

[gkmeech]

The Q400 was used on the SOU -PMI route a few times this year.

[bean]

Cloud 1
E1 95 fleet distribution s16
DSA 2
CWL 2
NQY 1
EXT 1
MAN/BHX 3
Total 9
Total aircraft in fleet 9

[Cloud1]

Cloud 1
E1 95 fleet distribution s16
DSA 2
CWL 2
NQY 1
EXT 1
MAN/BHX 3
Total 9
Total aircraft in fleet 9

Bean - I said E175

[Groundloop]

Just received an e-mail from Flybe advertising SUMMER 2016 routes:-

Malaga Alicante Amsterdam
Avignon Brest Belfast City
Bordeaux Chambéry Dublin
Düsseldorf Edinburgh Bergerac
Faro Guernsey Glasgow Intl.
Geneva Jersey Limoges
La Rochelle Manchester Newcastle
Nantes Paris Orly Ouest Perpignan
Rennes Verona

So Malaga, Alicante and Faro are listed. Will these be operated by Q400s or Embraers operating a W pattern from another base?

HOWEVER, still not bookable beyond 2 April!

[stewyb]

I would say that this is a marketing error and the 26 routes highlighted are in fact all SOU destinations, both summer and winter, as Geneva and Chambery are also showing and these are surely winter routes only!!

[Wycombe]

I fear you may be correct and that the "Sunshine" routes will be gone completely after early April.

I received the same email, which is misleading to say the least if the above does come to pass.

[adfly]

Very misleading advertising, needless to say there are some very annoyed customers on their FB page, and for once I'd argue rightly so.

[gkmeech]

This is one of the annoyed customers. I have flown Flybe to Faro and/or Palma for the past 8 years. Every flight has been between 80 and 100 percent payload. The only reason I can see for dropping theses routes is that Flybe don't want to be n the 'seasonal' business. Ah well, back to BA. I did think about Volotea but they only fly until the middle of 1st week in September.

[RW20]

Surely with the potential for good load factors the airport management team should be able to attract potential airlines for the Sun routes?

[TCAS FAN]

RW20

Not quite so easy, any potential carrier must have the aircraft that can operate economically off the very restricted runway at SOU (have given up on the airport operator ever doing something with the runway to extend its declared distances). Might be a few lean years before the Airbus Neos or Bombardier C Series come on line.

[gkmeech]

How quickly people forget the Iberworld A320's that successfully did a few seasons on the Palma route. Volotea could use their 717's, and I am sure that A319's can cope adequately.

[RW20]

What is stopping the proposed 450 feet runway extension for 20,first voiced in 2014?

[yeo valley]

what stops any airport extension is cost. to do any runway extension, airports like commitments from airlines to use aircraft that require longer lengths. if no commitment from airlines then runway lengths stay as they are.to do any extension or new runways a lot of studies are done weather pax or airlines.

[TCAS FAN]

RWY20

My post #763 explains. Technically feasible, but will the investment ever be forthcoming?

[canberra97]

Gkmeech

You mention the Iberoworld 320's that previously operated from Southampton, you are aware that they have changed the name of the airline to EVOLOPE AIRLINES and they will be operating from SOU to Palma every Friday during the summer season of 2016 on behalf of Thomas Cook.

Both Thomas Cook and Thomson have an allocated amount of seats on the sun routes from Southampton what will happen here if customers have already booked those flights with the respective tour operators.

In the past not only did SOU have A320's from Iberoworld but also from Spanair along with 737's from Air Europa, Air Malta, Futura and Thomson as well as 757's with the latter.

SOU has its limitations regarding runway performance and suitable stand availability but as it has shown in the past it's doable, hopefully we might see some more route announcements from Volotea to fill the gaps as the passenger demand is definitely there for the sun routes and possibly more additional destinations.

[Wycombe]

When you think of what Vueling have achieved at Cardiff - year round flights to the same Spanish destinations that BEE have abandoned at SOU, with frequency increases already announced for S16 - you would think this would have been ripe territory for them.

Such a pity that that kind of opportunity may not be possible at SOU due to the operational constraints?

RYR must be very happy with what this will mean for those same routes that they will no doubt fly out of BOH next year.

[RW20]

Surely it would make sense to extend ry 20 before any airline committed itself,as this would act as an accentive to operators to use larger planes/longer routes .Airlines will not commit if they have payload restrictions due to runway length availability.

[adfly]

Some good news for SOU, Flybe's application to serve Lyon and Munich 12 weekly each (2x weekdays 1x weekend) has been approved for funding, so we will hopefully see these introduced in the near future. While Munich seems like a good bet, 12 weekly flights to Lyon looks like overkill, especially given that even Paris is only served 12 weekly now.

[adfly]

Passengers down 1.9% on last year, with the rolling year up by 0.7%, so numbers will most likely be pretty flat by the year end. Most domestic routes were down, although it is likely that the increased frequencies on some over the winter may counter this a little.

Flybe's new service to Düsseldorf carried 397 passengers, meaning it carried 28 passengers on average and had a load factor of 36.3%. Not a fantastic start, hopefully last months numbers will show a sizeable improvement on that.

There is no data for how many passengers flew to Antwerp but 918 flew to Hamburg, so VLM achieved an average load of 21 passengers, for a 42% load factor. While it is still low loads are heading in the right direction, and looking at the fares they charge yield can't be too bad either.

[RW20]

What is holding Southampton back?
Passenger numbers seem to be in decline for a while,but not long ago the airport was surging forward.

[TCAS FAN]

RW20

The runway (RWY) !

[stewyb]

Some would say Flybe!!

[ryan2000]

Cork Southampton just confirmed by Stobart Air for 2016. Operating 5 times weekly.

[Some Old Fart]

Southampton Airport is a joke,toy runway,lack of decent stands for jets and finally Flybe.Many years ago before Flybe there were 737s,757s from different airlines,Now all you see is the boring Flybe Spindles.Great Shame!

[Leg]

Flybe to expand at SOU when they close their BOH base in 2016, apparently...

[Rivet Joint]

Great to see Cork returning. Always did well when it use to be served.

[Wycombe]

Southampton Airport is a joke,toy runway,lack of decent stands for jets and finally Flybe.

Loving the negativity. I'll be paxing from SOU again later this week, and from a pax point of view if you are flying on one of the routes with a good service, and the flights are on time, I think it's hard to beat.

If you're taking a domestic flight for business (which I am) there aren't many airports where you can park-up outside, be into the Terminal and through security in 10 mins, and be in the car on the way home 10 mins after arrival on stand.

Yes, it has it's many operational constraints, but there are some aspects that are very good.

As for 73's and 75's, yes there were a few, but they have always been the exception rather than the rule at SOU due to the above.

[adfly]

Good to see Cork return, also good to see another airline at SOU, hopefully the management have realised by now why it doesn't appear to be wise to rely on Flybe to such a significant extent. The route starts in March, presumably at the start of the summer season.

[Rivet Joint]

Does anyone know if the route will be just seasonal or year round?

[Wycombe]

It was always seasonal when operated by Aer Arann in the past IIRC.

Press release on SOU website doesn't say so will need insider info.

[RW20]

Good to see cork back on Southampton route list. It would be even better if we had some news on the Sun routes!

[RW20]

According to the local rag,the airport management are due to make an announcement today about another airline to begin operations next May,intriguing!

[Bjarte]

KLM 2x daily starting May 16 (Fokker 70)


Departing Amsterdam 08:35 – Arriving in Southampton 08:45
Departing Southampton 09:20 – Arriving in Amsterdam 11:30
Departing Amsterdam 16:40 – Arriving in Southampton 16:50
Departing Southampton 17:25 – Arriving in Amsterdam 19:35

[Rivet Joint]

No bad thing but I was expecting the announcement to be in relation to the sun routes. What does this mean for BE on the AMS route? Surprised the code share wasn't working well enough for both parties.

[Flightrider]

With KLM announcing both SOU-AMS and INV-AMS today, it looks like they have finally lost their patience with their "partner" Flybe. It is hardly surprising given that Flybe has gone from a friendly codeshare partner on SOU / EXT / INV to AMS to add competing services from BHX and MAN to AMS.

[stewyb]

Always good to see SOU attracting more airlines but was fully expecting this announcement to be for sun routes. Malaga, Faro & Alicante attract foot fall through the airport of 100k per annum and just cannot understand why these have been dropped so readily!

[RW20]

A little of a bit of anticlimax with the KLM announcement ,I doubt whether there will much of a increase in pax numbers for the Amsterdam route.I guess everyone hoped for the Sun routes announcement, that would have been great news with the potential of a big drop off in pax numbers for the airport if it doesn't happen.

[canberra97]

Seeing SOU is on a roll at the moment my wish list would be as follows.

Brussels Airlines to Brussels (possibly in cooperation with Flybe)
Easyjet to Geneva
Eurowings to Cologne, Stuttgart
Hop/Air France to Paris CDG
Lufthansa CityLine to Frankfurt
Swiss to Zurich
Volotea to Faro, Florence, Milan, Nice, Strasbourg, Venice
Vueling to Alicante, Barcelona (reinstated), Ibiza, Malaga

Plus both Thomas Cook and Thomson using their own aircraft on certain flights

Maybe I might be right on one of them!

Southampton Airport.......Build new stands, extend the taxiway and runway and they will come!

[virginblue]

A little of a bit of anticlimax with the KLM announcement ,I doubt whether there will much of a increase in pax numbers for the Amsterdam route.I guess everyone hoped for the Sun routes announcement, that would have been great news with the potential of a big drop off in pax numbers for the airport if it doesn't happen.

That's an interesting view. I guess almost every airport in the world in the SOU category is keen to be linked to one of the three big alliances' hubs to allow seamless worldwide connections to hundreds of destinations - aeven though passengers on those flights will not buy as much booze in the duty free than those heading to the costas...

SOU will have approx. 200 additional seats on a daily basis once the E90s have replaced the F70s. If BE indeed stops AMS, it remains to be seen if they will pull the SOU-based DH4. Even if so, with Flybe's international routes coming and going and Flybe having a change of heart reather frequently, a robust hub link by a blue chip carrier like KLM certainly is extremely valuable for the airport. Plus: Given that the alternative Sun routes would not have seen A321s for obvious reasons, but same-sized DH4/E9X aircraft , a better deal passenger-wise would have required something like 20-30 additional sun flights per week alone. Not very realisitic in my opinion...

[cumbrianboy]

RW20 - I honestly think in the whole of the country you're the only person who would feel an 'anti-climax' at the news KLM were coming to town, every other airport who doesn't have them would bend over for them I'm sure ...

It's great news and provides stability and global connections, the sun routes will come and go.

[RW20]

Cumbrianboy I'm sure the KLM link will be invaluable to the airport and businesses. However the airport needs to balance the needs of the local catchment area and that means offering Sun routes which are and have been very popular. If the the airport could embrace this ( and the necessary runway extension/stand issues) the airport would be really flourishing. After all it has all the transport links !.

[SWBKCB]

However the airport needs to balance the needs of the local catchment area and that means offering Sun routes which are and have been very popular

So popular that nobody wants to operate them? Might tell you something.

[SotonFlightpath]

I think SOU has quite unique circumstances when it comes to the sun routes. There is definitely a market, after all, the city is located within a conurbation of 1.5 million people, many of whom are very affluent and therefore provide a relatively large demand for such routes - even at a bit of a 'premium price fare' needed with the use of smaller aircraft. Most of the previous sun routes were very well patronised, even in the quiet 'off season' times. Even my local postman used the Malaga route half a dozen times a year to go and play golf!

The problem is finding an operator with the right equipment for the job!

There's no getting away from it, the emb 195 is the ideal piece of kit for the rather unusual and particular set of circumstances at SOU, and few operators have these to hand.

Volotea with their B717s would also be perfect, but as they don't have bases in Faro, Malaga or Alicante, it would involve some quite complicated scheduling to provide sun routes to and from SOU. The only hope really I think is a change of heart by Flybe, or Volotea basing a 717 at SOU for the season - both of which I feel are very unlikely.

[TCAS FAN]

SWBKCB

Probably lots of carriers wanting to operate them but cannot accept the revenue constraints caused by the runway operating limitations.

[Rivet Joint]

KLM is a plus and hopefully will be more reliable than flymaybe. People are forgetting that KLM have code shared on BE's AMS flight for a while now so the world wide connections have always been available. This is nothing new.

In terms of the sun routes for them to work you need a 737/a319 sized plane and no restrictions. SOU need to pull their finger out and spend some money airside. Wishful thinking though.

[globetrotter79]

Is it definitely a foregone conclusion that Vueling won't return to SOU?
...quite a lot has changed since they last tried

[SotonFlightpath]

Just looking at last year's figures and it's ironic to see that the Palma route, which was used by 24,864 passengers in 2014 will still see 5 flights per week in 2016 - 4 x Volotea, (2 scheduled + 2 charter) plus 1 x Evelop.

In 2014, Alicante attracted 42,821 and Malaga 42,352.

85,173 passengers x say, £125.00 is £10,646,652 - so I still think that an operator will come forward at some point and 'give it a punt'.

[RW20]

Interesting figures,but surely Faro and Nice should be added to this,and I'm sure that with these included there is a great case for somebody to take these over.

[Wycombe]

NCE and PMI are well within Q400 capability (PMI was flown with it this year), maybe it's just a case that BEE can make more money shuttling the Dashes around the UK/CI and into near Europe, as is their bread and butter. Longer sectors actually decreases a/c utilisation of course.

[Wycombe]

Thomson 738 off to see Santa this morning at ENF (Enontekio). That's about a 1300nm sector in a 738 off SOU's diddy runway, although I appreciate it's not really representative (it's a day trip, so no/few bags, one would assume, don't know what the load was either).

Small Planet A320 went to IVL (Ivalo) the other day aswell.

[Expressflight]

I think landing distance is probably more critical at SOU than take-off distance for the 738; it certainly is at SEN which has the same LDA as SOU.

[SotonFlightpath]

Any news on when the two new Flybe routes to Munich and Lyon sanctioned to receive Regional Air Connectivity Fund subsidies will commence from SOU?

[Locker10a]

Is there no possibility the likes of Easyjet could use an A319 to operate certain sun routes out of Southampton ? If not why not? 319's can use the runway at SOU, is there a restriction on load?

[cornishsimon]

Considering Southampton to Munich and Lyon and Newquay to Leeds/Bradford haven't as yet been announced is it at all a possibility that these could be combined onto a SOU based Q operating the unserved SOU-NQY market ie:
SOU-NQY-LBA-NQY-SOU-LYS-SOU-MUC-SOU ?


it might make sense as NQY currently will only have one based E95 to operate 3 LGW and 1 MAN and LBA isn't a base.


SOU-NQY was sold but never started back in the days of the E45 acquired as part of the BACON buy out


just throwing it out there


cs

[kcockayne]

Southampton - Newquay ? Seems a little too short distance to me. What is the demand ?

[Rivet Joint]

Kcockayne: you're clearly not familiar with cornishsimon? Basically every third word is NQY and it doesn't matter what airport or airline the thread is on he will still try and find an angle to bring up NQY. I'm surprised he hasn't mentioned the fact that the big expat population in Australia must be missing pasties and therefore QF should put on a daily A380 from SYD. A fantasist of the highest order.

[SotonFlightpath]

Although there probably wouldn't be a huge demand, by road, Southampton - Newquay is only 28 miles less than Southampton to Manchester!

[Wycombe]

Germania 319 in today operating from and to CMF - is that a regular now for the ski season? BEE also started their CMF flights yesterday on the Dash.

[Coffin Corner]

Rivet Joint, that's a bit harsh towards cornishsimon. He's enthusiastic and loyal which is no bad thing.
Just to clear up the E145 service from SOU-NQY that never transpired, it was a route that was looked at as a pure stop gap filler for an under utilised aircraft. The route went on sale because the commercial team took it upon themselves to sell it without consultation. When the dept who knew anything about route lengths looked at it they realised it would never happen because the under utilised window was too small for even that short route. The route was pulled as quickly as it appeared.

[Chesty Morgan]

Flybe used to consider routes if the road journey was greater than 2.5 hours.

Driving down that sodding A35 they should have done a SOU - EXT never mind NQY.

[Wycombe]

Rivet Joint, that's a bit harsh towards cornishsimon. He's enthusiastic and loyal which is no bad thing.

Seconded, although what he came up with there was indeed quite "imaginative".

He makes a fair point though that Flybe have had these proposed routes funded but haven't announced plans for them as yet.

[TCAS FAN]

Chesty Morgan

After chauffeuring son to/from Exeter Uni for four years, A34/A303 although not perfect (thanks to the Blackdown Hills) a lot easier on the sanity.

[canberra97]

Wycombe

The Germania flights to Chambery are operating every Sunday upto the middle of March 2016, operating on behalf of Ski Total I believe.

[Wycombe]

Thanks Canberra, good to see another airline providing a jet service.

[adfly]

Passengers down a sizeable 15.2% in November, meaning the rolling year is now down by 1.3% on 2014. VLM carried 717 passengers to Hamburg, leading to an average load of 34% or 17 passengers. There are still no numbers for Antwerp available. Flybe carried 1553 passengers to Dusseldorf leading to a similarly poor load factor of 33% or 26 passengers per flight. Lets hope the popularity of the German Christmas markets gives both routes a boost this month.

[RW20]

Why are the figures so poor? and can Southampton bounce back like other regional airports have?

[stewyb]

I can only assume that Flybe's cancellation of the Alicante and Malaga routes in the autumn of this year would have contributed significantly to this downward trend?!

[Rivet Joint]

The BOH base is still around and eating into SOU's figures. Come next year and the ending of the that base then SOU should return to normal. Flymaybe are running a noticeably smaller operation at the moment as they experiment with basing aircraft at random airports like CWL and DSA. Personally I believe they should be concentrating on the airports that have been the pillars of their operation since their inception but then that's the new management for you. SOU need to get a new operator in to run the leisure routes. Leave BE to do the domestic.

[SotonFlightpath]

A reply on Flybe's Facebook page this evening says 'the Southampton sun routes are being reviewed, so if you haven't already, I would suggest signing up to the Flybe newsletter for details'.

Malaga and Faro are also featured heavily on their homepage - a change of heart perhaps?

[adfly]

The responses they post on their Facebook page vary day by day in response to identical questions posted by different people. The social media team certainly don't seem well informed at all. Fingers crossed it is actually being looked into though, it still seems like a questionable decision to me.

[stewyb]

Totally agree and the mixed messages the media team give out on their Facebook page is quite frankly embarrassing. Its us passengers who are suffering and for everyone's sake, can we just have a joined up approach on communication, are Flybe flying summer sun routes or not and the quicker the better for an answer!!

[gkmeech]

I asked BAA Southampton on FB and Twitter about the summer sun routes, but their wonderful marketing team chose not to answer. All in all its a bit of a joke. I have already booked my two trips next year with BA while the flights were still a reasonable price.

[Nakata77]

Given total lack of Ryanair expansion at BOH for SUN routes this has probably given SOU confidence they can operate some for S16. This may explain the change of heart?

[gkmeech]

Given total lack of Ryanair expansion at BOH for SUN routes this has probably given SOU confidence they can operate some for S16. This may explain the change of heart?

Just received this from Souairport ....
Hi Graham, there could be many reasons why a route is discontinued as it’s ultimately the airlines decision about which routes to operate but please be assured we are working hard to continue our summer sun destinations and hope to have an update in the next few weeks. Kind regards.

[adfly]

Sounds as if all is not completely lost then, fingers crossed! :ok:

[stewyb]

Sounds encouraging but needs to be sorted PDQ as customers are already starting to book alternative routes!

[TCAS FAN]

All we now need is someone to realise that they could make money operating out of SOU, get in line to order some, and wait for delivery:

Bombardier?s all-new CS100 Aircraft Awarded Transport Canada Type Certification - Bombardier (http://www.bombardier.com/en/media/newsList/details.bombardier_s-all-new-cs100-aircraft-awarded-transport-canada-typ.bombardiercom.html)

Hope it happens before the current airport owners decide to throw in the towel and sell off the site for non-aviation development!

[gkmeech]

I have already booked my to Summer Suns next year with BA from LHR while the flights were at a reasonable price. Couldn't wait for SOU to procrastinate.

[gkmeech]

I notice that Flybe is doing a Malaga and Faro rotation today using E175 G-FBJB. I guess performance is OK in winter, but restricted when summer temperatures kick in.

[Wycombe]

I noticed that also. Temps this morning are almost Summer-like so could be a good test.

Dep to AGP this morning was over 1hr behind sched, perhaps the FD were doing their sums!

PS, this is ever-so slightly tounge-in-cheek ;-)

[AvTom]

Say a new airline did come along to SOU, with lots of money to spend on aircraft ect. surely the best choice for aircraft operating out of SOU would be the Sukhoi Superjet 100?

Not too many passengers so would be easily filled, good range for sun routes and cheaper to run than the ERJ195?

[Wycombe]

The usual highly accurate reporting from the Daily Fail re. the above below:

Dozens of British tourists have had their holiday plans disrupted after a Flybe plane was forced to make an emergency landing due to a bird strike this morning.
The bird struck a propeller – causing one of the engines to fail – while the Embraer E175 was taking off from Southampton Airport for Alicante, Spain.
The plane, carrying 83 passengers, circled for about 30 minutes before it landed safely at 10am.


Read more: Flybe plane forced to make emergency landing in Southampton after bird strike | Daily Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3382732/Flybe-plane-forced-make-emergency-landing-Southampton-bird-strike.html#ixzz3wHZfVH9I)

[kcockayne]

E175s have got propellers now; have they ?!?!

[Wycombe]

BEE look to be adding frequencies to some of their S16 routes from SOU:

BOD - looks like a fairly big increase, up to daily during Aug (was 2x weekly previously)
LRH - looks to be daily for much of peak season
PGF - up to 3 weekly during August (was 1 on Sat previously)
VRN - up to 4 weekly during peak season (inc. 2 rotations on Sat)

[BOHEuropean]

Alicante, Faro & Malaga all bookable over the summer again now, too!


Edit: Palma is also available, up two twice on Saturday's during August using the Dash

[adfly]

Looks as if Alicante is daily from the end of March until the end of October, Faro and Malaga are 3 weekly and 4 weekly from the start of July until the end of October. Looking at the flight times Alicante is going to be on a Q400 (!) and the other two will be on an Embraer.

[Wycombe]

Great news, but can't help thinking that BEE have shot themselves in the foot by not getting this sorted in line with the rest of the S16 Schedule release (which was nearly 2 months ago!).

For example, they now have Volotea to compete with on PMI.

Guess we will wait to see if FAO and AGP are going to be on a 175 (based on fact that all the remaining 195's are supposedly utililised at CWL, DSA and on NQY-LGW)?

[adfly]

Booking engine suggests they will be on the E195.

[gkmeech]

Which 'booking engine' would that be?

They have shot themselves in the foot, I have already booked my 2 summer sun flights with BA from Heathrow.

[adfly]

Flybe one, shows 31 rows which can only be an E195. They have lost some business no doubt but they have at least got them on sale for the peak booking season.

[stewyb]

Over on Flybe's Facebook page they are getting a lot of stick about the S16 routes being cancelled in October, customers having to book elsewhere and now announcing after all that they are being re-introduced. I have a lot of sympathy for these people and you do have to wonder what on earth Flybe's long term strategy is. Flybe's initial response once again was the standard 'due to lack of demand', well forgive me if i am wrong but thousands of regular customers flying these Med routes have been doing so for many years and its now down to 'overwhelming demand and popularity' that they have been re-instated. Bottom line is these destinations have always been regularly filled to near if not full capacity and if they continue to confuse and upset the general public, I say let Volotea have a go at running the Med scene!!

[cornishsimon]

How on earth are they finding an E95 to operate ex SOU ?

Without looking at the timetable what timings are we talking about and how many rotations a week. ?


cs

[BOHEuropean]

It would appear there will be a Embraer E195 departure from Southampton each day of the week July-October at 09:00. To me this would imply one flies down from another base, but as far as I can see none arrive?

MALAGA | 01-Jul-16 - 28-Oct-16
Operates every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday

BE1677 SOU-AGP 09:00-12:40
BE1678 AGP-SOU 13:20-15:00

FARO | 02-Jul-16 - 27-Oct-16
Operates every Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday

BE1771 SOU-FAO 09:00-11:40
BE1772 FAO-SOU 12:20-14:55

An additional note, it would appear there are about 10x Flybe aircraft based at Southampton this summer - is this the most they've ever had?

[globetrotter79]

I suspect you'll find there'll be a 195 doing an 07:00 departure from Manchester to SOU and then going onwards to do the Sun routes with a Dash 8 running in the opposite direction from SOU to MAN early mornings

[Wycombe]

I think 9 based is the previous BEE max. at SOU.

It is a bit of a mystery as to where this 195 is going to come from, but the update that the airline gave re. Project Blackbird* in November included the following statement:

3 will operate at Birmingham and Manchester airports
– Two to provide additional capacity on high demand routes
– One to provide EJet standby cover for the 19 EJets flying

This implies there is a spare/standby a/c, but to only fly it for 5 to 6 hours a day out of SOU only makes sense if otherwise it was sat at MAN, BHX or wherever not earning anything at all.

*Blackbird was the name given by Flybe to the Project aimed at mitigating the financial liability of the remaining 195's by getting deals done with specific airports (eg, CWL, DSA, EXT/NWI) to get them flying.

[gkmeech]

Next year they truly be able to cite low payloads as an excuse becaus they have already lost a shed load of punters this year.

[Coffin Corner]

There will be a hot spare at BHX from the summer onwards, I'm assuming the SOU jet will be this one.

[GCILover]

Back in my day of working in SOU about 9 years ago,there were 10 based aircraft. 3 X 195's & 7 Dash 8's

[adfly]

Volotea have extended their service to Palma, it now operates on Sundays only during October and finishes on the 30th. Hopefully this is a sign of good forward bookings, especially since they now have 5-7 weekly Flybe flights to compete with, although on the dates I checked Volotea were undercutting them, and the flight time difference of 35 mins vs the Q400 is a plus point.

[stewyb]

A family of 4 flying Sunday - Sunday in August to Majorca is approx £400 more expensive flying with Flybe versus Volotea!!:eek:

[MARKEYD]

There is only 1 flight being operated to Malaga now by BA EMB 190 on Saturday Aug 6 as to the original 5 published earlier by Omega holidays

Might be due to Flybe returning to the route

Palma looks busy this year now with Evolope A320 , Volotea B 717 and Flybe DHC 8 now making up to 12 flights a week !

[TartinTon]

gkmeech...you really do talk garbage...yes, you've told us that Flybe have lost your custom to LHR (enjoy the drive) but given that the vast majority of summer bookings are yet to happen it's doubtful that they have lost a "shedload" of passengers.....unless you're being literal of course :rolleyes:

[Flightrider]

I do not think he is being over-dramatic in the slightest. On routes of this nature, it is not uncommon to be 20-30% sold for the summer season at this stage in January. Flybe will therefore have lost 20-30% of the potential custom for these routes by going on sale late. The real question is whether the remaining 70-80% who they have the opportunity to capture will provide sufficient volume to sustain the services being provided.

[canberra97]

With Flybe offering less seats to Palma on the DHC 8 compared to last year on the EMB 195 I shouldn't think it will be a problem filling the aircraft.

The price difference between Volotea and Flybe to Palma is incredible and I only hope that the former make a success on their new operation from SOU and hopefully expand for summer 2017.

The fact that Flybe are using a DHC 8 on the Palma route in 2016 may actually deter passengers from booking especially as regulars on the route have been used to flying the EMB 195 and even more so now Volotea are around offering a jet service and undercutting the extremely high fares that Flybe charge.

[Wycombe]

News today re. the above:

Channel Islands Blue Islands airline to operate as Flybe - BBC News (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-35280134)

Not one that I expected, but one way for BEE to deal with the competition they have faced on SOU-GCI.

It is of course a bigger story than just that, but the above is main element that relates to SOU, along presumably with the benefit that people from the CI will be able to "hub" through SOU to other parts of the BEE network on a single booking.

[LGS6753]

Travel Mole reports:

Flybe launches two new routes from Southampton


Flybe launches two new French routes from Southampton this summer.

From July 3 to September 25 it will fly three times a week to Biarritz.

It will also fly three times a week to Toulon Hyeres from July 2 to September 12.

In addition, flights to Bastia on the French island of Corsica will return for the peak summer travel on Sundays.

This route will operate from May 22 to September 18.

[stewyb]

Believe this makes SOU Flybe's largest operating base by routes once again (30)!:D

[Wycombe]

Biarritz and Toulon were both routes flown from from BOH in S15, so it seems BEE consider they are worth operating again. Bastia was flown from SOU last year.

Although I'm sure it would have been preferable to (re-)launch these a bit earlier, the S16 offer from SOU is now looking quite good, and on some routes (eg, BOD, LRH, EGC) has the most capacity they have ever offered (AFAIK).

[stewyb]

Surely its time for a little money spent air side on the Northern taxiway (stand 14 - out to runway) with this additional traffic!!

[adfly]

Summer 2016 is looking to be quite a good one for SOU now, I suspected we may have seen Biarritz and Toulon launched, given they did reasonably well from BOH.

[TCAS FAN]

stewyb

Over to Flybe to get a northern taxiway, numerous have tried since they arrived at SOU, including myself. They appear to have succeeded in getting a better deal at SOU by the temporary stay at BOH, a northern taxiway could save them considerably more by removing the bottleneck at B1 when two or more are held awaiting the long backtrack, and delaying pushback from adjacent stands.

[stewyb]

Any figure seen on cost? we're not talking great swathes of tarmac but i'm sure would enhance airline scheduling!

[TCAS FAN]

stewyb

When I tried it was around £40K to join up from Stand 14 to the runway, due to the asphalt plant on site while resurfacing the runway. At todays prices, in the millions!

Cheapest option is to join up from Stand 14, but this must stay south of the ILS GP antenna, still requiring a part backtrack. Taxiway cannot go further north without closing down a car park, bean counters would never agree to that!

Next problem with a west side taxiway is a planning condition that prevents aircraft taxying closer to houses in Southampton Road (due to noise) than they would be while on the runway. Consequently a short backtrack would be necessary.

The best solution (IMHO) would be crossing the runway at TWY B then north on the east side, extending past the existing 20 threshold, linking up with a much need starter strip on the north end of the runway. Gets rid of the bottleneck at B1, avoids the back track, thereby speeding up departure flow, and will provide a link with the new Terminal 2, if that ever happens.

Hopefully the Post Office will move out (to a larger facility on the old Fords factory site?)before too long and airport bean counters work out that even paying a premium for the PO site will be a lot cheaper than building a remote terminal in the north east corner.

[stewyb]

Looks like Flybe has brought forward bookings by a month on the FAO & AGP routes to the start of June!!

[pottwiddler]

TCAS FAN


Cheapest option is to join up from Stand 14, but this must stay south of the ILS GP antenna, still requiring a part backtrack. Taxiway cannot go further north without closing down a car park, bean counters would never agree to that!


I take it that you mean a diagonal taxiway from Stand 14 to the runway , joinging just south of the PAPI's but outside of the ILS GP critical area. That would be better rahter than a perpendicular to the runway taxiway as it would reduce backtracking.

[Bournemouth Air]

With Flybe offering less seats to Palma on the DHC 8 compared to last year on the EMB 195 I shouldn't think it will be a problem filling the aircraft.

The price difference between Volotea and Flybe to Palma is incredible and I only hope that the former make a success on their new operation from SOU and hopefully expand for summer 2017.

The fact that Flybe are using a DHC 8 on the Palma route in 2016 may actually deter passengers from booking especially as regulars on the route have been used to flying the EMB 195 and even more so now Volotea are around offering a jet service and undercutting the extremely high fares that Flybe charge.

Do holidays makers know what plane there flying on - I'm sure it's price that they look for

[canberra97]

Bournemouth Air

It's taken you nine days to pick up on that comment:D

[TCAS FAN]

Potwiddler

TWY must intersect the runway south of the GP antenna and holding point no closer than current A1 & B1 distance from RWY centre line, 105 metres for a Precision CAT 1 runway, if my aged brain is still working. Could be angled to intersect slightly less than 90 degrees, just about where I remember most Q400s ended up on their landing roll, unless the training captain (if he is still SOU based) was PF (no pun intended), in which case a stop at Bravo was common place.

[TCAS FAN]

Potwiddler

Should have said "02 landing roll"

[MARKEYD]

Looks like Flybe have been tinkering with the summer sun routes again and it now looks like the EMB 195 will operate ALC and PMI on some days making full utilisation of the aircraft now in the afternoon as well

Alicante is now 4 x EMB 195 and Palma 3 x EMB 195

Guess the aircraft will now be permanent fixture at Southampton on need to position in from BHX each day ?

[RW20]

What is the largest aircraft that can park on Southampton's stands 6-14?
I have noticed that a 737 was on stand 11,but I thought that over a certain height there was a problem with ILS Glideslope interference?

[Wycombe]

Saw an A320 (Small Planet) parked on Std 14 in December.

[TCAS FAN]

Problem with Stands 6-14 is that anything with a tailfin above about 9.5 metres causes the "transitional surface", i.e. a 1:5 slope extending out from a point 150 metres from the runway centre line. This is one of the complex obstacle limitation surfaces that are designed to protect the runway. However I understand that SOU may have been given some form of waiver from this by CAA.

Second problem is at least Stands 6-12 were constructed to take a lower weight of aircraft than Stands 1-5. Suspect that this also applicable to Stands 13-14.

Maybe someone out there who is still gainfully employed at SOU can elaborate.

[zantopst]

I believe if the 737's and Airbus are parked tail in then stands 6-14 do not have an issue with tail height. Regarding the weight limitation for stands 6-12 I have certainly in my time seen 757's, Airbus 319,320 and an IL76 parked on those stands before the height restrictions were put in place.

[Groundloop]

Second problem is at least Stands 6-12 were constructed to take a lower weight of aircraft than Stands 1-5. Suspect that this also applicable to Stands 13-14.

Bearing strength of stands given here in "Aircraft Parking/Docking Chart":-

NATS | AIS - Home (http://www.nats-uk.ead-it.com/public/index.php%3Foption=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=136&Itemid=185.html)

[TCAS FAN]

Zantopost

Il 76s parked nose out or parallel to runway, I believe only two visits. Even so tailfin height probably penetrated the transitional. Still remember one almost solved the rail sheds problem due to its very low approach!

Cannot recollect any 75's parking 7-12, if they have suspect nose out as fuselage length would extend over airside road and into TWY.

Groundloop correctly points to AIP AD2 entry ref bearing strength.

Has someone been cheating and parking overweight aircraft on part of the apron? Remember A319/320s parked overnight on 13 or 14, nose out of course, empty and prior to fuelling.

[zantopst]

TCAS, yes the 757 was doing one of the student exchange flights I believe and parked on the old stand 10 I think. That was one of the 2 that had the stand centre line curving round to face back out at about 45degrees to the runway nose out. The IL76 was parked on the current 7 or 8 stand area looking at the photo I have of it. This was obviously quiet a few years ago so maybe they are more careful now about the stand weights!

[TCAS FAN]

Zantopst

Maybe someone close to Airside Ops would like to comment?

[RW20]

Some interesting points on the stands,but looking at the Nats info it seems stands 6-14 have a lower strength rating then 1-5,however there has even been a a321 on stand 13/14 in the past,how does this equate ?.

[StGermain]

Problem with Stands 6-14 is that anything with a tailfin above about 9.5 metres causes the "transitional surface", i.e. a 1:5 slope extending out from a point 150 metres from the runway centre line. This is one of the complex obstacle limitation surfaces that are designed to protect the runway. However I understand that SOU may have been given some form of waiver from this by CAA.

Second problem is at least Stands 6-12 were constructed to take a lower weight of aircraft than Stands 1-5. Suspect that this also applicable to Stands 13-14.

Maybe someone out there who is still gainfully employed at SOU can elaborate.

1:5 transitional or 1:7 ? Methinks it is the latter old chap.

[StGermain]

Some interesting points on the stands,but looking at the Nats info it seems stands 6-14 have a lower strength rating then 1-5,however there has even been a a321 on stand 13/14 in the past,how does this equate ?.

There's a pavement maintenance calc for overloading a declared bearing strength. Put what you want on the apron, it just means that it is likely to need maintenance sooner than planned. If stands 7 - 9 took an IL76, it's unlikely that a 320/321 will hurt it.

[StGermain]

Zantopst

Maybe someone close to Airside Ops would like to comment?

B752 reverse parked on 9 & 10. A321 reverse parked on 13/14. Max fin height next to the airside road is 10.1m, but at the back of stands 7-12 is 13m

[TCAS FAN]

StGermain

My error, indeed instrument/precision is 1:7

[adfly]

Passengers down 10.7% in December, leaving the provisional passenger figure for 2015 at 1,775,789, a 2.9% decrease on 2014, which is disappointing considering the general upward trend elsewhere. Fortunately things are looking significantly more promising for 2016 with Flybe expanding plus new flights from KLM, Aer Lingus, Volotea and Thomas Cook.

[Wycombe]

Never a good thing when an Airports performance is so heavily dependent on one operator.

Unfortunately, unless another one acquires a big fleet of aircraft types that are compatible with the constraints on ops at SOU, and move in to compete with Flybe, that seems likely to remain the case.

The fact that Flybe re-trenched to some extent at SOU in 2015 (and opened a base at BOH) cannot have helped.

As Adfly says, Flybe are showing a significant expansion (compared to 2015) for 2016 and the Airport have obviously been working to get some other operators in, so it is looking more positive.

As a fairly regular user, SOU works great for me when flying domestically. All the upsides are landside (road, rail, parking close to Terminal etc etc) and all the downsides are airside - as documented regularly on here.

[TCAS FAN]

Wycombe

I share your views on lack of iairside nvestment, unless Airbus come up with a Neo+ SOU have a definitely finite expansion capability unless some serious airside investment is made with the runway length, and possibly its width.

[RW20]

Are the disappointingly passenger figures a direct result of the soon to end Bournemouth Flybe operation?,
or is the airport underperforming for other reasons?
Also what would be maximum number of passengers the airport could realistically expect with the present airside limitations?

[stewyb]

Would imagine the drop off in numbers is a direct result of the Bournemouth operation. With regards to terminal capacity at SOU, I seem to recollect a figure of 3mil being talked about when built. Maybe wrong and someone can confirm?

[TCAS FAN]

RW20

A bit of a puzzler, so many factors to consider. Any significant increase is going to be driven by demand, the size of each aircraft (runway limitations apply) and the runway utilisation. If first two are maximised runway utilisation will need to increased by TWY improvements (i.e. the northern TWY). The name of the game being the ability for NATS to reduce spacing between successive arrivals, and increase departure rates (i.e. not dictated by need to backtrack either for 20 departure or after 02 landing).

The other limitation is the airport operating hours that dear old BAA signed up to (i.e. the Section 106 Agreement) to smooth the passage of planning consent when the airport was 're-developed.

Going to be a while before we need the Terminal 2 shown in the Airport's retrospective Master Plan. Would guesstimate at the current Terminal and Aprons (with some mods to the latter) are good for 3 million+. Not going to get to this with JS41s and ATR 42s. See how many PAX BOH shift with a fraction of SOU's movements.

[RW20]

Thank you for the assessment of the airport requirements to gain significant passenger increases.
The fact that the necessary airside improvements have not been implemented over the many years that the airport has existed in its present state ,does not bold well for what is needed for the airport to move forward! Surely there comes a time when the question will be asked: "Do we want a thriving developed airport", or is the land valuable enough to be used for housing and commercial use,given the shortage of such land in Hampshire.

[TCAS FAN]

RW20

Sadly, for all its regular users and the staff who run the day to day operation (having to suffer often poor management direction) a site sell off for non aviation development, bearing in mind its potential value, is always an option if the owners want a quick return on their investment.

Eastleigh Borough Council have always promoted a strategic gap from Southampton, which the airport has always provided. With the current economic climate, the income generated for them by non aviation development might be too much to resist. Remember, all but the last few hundred metres of the runway is in the Borough.

[StGermain]

But as the Airport is the Eastleigh Borough second largest rate payer, I doubt that they would encourage the sold to be sold for non Aviation use? I think that you have to ask yourself if the Airport is happy with the status quo. If passenger numbers grow significantly (+390k pax pa) then the level of investment needed to sustain that growth will be disproportionate to any increase in profitability, primarily because it will be the airlines (sorry Airline, Flybe!) that has to bear that cost and pass it on to their passengers. That, of course, will not happen. To be sustainable, SOU needs to settle around the 2.1m passengers pa. Increased throughput in GA traffic will help support the profitability at that figure, with short stop, high yield jet traffic that doesn't need too much handling space to make it work. For those of you that are expecting growth to 60k + movements pa, forget it. TCAS FAN has a very intelligent and well informed approach to just how sustainable SOU actually is, and summarises well the history of lost opportunities. I say, look forward and identify high yield opportunities that keep the business sustainable rather than a model that will require massive investment for a very uncertain future beyong 2.2mppa. Just sayin'

[StGermain]

But as the Airport is the Eastleigh Borough second largest rate payer, I doubt that they would encourage the Airport to be sold for non Aviation use? I think that you have to ask yourself if the Airport is happy with the status quo. If passenger numbers grow significantly (+390k pax pa) then the level of investment needed to sustain that growth will be disproportionate to any increase in profitability, primarily because it will be the airlines (sorry Airline, Flybe!) that has to bear that cost and pass it on to their passengers. That, of course, will not happen. To be sustainable, SOU needs to settle around the 2.1m passengers pa. Increased throughput in GA traffic will help support the profitability at that figure, with short stop, high yield jet traffic that doesn't need too much handling space to make it work. For those of you that are expecting growth to 60k + movements pa, forget it. TCAS FAN has a very intelligent and well informed approach to just how sustainable SOU actually is, and summarises well the history of lost opportunities. I say, look forward and identify high yield opportunities that keep the business sustainable rather than a model that will require massive investment for a very uncertain future beyond 2.1mppa. Just sayin'

[Rivet Joint]

StGermain: You spout all that pessimism yet you clearly don't know the airport or live locally. The potential at SOU is huge, I compiled a long lost of its USPs sometime ago and will drag it up at some point. The only limit at SOU is airside investment, or the lack thereof. If you think investment would be daft take a look at that shower down the road. MAG made serious investment despite the fact they had no airlines to satisfy and seemingly none on the horizon. The problem with SOU was that it was owned by BAA and was the runt of the litter. It's now seemingly owned by an investment vehicle and will continue to be an asset to park some money in. SOU just needs to be owned by a company that works and makes it's money from the transport sector. MAG, stobart etc.

[StGermain]

Rivet Joint: cheers for your reply. I live 10 miles from SOU, use it twice a month and have done since 2002. You need to look at the original purchase criteria that BAA applied to SOU during purchase and redevelopment. If you think or feel that it was the 'runt' of BAA, you are ill informed and the basis for any argument otherwise is flawed. TCAS FAN-care to enlighten him with the details.

All I will say is that SOU delivered everything and more that was asked if it in BAA ownership. As for investment, they pumped £32m in to a land locked site to prove its capability and it did just that, shaking off its debt and becoming cash positive in just 8 years. Show me another uk regional airport that has done that. And please don't say Bournemouth!

[Rivet Joint]

StGermain: not sure what point you are trying to make. BAA for the large part owned both LGW and LHR alongside SOU so pumping money into It was always going to be counter productive. I suspect as much as anything it was a strategic purchase to stop someone else coming along and creating a sizeable operation out of SOU. I admit I have not done any research to back that claim up however. Its a case of speculate to accumulate but unfortunately SOU has never had the privilege of having an owner with the balls or the foresight to make it happen. I have no doubt that if they made the investment, U2 would create a sizeable base out of SOU.

[adfly]

Flybe are launching a daily SOU-CDG flight from the end of March, in addition to the current 12 weekly flights to ORY.

[Wycombe]

I make that 29 routes out of SOU for various parts of S16 from BEE now, and we've not seen an announcement yet re. the routes (MUC and LYS) that they applied for the Regional Development funding on?

[adfly]

Given that Flybe have today also announced EXT-NWI which was linked with the regional development fund, I would expect an announcement regarding LYS and MUC soon.

[TCAS FAN]

Adfly

Good news on CDG, especially if you can interline on AF. How I miss the early AF CRJ departure to connect out of CDG.

[shamrock7seal]

St Germain, Rivert Joint

If SOU had a 2,300-2,500m runway with stands big enough for A330 or B787 then the airport would be able to reach it's potential. It could, in theory, be as big as NCL in terms of pax volume (less than BRS though because of it's proximity to LHR).

However, achieving this runway length and airport stand capability would be very challenging and would mean hundreds of millions of pounds of investment - not the 50m or so at BOH.

So the best fit would be if easyJet or Ryanair suddenly ordered ERJ-190's or CS-300's which have short-runway capability and associated brand strength. The public need alternative choices to Flybe - or they will simply opt for BA or some other better alternative at LHR which is only 60 mins away.

If SOU did have a good runway and big aircraft capability it would void BOH immediately.

2016

How many passengers are expected in 2016? 2.1m?

[gkmeech]

Given that A320's and A319's are already used from SOU on holiday flights Easyjet 319's could easily operate out of SOU. The only reason I can see for Easyjet staying away is because we don't have enough A319 parking stands to generate a decent business case.

[EI-BUD]

The suggestion of EZY at Southampton is, in my opinion fanciful thinking. I cant see EasyJet coming to Southampton for the following reasons, and in the following order;

- Flybe has such a large presence that it could lever pressure on the airport if it invited easyJet in on attractive terms, such terms that would be needed to make the operation inviting to easyJet. Rumours had its some years ago of an easyJet limited operation out of Exeter, but Flybe opposition put paid to this development ( circa 2005 if I'm not mistaken)

- Proximity to Gatwick: easyJet would be unlikely to consider Southampton in the context of the scale of the LGW operation, though a few routes could be warranted, like GVA for eg.

- Physical limitations of the airport ie parking stands, though I do understand that 319 could fly in and out comfortably.

Would be an enormous step forward for the airport to attract such an airline though.

[Flightrider]

On the "timetables" section of the bmi regional website, it is showing Southampton as a destination from Munich in the drop-down menu. There are no flights loaded, but the fact that the route itself is available on the list looks quite interesting. Southampton doesn't appear as an originating station though. As the airline doesn't publish connections on its website, is something afoot?

[BOHEuropean]

Wasn't Flybe recently awarded the funding* for the Munich - Southampton route, could this possibly be a wet-lease?

[Flightrider]

A PSO for Munich-Southampton? A PSO is a very different thing to route development start-up funding, which is what Flybe had applied for on the route. It certainly wouldn't stop bmi regional launching SOU-MUC in their own right or indeed in competition with any Flybe service, if one ever materialises.

I guess we will have to wait and see how many of the routes for which funding is made available will actually ever start. EXT-NWI looks to be getting off the ground (now Flybe and its franchisees' third attempt at this route) purely as it makes the logistics of the E195 sunshine flying ex NWI but using EXT-based crews a lot easier! I am not holding out huge hope that SOU-LYS, SOU-MUC, NQY-LBA and others will ever see the light of day.

[RW20]

Are any of the stands designed for A319 or A320?,and if so how many?

[AvTom]

RW20, stands 2,3,4 can hold them but they can only fit 2 aircraft on these stands at any one time.

[virginblue]

Rumpur has it that the MUC operation will be expanded in co-operation with Lufthansa. SOU is one of a handful of routes that been mentioned. Nothing to do with the successful Flybe application (which is NOT for a PSO, but simply for a smallish subsidy paid from the Regional Air Connectivity Fund bringing down airport fees at the UK end)

[canberra97]

Unless I missed it I can not see Southampton listed anywhere on the BMI Regional website let alone in the drop down menu, maybe it has since been deleted!

Although BMI Regional would be an excellent addition to SOU for possible new routes to cities that are currently not served from the airport such as Munich along with Brussels, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Zurich.

[adfly]

While BMI Regional operating MUC with a LH codeshare would be an excellent gain for the airport I can't help but see them not getting a chance on the route as Flybe are looking to start it as well. The latter will also have reduced fees due to the regional air connectivity fund. I fear that BMI Regional would likely be priced out the market if both routes were to start, or both airlines would pull the route then we would end up back at square one. Fingers crossed I am being overly negative about this...

[Flightrider]

It's disappeared - definitely there yesterday afternoon as a destination from Munich on the timetables listing but not there now. Must have been quickly spotted and removed...at least someone works Sundays, even if only monitoring PPrune!!

[TCAS FAN]

RW20

From what I remember currently Stands 2-4, and possibly Stand 5 if a CAA waiver has been given in respect of tailfin height.

[TCAS FAN]

gkmeech

Indeed they do operate, but all a weight restricted to such an extent that Loco operators not interested in operating if they cannot fill their aircraft. Look what has happened at SEN, a minor increase in take-off length, just above SOU, attracted Easy (albeit no doubt with incentives from airport operator), but they now appear to be loosing interest.

One can only speculate what will happen when the Neos come on line, will they stick with SEN and even consider SOU?

[davidjohnson6]

I used to live about a mile from SOU and would like it to succeed but...

Does SOU really have a big enough population within its catchment area to sustain an Easyjet base AND not end up killing off Flybe ? If Easyjet operated an A319 double daily to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Jersey, how would Flybe react ?

[fanrailuk]

New Route starts 15April MUC > SOU

http://www.bmiregional.com/

[MerchantVenturer]

Re previous post, booking engine shows 2 x daily Mon-Fri and daily on Sat and Sun. Timings indicate a MUC-based aircraft. Hopefully there will be a LH code share; bmir code shares with LH on its MUC and FRA flights from BRS.

[MARKEYD]

Southampton is to be congratulated on the host of new routes and airlines that have arrived in the last few months !

Good behind the scenes negotiations have obviously paid off very well

A real mix of leisure and business that should compliment the airport

[stewyb]

Agreed MARKEYD and would imagine this will push up passenger numbers to close on 2mil for 2016. A great effort by all at SOU and just goes to show that airlines will come if the price is right, thought out route planning and the excellent airport connectivity that is already in place! :D

[TartinTon]

This one is interesting...how does this tally with Flybe as they have the RACF funding for a 2 x daily SOUMUC?

[RW20]

Wow!,Southampton continues to attract new business, British midland is a very useful addition to the airport ,well done to the management team,now for airside improvements!

[GCILover]

Could be interesting if on the 145. When BA used to fly these aircraft up north they struggled to take a full load

[SWBKCB]

Currently a BMIR 135 based at NCL operating to STN for BE (on behalf of LOG - a BE franchisee and with common ownership with BMIR) in between operating to/from BRU for SN (a Lufthansa group company) - might be relevant, might not be...

[TCAS FAN]

GCIlover

That was before they were modified to provide an intermediate flap setting to improve take-off performance.

[GCILover]

That's good to hear. Nice to see SOU getting some new airlines. It's long overdue

[adfly]

As many others have said this is excellent news. It does seem that the new management have really been working hard to move the airport away from focussing so greatly on one airline, and said airlines short lived BOH base arguably shows that the airport has been able to win a number of new carriers whilst still ultimately keeping the existing residents happy.

My earlier reservations about Flybe launching the route as well do remain however, although I do believe there are some other routes BMI Regional could maybe make a go of in the future, such as FRA, CPH, BRU and ZRH.

[RW20]

Who do you consider as further operators that may open up routes from Southampton?, given the new management are progressing well?

[canberra97]

RW20

My predictions for any further airline announcements for SOU over the next year or so could well be some of the following.

Air France/Hop to Paris CDG after the recent announcement by Flybe to fly to CDG.

Aer Lingus Regional to Dublin

BMI Regional to Brussels, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Zurich

Lufthansa to Frankfurt if not taken up by BMI

Thomas Cook using their own aircraft on a few sun routes as in A320.

Volotea to Ibiza and 'maybe' further down the road if any real expansion did take place from SOU we could possibly see Milan and Venice.

Vueling to Barcelona, Maybe and I mean maybe a return of Vueling to restart a service to Barcelona a route that should of course be very popular if marketed correctly.

A lot could be wishful thinking but some of it could happen considering the recent airlines and new route announcements from SOU.

[stewyb]

What are the chances of Royal Mail moving from their current location to the new logistics park (old Ford site) in order to provide additional apron space? I notice that the property developer want to start construction in the summer and have other sites around the UK with Royal Mail in situ, wondered if this is being discussed or even in the airports thinking? Having not acquired the current Royal Mail site when the airport was first re-built, this would surely be an ideal opportunity to make it happen this time!

[TCAS FAN]

Stewyb

Bring it on, I'll even come back from warmer climes to help with the moving out. All we would then need is the airport management working out the potential for the site and be willing to come up with the cash to secure it.

[Wycombe]

Daily SOU-LYS Summer route with BEE confirmed to start in May:

Flybe secures more start-up aid (http://www.travelmole.com/news_feature.php?c=setreg&region=2&m_id=s~Y!~Ab~Am&w_id=31605&news_id=2020698)

It's in the Flybe on-line timetable. I make that 30 routes from them for S16 now.

[MAJP]

Flybe Lyon to Southampton from 05/23/16

Schedules:

BE3211 SOU 07:00-09:50 LYS DH8 ex7
BE3211 SOU 10:00-12:50 LYS DH8 7

BE3212 LYS 10:25-11:25 SOU DH8 ex7
BE3212 LYS 13:25-14:25 SOU DH8 7

[RW20]

Vlm reducing flights to Antwerp /Hamburg ,I guess this was always on the cards due to demand!
Surely there must be more profitable destinations for VLM from Southampton?

[Groundloop]

Surely there must be more profitable destinations for VLM from Southampton?

Are you sure you don't mean "Surely there must be more profitable destinations for VLM THAN Southampton"?:ok:

[Capt. Ron Swanson]

Hello, first post here.


Regarding the VLM SOU-ANR/HAM reductions, has this been announced anywhere? Looking at their booking engine the flights seem to go to 3 x weekly from April (mon, wed, fri), although if I'm not mistaken they also did this last summer too? Can anyone confirm?

[canberra97]

Groundloop

No he didn't you know exactly what he meant:=

[Rivet Joint]

Groundloop: you're not very bright are you? If you did your research you would know VLM is a business airline that focuses quite a bit on ports. There is a lot of logic involved with connecting three of the biggest ports in Europe. The problem is they charge around £500 for a return and if you are traveling to HAM you have to stop over in ANR.

[ORTAC22]

I flew to ANR a few months ago on a promotional fare of £102 Return! Perhaps those fares do not exist now?

[insuindi]

From 28JUN BE is also planning to serve SOU-MUC.

[RW20]

It's a shame that Flybe are proposing flights to Munich from Southampton,as surely British Midland will not be able to complete?
Southampton surely needs more Airlines,but with Flybe dominating how will this ever happen?

[Capt. Ron Swanson]

I agree that it's a shame to see BMI regional facing competition on their first route from SOU already. However, they'll have a two month head start and will hopefully begin to build up a customer base in that time. Their flights appear to be selling ok, particularly the MUC-SOU sector, and their double daily times should be more attractive to business passengers.
I'd like to see them adopt an LH codeshare on the route which would give them the additional advantage of connecting passengers on to the LH long haul network ex-MUC.
Flybe may appeal more to the leisure market who perhaps won't have the same knowledge of BMI at this stage. Hopefully there will be room for both companies.
Regardless, even more flights and passengers must surely be a good thing for SOU. It's shaping up to be a busy summer there.

[TartinTon]

It's a shame that Flybe are proposing flights to Munich from Southampton,as surely British Midland will not be able to complete?

Hmm...2h20 on a dash with BE vs 1h45 on a jet with BM?
LH partnership through one of their main hubs and using T2 at MUC?
LH sales force in Germany vs no BE German sales presence?
Double daily flights vs a single daily BE operation?

I know who'll be getting my money.....

[insuindi]

I agree that it's a shame to see BMI regional facing competition on their first route from SOU already. However, they'll have a two month head start and will hopefully begin to build up a customer base in that time. Their flights appear to be selling ok, particularly the MUC-SOU sector, and their double daily times should be more attractive to business passengers.
I'd like to see them adopt an LH codeshare on the route which would give them the additional advantage of connecting passengers on to the LH long haul network ex-MUC.
Flybe may appeal more to the leisure market who perhaps won't have the same knowledge of BMI at this stage. Hopefully there will be room for both companies.
Regardless, even more flights and passengers must surely be a good thing for SOU. It's shaping up to be a busy summer there.

The LH codeshare is fully planned for this, LH systems are just a little bit slow.

[Capt. Ron Swanson]

The LH codeshare is fully planned for this, LH systems are just a little bit slow.

That's good to know, thanks! Any idea when they'll catch up?

[adfly]

The CAA stats for January show passenger numbers to be down 1.9%, although this trend will hopefully soon be reversed as we approach the summer. VLM carried about 7 passengers per flight (14%) to HAM, still no data for ANR, but with such low load factors the reduction in frequency from 5 to 3 weekly is understandable. DUS is improving, 28 passengers per flight (36%) but still pretty weak, either service does not seem to be very heavily advertised...

Hopefully Flybe and BMI will be able to operate side by side on the MUC route, with the former appealing to leisure travellers and the latter business travellers plus those connecting onwards.

SOU has gone from having no links to Germany about a year ago after Flybe dropped HAJ to the following.

DUS - Daily BE Q400
HAM - 3 weekly VLM F50 (via ANR)
MUC - 12 weekly BM ER4, daily BE Q400

Impressive growth, lets hope that it is sustainable.

[Rivet Joint]

Spiteful behaviour from BE. I know they had already applied for funding for the route but why the delay in announcing it when LYS was announced ages ago? Convient that its announced not long after BM confirmed they were operating. It's not like MUC is one of BE's premier routes. The spare rotation could have been used for many new destinations. Poor form. Get your airside in order SOU management and then get the orange lot in!

[JobsaGoodun]

Spiteful? I don't think so.

bmi have launched on a route that they knew full well had been proposed by Flybe so one can only assume that they believe that both can operate side by side. It would be naive to be in any way surprised that Flybe have announced (as expected).

Hopefully both can survive however I think that will rather depend on the volume of high yield passengers that bmi can find. For the cost conscious traveller, I doubt they'll be able to compete with Flybe on price or volume.

[ATNotts]

Hmm...2h20 on a dash with BE vs 1h45 on a jet with BM?
LH partnership through one of their main hubs and using T2 at MUC?
LH sales force in Germany vs no BE German sales presence?
Double daily flights vs a single daily BE operation?

I know who'll be getting my money.....

FlyBe has no sales operation in Germany? Given the large presence they already have in the German market, (DUS, STR, HAJ, TXL) I would expect they certainly will have a GSA looking after their interests - though that said, the main thrust of marketing these days, I would have thought, is going to be web based.

[Wycombe]

An operator to FRA instead of multiple operators to MUC would have made more sense than this petty competitiveness (unless BEE did get the funding for MUC and that hasn't been announced yet).

[SWBKCB]

Back in March 2015, an application for SOU-MUC was submitted to the Regional Air Connectivity Fund - the process involved a joint submission by the airline (BEE) and airport, so it's plain to see who the "Johnny-come-lately" on the route is.

[RW20]

To accommodate the additional new routes from Southampton,what will Flybe need in number of aircraft to base?Also will they base a 195 for the Sun routes?

[Flightrider]

Very much like a PSO, there is a stipulation in the regional connectivity fund that if an airline is prepared to start services without RACF funding then any application for the same route by another airline requiring RACF funding becomes null and void. It is a sensible move to ensure that taxpayer funding is not wasted in launching competing air services on a route that one airline is quite happy to provide at its own commercial risk.

If Flybe do press ahead with SOU-MUC, it's therefore without funding and a pure kamikaze retribution mission. I hope it meets with the lack of success it deserves.

[SWBKCB]

If Flybe do press ahead with SOU-MUC, it's therefore without funding and a pure kamikaze retribution mission. I hope it meets with the lack of success it deserves.

or a nice little spoiler from LH/BMIR while doing a spot of slot warming?

[adfly]

Since everything should be pretty much confirmed I shall try to summarise S16 in this post. Overall it looks to be a very busy summer, possibly the busiest ever. For routes that have extra flights for the short peak season only I will list them next to the frequency they operate at for the majority of the summer. 'New!' routes are new for this year, I am aware a number of them have been flown previously.

Aer Lingus Regional

Cork (New!) - 4-5 weekly AT7 - From 14/03

Aurigny Air Services

Alderny - 19-36 weekly D28

Blue Islands

Guernsey - 25-26 weekly AT7

BMI Regional

Munich (New!) - 12 weekly ER3/4 - From 15/04

Eastern Airways

Aberdeen - 11 weekly S20 (via LBA)
Leeds/Bradford - 21 weekly S20

Flybe

Alicante - 7 weekly E95/Q400 (4x/3x)
Amsterdam - 25 weekly Q400
Avignon - 1-3 weekly Q400
Bastia - 1 weekly Q400
Belfast City - 18-21 weekly Q400
Bergerac - 7-10 weekly Q400
Biarritz (New!) - 3 weekly Q400 - From 03/07
Bordeaux - 2-7 weekly Q400
Brest - 4-5 weekly Q400
Dublin - 25 weekly Q400
Dusseldorf - 7 weekly Q400
Edinburgh - 34 weekly Q400
Faro - 3 weekly E95
Glasgow - 32 weekly Q400
Guernsey - 12 weekly Q400
Jersey - 27-35 weekly Q400
La Rochelle - 6-7 weekly Q400
Limoges - 4-6 weekly Q400
Lyon (New!) - 6-7 weekly Q400
Malaga - 4 weekly E95
Manchester - 30 weekly Q400/E95 (25x/5x)
Munich (New!) - 7 weekly Q400 - From 29/06
Nantes - 5-7 weekly Q400
Newcastle - 18 weekly Q400
Palma - 5-8 weekly Q400/E95 (5x/3x)
Paris CDG (New!) - 7 weekly Q400 - From 27/03
Paris Orly - 12 weekly Q400
Perpignan - 1-3 weekly Q400
Rennes - 5-7 weekly Q400
Toulon (New!) - 3 weekly Q400 - From 02/07
Verona - 2-4 weekly Q400

KLM Cityhopper

Amsterdam (New!) - 12 weekly F70 - From 16/05

Thomas Cook

Alicante*
Faro*
Malaga*
Palma - 1 weekly Evelop A320
Verona*

*Package Holidays using scheduled Flybe flights

Thomson

Palma - 2 weekly Volotea 717 (separate from Volotea's scheduled flights)

VLM

Antwerp - 3 weekly F50
Hamburg - 3 weekly F50 (via ANR)

Volotea

Palma (New!) - 2 weekly 717 - From 29/05

[RW20]

Thanks adfly for the detailed summary.
Would you therefore think passenger numbers for 2016 be approaching 2 million?

[Capt. Ron Swanson]

Thanks Adfly for that. If I'm not mistaken there are also the peak summer Saturday/Sunday charters that were announced several months ago on behalf of a tour operator whose name I've forgotten, but I believe they were one off weekly trips to different destinations operated by Titan 737s and possibly a BA Cityflyer E190 on one of the dates.

[adfly]

S16 Summary
Since everything should be pretty much confirmed I shall try to summarise S16 in this post. Overall it looks to be a very busy summer, possibly the busiest ever. For routes that have extra flights for the short peak season only I will list them next to the frequency they operate at for the majority of the summer. 'New!' routes are new for this year, I am aware a number of them have been flown previously.

Aer Lingus Regional

Cork (New!) - 4-5 weekly AT7 - From 14/03

Aurigny Air Services

Alderny - 19-36 weekly D28

Blue Islands

Guernsey - 25-26 weekly AT7

BMI Regional

Munich (New!) - 12 weekly ER3/4 - From 15/04

Eastern Airways

Aberdeen - 11 weekly S20 (via LBA)
Leeds/Bradford - 21 weekly S20

Flybe

Alicante - 7 weekly E95/Q400 (4x/3x)
Amsterdam - 25 weekly Q400
Avignon - 1-3 weekly Q400
Bastia - 1 weekly Q400
Belfast City - 18-21 weekly Q400
Bergerac - 7-10 weekly Q400
Biarritz (New!) - 3 weekly Q400 - From 03/07
Bordeaux - 2-7 weekly Q400
Brest - 4-5 weekly Q400
Dublin - 25 weekly Q400
Dusseldorf - 7 weekly Q400
Edinburgh - 34 weekly Q400
Faro - 3 weekly E95
Glasgow - 32 weekly Q400
Guernsey - 12 weekly Q400
Jersey - 27-35 weekly Q400
La Rochelle - 6-7 weekly Q400
Limoges - 4-6 weekly Q400
Lyon (New!) - 6-7 weekly Q400
Malaga - 4 weekly E95
Manchester - 30 weekly Q400/E95 (25x/5x)
Munich (New!) - 7 weekly Q400 - From 29/06
Nantes - 5-7 weekly Q400
Newcastle - 18 weekly Q400
Palma - 5-8 weekly Q400/E95 (5x/3x)
Paris CDG (New!) - 7 weekly Q400 - From 27/03
Paris Orly - 12 weekly Q400
Perpignan - 1-3 weekly Q400
Rennes - 5-7 weekly Q400
Toulon (New!) - 3 weekly Q400 - From 02/07
Verona - 2-4 weekly Q400

KLM Cityhopper

Amsterdam (New!) - 12 weekly F70 - From 16/05

Thomas Cook

Alicante*
Faro*
Malaga*
Palma - 1 weekly Evelop A320
Verona*

*Package Holidays using scheduled Flybe flights

Thomson

Palma - 2 weekly Volotea 717 (separate from Volotea's scheduled flights)

VLM

Antwerp - 3 weekly F50
Hamburg - 3 weekly F50 (via ANR)

Volotea

Palma (New!) - 2 weekly 717 - From 29/05

Just to add some extra stats to this:

Flybe weekly departures: 328-365
Other airlines weekly departures: 101-120
Overall weekly departures: 429-485
Overall average daily departures: 61-69 *cough* time for some airfield investment *cough*

RW20 - 2M passengers certainly does look achievable this year if all goes well.

Finally, Aer Lingus Regional now have Cork on sale for the winter operating 4 weekly.