New route to UK?

[Herod]

I'm hearing rumours of a new schedule from Goteborg Save airfield to the UK. Anybody know anything?

[KADS]

That would be Ryanair..... rumour has it.

[kir]

Gothenburg is a possibility

Found on a news page:

Date: 12:56 14FEB01
Source: REUTERS
Title: Ryanair to unveil Europe hub, new flights on Feb 21
Message: FRANKFURT, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Ryanair will unveil the location of its new European hub and plans for new continental European flights on February 21, a senior manager told Reuters on Wednesday. The Irish low-cost carrier has still not decided between Hahn near Frankfurt, Charleroi near Brussels and Stockholm's Skavsta airport for the location of its hub, said Caroline Baldwin, sales manager Germany. "The decision on the hub will be given at news conferences next week. They will be about Europe-wide developments," she said. Ryanair plans to hold simultaneous press conferences in London, Frankfurt, Paris, Milan, Stockholm and Brussels on February 21, she added. Key factors in choosing between one of the three hub candidates included operating costs, the ability of the airport to give a long-term commitment, the catchment area and its growth potential, Baldwin noted. Ryanair had used all three potential locations for about two years and was thus well-acquainted with the locations, she added. The new Euro-hub was scheduled to go into operation before Easter with about six new routes to destinations in Germany, France, Italy and Scandinavia which would "link up the points" on the carrier's existing network, she said. But Ryanair, which serves some 40 European destinations in eight countries, would continue its strategy of flying point-to-point routes and would not operate the "hub and spoke" services with transfers and connecting flights at the new base, she stressed. REUTERS

[Herod]

Thanks for the feedback, but it won't be Ryanair. Save runway isn't strong enough for a 737, it would have to be Landvetter. Could be somebody using one of the RJs or a turbo-prop. Anyone else got any ideas?

[Swedish pilot]

In june Ryanair will start flying from Göteborg/Säve to London/Stansted twice a day, except on saturdays(one flight).
They will use a Boeing 737-800.
I think they will make some sort of work on the runway until then.

[LatviaCalling]

Regarding "Skavsta" airport outside of Stockholm, I may be completely ignorant, but I don't know of it. I know "Bromma" and "Arlanda", but I've never heard of "Skavsta." Could someone inform me, please?

[Bad-Man]

Skavsta is a small airport south of Stockholm city, I believe it's a former mil airfield. Not shure though.Date: 16:38 21FEB01
Source: REUTERS
Title: UPDATE 2-Ryanair ups European reach with new routes
Message: (adds detail from news conference, analyst comment, background) By Alessandra Galloni LONDON, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Irish no-frills airline Ryanair Plc unveiled seven new routes from London to mainland Europe on Wednesday, stepping up competitive pressure on mainstream carriers such as Belgium's ailing Sabena. The new destinations -- which will add 1.4 million new seats in Europe this year -- extend Ryanair's leadership in the budget airline market in Europe, where low-cost carriers are chipping away at the business of traditional carriers. The greatest threat could be to financially strapped Belgian national airline Sabena, as Ryanair plans to start six flights daily from Stansted to Brussels from April 5. Though Ryanair will fly to the secondary Charleroi airport, which is far from Brussels city centre, it is likely to grab some of Sabena's Britain to Belgium business. Sabena, which is 49 percent-owned by SAir Group , could be even harder pressed if Ryanair chooses Charleroi as its first mainland European base -- a decision it plans to announce on February 28. "If Brussels is selected as a new European base -- and we haven't decided yet -- our goal would be to put Sabena out of business," Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary told reporters at a news conference. "We're not targeting low-fares carriers. Our target is the big guys." Shares in Ryanair were unchanged at 12.20 euros in Dublin, and rose six pence to 773-1/2p in London by 1445 GMT. NEW EUROPEAN MIX Besides Brussels Charleroi -- which Ryanair already serves from Dublin -- the airline also plans to fly from Stansted to Gothenburg (Save airport) in Sweden and Salzburg in Austria four times daily. Two daily flights will be offered to Stockholm (Vasteras airport), Esbjerg in Denmark, and Pescara and Trieste in Italy. Fares would start at 49 pounds return to Brussels Charleroi and 99 pounds to Salzburg, where O'Leary said passengers would be saving up 62 and 76 percent compared to the prices offered by mainline airlines on those routes. The new routes will boost Ryanair's traffic to nine million passengers flying on 52 routes to 47 destinations. They also double the number of the airline's passengers who start their journeys from the continent. "They've been successful out of the UK and Ireland. This is the next stage in their development," said Chris Tarry, airline analyst at Commerzbank. The bulk of traffic on all budget carriers now starts in the UK, where high prices and geography have helped business. But with the industry expected to grow 15 percent over the next five years, the airlines are now trying to snatch more travel by continental Europeans to the UK and Ireland and also within the mainland, where duopolies on most routes mean travellers pay top dollar to fly just about anywhere. Easyjet, the second largest player in the budget market, already serves cities across Europe from Amsterdam and Geneva as well as London's Luton airport. Sixty percent of Ryanair travellers now start in Britain compared with 20 percent in Ireland and 20 percent in continental Europe. Over two years, O'Leary expects travel from the mainland to rise to 40 percent and UK departures to fall to 45 percent. NEW BASE, MORE ROUTES Once the new mainland base starts operating, the European focus will be developed even further, with six or seven new routes to be added immediately. Ryanair will chose among the short-listed candidates -- Charleroi, Stockholm, Pisa in Italy, Frankfurt (Hahn) -- on Friday and an announcement will be made next week. In choosing a second main airport, Ryanair is considering not only costs -- takeoff and landing fees -- but also how fast it can drop off passengers, refuel and take off again. Turnaround time is key for low-cost airlines because it allows them to get more use out of their planes. Ryanair performed better financially than most mainline carriers in the region last year, when overcapacity and high fuel prices ripped into their profits. It raised 116 million euros ($106 million) two weeks ago to help pay for 13 new 737-800 planes, which are 45 percent larger than the rest of the fleet. REUTERS

[Herod]

First, Skavsta is Nyköping ESKN. Second, the guys suggesting Ryanair were right, I was obviously wrong about Save runway strength. Thanks.

[LatviaCalling]

I don't know for us foreign customers, regarding Nykoping as a base. Local charters may be fine. But for me to land at Arlanda and then take a bus to Nykoping and not knowing that the connections to southern Spain would probably be a pain in the arse, I would rather pay $100 more to go BA RIX-LGW and then take it from there. This is probably aimed at the local Swedes, so be it.