Stobart Air-3

[JSCL]

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1280x853/image_931d9e1a_1b6f_48ca_b4a6_657c3478a30920210118_214030_c7 69df3d043d7fbedfbc1608989bcdeb5f579c76.jpg

[Sharklet7]

Maybe a sale announcement before the end of the week?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.independent.ie/business/irish/former-bmi-owner-in-talks-to-acquire-stobart-air-40121228.html[/url]

[Alteagod]

I hope this doesn't drag on and on. Stobie staff are just such a great bunch of guys n dolls to work with. Never worked with such nice airline crew in such a long time.

[allan1987]

Isle of Man startup Ettyl is latest to circle Stobart AirAnother potential suitor has entered the fray to buy Aer Lingus Regional operator Stobart Air, the Irish Independent has learned.

Isle of Man-based Ettyl, a start-up virtual airline, is understood to be circling the Dublin-based carrier. But it’s pitted against other suitors for Stobart Air, including seasoned aviation executive Ian Woodley.

Ettyl is headed by Jason Scales, a young entrepreneur who founded the business last year. He also heads a shared office centre called The Hubb on the Isle of Man. He is listed in company documents as being the sole shareholder in Ettyl when it was founded this time last year.

https://www.independent.ie/business/irish/isle-of-man-startup-ettyl-is-latest-to-circle-stobart-air-40209926.html

Where is the funding and knowhow coming from... feels like a pipe dream,

I wounder is an other Airline Involed as in T3

[davidjohnson6]

There's a separate thread on Ettyl from last autumn.... may be worth having a read through for background
https://www.pprune.org/airlines-airports-routes/635372-ettyl.html

[allan1987]

Seems still no word of Stobart Air Being sold? or anything more About an UK AOC? Though was meant to be sold at the end of last month.

[Alteagod]

Yes all very quite on all fronts. No sign of G reg on anything. Bizarre after such a flurry of chat at start of year.

[The96er]

EI-FMJ is due to become G-CLUR at some point.

[Alteagod]

Bit still with Stobart? A colleague of mine who heard from a socially distanced friend of his who said he spoke to a guy who had heard from a very reliable source that apperantly works at BHD, that signs are up at boarding gates that Stobart flights are operating on behalf of City Flyer. Are they the buyers now,?

[irishlad06]

if true will be similar to the arrangement Aer Lingus had with BA from Jan 1st where the EI BHD-LHR flights were operated on behalf of BA.

[The96er]

Alteagod

Those signs have been there since the transition period ended as a fudge to allow Irish reg aircraft to operate domestic U.K routes. Essentially, it is an IAG group work around for the EI product. There’s unlikely to be any buyout of Stobart on behalf of any IAG group companies.

[ECR]

If the Stobart flights are "operating on behalf of BA CityFlyer" you would have thought they would at least make them available for sale under a BA code as well as an EI code. At least with the EI LHR flights they are available for sale as a BA codeshare so they can nominally at least suggest they are operating for on behalf of BA.

[Sharklet7]

ESKEN, the owner of Aer Lingus Regional operator Stobart Air, has confirmed it's in advanced discussions to sell the Dublin-based carrier to Isle of Man-based Ettyl.

http://m.independent.ie/business/isle-of-mans-ettyl-flies-in-for-stobart-air-40330874.html

[BA318]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cityam.com/sold-esken-sells-stake-in-stobart-air-for-2/amp/

Sold now it seems.

[allan1987]

seems that Stobart Air is going to start repaint their planes this Summer

Im guessing this will be in all white cant see it being painted in new Aer Lingus Livery since contract ends in December 2022

[Alteagod]

Hearing chat it could be a red white and blue paint job....as in going franchise with a major airline.

[BAeuro]

BA? What would they want with Stobart Air!

[OneBellEnd]

Yep - an airline which has just been handed over for £2 to a 26 year old entrepreneur, subject to bank consent.

I’m certain it’s a priority in the current freewheeling circumstances for BA to get Stobart signed up as a key partner and get the Chatham Dockyard all over their ATRs as soon as possible!

[Alteagod]

And start getting a percentage of the takings on the domestic UK market post covid when everyone is staycationing. Not to mention the ability to now be marketed with the backing of an established carrier in the vein of the current EI support. Might be a crazy notion but when did that stop anything in aviation.

[jmdavies86]

Granted he's young and doesn't have much, if any, direct industry experience himself but Ettyl have already been clear in saying that they're proposing to retain all employed staff, so I'm sure that there are plenty of conversations being had with the current management teams of both of Stobart Air & CAX and hopefully he'll act accordingly on whatever they recommend/say.

If the rumour of a potential contract with BA is true, I would imagine that these talks will more than likely have started prior to the takeover being announced.

[Flightrider]

There was a notion that Stobart could somehow help BA to hold onto surplus LGW slots. It’s nothing more than that and is more like wishful thinking by one of the two parties involved.

[SWBKCB]

So what will happen to the BHD routes at the end of the EIR contract? Will they continue to be operated by Emerald or do they stay with Stobart/Ettyl?

[jmdavies86]

As far I understand things, Emerald is an Irish airline and will therefore operate EI-registered aircraft so they will not be able to operate the domestic flights to/from BHD due to Brexit, unless there is some agreement put in place between ROI and the UK that will facilitate this once the current contract comes to an end in December 2022.

Stobart Air/Ettyl use their EI-registered aircraft at the moment because the current contract was awarded pre-Brexit, however they're in the process of applying for and obtaining a UK AOC and have already started the process of putting aircraft onto the G-register (according to Jethro's, an ATR72 is due to become G-CLUR), so perhaps they might end up operating the Aer Lingus Regional flights to/from BHD on behalf of Emerald; who knows?

[DUB19]

The Emerald CEO said back in Nov 2020:

Emerald Airlines was looking forward to these negotiations in [the] coming weeks with a view to concluding a binding contract and progressing our ambitious plan to roll out a set of 15-plus ATR72 Aer Lingus-branded aircraft from Dublin Int'l, Belfast City, Cork, and Shannon.

[oapilot]

Given Jason Scales was always a bit of an Eastern fanboy, wonder if Richard Lake is the real money behind the buyout.

[Alteagod]

And the plot thickens,,,,,,

[milleriom]

oapilot

You could also consider serial entrepreneur Doug Barrowman - who is already involved with Jason Scales through a local 'incubator' project, has deep pockets and lives on the Isle of Man! Just saying............

[Alteagod]

There was a lot of movement at BHD of Stobart aircraft positioning to Dublin earlier today, Is this getting ready for G reg or just BHD wanting to free up stands?

[allan1987]

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/esken-buyer-of-its-stake-in-stobart-air-carlisle-lake-district-airport-seeking-alternate-financing-271622220395?redirect=amp#click=https://t.co/VcvYiuUfn8
Ettyl having financing issues for Stobart Air, looking for funding elsewhere.

[The96er]

Apparently EI regional contract terminated with immediate effect 12th Jun, all flights cancelled. Anybody know what has happened ?

[Alteagod]

Yes the contract terminated and flights cancelled

[The96er]

Sounds like it’s EI that have pulled the plug ? Not good for all concerned.

[Sharklet7]

Believe this was a decision by Esken, following the unsuccessful purchase of Stobart Air by Ettyl Esken were not willing to continue to provide finance to keep the airline operating. This left no other option it appears other than to ground the fleet terminate its contracts and cease operations.

Only time will tell if Emerald will swoop in and purchase the fleet etc and commence for Aer Lingus sooner than originally planned

[Alteagod]

Probably all part of the bigger picture/ idea tbh. I suspect very much a temporary blip rather than total closure.

[ROKNA]

ATR's out of Kerry and Donegal are en route to Dublin.

EI has cancelled all regional flights

[AirportPlanner1]

What happens to people’s cash/bookings? Assume EI still hold it? And where is responsibility for getting people home - most of the public would consider themselves EI customers not Stobart.

Bad news for all concerned

[Dorking]

According to the Irish News, Aer Lingus are contacting those affected to offer refunds or re booking
https://www.irishnews.com/business/businessnews/2021/06/12/news/aer-lingus-regional-flights-cancelled-following-collapse-of-operator-stobart-air-2353250/

[Just a spotter]

Based on the report in The Irish Times, looks like it's the end of the road for the company

All Aer Lingus regional flights operated by Stobart Air have been cancelled after Stobart Air announced it has ceased trading and is in the process of appointing a liquidator.

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/transport-and-tourism/stobart-air-ceases-trading-aer-lingus-regional-flights-cancelled-1.4591913

[davidjohnson6]

Who owns the ATR fleet ? How full were the Stobart operated flights ? How difficult is it for Aer Lingus to find a new franchise supplier to operate these routes until Emerald Air are ready to fulfil their contract bid ?

Would either Eastern or Loganair be interested in a short period of contract flying ? I'm guessing they would want a lot of money given the period of flying may be rather brief

[Albert Hall]

The Stobart Air notice to staff is quite extraordinary. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite so blunt or lacking humanity when telling staff that they’ve effectively lost their jobs.

[Mooncrest]

I was thinking along similar lines. Any UK operator with ATR on their AOC could step up, if they wanted to. There's also Aurigny and Blue Islands.

[Alteagod]

And EI have spare 320 sitting at BHD. Could it not do some such as BHX or MAN

[BA318]

The fleet isn’t owned by Aer Lingus. They are leased from a few different places. Nordic Aviation Capital, Propius (which is connected to Stobart) and GECAS.

Isn’t an EU AOC required for the ROI routes? While a U.K. one is required for the Belfast routes.

There are plenty of carriers able to do either. The question is price and what EI’s plan actually is.

It may be easier to just use an A320 on limited frequencies (say 2-3 weekly rather than per day). Not like the market is booming at the moment.

[davidjohnson6]

An A320 flying 3x weekly seems excessively large for what are largely regional routes. In such a scenario, I think many pax would prefer to travel from a major airport on the desired day (or by land within Ireland) instead of a different day using their local airport

If these routes are to survive, it's with a prop / small jet.... or not at all

[Albert Hall]

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Aer Lingus put an A320 perhaps daily on the big routes like BHD to MAN, BHX and EDI as a stop gap until Emerald is up and running, which I would also expect to be earlier than the original plan. For the rest like LBA, EMA and GLA then it will be over to Loganair, Eastern and others?

[BA318]

davidjohnson6

I’m aware of that but in the short term to fill gaps it might be needed. Some of the routes they were serving were not tiny - Manchester, Birmingham etc and some were served several times a day by ATR72 so one A320 a day could easily cover that sort of number. Plus if Ireland opens up a bit demand may increase given the common travel area is green listed.

The example is after the Flybe collapse BA put a A319 on LHR-NQY which was previously 3/4 Q400 a day.

[Alteagod]

Exactly and if the EI TA from MAN stArts they will wand feed into that

[EI-BUD]

Irish media reporting that BACF will pick up 2 Stobart routes temporarily.... Not sure what that's about...

[BA318]

They will fly Belfast to Exeter and Leeds. Not sure for how long.

[BA318]

“Aer Lingus will operate the Dublin/Edinburgh, Dublin/Manchester, Belfast City/Manchester, Belfast City/Birmingham and Belfast City/Edinburgh routes.

BA City Flyer will operate the Belfast City/Exeter route and the Belfast City/Leeds Bradford route.

Plans for the Dublin/Kerry and Dublin/Donegal Public Service Obligation routes are still being worked out.

Customers due to travel on the Belfast City/East Midlands, Dublin/Glasgow and Dublin/Newquay routes are being offered alternative flights”

https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2021/0612/1227685-stobart-air/

[Skipness One Foxtrot]

Aer Lingus are walking away from DUB-GLA?
Blimey, how times change!

[Jamesair1]

No mention of the DUB - NCL route either....this was due to re-start soon.

[PC767]

Or anything at all from Cork. Hello, we still want travel from down here when we can!
With this announcement and Cork airport deciding that a good time to re-lay the runway is just as aviation starts again, despite it being practically dormant for a year; I worry that the temporary suspension of operations for EI at Cork may become more permanent.

[SWBKCB]

Couple of Atr's positioned to Billund today.

[jmdavies86]

EI-FSK & EI-GEV, according to Jethro's

Would it be Stobart Air crew(s) that would fly these sectors or would the lessor have to find alternative crewing options in order to get the aircraft back?

[nivsy]

Skipness One Foxtrot

Absolutely. .I recall the classic 737s about 4 times daily on DUB-GLA with sometimes the BAC 1.11on the service...with occasional B707. And more recently Airbus 320s on the route. Indeed different times....🤭

[Fly757X]

PC767

The announcement there only covers the routes which are currently operating as of this week as a matter of urgency. This is mainly to cover existing bookings whilst also allowing for some level of repatriation. What happens with the rest of the network will be sorted in due course. I'd imagine the next priority will be to see CFN/KIR back operating and then the group will go from there.

[PPRuNeUser0176]

Skipness One Foxtrot

Don't read to much into it. GLA had a very limited schedule available over the next few weeks. They will be back at GLA over the summer.

[allan1987]

Parent of collapsed Stobart Air trying to place ATR fleet with other operators Irish regional carrier Stobart Air’s parent company, Esken, is attempting to redeploy its ATR turboprop fleet with other operators following the airline’s collapse.

https://www.flightglobal.com/airlines/parent-of-collapsed-stobart-air-trying-to-place-atr-fleet-with-other-operators/144138.article

Esken is seeking to sub-lease their 8 ATR 72-600's with with alternative operator, not sure if an UK Airline would be instrested?

[Fly757X]

No doubt this is aimed at Emerald Airlines or some sort of successor. What happens from here? Who knows but this was somewhat inevitable.

[dc9-32]

Lets see if Emerald pull forward their start date plans !

[sealo0]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/06/18/police-investigate-failed-rescue-stobart-air (££)

Police have launched a formal investigation into a £2 takeover of Stobart Air,

[allan1987]

Stobart Air workers face delays in getting wages promised
Staff who transferred to airline’s Belfast base last year fear for redundancy payments

Stobart Air workers face delays in getting wages promised when the airline folded, while staff who transferred to its Belfast base last year fear for their redundancy payments.

Part of the problem is rooted in the fact that Stobart’s UK and Isle of Man subsidiaries have ceased trading but are not in liquidation.

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/tra ... -1.4603794 (https://www.irishtimes.com/business/transport-and-tourism/stobart-air-workers-face-delays-in-getting-wages-promised-1.4603794)

Seems that the moment pilots,cabin crew at and other workers that work for Stobart Air UK at BHD are at moment temporary laid off