Air Southwest

[Charlie Fox]

Airline secures London routes
A new airline has been lined up to take over the Plymouth-Newquay-Gatwick service when British Airways abandons the routes in October.
The development comes just as anxiety was growing that no successor had yet been identified.

It follows months of negotiations between BA and the company that runs Plymouth Airport, Sutton Harbour Holdings.

Air Southwest will operate the present schedule of four flights daily from 26 October, and it is expected that its fares will be lower than BA's.

The news follows a deal between Sutton and BA to take over the Gatwick landing slots.

Continental hopes


The £1.25m cost of getting the airline started, including the lease of two Dash 8 turboprop planes, started has been funded from Sutton Harbour's reserves.

Air Southwest will be run by Malcolm Naylor, former managing director of Brymon Airways, which used to operate the service and eventually became part of BA.

Head office and main operations base will be at Plymouth and, as a consequence, costs will be significantly lower than those of British Airways CitiExpress, Sutton said.

Routes to continental cities such as Paris and Amsterdam are being considered.

A spokesman said: "We have also conducted extensive research into potential additional routes and it is hoped that these will be added in future."

Some redundancies are expected among BA staff which employs about 70 at Plymouth and Newquay. Air Southwest is planning to launch with a team of 50.


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/devon/3092103.stm

Published: 2003/07/24 07:33:58 GMT

© BBC MMIII

See also :-
http://www.sutton-harbour.co.uk/

[Hulk Hogan]

I cannot see this airline getting off the ground by october nor can I see a paper airline being given the landing slots for LGW.

Still good luck to Air Southwest.

[GROUNDHOG]

I can. You will find Hulk that this 'new' carrier is on its third or fourth announcement but there is little doubt a deal has been done on slots and aircraft with BA. Let's hope they become the new Brymon and a solid carrier for us here in the South West.

Good luck Air Southwest.

[hostie]

Groundhog
"there is little doubt a deal has been done on slots and aircraft with BA."

You will see from various press statements that BA are not involved in the aircraft side of this deal
The a/c were operated by BA CitiExpress previously, but have been released back to the lessors and this is where ASW have got them from.

They will begin taking bookings from Sept 1st.

Their website will be airsouthwest.com, although this is still currently under construction, but info (and a look at the logo) can be found at Sutton Harbour's website as 'linked' by Charlie Fox.

Hopefully the skills and knowledge of the ex-Brymon people involved will turn this into an airline that the South West can be proud of.
Let's hope so. :ok:

[Charlie Fox]

BOSSES FLYING HIGH AS BA DEAL AGREED

STUART ABEL

12:00 - 25 July 2003

Bosses who saved Plymouth's vital air services to London today insisted they could compete with other airports - and were ready to launch new services. City company Sutton Harbour Holdings yesterday announced that its airline subsidiary Air Southwest had bought landing slots at Gatwick from British Airways.

BA subsidiary BA CitiExpress announced in May that it was pulling out of the Newquay-to-Plymouth-to-Gatwick route in October.

Now Air Southwest will take over the four daily return flights from October 26 with no interruption in service. It will run two Dash 8 aircraft.

The deal should secure an estimated 1,500 jobs and millions of pounds for the local economy.

Business and political leaders today rallied around to welcome the preservation of the air link.

And bullish Sutton Harbour bosses said that they were ready to launch new routes for leisure passengers. The Gatwick link is mainly used by business travellers.

Their ambitions come in the face of competition with Exeter Airport, which is predicting increasing its number of passengers from 345,000 to two million over the next 25 years.

Owners at Devon County Council are looking for a private investor to help build a new terminal. And FlyBe has recently announced six new routes from Exeter in 2004.

But Air Southwest managing director Malcolm Naylor said: "It won't be long before we are announcing additional destinations over and above London Gatwick to service the market down here. Any new terminal at Exeter does not concern us. It may be one thing to build a terminal, but it is another to fill it."

Sutton Harbour Holdings managing director Duncan Godefroy said: "We are a South West company, the only one in Plymouth listed on the Stock Exchange.

"We are interested in the future of the region. This is where our money is, this is where our support is.

"It is now up to the people of Devon and Cornwall to make it a great success and secure the long-term future of these routes. We need to make sure we continue to provide a first class service."

Mr Godefroy and Mr Naylor would not reveal at a press conference yesterday which new destinations they were considering.

But one independent expert said that possible destinations included Paris, the Channel Islands and Scotland.

Neil Stuart, aviation specialist with Plymouth solicitors Bond Pearce, said: "I am absolutely delighted. It is a relief for everyone.

"There is no question that they will be a success. There is a pretty unusual situation that you have an airport operator within the same group as an airline. That brings about certain economies.

"In Malcolm Naylor they have someone who turned around Kenyan Airlines and turned it into one of the world's best aviation flotations."

Mr Naylor is the former boss of BA subsidiary Brymon which ran the Plymouth-to-Gatwick service.

Mr Stuart said that the deal secured the future of Plymouth City Airport in the medium term.

But he said that Sutton Harbour's plan to build a £150 million airport at Sherford off the A38 east of Plymouth was a 'dead duck'.

Mr Stuart said: "I don't think it will happen. Why would anyone build an airport on a green field when just over half an hour away at Exeter there is an existing airport?"

He said that Air Southwest would face stiff competition for the leisure trade from Ryanair flying from Newquay to London, but added that there was enough of a tourist trade to survive.

At yesterday's press conference Mr Godefroy brushed off talk of the new airport. He said: "We are here to talk about Air Southwest. We are not here to talk about Sherford. That is still ongoing and we will not know the long-term future until the Government unveils its aviation White Paper later in the year."

It is understood that British Airways awarded the slots to Sutton Harbour even though they could have made more money by selling them to a large airline which could run more profitable holiday flights. Sutton Harbour said details of the deal were confidential.

Bryan Field, BA CitiExpress general manager (customer services), said: "The purpose of the exercise was to maintain the vital air links to the South West as long as it was commercially acceptable. We wanted to find someone who was interested in the longer-term future rather than just the short term.

"We had to take a balanced view between the commercial benefits to us and the political benefits to our reputation. This decision went to the highest level of BA and we believed this was the best deal."

He said that there were about five parties who came forward to take over the Plymouth-to-Gatwick route. Mr Field said that the long relationship BA had forged with Sutton Harbour as airport operators helped seal the deal.

He added that staff would be pleased that the uncertainty over the future had been removed. They will have to be interviewed by Air Southwest but many are expected to be re-appointed.

Airport owners Plymouth City Council, which leases the site to Sutton Harbour, were overjoyed at the deal.

Council leader Cllr Tudor Evans said: "This is tremendous news for the city and preserves our links to London and the rest of the world. It's a clear signal to inward investors that Plymouth is very much open for business and it's a huge weight removed at a stroke.

"We congratulate Sutton Harbour on securing not only the routes but the slots as well, and it's business as usual. I'm absolutely delighted."

The South West Regional Development Agency, which is helping finance the airport's runway re-alignment, today welcomed the deal.

Chief executive Geoffrey Wilkinson said: "Fast and effective transport links are crucial to the competitiveness of the region, and the air services from Newquay and Plymouth into Gatwick are no exception."

The Devon and Cornwall business community breathed a huge sigh of relief at the preservation of the service which it says is crucial. For example, up to 150 staff and customers of Imerys, the china clay company which is the biggest private employer in Cornwall, fly from Newquay and Plymouth into Gatwick.

Andy Gough, chairman of the transport and communications group of Plymouth Chamber of Commerce, said: "This is excellent news. These services are also essential to the viability of Plymouth City Airport, and losing them would have put a serious question mark over its future."

Tim Smit, chief executive of the Eden Project said: "I'm delighted that the South West has champions that put themselves out on a limb to save something so vital for the future of our region.

"Charkie Fox can you do a summary, make a point or provide a link..so we dont have to read laboriously long pieces of cut and past,
thanks
H

[withington]

Air SouthWest is indeed taking over the route in October, and will be using seconded Pilots from BACX until March 27 2004, by which Malcolm Naylor should be fully crewed.

My advise to those who are keen to fly for Air SouthWest:

Don't rush in. Better terms and conditions can be negotiated if you are willing.

The present terms may seem reasonable, but there is no Flight Duty Pay, no disruption pay, aweful pension scheme and poor annual increments.

So if you are willing to rush in and work long hours for no reward.....carry on!

[GROUNDHOG]

Hostie -Thanks for the correction re the aircraft.

It is really very good news for the South West and hopefully more will follow. Skybus have already launced new routes to Southampton and Bristol from Newquay and I suspect others will follow soon.

More power to Ryanair as well for adding extra sectors, seems to be paying off.

[agcat]

Does anyone know when/if Air Southwest are recruiting Ops/Ground staff for their October startup???

Agcat:ok:

[Charlie Fox]

Sutton Harbour Holdings have advertised locally (Plymouth) for ground staff. Contact them for details.

http://www.suttonharbour.co.uk/