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Post by carvair on Oct 10, 2010 22:11:28 GMT
Published in the Galway News tonight, Stobart is investing 10 million euros in Aer Arann. This could be the launch airline for the new Southend.
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Post by expressflight on Oct 11, 2010 7:25:13 GMT
Indeed, as we all now know, it is the "launch airline for the new Southend". It will be very interesting to see which routes are chosen to commence services, although March next year means that there could be problems with interruptions to navaids next Spring and it seems likely the runway will have to be closed for about two weeks at some point to join and grade the extension to the existing surface. Even more interesting times lay ahead!
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Post by Humberside on Oct 11, 2010 10:04:06 GMT
Fantastic news for SEN, and most probably for the Aer Arann employees too. However I just hope the RE deal doesn't put off competitors looking at SEN too. For example I can't imagine Flybe would be exceptionally happy about the news
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Post by James on Oct 31, 2010 16:30:05 GMT
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Post by James on Nov 2, 2010 3:05:12 GMT
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Post by expressflight on Nov 2, 2010 7:38:54 GMT
Is it just me who finds it rather confusing having two Aer Arann topics going at the same time?
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Post by Humberside on Nov 2, 2010 10:48:02 GMT
With there being a separate Aer Arann forum, my intentaion was that this thread would be used specifically to discuss Aer Arann at SEN rather than general Aer Arann discussion
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Post by expressflight on Nov 3, 2010 18:29:51 GMT
Good news..... The Irish High Court has this afternoon approved, in principle, Aer Arann coming out of Examinership. It is expected that an additional 2.5m Euros of investment will now be forthcoming, thus ensuring the airline's commercial viability for the future.
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Post by carvair on Nov 4, 2010 8:03:38 GMT
According to today's Irish press Aer Arann should exit examinership next Wednesday, now time to look for next year's Southend schedules!
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Post by Serko on Nov 4, 2010 8:25:45 GMT
The company is developing an airport at Southend as a hub for London – in time for the 2012 Olympics. A rail line has been built that will offer journey times of 50 minutes to Liverpool Street tube station. “Southend will allow us to build Aer Arann,” Mr Brogan said. “It’s got huge potential.” Aer Arann will fly to London Southend from Waterford and Galway from next March. “It’s all about Southend for us,” he said of the company’s €2.5 million investment in Aer Arann. www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2010/1104/1224282633814.html
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Post by carvair on Nov 6, 2010 7:46:01 GMT
In yesterday's ABTN Aer Arann/Southend Airport state March 28 2011 to be the start date for scheduled services to Galway and Waterford, with further routes to meet the demand of the business and leisure traveller to be announced.
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Post by expressflight on Nov 6, 2010 8:04:02 GMT
On the assumption that the WAT and GWY schedules will transfer from LTN to SEN next March, I wonder what people's views are on the wisdom of that traffic-wise. Certainly I don't see SEN as an ideal London destination for those routes, partly due to additional flight times but mainly due to the fact that the Southend area doesn't strike me as offering as good a catchment as does North-West London/Beds for the Irish bound market. The fact that the new terminal will not be in service for the first 6 months or so will not help achieve the rapid transit times required. I can see that it is attractive to SEN short term to get those routes, but you can bet that other airlines will be watching to see if the current ex-LTN traffic levels hold up from SEN. It would be something of an own goal if they proved disappointing.
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Post by devonian on Nov 13, 2010 12:05:42 GMT
On the face of it this has the potential for being a big mistake. An article in yesterday's Echo doesn't fill me with confidence either:
Andrew Kelly, Aer Arran's director of corporate affairs, said: “At the moment we are currently in the process of looking at the possible routes we can have and working out what will be best. It is quite exciting to have Southend Airport on board and there is a good opportunity for us to work well with Southend and serve the north London area. We intend to branch out and offer more destinations in the future.”
I can't see that Aer Arann will be able to offer low enough fares to be competitive on the Irish routes. SEN's advantage surely lies with flights to Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany? Local people will be seeking Palma, Alicante, Malaga, Faro, Malta, Prague rather than Ireland (apart from Dublin) won't they....? Poor load factors on the WAT and GWY routes will just provide SAEN and others with ammunition.
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Post by roche on Dec 19, 2010 22:50:03 GMT
A rumour on PPRuNE suggests that Aer Arann will not now move to SEN until June due to 'operational difficulties' at SEN. Wouldn't be a very good start if true and I have no idea if it is true.
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Post by Thames Gateway on Dec 19, 2010 23:12:12 GMT
I wouldn't believe everything that you read on that site - there are a lot of very vested interests posting there from Luton who have had their noses put out by the announcements so far.
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