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Post by devonian on Jun 7, 2011 19:46:27 GMT
The ATR is quite long legged, isn't it? It's only 550 miles to Copenhagen from SEN and the fully loaded range of an ATR42 is quoted as 966 miles. But Antwerp would be a fine destination, I agree. Geneva is quite close - 455 miles.
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Post by devonian on Jun 15, 2011 19:07:11 GMT
Thanks to Sawtooth on another forum:
Aer Arann CAA stats for May: (April in brackets)
WAT - SEN 2742 (2252) WAT - LTN 674 (813) -86% down 4250 on 2010, net loss of 1508 to London WAT - BHX 1220 (1125) -9% WAT - MAN 1166 (1194) -22%
GWY - SEN 2400 (3036) GWY - LTN 1584 (1226) -75% down 4682 on 2010, net loss of 2282 to London GWY - EDI 1110 (1242) -31% GWY - MAN 2003 (2010) -19%
Let's get the terminal, the rail station and the EZY connections in place..........
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Post by aurigny72 on Jul 1, 2011 7:58:42 GMT
Any idea yet when Aer Arann are due to announce details of new based services from SEN?
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Post by expressflight on Jul 1, 2011 14:49:38 GMT
The final meetings with the selected destination airports haven't all taken place yet, so I should think we're probably a month or so away from any official announcement.
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Post by expressflight on Jul 5, 2011 15:29:34 GMT
It's quite interesting to see that for Winter 2011/12, wef 30/10/11, the twice-daily GWY-SEN flights revert to being direct except for Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday, when they will route via WAT. At the same time the GWY-LTN reverts to 4 x weekly, all routing via WAT. Currently there are 4 x weekly GWY-LTN and WAT-LTN direct flights. Does this simply reflect Aer Arann's view that the new terminal and rail station combination will finally establish SEN's superiority over LTN, as had originally been hoped for back in March?
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Post by mvementman on Jul 20, 2011 9:58:09 GMT
Aer Arann will not be adding new routes until next spring.
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Post by expressflight on Jul 21, 2011 6:25:23 GMT
That would seem to be a sensible decision for a number of reasons.
The runway extension work is bound to result in the ILS being withdrawn at times - possibly even for the whole duration of the works perhaps. The potential for major disruption to schedules due to low cloud or fog would be considerable during the autumn/winter period. Not the ideal start to a network of new routes.
Aer Arann will obviously need from the start to be able to offer the speed and convenience that the new terminal/train station will provide. There may be some concern that the terminal opening could be delayed beyond the planned date in October.
The UK economy is still very fragile and opening a new route network for the winter season would be a brave move in that situation. Far better to launch them in March after a sustained period of marketing and ticket sales over the winter period.
Perhaps we shall see the routes themselves announced and on sale by early October.
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Post by expressflight on Aug 17, 2011 7:08:47 GMT
The CAA provisional figures for July show that pax numbers on the WAT & GWY routes are up by about 10% on June, although that would appear to represent a load factor overall of only around 68%. With the Monday morning flights being GWY-SEN-GWY direct and the others all routing via WAT, load factors for each sector cannot be calculated but it appears that the average load per sector overall is 15 pax from/to GWY and 24 pax from/to WAT. The average seats available on each flight (using the split between ATR-43 & 72 as used on various days) seems to be 57 seats.
I expect I'm boring you by now and really should get out more!
One other point, I wonder what the pax numbers are on the resulting double daily (except Mondays) GWY-WAT-GWY route. A day return GWY-WAT-GWY costs around 60 Euros all inclusive, while the road journey takes about 3hr15min.
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Post by expressflight on Oct 7, 2011 7:50:43 GMT
Aer Arann will not be proceeding with their SEN expansion plans.
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Post by devonian on Oct 7, 2011 9:30:10 GMT
That's disappointing. I wonder why? Have they served their purpose in returning daily schedules to SEN, thus helping to attract easyJet? Did they jump the gun before SEN was really ready? I visited Southend a couple of days ago and went to the airport for the first time for many months. I was impressed by the progress being made and enjoyed a cup of coffee at Cafe Stobart - which incidentally was full of people of a certain age, plus a couple of mothers with babies. However, I did muse over what passengers from the Aer Arann flights might think of the airport. The terminal is clearly ageing and scarcely fit for purpose, and the whole area is one giant building site with full-size yellow tonka toys and men in hard hats, steel fences, piles of earth, and all the aircraft pushed westwards so that there are none to be seen from the windows of the terminal. The gents toilet was rather unpleasant - and lacked paper in the WC. Fortunately I spotted that in time! But it must give a dreadful impression to passengers and visitors alike. Enough of that. I'm sure that SEN with its shiny new terminal and extended runway will attract more services next year.
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Post by lordgumboiljnr on Oct 7, 2011 10:51:30 GMT
This is so disappointing, one wonders what the future is for them now. Their passengers have been very forbearing considering the number of flight delays which have not all been down to the airline, but many appear to have been. The future of Galway Airport being questionable cannot help and also the fact that passengers could not use the new airport railway station at London Southend until recently will have had a negative effect. Had services not commenced until all new facilities were up and running, then prospects for expansion at Southend could possibly have been 'Greener'.
Aer Arann are very pleasant to fly with, but maybe they have not shown the efficiency that Stobart-Air are looking for when it comes to operating new routes. There is also the question of a Carlisle connection which presumably they were lined up for, although dependant on the local authority granting certain approvals.
As for the gents. toilets in the old terminal, whilst better than they were, they still leave a lot to be desired, primarily in the routine maintenance/ inspection dept. where somebody never has been sufficiently attentive! The new temporary toilets in the departure lounge are vastly superior.
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Post by roche on Oct 7, 2011 12:07:47 GMT
Not good news. So given that Stobart signed a 5 year deal with them, will they continue with the Waterford route or are they pulling out of SEN altogether? I wonder if this decision is based on the disappointing passenger numbers on the Waterford/Galway route or whether Aer Arran are just not financially strong enough to implement an expansion plan at the moment.
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Post by expressflight on Oct 7, 2011 16:17:03 GMT
There's only a certain amount that I can say regarding RE specifically, but the financial commitment needed to open a new base serving multiple destinations is much greater than concentrating the funding where less risk is involved. That would apply to any airline in the current economic climate and RE are no exception to that rule. The routes in question were seen as viable, and still are, and as 'add ons' to an established base would not have put excessive strain on finances. The establishment of a new base is a different matter though. Roche's last comment perhaps sums it up. I continue to wish RE well and, as they say, "never say never" as far as an RE based presence at SEN is concerned for the future.
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Post by EGMC on Oct 7, 2011 19:09:08 GMT
On a more positive note, it appears that wef of the winter timetable the Waterford and Galway flights will be back to the original schedule with direct flights to Galway both morning and evening 4 days a week. Why they would chose to increase for the winter timetable is beyond me, especially since the new terminal won't be open is surprising but the original schedule is better suited to business travellers. Maybe they’ve yet to update the booking engine. Fewer flights next year will provide a better customer experience in the new terminal. I would have thought 3 easyJet departures within an hour would make it busy enough.
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Post by expressflight on Oct 8, 2011 6:43:52 GMT
It will be interesting to see to whom the proposed destination airports turn now in place of RE. I still don't know which these are other than CFR but I understood it to be 4 or 5 in total.
CFR has a meeting with another airline next week and an early decision will be hoped for there. Perhaps the other airports also had back up plans, since the possibility of RE dropping out has been on the cards for a couple of months.
It's a pity that JOIN seems to be having such difficulty obtaining sufficient funding, although hardly surprising in the current economic climate. It must be very frustrating for them to have a number of airports now eager to welcome them with open arms while being unable to take up the opportunities.
One would have thought that Stobart/SEN would also have a fall back position on this, but perhaps easyJet has taken such centre stage that all else has been slightly neglected.
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