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Post by Thames Gateway on Nov 5, 2012 12:08:06 GMT
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Post by tagron on Dec 4, 2012 8:53:14 GMT
A news report in the Irish Times of Nov 26 seems not to have attracted the amount of comment that might have been expected from SEN followers. Here are some extracts.
In a statement issued to The Irish Times yesterday, Aer Arann said: “In line with legal requirements, Aer Arann has made a submission to the Competition Authority to facilitate a potential restructure of the airline. The company is advancing plans to conclude an agreement whereby the Stobart Group will increase its stake in the airline to 45 per cent and to allow additional fresh investment.”
It is understood that this will also involve another investor coming on board with Aer Arann.
The identity of the investor is not clear but it is thought to have an existing connection with Stobart, which became a significant shareholder in the Irish airline when it exited examinership in 2010.
A number of senior appointments have also been made at Aer Arann by Stobart of late.
This raises the question of Stobart’s rationale in making such a substantial increase in their holding in Aer Arann. Is it:
(1) Notwithstanding the previous Aer Arann decision to concentrate on the Aer Lingus franchise routes rather than a new European network based on SEN, Stobart still see Aer Arann has a suitable vehicle for developing the SEN operation (and of course CAX) ? (2) Stobart view Aer Arann as an underpriced opportunity with significant recovery potential ,and a worthwhile investment in its own right even without any read across to SEN and CAX ?
The order for new ATR72s is now reported to be ten aircraft, not eight.
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Post by devonian on Dec 4, 2012 9:12:00 GMT
Yes, I'd wondered about the wisdom of this. It only makes sense to me if it's Tagron's first option. But what do I know...?
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Post by expressflight on Feb 10, 2013 8:45:50 GMT
The SEN-DUB service will become DUB-SEN from 1st April. The flights will then arrive SEN at 0850, 1445 & 1905, with departures at 0915, 1510 & 1930. This obviously gives better arrival times SEN for the inbound traffic, but makes a day return to DUB much less attractive.
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Post by Thames Gateway on Feb 12, 2013 19:32:24 GMT
And here is the news release on the story: www.brera-london.com/aer-lingus-regional-revises-dublin-schedule-to-make-things-simply-easier-for-passengers/AER LINGUS REGIONAL REVISES DUBLIN SCHEDULE TO MAKE THINGS SIMPLY EASIER FOR PASSENGERS Posted on February 12, 2013 by Tracy Aer Lingus Regional, operated by Aer Arann, is revising the times of flights on its popular three times daily London Southend Airport to Dublin route in order to improve convenience for customers. From 31 March 2013 Aer Lingus will fly from Dublin to London Southend first thing in the morning, instead of vice versa – this will mean departures from London Southend to Dublin will be at 9.15am, 3.15pm and 7.30pm, with flights departing Dublin for London Southend at 7.15am, 1.15pm and 5.30pm. This new timetable will mean an earlier arrival in Southend for people travelling to the UK – and London in particular – on business. For citybreakers off to Dublin it means a more relaxed 9.15am departure, rather than the current 6.45am early take off. This first outbound flight to Dublin will now also work more efficiently with the rail timetable. People travelling to and from New York, Boston, Chicago and Orlando, via Dublin, will also experience improved, smoother connectivity. They will also still benefit from the US immigration pre-clearance facilities Dublin Airport has to offer, therefore arriving into the States as domestic passengers avoiding those long queues for the department of Homeland Security. As demand varies regularly – the forthcoming RBS Six Nations rugby match between England and Ireland (10 February, at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin) being an ideal example – larger planes can also be brought into service to give greater flexibility and more capacity when required. London Southend Airport Managing Director Alastair Welch says “Whilst the existing route is both very efficient and highly popular, we and our partners Aer Lingus Regional are always looking to see if there are ways routes can be improved for the benefit of our customers. Our joint review revealed that by simply changing the starting direction of the aircraft we can create a number of improvements for our passengers. This move offers a longer business day for Irish customers travelling to London, a more relaxed departure time for people flying to Dublin from London Southend, and better connections for passengers going on to the USA. Aer Lingus can also introduce more flexibility with the size of aircraft used providing larger aircraft on popular flights.” Chief Commerical Officer Aer Arran, Simon Fagan, says “We at Aer Lingus Regional are continually reviewing operations to provide the best service possible to passengers at Southend airport. With the improved schedule, London based passengers can now catch the train from Central London to make our morning flight and also connect to the US, availing of pre-clearance in Dublin to save time at their US destination. City breakers can enjoy a leisurely trip to Dublin with a later check- in and get more out of their weekend. The schedule now allows Irish based travellers spend a full business day in London and make it into London in under 50 minutes in the morning. We are confident that the improvements in flight times will be a great success and further supply our passengers’ needs.”
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Post by tagron on Apr 5, 2013 12:07:45 GMT
www.businessandleadership.com/business/item/40424-new-aer-lingus-regionalThis article confirms the entry into service date of the new ATR72-600s as late April . It implies that the whole order will be delivered "over the coming weeks" though a previous report of a few weeks ago suggested they would arrive over the course of the year. Like that previous report this article concentrates on the increase in capacity on the trunk routes from Dublin, though SEN gets a mention in the context of the rescheduling of the DUB service. The previous report (I can't find the link now) also said that Aer Arann were "advancing plans" for new routes out of SEN. Presumably they will have the option of retaining some of the existing ATRs for this purpose. Somehow one cannot see them using a brand new -600 for CAX-SEN, if it ever happens .
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Post by expressflight on May 10, 2013 9:04:42 GMT
The first of Aer Arann's new ATR72-600s, delivered last week, operated this morning's DUB service into SEN. I believe it was greeted by the traditional water cannon salute and carried a number of airline executives. No doubt some publicity material will be forthcoming to mark the event.
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Post by EGMCfollower on May 10, 2013 17:29:57 GMT
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Post by Thames Gateway on Jul 13, 2013 7:24:10 GMT
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Post by EGMCfollower on Aug 29, 2013 23:06:34 GMT
From October 2013 DUB-SEN will be operated by a new ATR72-600 to boost capacity and meet their aims of growing passenger numbers on the route by 20%. Therefore, does this mean that they won't be adding a 4th daily rotation?
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Post by expressflight on Aug 30, 2013 8:06:27 GMT
tws123 - do you have an official source for that? I know that loads on the AT42 have been maxing out recently at times so it looks to me as if they are just scheduling the AT72 (not sure they will actually necessarily be -600s) on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in order to ensure sufficient capacity. I don't think this has any bearing on their plans for a 4th daily service. Having said that, four daily AT72s would take some filling if that ever comes to pass.
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Post by EGMCfollower on Aug 30, 2013 8:38:20 GMT
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Post by Humberside on Oct 26, 2013 9:55:30 GMT
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Post by expressflight on Oct 26, 2013 10:18:27 GMT
As Humberside points out the Stobart report says that Aer Arann are "considering" replicating their successful Aer Lingus Regional model at SEN for European routes commencing next Spring. The Irish Independent article interprets that as meaning that they are "planning" to do so and that's where they are slightly overstating things.
I'm sure that there are a number of factors that will dictate the outcome of their deliberations, including the fuel price outlook, UK and mainland Europe economic recovery prospects and the exact profile of their fleet by Spring 2014. At present they are offering four ATR42s for lease so I assume these are currently seen as surplus to current requirements, but some or all of these could alternatively form the basis of the SEN-Europe fleet. My guess is that they will make a decision one way or the other by the end of November in order to allow a decent marketing period for any new routes.
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Post by tagron on Dec 6, 2013 10:51:22 GMT
According to the Aer Lingus Regional Summer14 schedule the DUB-SEN route will continue at three per day, all ATR42s, with only small changes to timings. The ATR72 which is shown on the winter schedule as operating the afternoon flight no longer appears after the end of March. As yet there is no sign of a fourth DUB-SEN rotation.
The ATR42s also are shown as operating from DUB to Isle of Man, Blackpool, Bournemouth Bristol Kerry and Cardiff . If this is an accurate representation of the operational plan it would seem the programme requires at least three aircraft out of a fleet of four ATR42s. That does not leave much for a putative European operation from SEN, certainly nothing like the 300,000 pax per annum projected in Stobarts annual report.
No doubt plans can still change, for example ATR72s would continue to appear at SEN on a tactical substitution basis. As to whether there is any real possibility of a larger RE presence at SEN the ongoing lack of any positive announcement is not encouraging.
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