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Post by markeyd on Jul 26, 2012 16:29:25 GMT
Looks like Southend is entering into the IT market with Thomson Holidays / First Choice operating flights next summer to Palma
Flights are operating on a Tue and Sat throughout the summer using Germania Airlines A319 departing at 0730 return 1330
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Post by Humberside on Jul 26, 2012 22:36:44 GMT
Very good news for SEN to get Thomson on board. I guess it may lead to Germania opening a base to support these charters and the Ford flights?
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Post by expressflight on Jul 27, 2012 7:50:16 GMT
I too wondered if this might mean that Germania will have a SEN-based aircraft next year, otherwise you would expect the PMI service to operate on a w-pattern. It would not be commercially viable to position into SEN from elsewhere specifically to operate the PMI flights.
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Post by Tagron on Jul 27, 2012 10:53:31 GMT
Assuming that Germanair are still flying the Ford contract next year it would seem likely that a Saturday 0730 SEN departure would be sourced from one of the Friday evening Ford inbound flights. Can they sell a whole weekend of charters from SEN so that the aircraft is back in place for the Monday morning Ford departure without further positioning? Potentially it could make good commercial sense if they could achieve this.
This summer of course one of the Friday evening inbound A319s positions to Dublin, operates a total of four rotations from DUB and SNN then returns to SEN for Monday morning.
But on this basis a Tuesday morning departure from SEN looks isolated.
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Post by Tagron on Jul 30, 2012 21:42:35 GMT
If Germania are looking to become a bigger player in the UK charter market this could have interesting implications for SEN. Their A319s are certificated to a higher MTOW and their engines operate at a higher thrust level than easyJet's. This means their payload/range capabilities will be significantly greater.
EasyJet - MTOW 68000kgs, take off thrust 22000lbs Germania MTOW 75000kgs, take off thrust 23500lbs.
One has to be cautious in interpreting data from the manufacturer's website to confirm that published figures reflect the correct variant especially in areas like weights, seating density and power plant. There is also the question of whether the runway characteristics are more limiting than suggested by the basic declared distances.
Leaving aside the latter possibility, 72,200kgs looks the maximum achievable off SEN runway length. This would place all of the Mediterranean and the Canaries within range of SEN, allowing for 150 pax at 100kgs each including baggage.
So potentially a whole new range of charter destinations could be opened up. These are destinations that otherwise could only be served from SEN by a 757, always assuming that regular commercial 757 operations from a Code 3C airport would be approved.
All this is speculation of course. Is there a big enough UK market for Germania and is passenger acceptance of SEN at a high enough level? Would the A319 charter rates be sufficiently attractive compared with 321s and 738s ? Time will tell.
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Post by Humberside on Aug 3, 2012 14:08:25 GMT
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Post by fatmed on Nov 23, 2012 9:51:43 GMT
More choice for Essex sun seekers
Thomson and First Choice are pleased to confirm that their first route from London Southend Airport will go on sale from Friday 23November 2012in store, and online from Tuesday 27th.
Holiday makers will now be able to travel to Palma, Majorca - already a popular destination for Essex’s sun seekers - throughout the summer from their local airport.
Flights start in May 2013 and run through to October.
The move to introduce the route is part of the UK’s largest tour operator’s strategy to ensure customers across the UK can fly from their local airport and stay at the best hotels in Majorca.
Customers living near to London Southend Airport will now have access to some of Thomson and First Choice’s most highly scoring flagship hotels including; Thomson Couple’s Hotel Luabay Galatzo, a peaceful adults only hotel offering stylish accommodation; First Choice’s SplashWorld Majorca, a Travelife Gold awarded hotel with unlimited water park access and, opening in summer 2013 a brand new Holiday Village, also from First Choice, offering swim up rooms and six swimming pools.
Paul Cooper, Airport Negotiations Manager for Thomson and First Choice, said of the move “Increasing our capacity and introducing our first route from LondonSouthend Airport demonstrates our continued commitment to providing convenient flights locally for our customers, and we are confident the destination will prove popular.”
He added “Modernising our operations across the UK is a key part of our overall strategy and this move is definitely a step in the right direction towards creating an enhanced holiday experience for our customers.”
London Southend Airport Managing Director Alastair Welch says “Thomson and First Choice operate very successful connections from regional airports across the country and the announcement that their first flight from London Southend is now on sale showcases the growing popularity of the airport as a gateway for leisure travel.”
I,m not sure if they are still using a chartered Germania as was originally the plan? Good news though, anyone know the frequencies for this ? would this bother EZY ?
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Post by expressflight on Nov 24, 2012 9:12:09 GMT
Thomson Holidays have confirmed they will be offering SEN-PMI holidays for S13, running from May to October. Holidays will be bookable on the website wef Tuesday. It's reported on PPRuNe that the operator will be Volotea with B717s. That looks a good choice as they are powered by the 21,000lb thrust engines which means the aircraft should be able to operate from SEN at MTOW - opening up the possibility of additional, more distant, destinations.
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Post by devonian on Nov 24, 2012 12:35:25 GMT
Why choose Palm when EZY already fly there? Surely Malta or Naples would be better bets.....
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Post by tagron on Dec 1, 2012 5:54:08 GMT
The Thomson/ First Choice SEN-PMI offering is now for sale on their websites. It appears to be just one flight per week by Volotea, on Saturdays, arriving SEN 1000 and departing 1025. With just 125 seats on the B717 it's not exactly a major programme, but hopefully it's a starter for more in subsequent years.
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Post by lordgumboiljnr on Dec 1, 2012 20:59:54 GMT
It is a shame that Thomson have not been sufficiently on the ball to have listed Southend by it's official 'London Southend' title. It therefore follows that the Southend route will miss out on potential passengers. Those in the possible catchment area will be drawn to the fact that the holiday routes operate from three London airports and not a fourth! Southend can only be found grouped in the other airports. In my view, if one were trying to minimise the bookings on this new departure point, that is precisley how one would go about it.
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Post by tagron on Dec 5, 2012 21:16:26 GMT
The Volotea operation on SEN-PMI looks to be unique in that First Choice appear not be using them for any of their other UK-PMI flights. The aircraft rotation is linked with Volotea's scheduled Nantes-Palma service, a w-pattern NTE-PMI-SEN-PMI-NTE.
The drop down menu on the First Choice website appears to offer both Menorca and Majorca as available from SEN, but interrogating the Menorca option only brings up STN departures.
It's not just First Choice who are ignoring the new airport title. There seems to be a mixture among the travel websites of those who have accepted it and those who have not. And the UK IAIP still calls it plain Southend.
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Post by EGMCfollower on Apr 18, 2013 16:34:49 GMT
Some good news today as Thomson/First Choice have today confirmed that Ibiza will be available from SEN as part of their Summer 2014 schedule. Shame its not a new destination, but still good to see more Thomson flights.
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Post by Humberside on Apr 25, 2013 17:06:58 GMT
Ibiza wil be operated by Jetairfly (Belgian TUI airline) on Fridays between 23rd May and 19th September. Jetairfly will also operate two Palma charters each week, on Tuesdays between 27th May and 23rd September, and on Saturdays between 24th May and 20th September. Not sure if Jetairfly will use their Embraer 190's or B737's
I wonder if medium term a based EMB-190 (or B737) could be an option in the Summer. 3/4 Palma's a week, 1/2 Ibiza, a Menorca, maybe something to mainland Spain, possibly Enfidha and Corfu (should just be within range?) a couple of 'lakes and mountains' flights and w patterns to other airports could keep an aircraft busy
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Post by tagron on Apr 25, 2013 21:46:00 GMT
In addition to the PMI and IBZ flights described above, Thomson are advertising a one off Mediterranean fly-cruise via SEN-PMI on 3 May 14 returning a week later. They are also selling ski holidays on EZY via SEN-GVA this winter. This is starting to look like a substantial commitment to SEN. One would like to hope they have been encouraged by good booking levels on this year's PMI operation.
The use of other airlines in the TUI group is an interesting development which gets round the issues in the earlier discussion on the Routes thread. The 737-700 could be a very effective aircraft for SEN operations. The lowest powered version would not be much use, but the 'top of the range' variant would be unrestricted. Does anyone know the engine thrust rating of the Jetairfly aircraft ?
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