Post by expressflight on Dec 28, 2012 10:38:11 GMT
As previously at this time of year here are my thoughts for the coming year at SEN.
2012 lived up to expectations and saw SEN return to having a substantial scheduled network thanks to the results of the huge investment by Stobarts and the faith shown by easyJet in basing three aircraft here. The only major, and unexpected, disappointment was the failure of the Olympics to produce any additional aircraft movements. The traffic just didn't materialise generally on the scale that had been expected by the UK authorities, although some of SEN's scheduled routes benfitted from increased passenger numbers. The short lived OLT Express Germany Dresden and Saarbrucken routes demonstrated SEN's appeal as a London airport and this was boosted by IATA giving SEN official London status. The Ford Istanbul and Cologne flights operated by Jet2/Germania ceased after a relatively short time during 2012, but Germania did operate a passenger charter from Erfurt to SEN which was good to see.
Spring and Summer 2013 will see the introduction of Venice, Berlin and Krakov by easyJet, plus a short season Newquay service. Additional Majorca, Alicante and Barcelona services will be operated, reflecting the dropping of these last two destinations from Stansted. A fourth A319 will be added to the SEN base to provide the necessary capacity. Aer Lingus Regional will drop their Waterford to UK services in early January. OLT Express Germany had planned to restart their SEN routes in March but this now seems to have been abandoned and Cityjet will operate London City to Dresden instead.
Can any additional routes and/or airlines be expected at SEN in the coming year?
EasyJet might be expected to add a route or two to provide full utilisation of a four aircraft fleet and it seems likely that all the existing routes will be maintained, although Belfast is not performing well and must be a candidate for at least modification.
Thomson Holidays are marketing a weekly Majorca flight operated by Volotea with B717 equipment but it is disappointing that Newmarket Holidays' planned programme has not come to fruition, with currently just one excursion to Holland using easyJet being in their programme.
The passenger numbers on the Aer Lingus Regional Dublin service don't seem to warrant a three times daily service and already the midday service is sometimes cancelled, so changes might be expected there perhaps. Of note is that Stobarts are currently in the process of increasing their shareholding in Aer Arann and may end up with a majority stake. It will be interesting to see if this results in any increase in their operations at SEN.
JOIN Regional Airlines remains the joker in the pack. I see that at this time last year I was saying exactly what I am going to say now - that positive news is due within a week or so! This time that is certainly true, although SEN is not likely to benefit immediately and when their base is revealed you will see why, it being some 1,000km away, although I hope to attend a meeting with them at SEN in January so something may result from that. Other than JOIN (not the name they will be using by the way) it's difficult to see other potential new operators, although perhaps bmi Regional is a faint possibility.
Easyjet are obviously going to monopolise any new route opportunities in the LoCo market, and I cannot see anyone complaining at that, so it's only perhaps the thinner, niche routes which might be available to SEN in 2013. In the current difficult economic situation it's hard to see there being much on the horizon there.
Jonny Rayner, Head of Marketing at SEN, leaves his post in March so a new person will need to get to grips with the job and it will be interesting to see the background of the new appointee in due course.
I wonder if 2013 will see SEN achieve I million passengers? It should do and perhaps that landmark, if achieved, will also show that SEN has really re-established itself as a genuine London airport. The terminal extension now underway should provide much needed additional arrivals space by the Summer. The lack of early morning/late evening London trains remains a drawback and there doesn't seem much prospect of an improvement there so SEN remains at a disadvantage to all other London airports through its lack of public transport access at some times of the day. The relatively modest passenger throughput probably rules out any regular coach services to London and elsewhere (other than the current Stansted X30 coach link) in the immediate future.
2012 lived up to expectations and saw SEN return to having a substantial scheduled network thanks to the results of the huge investment by Stobarts and the faith shown by easyJet in basing three aircraft here. The only major, and unexpected, disappointment was the failure of the Olympics to produce any additional aircraft movements. The traffic just didn't materialise generally on the scale that had been expected by the UK authorities, although some of SEN's scheduled routes benfitted from increased passenger numbers. The short lived OLT Express Germany Dresden and Saarbrucken routes demonstrated SEN's appeal as a London airport and this was boosted by IATA giving SEN official London status. The Ford Istanbul and Cologne flights operated by Jet2/Germania ceased after a relatively short time during 2012, but Germania did operate a passenger charter from Erfurt to SEN which was good to see.
Spring and Summer 2013 will see the introduction of Venice, Berlin and Krakov by easyJet, plus a short season Newquay service. Additional Majorca, Alicante and Barcelona services will be operated, reflecting the dropping of these last two destinations from Stansted. A fourth A319 will be added to the SEN base to provide the necessary capacity. Aer Lingus Regional will drop their Waterford to UK services in early January. OLT Express Germany had planned to restart their SEN routes in March but this now seems to have been abandoned and Cityjet will operate London City to Dresden instead.
Can any additional routes and/or airlines be expected at SEN in the coming year?
EasyJet might be expected to add a route or two to provide full utilisation of a four aircraft fleet and it seems likely that all the existing routes will be maintained, although Belfast is not performing well and must be a candidate for at least modification.
Thomson Holidays are marketing a weekly Majorca flight operated by Volotea with B717 equipment but it is disappointing that Newmarket Holidays' planned programme has not come to fruition, with currently just one excursion to Holland using easyJet being in their programme.
The passenger numbers on the Aer Lingus Regional Dublin service don't seem to warrant a three times daily service and already the midday service is sometimes cancelled, so changes might be expected there perhaps. Of note is that Stobarts are currently in the process of increasing their shareholding in Aer Arann and may end up with a majority stake. It will be interesting to see if this results in any increase in their operations at SEN.
JOIN Regional Airlines remains the joker in the pack. I see that at this time last year I was saying exactly what I am going to say now - that positive news is due within a week or so! This time that is certainly true, although SEN is not likely to benefit immediately and when their base is revealed you will see why, it being some 1,000km away, although I hope to attend a meeting with them at SEN in January so something may result from that. Other than JOIN (not the name they will be using by the way) it's difficult to see other potential new operators, although perhaps bmi Regional is a faint possibility.
Easyjet are obviously going to monopolise any new route opportunities in the LoCo market, and I cannot see anyone complaining at that, so it's only perhaps the thinner, niche routes which might be available to SEN in 2013. In the current difficult economic situation it's hard to see there being much on the horizon there.
Jonny Rayner, Head of Marketing at SEN, leaves his post in March so a new person will need to get to grips with the job and it will be interesting to see the background of the new appointee in due course.
I wonder if 2013 will see SEN achieve I million passengers? It should do and perhaps that landmark, if achieved, will also show that SEN has really re-established itself as a genuine London airport. The terminal extension now underway should provide much needed additional arrivals space by the Summer. The lack of early morning/late evening London trains remains a drawback and there doesn't seem much prospect of an improvement there so SEN remains at a disadvantage to all other London airports through its lack of public transport access at some times of the day. The relatively modest passenger throughput probably rules out any regular coach services to London and elsewhere (other than the current Stansted X30 coach link) in the immediate future.
