Manston dragging its heels over night flights

No haste = no need

OK, let's just make sure we've got this straight...

The night flights that Manston is hankering after have been portrayed as essential, crucial, make-or-break. Without them, so we are told, the airport won't be able to deliver on its fairytale Master Plan.

I find this VERY hard to square with (a) any facts in the real world, and (b) the airport's conduct over the last year. If night flights really did matter so much, why would they spend a YEAR dragging their heels?

Sep 2010: Manston submits its night flying proposal, backed up by the report it commissioned from Bickerdike Allen. A shambolic public meeting at Chatham House demonstrates the unpopularity of night flights, and makes Bill Hayton a household name for all the wrong reasons.

Oct 2010: Ramsgate Town Council has its own mini-consultation and rejects night flights.

Nov 2010: TDC get a technical review report from consultancy Bureau Veritas on the airport's proposals, which concludes that the costs outweigh the benefits. TDC cancels the public consultation on the day it was supposed to start, stating that Manston's proposals were too unclear and lacked economic justification.

May 2011: Local elections. Part 1 of the York Aviation report, commissioned by the airport, supposedly providing economic justifications for night flights is published.

Jun 2011: EasyJet snuggle up to Southend airport and launch a range of European services. Southend doesn't have night flights.

Aug 2011: Part 2 of the York Aviation report, commissioned by the airport, supposedly providing economic justifications for night flights, is leaked to the press and (presumably) given to TDC. No sign of it in public yet. Charles Buchanan appears on TV, predicting a night flight application "next month".

Sep 2011: It is next month. There is no application, yet. There is a meeting of the Airport Working Party on Wed 28th Sept. Surely, Manston isn't planning to release its next night flight application after the AWP meets? That could easily be seen as a crass attempt to exploit the Council's timetable.

Increasing interest in Southend Airport

It seems that Stobart Group (owners of Southend Airport) are now starting to reap the benefits of their substantial investment in the airport. Unlike Infratil (owners of Manston Airport) they invested their own money, rather than seeking public subsidies.

While Infratil scrimped on monitoring equipment, and belatedly installed new radar only when co-funded by Vattenfall (the windfarm people), Stobart Group put their money where their mouth is and forked out for a new control tower, railway station, etc to the tune of £60m.

The upshot is that they have managed to snatch easyJet from Manston's jaws, and this may be a tipping point for both airports. Southend is now attracting interest from a wider range of operators - these two appear to be "virtual operators" that act as a re-badging/marketing umbrella for a number of other operators.

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Two new airlines could be on their way to Southend Airport, hot on the heels of easyJet. The Echo can reveal continental firms Join Airlines and ViaTriskel, which are yet to start operating, have ambitious plans to fly from Southend to a number of European destinations in France, Holland and Germany.

Starting this autumn, Dutch airline Join wants to travel from Southend to Manchester, Amsterdam, Cologne/Bonn in Germany, Caen in France and Gronningen in northern Holland, which all have connections further afield. Join will use two turbo-prop planes, with 50 and 76 seats, and one jet with 108 seats. It will lease planes and crew from fellow Dutch-based airline Denim Air. Join project director, Bernard Jacobs, said:

“We are considering London Southend Airport as an important hub for Join to develop. The market focus will be more on business-related regional traffic. We hope to be able to start first operations this autumn. The announcement of easyJet starting operations at Southend as well is good news for all of us. It helps very much in creating awareness of Southend Airport as an ideal alternative to London’s airports.”

The second airline to express an interest is ViaTriskel, based in central France. ViaTriskel will initially operate from Chateauroux in central France and Waterford, Ireland, before looking to move to Southend as its third base. A route map shows nine destinations from Southend to Amsterdam, Cologne, Alsace, Chateauroux, Caen, Devon and Cornwall, Waterford, Dublin and Liverpool. ViaTriskel plans to offer a twice-weekly service to most destinations from each of its bases and will use medium-sized turboprop planes, with room for 46 passengers.

Alastair Welch, the airport’s managing director, said more announcements of flights from Southend were due. He added:

“We talk to airlines and potential airline start-up organisations very often. Most of these conversations and enquiries bear no fruit and it would be wrong to speculate on any possible future routes. But I can say the announcement about easyJet won’t be the last announcement of new routes from the airport in the run-up to the Olympics.”

The three confirmed easyJet destinations are Ibiza, Barcelona and Faro. The other seven are expected to be Madrid, Milan, Amsterdam, Berlin, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast.

Echo News 21st Jun 2011

EasyJet commits to Southend Airport

Some interesting things to note here:

• 800,000 passengers = 150 airport jobs
• EasyJet chose Southend in preference to Manston
• Stobart Group have invested £60m of their own money in the airport

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London to get its sixth international airport in Southend - just in time for the Olympics

The budget airline easyJet unveiled ambitious plans yesterday to transform Southend-on-Sea airport into a rival for Gatwick and Stansted. It means London will be served by a sixth international airport in time for the 2012 Olympics.

EasyJet will carry around 800,000 passengers in the first 12 months at its new Southend base, three miles from the seafront of the Essex resort. This is set to rise to two million a year by 2020, making London Southend Airport almost as big as the capital's City Airport. Currently private jets and charter flights take off from the airfield - although there are a few commercial flights to Ireland.

Under a ten-year partnership with the airport's owners, Stobart Group, easyJet is to start flights at Southend from April next year. A multi-million-pound terminal is due to open at the airport this autumn. Airport bosses said passengers would never wait more than four minutes to clear security, and trains from a new station nearby would get them to central London in an hour. "It really is a case of 'the only way is Essex'," said easyJet, referring to the reality-TV programme about the county.

But some residents are not amused and are taking legal action against plans to extend the runway. Denis Walker, of the Stop Airport Extension Now group, said:

'There are 20,000 houses under the flight path, and the noise is a big issue for residents, many of whom live very close to the runway.'

The Southend expansion will create about 300 jobs, half with the airline and half at the airport. It will serve a range of destinations in Europe, including Barcelona and Ibiza. Catherine Lynn, easyJet's customer and revenue director, said:

'In summer 2012 we're expecting to see huge demand from passengers right around Europe to come to London. We expect easyJet to fly more people into London next summer than any other airline, and Southend will be the closest large airport to the Olympics. We're going to maintain our regular services — this is an opportunity to increase our capacity.'

Three new routes have already been confirmed — Barcelona, Faro and Ibiza — but other destinations expected to be served from Southend include Madrid, Milan, Amsterdam, Berlin, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast. Flights from Southend will go to Barcelona, Faro and Ibiza initially.

The airline says it expects to attract many holidaymakers heading to the Spanish resorts but also those wanting to go on city breaks and business travellers. Three Airbus A319 jets will be based at Southend. It says flights will be 20 minutes shorter than from the other big London airports because Southend is clear of the air traffic congestion over much of London. Managing director Alastair Welch said:

'Our size means no passenger will ever queue for more than four minutes for security, and as we've designed the airport only for short-haul travel, with 10 aircraft stands, there won't be long distances to travel through the terminal.'

The airport will be served by a new railway station with eight trains an hour making the 52-minute journey to Liverpool Street. The airport is owned by the Stobart Group, the trucking firm, which paid £21m for it in 2008. It has invested £60m on a new control tower, a runway extension, a new terminal building due to be finished this autumn and the railway station. A new hotel is due to open next year.

The regeneration will create about 300 new jobs, half with the airline and half at the airport. Stobart is promising that passengers carrying hand luggage only will get from plane to train in 15 minutes, and Ms Lynn added:

'The journey time into the city centre will be really competitive. On an inbound basis we're expecting a very healthy proportion of business travellers.'

But angry residents have launched a legal action against plans to extend the runway. Denis Walker of the Stop Airport Extension Now group said:

'Transport is a big issue as our roads are already heavily congested. There is a train station being built but I think the majority of people won't want to have to take their cases on the train. 20,000 houses are under the flight path, and the noise is a big issue for residents, many of whom live very close to the runway.'

The group, which has more than 300 members, claims 60% of residents oppose the plans to expand the airport, and also hit out at the 'extremely small' number of jobs the plan will create.

Southend was Britain's third biggest airport half a century ago and served as the initial base for Sir Freddy Laker's pioneering cut-price New York service. However, it fell into rapid decline with the rise of Gatwick and Stansted and now has only a handful of flights a week to Jersey and to Galway and Waterford in Ireland. It is close to the mid-Thames estuary site suggested as an alternative to Heathrow by Boris Johnson.

Other locals welcomed the decision but raised concerns about extra traffic. Andy Innell, 50, owner of the Pier West café, said: 'It's wonderful news. It will bring more money to businesses in the town.

'I'm sure some people who objected to the expansion will not be happy but they don't want an airport there in the first place. Personally I think it's fantastic news. I'm sure some of the people using the airport will come into town and spend their money. I'm very pleased.'

Daily Mail 17th Jun 2011

Location, location, location matters for airports too

Manston isn't Outer London. It's out of London.

Well, there are several airports that have leapt on the global branding bandwagon and smuggled the word 'London' into their name, with varying degrees of geographical accuracy.

(A special mention must go to "London Ashford Airport": 60 miles from London, 13 miles from Ashford, 1 mile from Lydd. It seems the greater the distance, the more prominent the billing - it's full title is actually "Jupiter Brazil London Ashford Airport".)

So, JBLA to one side, what are we left with? Well, starting from where London actually is, you can see that London City is pretty much a slam-dunk - 9/10 for accuracy. Spiralling out clockwise from the south, we have Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton, Stansted, Southend and Manston. Yes, folks, Manston's even further from London-land than the fantasists at Lydd.

'Location, location, location' does matter and this seems to be a persistent blind spot for many when it comes to discussing Manston's viability. It may have a lovely long runway, but it's in the wrong place.

Draw a circle with a 20, 30 or 50 mile radius around all the 'London' airports, and Manston's circle will have the least land in it - because it's on a peninsula. In terms of population within the catchment area, it may just nudge ahead of Lydd, but will always be well behind the others. It's not a great place for a high volume passenger airport. Not that great for freight either, being so far from the highest densities of people and industry.

On with your thinking cap, dear reader, for soon I will be asking for your best efforts on two topics: how would you make a sustainable success out of Manston as an airport; and how would you make a sustainable success out of the Manston site as a non-airport.