Southampton Airport - General Thread

[TheLocalYokel]

Flybe collapse could close Southampton and Belfast airports, says MP

Exclusive: ‘Although there would be significant and potentially ongoing disruption, Southampton airport wouldn’t close without Flybe’ – airport spokesman

www.independent.co.uk

It's a good headline and echoes what others wrote about the potentially uncertain position of airports heavily reliant on Flybe. Exeter is another and also of course is the site of the airline's headquarters, training and engineering bases.

He is a local Conservative MP for one of the Bournemouth constituencies and part of the rationale for his comments will be support for the government's decision to bail out Flybe. It's a bit like Carwyn Jones's remark that had not his Welsh government bought Cardiff Airport it was in real danger of closing; again it was justification for a government action.

Nothing to do with his party political allegiance but I have a lot of admiration for Tobias Ellwood for his record outside parliament (a former Regular soldier and he is now on the Reserve list with the rank of lieutenant colonel), and his magnificent attempts to save the life of a police officer following a terrorist attack on Parliament nearly three years ago.

 

[Jerry]

It's a good headline and echoes what others wrote about the potentially uncertain position of airports heavily reliant on Flybe. Exeter is another and also of course is the site of the airline's headquarters, training and engineering bases.

It's only a rough estimate but if they lost Flybe they'd go down from 40 daily flights to 12. Whether Southampton could remain a commercially viable airport with just 12 departures a day in mostly turboprops without anything else like MRO ops to boost the airport I don't know.
I thought I recognised the MPs name but couldn't place him!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

It's only a rough estimate but if they lost Flybe they'd go down from 40 daily flights to 12. Whether Southampton could remain a commercially viable airport with just 12 departures a day in mostly turboprops without anything else like MRO ops to boost the airport I don't know.
I thought I recognised the MPs name but couldn't place him!

It would certainly hit them hard but in winter Exeter is worse being almost entirely reliant on Flybe for its flights, eg:

Sunday (yesterday) 14 departures (12 Flybe, 1 TUI, 1 Ryanair)
Monday (today) 12 departures (11 Flybe, 1 TUI)
Tuesday (tomorrow) 11 departures (8 Flybe, 2 Ryanair, 1 TUI)

In summer there are some more charters plus the Scilly Skybus but Flybe is still extremely important.

I was looking at Bournemouth Airport which in winter has few flights with, for example:

Sunday (yesterday) 6 departures (4 Ryanair, 1 easyJet, 1 TUI)
Monday (today) 3 departures (1 Ryanair, 1 TUI, 1 easyJet)

We've said a number of times that it is unwise for any business to rely heavily on a single customer. Flybe is not the only airline that has a dispropotionate percentage of movements and passenger traffic at airports. Even the busy smaller airports are often reliant on one carrier for the majority of business. easyJet, for example, handles over 50% of BRS's movements and over 55% of passenger numbers. If anything happend to that in a big way BRS probably would not close but the busienss would be severely impacted negatively.

 

[Ashley.S.]

To be honest, I think Southampton Airport would probably just about get away without FlyBe due to the transport connections it has. I would be more concerned about airports, for example, Exeter and Newquay, like @TheLocalYokel said...

 

[TheLocalYokel]

To be honest, I think Southampton Airport would probably just about get away without FlyBe due to the transport connections it has. I would be more concerned about airports, for example, Exeter and Newquay, like @TheLocalYokel said...

EXT, like CWL might well be looking at the BRS situation with interest. If the local authority's rejection of BRS's planning application to allow its passenger cap to be raised from 10 mppa to 12 mppa is upheld at any appeal that BRS might bring (almost certain to appeal) then displaced flights that would have flown from BRS above the 10 mppa level would stand a good chance of using CWL and EXT instead.

 

[Jerry]

Southampton's CEO Neil Garwood is leaving after 9 years at the airport.
He'll be replaced by Aberdeen CEO Steve Szalay.

Southampton Airport boss steps down

THE BOSS of Southampton Airport is to step down after serving almost a decade with the firm.

www.dailyecho.co.uk

 

[Jerry]

anna.aero | Temporarily Unavailable

 

[Jerry]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1314942886186758145

 

[TheLocalYokel]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1314942886186758145

One of the SOU company officers said the same thing last week - I don't think it was the MD so perhaps he has reiterated the statement. It has to be taken in the context of the planning application though. To plagiarise part of a witness's evidence in a notorious 1960s Old Bailey trial, "He would say that wouldn't he?" (if he thought it might concentrate the minds of the local planning councillors).

 

[Ashley.S.]

I've noticed a lot of posts about the extension, the poor airport is having to do a lot of "myth-busting" to try and get local support!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I've noticed a lot of posts about the extension, the poor airport is having to do a lot of "myth-busting" to try and get local support!

It's probably as with other airports seeking planning permission to improve - LBA and BRS particularly come to mind - that opposition groups are extremely well organised and well funded and know their way to go about getting local news media exposure. This invariably gives an impression of considerable local opposition to expansion/improvements at local airports.

In reality there are usually more people in an area either in favour of the local airport expanding or improving, or not bothered either way.

My local airport is BRS and formal submissions to the local authority that rejected the airport's expansion planning application early this year saw objections outnumber support by around four to one. Quite a number of the 11,000 submissions were not from local people at all but from environmentalists and environmental groups from around the country and even from abroad.

Prior to the planning committee meeting a YouGov poll found that 70% of people living in the area supported the planning application. This is the sort of ratio that local news media straw polls have found down the years.

I suspect that if it was possible to speak to everyone in the Southampton area there would be a majority in favour of the airport's expansion.

 

[Ashley.S.]

I know a lot of confusion has been caused by them buying the nearby woods, that lead to concerns/opposition of development, removing local wildlife and whatnot. It's not as if they are expanding the footprint of the airport like some think they are trying to do...

 

[superking]

Buying the woods will that be good for runway length or something different.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Southampton City Council looked again at its objections to SOU's runway extension application but has decided its objections stand. SOU is situated within the area of Eastleigh Borough Council which has planning responsibility for the airport.

Southampton City Council objects to Southampton Airport's runway plans

CIVIC chiefs in Southampton have confirmed their objections to plans to expand the runway at Southampton Airport.

www.dailyecho.co.uk

 

[TheLocalYokel]

A date has now been fixed when SOU's local authority will determine the airport's planning application for a 164-metre extension. It is 25 March, less than two weeks away.

The airport says that that the extension is needed for the airport to remain a viable operation. If the application is not approved the airport's future is in doubt.

Runway - Support Southampton Airport | Southampton Airport

Our runway length is no longer suitable for modern airline fleets, so if we are to survive and thrive as a regional airport, it is critical to extend our runway.

www.southamptonairport.com

 

[superking]

I have always wondered about the runway problems at SOU with the cruise terminals not far away. In one way it shows the airport dont work with the port.

 

[Aviador]

164m is a small runway extension. When LBA had it's runway extension back in the 80's they extended by 600m. More recently the BHX runway extension was 300m so when you, look at it, this is only half again. It's really quite short.

The BHX runway extension was 300m, the SOU plan is half again. This is the BHX extension: -

 

[Seasider]

I think that it is the maximum extension that they can fit in. I believe M27 at one end and railway line at the other are the restrictions.

 

[Jerry]

Southampton is a limited site and that is the max they can go but from what I read it'll make a difference.

 

[Wardair166]

LCY seems to be hugely successful despite runway constraints??? I'm not objecting to SOUs proposal btw