Southampton-3
And so the cycle continues on here. Guys, the poster known as RW20 has been posting the same negative comments for nearly 3 years now and you take the bait every time. For the health of this thread can you ignore him going forward?
I really don’t want to have to post the long list of airports with similar closing times as SOU which happily sustain sizeable Easy bases for like the fifth time.
As a general rule ignore anything posted by RW20, LTNman, Pain in the Rs and Darren1 on this thread. It’s like Groundhog Day on here. The airport is in a holding pattern at the moment waiting for a low cost operator to give things a go. It will happen, just be patient. In the meantime the airport has seen increased frequencies on a number of routes with DUB being the latest. AMS route is going from strength to strength. Emerald are still doing Belfast 3 daily even with Easy doing the route. Some good signs.
I really don’t want to have to post the long list of airports with similar closing times as SOU which happily sustain sizeable Easy bases for like the fifth time.
As a general rule ignore anything posted by RW20, LTNman, Pain in the Rs and Darren1 on this thread. It’s like Groundhog Day on here. The airport is in a holding pattern at the moment waiting for a low cost operator to give things a go. It will happen, just be patient. In the meantime the airport has seen increased frequencies on a number of routes with DUB being the latest. AMS route is going from strength to strength. Emerald are still doing Belfast 3 daily even with Easy doing the route. Some good signs.
The following 2 users liked this post by Rivet Joint:
And so the cycle continues on here. Guys, the poster known as RW20 has been posting the same negative comments for nearly 3 years now and you take the bait every time. For the health of this thread can you ignore him going forward?
I really don’t want to have to post the long list of airports with similar closing times as SOU which happily sustain sizeable Easy bases for like the fifth time.
As a general rule ignore anything posted by RW20, LTNman, Pain in the Rs and Darren1 on this thread. It’s like Groundhog Day on here. The airport is in a holding pattern at the moment waiting for a low cost operator to give things a go. It will happen, just be patient. In the meantime the airport has seen increased frequencies on a number of routes with DUB being the latest. AMS route is going from strength to strength. Emerald are still doing Belfast 3 daily even with Easy doing the route. Some good signs.
I really don’t want to have to post the long list of airports with similar closing times as SOU which happily sustain sizeable Easy bases for like the fifth time.
As a general rule ignore anything posted by RW20, LTNman, Pain in the Rs and Darren1 on this thread. It’s like Groundhog Day on here. The airport is in a holding pattern at the moment waiting for a low cost operator to give things a go. It will happen, just be patient. In the meantime the airport has seen increased frequencies on a number of routes with DUB being the latest. AMS route is going from strength to strength. Emerald are still doing Belfast 3 daily even with Easy doing the route. Some good signs.
I thought I would spell it out in block capitals to emphasise the fact that it's not all doom and gloom. Not a huge airline or route for that matter but as from tomorrow SOU will have nine airlines.
On a side note...you know what the mods are like on here, so I don't think it's a good idea to make a list of posters who others should ignore. I agree with you in context, but posting a list of individual usernames as a "general rule" isn't a great move.
I've been "told off" on here for FAR less.
The following users liked this post:
The following 2 users liked this post by S.o.S.:
It looks as if SOU is not the only airport suffering operating hours constraints. From the Bournemouth thread today:
mrshubigbus
Yet another Bournemouth night time divert! Bournemouth must go 24 hours!!!
Saturday night’s Ryanair PMI flight was forced to divert to Bristol just 40 minutes after two very delayed TUI’s were allowed in at 1.00am on Sunday morning. However, 40 minutes later, the airport were unable to accept the very delayed RYR flight which went instead to Bristol. Worst still, those passengers were then forced to make their own arrangements to get home unless a coach was organised, not arriving back to Bournemouth until some stupid time on Sunday morning. Yet worse was yet to come as the Sunday morning FAO was cancelled leaving a further 180 passengers in complete limbo! Most would have turned up at the airport “during the night” only to be told the very bad news before turning around and going home at “silly O clock” in the morning! In total 360 pax were very “pissed off” and probably won’t fly Ryanair again. Not RYR’s fault in this case but an airport that won’t go 24 hours with an increasing number of holiday flights that aren’t scheduled to return until very close to the night time closure of the airport. What with the regular and predictable summer delays, they must correct this very stupid policy or risk loosing yet more passengers to other airports as a direct result of an ever growing number of very costly diversions! With Jet2 arriving next year, the airport simply has to go 24 hour or risk loosing these airlines! Flying to holiday destinations and squeezing in two rotations a day means that BOH have two very simple choices. Risk loosing these carriers or do the sensible thing! This can’t go on!
mrshubigbus
Yet another Bournemouth night time divert! Bournemouth must go 24 hours!!!
Saturday night’s Ryanair PMI flight was forced to divert to Bristol just 40 minutes after two very delayed TUI’s were allowed in at 1.00am on Sunday morning. However, 40 minutes later, the airport were unable to accept the very delayed RYR flight which went instead to Bristol. Worst still, those passengers were then forced to make their own arrangements to get home unless a coach was organised, not arriving back to Bournemouth until some stupid time on Sunday morning. Yet worse was yet to come as the Sunday morning FAO was cancelled leaving a further 180 passengers in complete limbo! Most would have turned up at the airport “during the night” only to be told the very bad news before turning around and going home at “silly O clock” in the morning! In total 360 pax were very “pissed off” and probably won’t fly Ryanair again. Not RYR’s fault in this case but an airport that won’t go 24 hours with an increasing number of holiday flights that aren’t scheduled to return until very close to the night time closure of the airport. What with the regular and predictable summer delays, they must correct this very stupid policy or risk loosing yet more passengers to other airports as a direct result of an ever growing number of very costly diversions! With Jet2 arriving next year, the airport simply has to go 24 hour or risk loosing these airlines! Flying to holiday destinations and squeezing in two rotations a day means that BOH have two very simple choices. Risk loosing these carriers or do the sensible thing! This can’t go on!
The following users liked this post:
I don't think you're being entirely accurate.
The pax were flown into BOH from BRS at 09:40am on Sunday morning after spending the night in a BRS airport hotel.
Can't expect the airport to be open at 2.40am for a severely delayed arrival like that.
The pax were flown into BOH from BRS at 09:40am on Sunday morning after spending the night in a BRS airport hotel.
Can't expect the airport to be open at 2.40am for a severely delayed arrival like that.
Well you can if its an H24 operation which I think is the point that was being made.
The following users liked this post:
The days of airports newly given 24 hour operations are long gone and will be opposed strongly by environmentalists and neighbours alike. Quite rightly in my opinion for those that live close by as there is no real justification for it nowadays.
The following 2 users liked this post by SouthernAlliance:
It goes without saying that any smaller regional airport would welcome a 24hr operation, however its just not realistic in the current day. What would these airports be doing for the rest of the night (and during the quieter winter periods) after any odd potentially delayed AC?......staying open and burning cash for absolutely no reason.......is not gonna happen!!!
Exactly this, not to mention the financial costs involved from an airports side to run a 24hr Op. The poster is obviously annoyed that they were diverted, oh well, it happens (PMI has had notorious delays the past few weeks) I'm sure the airlines are far more frustrated and out of pocket than the said poster.....
I'm a huge supporter of SOU as I live reasonably close and it would be super convenient to be able to fly locally, so it's been very frustrating seeing the relatively cautious approach adopted by easyJet and others since the runway improvements were completed. I suppose I had too much free time on my hands and I started to think 'why do other regional airports often appear to have more success in attracting routes than Southampton seem to have achieved so far so I started thinking about my travel patterns. Until COVID, I was a fairly regular user of SOU, using it for business trips to Amsterdam, Dublin, Manchester, Newcastle and Düsseldorf, wherever possible except Düsseldorf, usually out and back in the same day. These were destinations I needed to go to quite frequently that happened to served from Southampton, so it was a no brainer.
But, thinking back, SOU never really figured in my leisure travel plans. In fact, the only holiday flight I have ever taken from there was to Skiathos during the short-lived time when Flybe operated a weekly service on behalf of a third-party ticket operator. I chose this flight as at the time I owned a villa on the adjoining island of Alonissos so it was somewhere I wanted to go and being able to fly locally made it exceptionally convenient.
However, even when there were a greater range of destinations, there were very few that I wanted to use whereas just up the road and a few miles to the east, the whole world is on my doorstep with Heathrow and Gatwick. And there I think, is part of the problem. Many regional airports are sufficiently far from London that even if they can only offer say a couple of dozen destinations each two or three times a week, people look at what's on offer and think 'that will do, I don't want to drive all the way to a London airport.' They look at what's on offer, and choose somewhere that meets their needs and off they go. Living here though, people choose the destination first, and with the choices available at Heathrow and Gatwick that can be almost anywhere within reason and on almost any day of the week. So, although the potential market around SOU is large and wealthy, unless the route someone wants, on the day they want it at a price they are happy to pay is available, SOU doesn't get their business.
I know that sounds defeatist and is an over simplification, but I am sure that having easy access to almost anywhere at anytime available for just an hour or so drive away really hampers progress at Southampton.
On the bright side, the airport will pick-up and I'm sure an airline will set-up base here in the not too distant future. But Southampton's close proximity to almost limitless choice will always be a factor.
But, thinking back, SOU never really figured in my leisure travel plans. In fact, the only holiday flight I have ever taken from there was to Skiathos during the short-lived time when Flybe operated a weekly service on behalf of a third-party ticket operator. I chose this flight as at the time I owned a villa on the adjoining island of Alonissos so it was somewhere I wanted to go and being able to fly locally made it exceptionally convenient.
However, even when there were a greater range of destinations, there were very few that I wanted to use whereas just up the road and a few miles to the east, the whole world is on my doorstep with Heathrow and Gatwick. And there I think, is part of the problem. Many regional airports are sufficiently far from London that even if they can only offer say a couple of dozen destinations each two or three times a week, people look at what's on offer and think 'that will do, I don't want to drive all the way to a London airport.' They look at what's on offer, and choose somewhere that meets their needs and off they go. Living here though, people choose the destination first, and with the choices available at Heathrow and Gatwick that can be almost anywhere within reason and on almost any day of the week. So, although the potential market around SOU is large and wealthy, unless the route someone wants, on the day they want it at a price they are happy to pay is available, SOU doesn't get their business.
I know that sounds defeatist and is an over simplification, but I am sure that having easy access to almost anywhere at anytime available for just an hour or so drive away really hampers progress at Southampton.
On the bright side, the airport will pick-up and I'm sure an airline will set-up base here in the not too distant future. But Southampton's close proximity to almost limitless choice will always be a factor.
Last edited by SotonFlightpath; 1st Jul 2024 at 15:48.
The following users liked this post:
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Southampton
Posts: 647
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I'm a huge supporter of SOU as I live reasonably close and it would be super convenient to be able to fly locally, so it's been very frustrating seeing the relatively cautious approach adopted by easyJet and others since the runway improvements were completed. I suppose I had too much free time on my hands and I started to think 'why do other regional airports often appear to have more success in attracting routes than Southampton seem to have achieved so far so I started thinking about my travel patterns. Until COVID, I was a fairly regular user of SOU, using it for business trips to Amsterdam, Dublin, Manchester, Newcastle and Düsseldorf, wherever possible except Düsseldorf, usually out and back in the same day. These were destinations I needed to go to quite frequently that happened to served from Southampton, so it was a no brainer.
But, thinking back, SOU never really figured in my leisure travel plans. In fact, the only holiday flight I have ever taken from there was to Skiathos during the short-lived time when Flybe operated a weekly service on behalf of a third-party ticket operator. I chose this flight as at the time I owned a villa on the adjoining island of Alonissos so it was somewhere I wanted to go and being able to fly locally made it exceptionally convenient.
However, even when there were a greater range of destinations, there were very few that I wanted to use whereas just up the road and a few miles to the east, the whole world is on my doorstep with Heathrow and Gatwick. And there I think, is part of the problem. Many regional airports are sufficiently far from London that even if they can only offer say a couple of dozen destinations each two or three times a week, people look at what's on offer and think 'that will do, I don't want to drive all the way to a London airport.' They look at what's on offer, and choose somewhere that meets their needs and off they go. Living here though, people choose the destination first, and with the choices available at Heathrow and Gatwick that can be almost anywhere within reason and on almost any day of the week. So, although the potential market around SOU is large and wealthy, unless the route someone wants, on the day they want it at a price they are happy to pay is available, SOU doesn't get their business.
I know that sounds defeatist and is an over simplification, but I am sure that having easy access to almost anywhere at anytime available for just an hour or so drive away really hampers progress at Southampton.
On the bright side, the airport will pick-up and I'm sure an airline will set-up base here in the not too distant future. But Southampton's close proximity to almost limitless choice will always be a factor.
But, thinking back, SOU never really figured in my leisure travel plans. In fact, the only holiday flight I have ever taken from there was to Skiathos during the short-lived time when Flybe operated a weekly service on behalf of a third-party ticket operator. I chose this flight as at the time I owned a villa on the adjoining island of Alonissos so it was somewhere I wanted to go and being able to fly locally made it exceptionally convenient.
However, even when there were a greater range of destinations, there were very few that I wanted to use whereas just up the road and a few miles to the east, the whole world is on my doorstep with Heathrow and Gatwick. And there I think, is part of the problem. Many regional airports are sufficiently far from London that even if they can only offer say a couple of dozen destinations each two or three times a week, people look at what's on offer and think 'that will do, I don't want to drive all the way to a London airport.' They look at what's on offer, and choose somewhere that meets their needs and off they go. Living here though, people choose the destination first, and with the choices available at Heathrow and Gatwick that can be almost anywhere within reason and on almost any day of the week. So, although the potential market around SOU is large and wealthy, unless the route someone wants, on the day they want it at a price they are happy to pay is available, SOU doesn't get their business.
I know that sounds defeatist and is an over simplification, but I am sure that having easy access to almost anywhere at anytime available for just an hour or so drive away really hampers progress at Southampton.
On the bright side, the airport will pick-up and I'm sure an airline will set-up base here in the not too distant future. But Southampton's close proximity to almost limitless choice will always be a factor.
The trip to Heathrow and Gatwick is not 60 mins or so drive, it a lot longer and frault with many delays . However down the road with good management a airport is expanding rapidly and about to announce further destinations 're Emirates!!. SOU has floundered without direction and advertising ,well done to BOH management for there incredible expansion ,and this is without the transport links SOU has.
At the moment it looks like there is only one airport in the face for Regional airport in the South
Keep in mind that back in 2017 the airport handled over 2 million passengers. Clearly there was a demand then and Southampton hasn't moved any closer to Heathrow or Gatwick in the meantime.
Now the airport needs just 1.2 million passengers to break even - so rather than speculate let's check back next year and see where we stand.
Now the airport needs just 1.2 million passengers to break even - so rather than speculate let's check back next year and see where we stand.
The following 2 users liked this post by Ascupart:
I love your optimism,so you're saying that because we are are too close to London airports to have Sun route expansion?
The trip to Heathrow and Gatwick is not 60 mins or so drive, it a lot longer and frault with many delays . However down the road with good management a airport is expanding rapidly and about to announce further destinations 're Emirates!!. SOU has floundered without direction and advertising ,well done to BOH management for there incredible expansion ,and this is without the transport links SOU has.
At the moment it looks like there is only one airport in the face for Regional airport in the South
The trip to Heathrow and Gatwick is not 60 mins or so drive, it a lot longer and frault with many delays . However down the road with good management a airport is expanding rapidly and about to announce further destinations 're Emirates!!. SOU has floundered without direction and advertising ,well done to BOH management for there incredible expansion ,and this is without the transport links SOU has.
At the moment it looks like there is only one airport in the face for Regional airport in the South
I've generally had the same experience whilst driving to LHR to catch various flights throughout the day. The longest time it has ever taken me to drive to London Heathrow Airport has been 1.45 minutes and that was to Terminal 3. LGW is generally done well within 2 hours door to door, I've actually done it in 1 hour and 25 minutes.
I love my local airport, but most of the airlines, destinations, and above all, the schedules from SOU are unappealing to me.
I usually go away for a couple of days or more, so frequency and schedules are important to me. So, as much as I dislike doing so, LHR and LGW will always remain my preferred airports. And if the price is right, STN has been done in less than two hours.
My first flight from SOU was in 1974 on a British Island Airways Dart Herald. I have only used SOU as a passenger for a grand total of eight times since 1974. The number of flights that I have taken as a passenger over the years is in it's hundreds with only eight of them involving SOU.
Destinations, frequency of flights, and schedules are far more important to me, so until the situation changes at SOU, we'll LHR, and LGW will be my preferences.
The same applies to BOH. There might be more opportunities than from SOU, but for example, who wants to get a flight back from AGP at 06.30 in the morning. Incidentally, I've only ever used BOH on three occasions with only one return flight.
Regarding the ridiculous Emirates rumours that a certain individual has been busy posting today. As soon as I read it on the BOH thread, I knew exactly that a certain poster on the SOU thread would instantly be taken in by it 😃
But in saying all that, I totally agree with you regarding the poor management at SOU. Perhaps they have no direction, but as far as advertising is concerned, there has been a fair amount on YouTube recently.
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Southampton
Posts: 647
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I live in Woolston Southampton. It's 64.1 miles from my home to London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5. The last time I drove to Terminal 5 was four weeks ago this coming Thursday. It took me 55 minutes from my home to the on site valet parking at Terminal 5. My flight was at 11.am and the traffic was heavy but moving.
I've generally had the same experience whilst driving to LHR to catch various flights throughout the day. The longest time it has ever taken me to drive to London Heathrow Airport has been 1.45 minutes and that was to Terminal 3. LGW is generally done well within 2 hours door to door, I've actually done it in 1 hour and 25 minutes.
I love my local airport, but most of the airlines, destinations, and above all, the schedules from SOU are unappealing to me.
I usually go away for a couple of days or more, so frequency and schedules are important to me. So, as much as I dislike doing so, LHR and LGW will always remain my preferred airports. And if the price is right, STN has been done in less than two hours.
My first flight from SOU was in 1974 on a British Island Airways Dart Herald. I have only used SOU as a passenger for a grand total of eight times since 1974. The number of flights that I have taken as a passenger over the years is in it's hundreds with only eight of them involving SOU.
Destinations, frequency of flights, and schedules are far more important to me, so until the situation changes at SOU, we'll LHR, and LGW will be my preferences.
The same applies to BOH. There might be more opportunities than from SOU, but for example, who wants to get a flight back from AGP at 06.30 in the morning. Incidentally, I've only ever used BOH on three occasions with only one return flight.
Regarding the ridiculous Emirates rumours that a certain individual has been busy posting today. As soon as I read it on the BOH thread, I knew exactly that a certain poster on the SOU thread would instantly be taken in by it 😃
But in saying all that, I totally agree with you regarding the poor management at SOU. Perhaps they have no direction, but as far as advertising is concerned, there has been a fair amount on YouTube recently.
I've generally had the same experience whilst driving to LHR to catch various flights throughout the day. The longest time it has ever taken me to drive to London Heathrow Airport has been 1.45 minutes and that was to Terminal 3. LGW is generally done well within 2 hours door to door, I've actually done it in 1 hour and 25 minutes.
I love my local airport, but most of the airlines, destinations, and above all, the schedules from SOU are unappealing to me.
I usually go away for a couple of days or more, so frequency and schedules are important to me. So, as much as I dislike doing so, LHR and LGW will always remain my preferred airports. And if the price is right, STN has been done in less than two hours.
My first flight from SOU was in 1974 on a British Island Airways Dart Herald. I have only used SOU as a passenger for a grand total of eight times since 1974. The number of flights that I have taken as a passenger over the years is in it's hundreds with only eight of them involving SOU.
Destinations, frequency of flights, and schedules are far more important to me, so until the situation changes at SOU, we'll LHR, and LGW will be my preferences.
The same applies to BOH. There might be more opportunities than from SOU, but for example, who wants to get a flight back from AGP at 06.30 in the morning. Incidentally, I've only ever used BOH on three occasions with only one return flight.
Regarding the ridiculous Emirates rumours that a certain individual has been busy posting today. As soon as I read it on the BOH thread, I knew exactly that a certain poster on the SOU thread would instantly be taken in by it 😃
But in saying all that, I totally agree with you regarding the poor management at SOU. Perhaps they have no direction, but as far as advertising is concerned, there has been a fair amount on YouTube recently.
It has cost £1000+ to get a flight this morning to Stansted ,then taxi back to Southampton.
Easy.....never again
You might note I dismissed it out of hand to start with, but actually took the time to think through how it could work, and I did dismiss the Emirates rumour as there is not a chance.
However, it would be amiss to think that some of the hundreds of thousands of passengers a month on the Dubai/London rotation do not originate from the Bournemouth catchment area.
There will never be the market for an 787 on the route, but maybe, just maybe, a couple of FlyDubai 737MAX flights a week is plausible, but only once the other rumoured destinations (BFS/LPL etc) are serviced. I also qualified this with the fact their 73M fleet is going to triple in size, so they need to fly somewhere.
This is nothing more than speculation, so please do not present it as anything but that, but atleast I took the time to think for myself rather than jump on the bandwagon of dismissing it.
If we're now into the realms of posting rumours that posters have themselves dismissed as implausible before posting them, not to mention that the rumours also had a source on Simple Flying, then I truly despair.
The following users liked this post: