Exeter International Airport (EXT) - General Thread

[Aviador]

I'm not convinced Exeter airport is a "sleeping giant" but looking forward, the airport should be able to continue to develop a reasonable level of growth. Similarly to other regional airports, diversifying the airport business by encouraging onsite business parks and hotels will help reduce passenger and airline costs further making new air services more attractive to airlines.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I'm not convinced Exeter airport is a "sleeping giant" but looking forward, the airport should be able to continue to develop a reasonable level of growth. Similarly to other regional airports, diversifying the airport business by encouraging onsite business parks and hotels will help reduce passenger and airline costs further making new air services more attractive to airlines.

It's like football isn't it when clubs that will never be more than middle rank but which have foundered on hard times are often described as sleeping giants.

Although Plymouth is twice the size of Exeter and the largest city in the far South West it has no airport, lousy rail connectivity and no motorway (the M 5 stops at Exeter) which means the Exeter city region is the most important business centre in Devon and Cornwall. With organisations such as the Met Office being headquartered at Exeter it is assuming quite a significant business presence. Furthermore, because of its geographical position some quangos such as the now defunct South West Regional Development Agency that was responsible for the entire government South West Region (the counties of Gloucestershire, Bristol, Wiltshire, Somerset, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall,inc the Isles of Scilly) set up shop in Exeter.

Exeter's weakness is that it is almost totally beholden to one scheduled airline (Flybe) and one charter airline (Thomson).

I agree with you that EXT will never be a giant in the UK airport family, not even a tiny one, but there is good reason to believe that it will continue the growth of the past 12 months after a horrendous five years before that.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

CAA stats June 2014

EXT handled 87,073 passengers in June, up 4.6% on June 2013. Atms were down 0.5%. Rolling 12-month total was 751,163, up 6.5% on a year ago.

As expected the recovery goes on with the Flybe MAN route up 22% from 7,500 to over 9,000 - it's used as a feeder into MAN's Flybe network as well as providing a link between the far South West and the North West.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

CAA stats July 2014

EXT handled 90,075 passengers in June, up 4% on July 2013. Atms were down1.8%. Rolling 12-month total was 754,607, up 5.6% on a year ago.

The trend of the past year continues with EXT continuing to make progress eventually towards the 1 mppa that it attained before the recession.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

[textarea]Work begins on redevelopment of Exeter Airport’s security search area

Work has started on a £400,000 project to expand and redevelop the Security Search Area at Exeter Airport.

The new enlarged design for the area, with additional screening equipment, is designed to make the passenger journey through the security process faster and more efficient.

Exeter Airport’s operations director Stephen Wiltshire said: “The completion of the work will coincide with the start of the new Exeter to London City Airport service which starts on 27 October.[/textarea]
Full report at http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/W ... story.html

Always good to see moves designed to speed up the passenger security experience.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

[[textarea]Exeter Airport owner Rigby Group targets growth after takeover of Capital Air Charter

Exeter Airport owner the Rigby Group Plc has strengthened its presence in the South West by snapping up Capital Air Charter Ltd.

The acquisition by Rigby Group Plc’s aviation division for an undisclosed sum follows a year in which the group has invested £50 million in the region, including the purchase of Exeter Airport and British International Helicopters.

Operating both the Capital Air Charter and Capital Air Ambulance services, the Exeter-based company was founded in 1991 and provides executive corporate and private chartered flights, medical repatriation and urgent freight services throughout Europe.[/textarea]

Full report at http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/E ... story.html

A useful acquisition.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

[textarea]Flybe unveils additional routes to Manchester

Regional airline Flybe is to boost its popular Manchester service from Exeter with six extra flights each week.

The additional service will come into force from October 26.

The Exeter-based firm has added a fourth weekday flight departing mid-morning operated by one of its E175 jets, and a third flight on Sundays that leaves in the early afternoon.

Paul Simmons, Flybe’s chief commercial officer said: “We have scheduled these extra flights to ensure there will be a convenient choice throughout the day, not just for those visiting Manchester but also for those making the many onward connections with Flybe available through our Manchester hub to the rest of the UK.

“This is not to mention the hundreds of onward global connections also available out of Manchester that includes those with our codeshare partners, all of which are now easily accessible from Exeter without the need to battle overcrowded South East airports.”

Matt Roach, Exeter Airport’s managing director added: “South West passengers have welcomed the ease of onward connectivity through Flybe’s Manchester hub.[/textarea]

Full report at http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Fly ... story.html

This link must be doing well - it carries over 8,000 passengers most months - and will obviously get even stronger now.

I think this was announced some weeks ago (see MAN Flybe thread) but you can't expect regional newspapers in the far South West to be up with the latest news.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

[textarea]Flybe codeshare with Finnair opens air links from Exeter to Scandinavia and Asia

Flybe has secured a codeshare agreement with Helsinki-based airline Finnair which could see more travellers from Scandinavia arriving at Exeter Airport.

From September 15, it will offer passengers flying from Exeter seamless onward travel through Flybe’s Manchester hub to Finnair destinations in Finland and on to the Scandinavian airline’s wider global network, which includes 15 Asian destinations.

The timetables for Finnair’s twice-daily services between Manchester and Helsinki are designed for optimal connections to Asia.[/textarea]

Full report at http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/F ... story.html

A useful addition to the EXT offering.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

CAA Stats August 2014

Another decent month for EXT.

94,637 passengers passed through the terminal, up 1.7% on August last year. Atms were down 4.5%.

Rolling 12-month total was 756,159, up 4% on a year ago.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

September 2014

CAA stats show a continuation of the year to date: 84,544 passengers passed through the terminal, a rise of 3.3% on September 2013, with atms up 3%. Rolling 12-month figure was 758,814, up 3.2% on a year ago.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

CAA stats October 2014

60,714 passengers used the airport, down 6% on October 2013. Atms were down 9.3%. Rolling 12-month total was 754,907, up 2.4% on a year ago.

This is the first time for many months that there has been a monthly fall in passenger numbers. It can be seen that atms were reduced by nearly 10% on the previous October as the summer season wound down.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

November 2014

48,950 used the terminal in November, up 14.8% on November 2013. Atms were up 17.6%. Rolling 12-month total was 761,232, up 3.4% on a year ago.

The main reason for the increase was Flybe's new 3 x daily service to London City and the same airline's increased frequency on its Manchester service.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Flybe Exeter-Deauville

2 x weekly service to Deauville (Thurs and Sun) will operate from 25 June to 3 September 2015.

Flybe has announced BOH and BHX services to Deauville in recent days.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Exeter-London City: Flybe


Flybe will reduce the frequency from 3 x daily to 2 x daily from 23 February 2015.

http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/F ... story.html

Earlier today it was announced that Flybe's Inverness-London City route which started in November 2014 along with the EXT-LCY route will be withdrawn from 22 February 2015.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

CAA Stats December 2014

47,833 passengers used the terminal in the month, a rise of12.8% on December 2013. Atms were up 18.3%. Rolling 12-month total which is also the annual total for 2014 was 766,583, an increase of 3.9% on 2013.

Overall a very satisfactory year with increases mainly on the back of the increased Flybe operations to Manchester as a hub and latterly to London City.

The fact that the 12.8% passenger increase was against a rise of 18.3% in flights suggests that loads were down a bit. It's probably reflected in the decision to already reduce the frequency of the new Flybe LCY route.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

CAA stats January 2015

44,205 passengers used the airport in January 2015, up a massive 32.3% on January 2014, but atms were up 33.5%. Rolling 12-month total was 777,376, up 5.4% on a year ago.

Much of the rise in atms and passenger numbers was the result of the new London City route by Flybe and increased MAN rotations by the same airline.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

CAA stats March 2015

Another excellent month for EXT with 55,158 passengers handled, an increase of 18.2% on March 2014. Atms were up 19%. The rolling 12-month figure was 794,864, 7.1% more than for the corresponding period a year ago.

As in recent months it's the Flybe service to Manchester, now 4 x daily (where MAN is used as a hub for EXT flights) and the new London City service that are making the running. In March 12,105 passengers travelled between EXT and MAN which is 22% of the entire airport monthly passenger figure.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

CAA stats April 2015

Another good month as 60,267 passengers used the terminal in April, an increase of 4.4% on April 2014. Atms were up 7%. Rolling 12-month total was 797,380 up 6.9% on a year ago.

The 800,000 barrier may well be breached next month. EXT handled just over 1 mppa in 2007 before losing over 30% of its passenger volume in the next five years.The past two years have seen a gradual but sustained recovery.

 

[jfy1999]

The UK regional airports, with a few exceptions seemed to hit a boom in 2007-08 before dropping again, now it seems another boom is starting.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

The UK regional airports, with a few exceptions seemed to hit a boom in 2007-08 before dropping again, now it seems another boom is starting.

The airports serving the larger and more successful economic areas seemed to be affected by the recession a bit later and began to recover earlier that airports serving smaller or less successful economies. Hence the likes of MAN, BHX, EDI, BRS and LBA only saw a relatively short downturn in terms of timescale.

The other regional airports are now beginning their recoveries although those that weathered the recession best are themselves still growing significantly.

EXT is one that was affected longer. The Exeter region economy is buoyant but not particularly large.