TheLocalYokel

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Jan 14, 2009
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Air Southwest seeks global audience

Regional airline Air Southwest is taking the first step to making its flights available to a global audience.

The South West based airline has, since opening for business six years ago, developed a strong following for its website http://www.airsouthwest.com . As the airline continues to develop new routes, products and services, it has embarked on a development plan which will ultimately see the carrier featured in travel agent computer systems and flight booking websites worldwide.

The first step in the process will see a new flight code introduced for all Air Southwest flights from Sunday, May 31.

Instead of the prefix 'WOW', all Air Southwest flight numbers will begin 'SZ'.

Peter Davies, managing director of Air Southwest, explained: " Our website http://www.airsouthwest.com will continue to be our main source of bookings, but we now see great opportunities in being able to use global sales systems. And it means we can work more closely with other airlines in the future.

" For us to do that we needed a two-letter code assigned by the International Air Transport Association.

" The only difference for customers is that from May 31 when they are catching an Air Southwest flight they will need to look out for SZ rather than WOW on the departure board."

Air Southwest is based at Plymouth City Airport, is the largest operator at Newquay Airport, and offers a range of services from Bristol. The airline serves 13 cities in England, Scotland, Ireland and the Channel Islands, and has recently introduced a ground-breaking new service from Newquay and Plymouth to London City Airport, in the heart of the capital.


link:

Could mean they have some expansion in mind.

It's a surprising fact to many that two of the UK's significant airlines, in one of the cases very significant, are based in the far south west of England, an area that is not a major player in the aviation travel stakes, taking the UK in total.

Still a pity though that WOW is going. It was easily remembered by most travellers, whether aviation aficionados or not, and had almost become an alternative name for the airline. "When is the WOW flight due?"
 
Re: Air Southwest

It will be a shame to see WOW disappear from our departure screens but I suppose it's all in the name of progress. I can't say I understand the difference between a two letter code and a three letter code though. I all seems a little silly and pointless to me.
 
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Re: Air Southwest

I'm certainly no expert but as I understand it ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) is a United Nations agency that is responsible, inter alia, for the principles and techniques of civil aviation around the world, including safety and orderly growth.

ICAO issues 4-letter airport codes and 3-letter airline codes.

IATA (International Air Transport Association) is basically a trade body for airlines and issues 3-letter airport codes and 2-letter/digit airline codes.

Put simply, ICAO codes tend to be used by airport professionals for operational matters whereas IATA codes are geared more towards commercial matters. However, this is an over-simplification but seems to be why Air Southwest is to use its IATA designator as its primary code as it presumably fits more easily into worldwide booking systems.

Most non-professional aviation watchers tend to use the ICAO codes for airlines because they are often linked to the airline (eg EZY is pretty obvously relating to easyJet whereas U2 has no apparent connection). Conversely, it's the IATA code most of use for airports because again many relate easily to the airport in question (eg BRS is not a million miles away from Bristol Airport whereas EGGD bears no obvious relationaship).

It's easier in the USA because the ICAO and IATA codes for airports are the same except the former has a K prefix (eg KLAX and LAX for Los Angeles).

However, according to Jethro, ASW already has a 2-letter IATA designator which is WO (WOW is the ICAO code), so I don't know why they seem to have altered it to SZ.

Having said all that, airport arrival and departures boards often use a mix of ICAO and IATA designators.

Looking at my home airport at Bristol, the web arrivals/departures pages and BBC Ceefax arrivals page show, for example, easyJet flights as EZY (ICAO) but Ryanair flights as FR (IATA), whereas the BRS Mayfly shows Ryanair flights as RYR (ICAO).

So perhaps we shall still see WOW from time to time, unless the airline has also changed its ICAO code - if that's possible.

I think I will now sit down in a darkened room.
 
Re: Air Southwest

Thanks for that Local Yokel. Very informatively explained. :smile:
 
Re: Air Southwest

The UK regional carrier has celebrated its 6th birthday. The Plymouth based carrier launched operations on October 26th 2003, and has carried over 1.67 million passengers across its network, which links the South West of England to eleven destinations across the UK and Ireland.
 
Re: Air Southwest

The airline has got to be my favorite airline after Jet2 of course. Long may their success continue...
 
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Re: Air Southwest

It is a great little airline and is particularly useful for the city of Plymouth whose airport is miniscule for a city of that size.

I've never flown with them but keep telling myself I ought to.
 
Re: Air Southwest

I love the way they get the Cornwall Tourist Board to visit our local airport to meet and greet airport passengers in the arrivals area. I love that type of hands on approach to marketing.

I always get the impression that it's a very well run airline. Full credit to them. :good:
 
Re: Air Southwest

I agree totally, very well run and managed airline. Even when tech problems arrise with their aircraft its rare to see any major problems effecting the passengers, do they have some sort of agreement with Aer Arran if their aircraft have problems?
 
Re: Air Southwest

At the moment I believe they have an Eastern J41 based at Newquay, presumably as a spare.

I seem to remember earlier this year they had an Aer Arann ATR 42, or was it a 72?, contracted for a while to cover planned maintenance.

In their early years ASW usually called on Air Wales with their ATR 42s if they were short - the Dragons had a beautiful livery in my opinion.

You may know that ASW is owned by Sutton Harbour Holdings plc, a Plymouth-based company, that also operates Plymouth City Airport. The company also has non-aviation interests.

According to the Fruit board ASW seem to be besting Flybe on the Newquay-Gatwick route, as the latter is cutting a number of frequencies in the early part of 2010.
 
Re: Air Southwest

TheLocalYokel said:
You may know that ASW is owned by Sutton Harbour Holdings plc, a Plymouth-based company, that also operates Plymouth City Airport. The company also has non-aviation interests.

Does that favour the airline in any way? eg: no landing fee's, choice of stands etc?
 
Re: Air Southwest

I can answer the stand thing easily - Air Southwest is the only airline that operates into Plymouth.

It's not a case of the airport owners not wanting anyone else - they would I am sure - but the airport is so tiny and the runway so limited (50-seater turbo props being the realistic limit, though lightly-loaded military Bae 146 jets have landed in the past I believe).

The other problem for PLH is that the much larger Exeter Airport is only forty miles away and is the de facto airport for Plymouth on anything bigger or further away than the Plymouth City Airport can handle.

I don't know whether ASW gets a better deal from the airport than other airlines would receive if they set up there.
 
Re: Air Southwest

I see, i didnt realise they were the sole operator in PLH. How many of their dash 8 Q300s do they base at PLH then? I see how the relatively short distance to EXT, may effect operations at PLH, however i still believe its a great little regional airport.
 
Re: Air Southwest

Air Southwest has five Dash 8-300s in its fleet and they are based at Plymouth and Newquay - the split is 3 and 2 but I'm not sure which airport has the 3, probably Plymouth. Bristol used to be a one-aircraft base but since ASW revamed its schedules a couple of years ago the BRS base closed.

Two of the Dash 8-300s are former Brymon machines, an airline started by two New Zealanders at Plymouth in the 1970s and later bought by BA to run as BACitiexpress, later BAConnect.

However, most flights to/from PLH and NQY to/from LBA and MAN route through BRS four times a day so that passengers can switch aircraft if necessary. Usually the process is painless. The aircraft park next to each other to allow passenger swaps.

Incidentally, Exeter Airport though much bigger than Plymouth (physically it's probably bigger than Bristol and with a slightly longer runway) also has few carriers.

Apart from the seasonal Isle of Scilly Skybus (Twin Otters usually) their only scheduled carrier at EXT is Flybe whose headquarters are at Exeter.

Charters are limited too. They are a one aircraft (A320) TOM base having been previously a First Choice one. Apart from that there are few other charter flights even in summer.

EXT passenger figures have dropped nearly 20% in the past year to around 800,000 per annum. PLH, on the other hand, has seen an increase in excess of 27% to around 116,000 per annum.

The other airports in the South West are Newquay (345,000 pa), Bournemouth (925,000 pa), Bristol (5.6 million pa) and the very small Gloucestershire Airport with its niche Manx2 services to the isle of Man and Jersey carrying just over 20,000 passengers a year. Its is an exceptionally busy general aviation airport though.

The government South West region is the largest in the country physically speaking though the population is relatively sparse. Northern Gloucestershire is as close to the Scottish border as it is to the western tip of Cornwall so it can be seen why there are so many airports serving not the biggest population in the country.
 
Re: Air Southwest

A former colleague of mine flew out from LBA on the Air Southwest service this morning. It's a fantastic service but I've always wondered what happens when one of the BRS bound aircraft gets severely delayed? Does the other aircraft wait at BRS for the second aircraft to catch up or do some of the passengers end up getting bused to their final destination?
 
Re: Air Southwest

I think it depends on the length of the delay.

There have been times when one aircraft has waited at BRS for a fair old time but, oddly, if one is seriously delayed the other one often seems to be as well. Whether one is deliberately held at the departure airport I don't know.

Bristol to Plymouth is only about 105 minutes by road but Newquay is an hour more than that - and that's on a good day.
 
Re: Air Southwest

[textarea]Plymouth airline Air Southwest put up for sale after £4m loss


Plymouth airline Air Southwest has been put up for sale after making a £3.945million loss in the past year.

It is understood owner Sutton Harbour Holdings (SHH) is in negotiations with other airline operators and private investors, with chief executive Nigel Godefroy saying he is confident a deal will be done.

Air Southwest was hit by a combination of bad weather, the effects of the volcanic ash cloud and the recession causing losses to mount.

Business leaders stressed the airport, which SHH will retain, is vital to the city and hope the airline's new owners will invest in services and infrastructure.

However, some fear that if a buyer is not found the airport could end up being covered in houses.

SHH, which has a 150-year lease of the airport site, last year sold 22 acres of the land for £11.8million to be turned into housing.

Mr Godefroy told The Herald: "Air Southwest is an excellent brand, very important for Plymouth and Cornwall.

"Our view is, by selling it, it potentially gives it a better opportunity to blossom.

"I believe we will get a buyer. I'm confident it will be sold to someone who will further drive services in Plymouth and the far South West."

Mr Godefroy said the sale, as a going concern, was due to "commercial reasons" and was the best thing for the company's shareholders and employees.

He said he was unable to discuss possible buyers, the price, or at what stage talks were at.

But he said: "We believe we will sell it. It's a very good brand with obvious strengths, a good business niche opportunity, owning some good aircraft and employing some good people."

He recognised the airport's importance to the city and the airline's links to cities including London, Newcastle, Glasgow, Cork and Dublin.

"We want to preserve those links and put it into the right ownership where services will be developed," he said. "Ideally we want to sell it to someone that will invest further in Plymouth airport."

Mr Godefroy would not be drawn on who SHH was in discussions with.

Meanwhile, Exeter-based airline Flybe said: "Flybe does not comment on competitors' corporate decisions and will never comment on acquisition-related rumour and speculation."

Guy Walker, transport portfolio holder at Plymouth Chamber of Commerce, said: "We need an airport in Plymouth and an airline operating flights out of Plymouth. We want to preserve it."

He said there were British and French airlines which could, conceivably, take over the airline and develop it for the better.

"It may be Air Southwest will suit such an operator," he said and added: "We would like to see, in the long term, a runway extension."

Councillor Kevin Wigens, Plymouth City Council's transport portfolio holder, said Air Southwest had put Plymouth "on the map".

He said: "We hope, if and when there are new owners, they will build on the work Air Southwest has done."

Gavin Carrier, chief executive of Plymouth City Development Company, said regular and reliable air services into the airport were important to attract investment and create jobs.

He said: "While we are encouraged Sutton Harbour is in talks with potential buyers, what is vital for Plymouth is any new operator coming into the city does so with a firm commitment to work with the city to preserve and grow our transport links.

"It may well be that separating the ownership of the airport from the airline actually offers more opportunity for different operators to open up further routes from Plymouth."

However, Tim Jones, chairman of the Devon and Cornwall Business Council, said: "The fact that [SHH] have not been able to make it work is a concern — a major concern.

"If they don't find a buyer, what happens next? We have seen the creeping of housing development onto the site, that's the concern."

Last month, Air Southwest revealed it lost £300,000 over the six days in April when planes were grounded following the Icelandic volcano eruption.

SHH said the losses were partly to blame for its subsequent decision to scrap its twice-daily business shuttle flights to London City Airport, launched just 13 months ago.

Aside from its transport section, SHH delivered a positive set of results yesterday.

Pre-tax profit was £2.515million, up from a £3.450million loss in 2009.

It said highlights included the sale of airport land, sale of the first phase of a Portland development to Royal Yachting Association, being selected as part of a consortium to develop healthcare facilities in Cumbria, and raising a net £6.7million in the equity markets last September.[/textarea]

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Ai ... ticle.html

Looks a bit ominous both for the airline and the airport at Plymouth.

Who is likely to step in to buy Air Southwest, especially when its main airport at Plymouth is so restricted in the type of aircraft it can accommodate? The Dash-8-300 is about the biggest that can get in with a full payload.

Doesn't look at all good – fingers crossed they really can find a buyer.
 
Re: Air Southwest

They might to get ASW's Gatwick slots though I'm not sure how valuable they are or whether it would worth their while just for that.
 
Re: Air Southwest

[textarea]Significant loss’ expected on sale of Air Southwest

Air Southwest: Troubled airline put on the market in May following spiralling losses


The owner of Air Southwest, the regional airline operating out of Bristol Airport, has confirmed it will make a “signifiicant loss” on its sale.

Plymouth-based Sutton Harbour Holdings put the troubled airline on the market in May following spiralling losses on cancelled flights caused by snow, the knock-on effects of the Icelandic ash cloud and the cost of launching new routes.

Sutton Harbour chairman Michael Knight told shareholders at the group’s AGM that talks are continuing with a number of potential buyers, believed to include Eastern Airways, the regional airline based in Humberside which operates flights between Bristol and Aberdeen.

He added: “However, it is now expected that a significant loss will be incurred on disposal of Air Southwest. This is disappointing but the board believes it is in the long-term interests of the company to focus on our strengths and to eliminate the volatility inherent in airline operations.”

Sutton Harbour owns large amounts of commercial property and development plots, mainly in Plymouth, as well as the city’s airport.

Its transport division, which includes Air Southwest and the airport, made an operating loss of £3.94million during the year to March 31.

Air Southwest operates daily services from Bristol to Leeds-Bradford, Newquay, Plymouth, Manchester and Jersey. These are operating as usual while talks to sale the airline continue.

It was launched as a low-cost, regional airline at the height of the no-frills flight boom in 2003. At the height of its success it was operating scheduled flights from Bristol, Plymouth and Newquay to destinations across the UK, the Channel Islands, Ireland and France.

It launched a daily Bristol-Norwich service in April 2006 but was forced it to axe it after just nine months due to low passenger numbers.[/textarea]

http://www.bristol247.com/2010/07/16/si ... southwest/

If they can manage to sell it (sadly the alternative seems to be to close it down) it will be fascinating to see in what direction a new owner takes it.

There are those cynics (and cycnics are sometimes right) who believe that the Sutton Harbour Group would not be mortified if the airline ceased to exist because there would be no customers for Plymouth Airport, making it easier to sell the place for development.

They sold some of the airport land last year for housing development. They have a 150-year lease on the airport site so I don't know how easy legally it would be for them to sell the remainder or large chunks of what remains.
 

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