Stobart takeover

roundymac

.independent.ie/business/irish/cityjet-would-be-major-partner-in-possible-merger-with-stobart-34714535.html
I wonder if this goes ahead how will it affect the deal it has with EI?
http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/cityjet-would-be-major-partner-in-possible-merger-with-stobart-34714535.html

Well EI had asked Stobart to look at getting in some Regional Jets to improve capacity, so it would certainly suit EI but only if Cityjet stabilise their own house.

pepe the prawn

http://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057579574/1/#post99235984

Would be interesting to see how this pans out. Stobart have recently updated their fleet oath some new ATR's, if they were to invest in some regional jets I don't know how that would alter their current business model.

sandbelter

Looks as if EU have given Cityjet the necessary consent to acquire Stobart.

In the Independant today:
Aer Lingus is understood to have given its blessing to a takeover of Stobart Air by CityJet, in what is expected to be as much as an 80m deal that will close by August and pave the way for a new European regional airline force, the Irish Independent has learned.

L1011

SSJs on the higher frequency UK routes might be interesting.

goingnowhere

The SSJ100 could be the ultimate trump card here. Cityjet have a stack of options and no one else is queuing up to buy.

Perfect for 2 scenarios
1. Short thin routes (ATR will still probably be cheaper here but ATR and weather don't get on)
2. Long thin routes (ATR and RJ no good here)

SSJ100 is cheap to buy, but the unknown is how cheap to run and the support situation. To be fair not going to be much different than current with City Jet and the RJ/146 situation

Had EI still been an independent airline would they have bought CityJet? They walked away from buying Ryanair once and backed out of buying an unnamed EU airline a few years back

Tenger

goingnowhere wrote: »

......

Had EI still been an independent airline would they have bought CityJet? They walked away from buying Ryanair once and backed out of buying an unnamed EU airline a few years back

Would love to know who they were looking at a few years back. (2007-2010) They had the cash to buy a few smaller airlines. Cityjet? FlyBE? Aer Arann? Even Bmi were within reach, of course they were a bad business option.

goingnowhere

Tenger wrote: »

Would love to know who they were looking at a few years back. (2007-2010) They had the cash to buy a few smaller airlines. Cityjet? FlyBE? Aer Arann? Even Bmi were within reach, of course they were a bad business option.

Brussels, Virgin, hell even Air Berlin...

L1011

Some of the long thin options could easily be quite lucrative for feed to the TATL routes - non UK feed is always helpful with brexit issues

Zonda999

The idea of an SSJ in EI livery would also be a great thing! What kind of long and thin routes have people in mind here?

Actually, just looking at the SSJ's wikipedia page, there are two versions on offer, one with 1,900nm of range and the LR variant with 2,900nm of range, does anyone know which that Cityjet's jets are?

Cravens

Maybe DUB-RTM would be a contender? But then again, I reckon the ATR could do that with ease.

sandbelter

a Seasonal DUB-FLR would be ideal for the the SSJ, its a standout contender and would get a lot of US feed. A lot of people on the PSA flight are actually heading to Florence.

Also, routes that are now seasonal could become year round.

sandbelter

It would worth noting that if EI does put it's livery on the SSJ it could be the break through moment for Russian manufacturers have been looking for. Akin to Airbus getting the original Thai A300 order followed the Eastern order back in the 1970's. The Russians could end up having a lot riding on this, after all this is airline that launched F27, pushed hard for the B737-200, the used the A330 (which had been billeted as a intra-asia aircraft up to that point) transtlantic.

The other issue to consider is with a lower aircraft cost is that the fixed cost base per seat could now fall down to that of a 180 seat FR B738 which could play havoc with FR's business model which is predicated on having the lowest cost per seat mile, if Cityjet/EIR can match this but offer frequency as well then you have a very formidable combination.

Van.Bosch

Cravens wrote: »

Maybe DUB-RTM would be a contender? But then again, I reckon the ATR could do that with ease.

I would think places like Bruges, Eindhoven, billund, Hanover and even into Poland where Krak w or Poznan could provide feed.

arubex

1. Start with 30-40 seat turboprops flying between secondary destinations, including some PSOs
2. Expand up into the 50-60 seat range, start offloading some mainline non-peak services to the regional fleet
3. Add RJs for capacity
4. Start pushing the RJs to near-continent destinations
5. Realise that the cost-base is escalating to near-mainline levels and the former regional arm has lost focus and differentiation.
6. Shut-down the regional arm and start from scratch.


~~

That was Aer Lingus Commuter.

So now we're approaching step 3 again. Why will this time be different?

sparrowcar

arubex wrote: »

1. Start with 30-40 seat turboprops flying between secondary destinations, including some PSOs
2. Expand up into the 50-60 seat range, start offloading some mainline non-peak services to the regional fleet
3. Add RJs for capacity
4. Start pushing the RJs to near-continent destinations
5. Realise that the cost-base is escalating to near-mainline levels and the former regional arm has lost focus and differentiation.
6. Shut-down the regional arm and start from scratch.


~~

That was Aer Lingus Commuter.

So now we're approaching step 3 again. Why will this time be different?

Different era, one based on the bottom line, leanness and profitability.
One would hope anyway...

TheCockpitGuy

I am disappointed to be honest. Cityjet was on the verge of collapse. Staff were leaving like someone was left with the bill at the end and now they are poised to take over Stobart. I would have thought it would have been the other way around. With the EI, WX and BE work they are in a very strong position but then again i stand corrected.

Tenger

arubex wrote: »

.............
~~

That was Aer Lingus Commuter.

So now we're approaching step 3 again. Why will this time be different?

EI commuter was never really that seperate from mainline EI. Staff were interchangeable.

The whole reason for airlines to create a standalone regional/low cost arm is in order to undercut the operating costs of their own main company.
Today EI and EI Regional are cometely seperate organisations, only tied together by the franchise agreement and the strategy decisions it brings with it.

Stovepipe

EI Commuter wasn't sufficiently seperate from mainline and that was part of the problem. It was regarded by many as a bastard child and seen by the unions as a way for Lingus to bypass existing agreements, so the pilots and cabin crew unions kept a firm grip on it. No way were they going to tolerate Commuter crews being paid less than Mainline, as had been originally mooted. So you had huge wage costs for operating small aircraft and political interference to keep expensive PSOs open and a subdivision that was last in the foodchain for everything. The Fokkers were very efficient and reliable but expensive, the Saabs were too small, very expensive to keep and longer routes were being demanded of them, which was not going to work and the 146s were unreliable and very expensive to maintain. The only way Commuter was ever going to work was if they slashed costs, Ryanair style and that was never going to happen. It was fun while it lasted, though.