Air Berlin (AB) base in STN

AirbusA350 · Post by **AirbusA350** » 05 Nov 2005, 01:59

Air Berlin is opening a transfer hub in London Stansted Airport. The new routes will be:

London Stansted-Manchester (STNMANSTN)
London Stansted-Glasgow (STNGLASTN)

These routes are intended to bring transferring traffic to AB's German route network. Flight will commence on December 16th.

A318 · Post by **A318** » 06 Nov 2005, 21:56

I am curious how long they will survive between EZY and RYR.
I bet RYR will start flying for free to kill AB on it's important base!

AirbusA350 · Post by **AirbusA350** » 07 Nov 2005, 00:30

A318 wrote:I am curious how long they will survive between EZY and RYR.
I bet RYR will start flying for free to kill AB on it's important base!

AB is counting on the transfer traffic going through STN to MAN and GLA. It's not a bad plan for AB since it can get customers from Germany, who will fly on a transfer flight just to save couple of euros, with ease. Also there is a big potential in these routes, if you won't fill the plane up with some pax heading in to STN from MAN or GLA then you will find some who will be transferring on to DE. AB serves airports(FR serves 2nd category airports located far away from mainport cities, mainly small airfields converted into airports just for FR's needs) most of them int. or main city airports, FR doesn't. The only worry here is U2 which flies to major cities in DE and sets competitive pricing standards.

Captain · Post by **Captain** » 07 Nov 2005, 14:17

Will passengers who book these transfer flights have to pay airport tax to transfert at Stansted?

Generally speaking do passengers on connecting flights pay the same amount of aiport tax at the connecting airport than a passenger starting their flight from that airport to another one?

Captain

n5528p · Post by **n5528p** » 07 Nov 2005, 19:41

Captain wrote:Generally speaking do passengers on connecting flights pay the same amount of aiport tax at the connecting airport than a passenger starting their flight from that airport to another one?

Generally spoken, many airports charge less for transfer pax. But I do not know any amounts for Stansted.

Regards, Bernhard

Post by **sn26567** » 08 Nov 2005, 11:21

Captain wrote:Will passengers who book these transfer flights have to pay airport tax to transfert at Stansted?

Generally low-cost carriers do not allow transfers. Their flights are construed to be used independently from each other. E.g. they will not transfer your baggage: you will have to collect it and check it again. If your first flight is late, well, good luck!

Buzz · Post by **Buzz** » 08 Nov 2005, 12:13

sn26567 wrote:
Captain wrote:Will passengers who book these transfer flights have to pay airport tax to transfert at Stansted?
Generally low-cost carriers do not allow transfers. Their flights are construed to be used independently from each other. E.g. they will not transfer your baggage: you will have to collect it and check it again. If your first flight is late, well, good luck!

I believe AirBerlin does check your bags through... Not 100% sure though.

Captain · Post by **Captain** » 08 Nov 2005, 13:31

Thanks for the interesting info.

Captain

szyszek · Post by **szyszek** » 14 Nov 2005, 01:25

sn26567 wrote: Generally low-cost carriers do not allow transfers. Their flights are construed to be used independently from each other. E.g. they will not transfer your baggage: you will have to collect it and check it again. If your first flight is late, well, good luck!

From airberlin.com:
"This is the first time Stansted will be used by any airline as a transfer hub. Until now, Stansted has been used only for point-to-point flights - passengers could change planes and fly onto other destinations but were required to collect their luggage and check it in again for the new flight. With the Air Berlin hub, passengers from other UK airports who wish to travel to Germany via Stansted can do so easily while their luggage is automatically transported to the connecting plane. Average transfer times will be 45 to 60 minutes."

earthman · Post by **earthman** » 14 Nov 2005, 02:31

Yes, and that's the way it's supposed to be! Why don't they offer transfers at some of their other main bases? I think this is the main drawback of LCCs: you can only fly direct flights. If you want to fly to someplace that isn't served by them directly from your local airport, and you decide to buy two seperate flights, you're screwed if you have a large delay (or you spend half the day at some airport that you have no business at, just to be on the safe side).

Humberside · Post by **Humberside** » 14 Nov 2005, 20:02

szyszek wrote:From airberlin.com:
"This is the first time Stansted will be used by any airline as a transfer hub. Until now, Stansted has been used only for point-to-point flights - passengers could change planes and fly onto other destinations but were required to collect their luggage and check it in again for the new flight.

Air UK used STN as a hub in the early-mid 1990's before they where bought by KLM