New daily passenger services

RNS Number : 3713A

Stobart Group Limited

31 January 2011

 

For immediate release, 31^st January 2011

Stobart Group Limited

First new daily passenger services from London Southend Airport

Stobart Group ('Stobart' or 'the Group') today announces the start of new regular passenger services from London Southend Airport.

From 27^th March, Aer Arann will operate direct flights, twice a day (morning and evening) to and from both Galway and Waterford in Ireland.  Direct flights will operate seven days a week between Waterford and London Southend.  Flights between Galway and London Southend will operate four days a week, and via Waterford three days a week (Galway-Waterford-London Southend and London Southend-Waterford-Galway).  Flights go on sale today, 31 January, with one-way fares starting at £39.99 including taxes.  

Stobart Group CEO, Andrew Tinkler, said: "This concludes phase one of our development of London Southend Airport, with the introduction of new daily services and greater passenger volumes within four months of the start of our operating agreement with Aer Arann. We've stated that the main objective for Stobart is the acceleration of our development plans for London Southend, and today's announcement demonstrates just that."

The construction and installation of a new airport railway station at London Southend Airport was recently completed, which when fully operational in the coming weeks will take passengers directly from the airport to Liverpool Street station in around 50 minutes.  A new control tower is also now ready, with construction of a new passenger terminal underway (due to open in October 2011) and work on the runway extension and new airport hotel will start later this year.  All development, construction and engineering works are being completed by Stobart Group divisions and companies, further benefiting the Group's core business operations.

Stobart Group invested €2.5 million in 2010 to develop the partnership with Aer Arann as part of a five-year agreement between the Group's Stobart Air division and the Irish airline.  The agreement involves the development of domestic and Irish routes in and out of London Southend Airport and airfreight opportunities arising from the partnership.  Day-to-day management of the airline remains with Aer Arann, with Stobart Group representation on the Board of Directors.

ENDS

ENQUIRIES:

INFLUENCE                                                                                       0207 2879610

James Andrew                                                                                    07772 534 985

Stobart Group                                                                                   01925 605400

Andrew Tinkler, Chief Executive Officer

Ben Whawell, Chief Financial Officer

About Stobart Group

Stobart Group is listed on the London Stock Exchange in the FTSE250 (LSE:STOB),

and is the UK leader in multimodal transport and logistics solutions.  It is one of the most recognised and strongest brands in Britain, best known for its iconic Eddie Stobart trucks. Today, Eddie Stobart is the name behind a road haulage fleet totalling 1,850 trucks and over six million square feet of cutting-edge warehousing facilities.  By size, Eddie Stobart has the best vehicle utilisation in the industry, helping to maximise efficiency and environmental benefits.  

The Group has pioneered several environmental initiatives in the industry such as modal shift from road to rail with the Stobart Rail low-carbon service that brings fresh produce into the UK from southern Europe via the Channel Tunnel. Stobart is also innovating with the creation of Stobart Biomass Products Limited, a new venture with A.W. Jenkinson - the UK leader in biomass fuels.  This positions the Group at the heart of the fast growing and transport intensive market for renewable energy.  

Stobart Group employs over 5,000 people in 40 different locations, offering multimodal logistics solutions to customers across Europe through the Stobart Rail, Stobart Ports, Stobart Air and Eddie Stobart Divisions. The Group is fast developing these divisions into industry leaders, and by developing assets such as London Southend Airport, Carlisle Lake District Airport and Mersey Multimodal Gateway in Widnes, is creating new business for the Group's core transport and logistics operations.   

www.stobartgroup.com 

About London Southend Airport

London Southend Airport is a long-established regional airport for South East Essex and is the Eastern Gateway to London. A new airport railway station providing fast and frequent train services direct to Stratford (for Docklands and Canary Wharf) and to central London's Liverpool Street Station will provide its passengers with faster door-to-door times inbound to London than most other London airports - and at lower costs. Southend Airport is already "home base" to a wide range of aviation companies, airlines and operators, with more than 1300 people employed across the airport.

By extending the runway, London Southend Airport will be able to attract airlines operating commercial passenger services to a wide range of business and holiday destinations that cannot currently be served by the airport. The airport is predicting passenger growth to 2 million passengers per year by 2020.

Construction projects required to make London Southend this fully functioning regional airport by 2012 are all on target to meet their completion dates. Find out more at www.flysouthend2012.com.

From March passenger flights will use the existing terminal at London Southend Airport with transfer facilities available to the train station. London Southend Airport's new passenger terminal is expected to open in October 2011 when passengers will access the train station with a two-minute walk via a covered walkway.

www.southendairport.com.

 

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