Updated: Southend Airport sold to Eddie Stobart (From Echo)
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Updated: Southend Airport sold to Eddie Stobart
6:00am Wednesday 3rd December 2008 in News
Updated: Southend Airport sold to Eddie Stobart
SOUTHEND Airport has finally been sold.
As revealed exclusively by the Echo, the new owner is the Stobart Group, best known for the Eddie Stobart road haulage firm.
Stobart said it would operate passenger flights across the UK and Europe alongside its air freight operations.
Stobart chief executive Andrew Tinkler said the group had conditionally agreed to buy Southend Airport from Regional Airports Limited for a maximum £21m.
The group will then implement plans for the site, including construction of a new railway station, terminal and hotel "as soon as possible".
Mr Tinkler said the company had already entered into talks with a number of airlines about operating passenger flights from the airport.
"Development of Southend Airport as a leading passenger and cargo airport will be excellent news for both Southend and the wider South East region," he said.
"Stobart has the necessary skills, including rail infrastructure and civil engineering expertise, to make a positive impact on the airport's development plans."
The company said it anticipates Southend's "congestion-free" airspace would mean passengers would experience speedier travel times than at other London airports, including would-be rival London City.
Stobart said it would work with the local council to discuss ways of developing the airport's potential, including the possibility of an extended runway "which could help meet the undoubted demand for European business and leisure travel".
FULL STORY AND REACTION IN TODAY'S ECHO
Comments(28)
evo_lution
says...
4:19pm Tue 2 Dec 08
I invite anyone who disagrees to consider this
Do you like to fly to your summer/winter holiday or your short weekend breaks?
Do you use airmail?
Do you encourage high tech local employment?
Do you want Southend to grow and prosper despite the long term ecominic gloom?
Did you move to Southend after 1914?
Do have the ablity to embrace the 21st century with modern, quieter, greened aircraft?
Do you have any idea of the local benefits the airport brings? (thats actual facts not some of the rubbish published in this very paper)
If you answered YES to any of these smile and enjoy the development.
If you answered no you have the right to moan - but i dont think there will be many of you.
Onwards and upwards
BASILBRUSH
says...
4:27pm Tue 2 Dec 08
I can almost count the minutes before some ill informed buffoon mentions the lorries.
Peter Pantsless
says...
4:57pm Tue 2 Dec 08
Let just all pray Southend council & Renaissance Southend stay well clear of it.
The Voice of Reason
says...
5:18pm Tue 2 Dec 08
'Stobart, the transport group, has agreed to buy London Southend Airport for up to £21m.
Stobart is paying the vendor, Regional Airports, an initial £16m for the Essex airport and could pay a further £5m subject to the ‘achievement of certain aspects of the airport’s development’.
In the year to 31 March 2008, Southend had income of £6.9m, a pro-forma operating profit of £0.8m and gross assets of £42m.
To help finance the purchase Stobart is raising £11.5m from a placing of 15.75m new shares at 73p each.
Stobart will use £10m of the proceeds and a £6m vendor loan note to pay the initial £16m.
Stobart said that the purchase of Southend Airport was in line with its multimodal strategy, air becoming the final component alongside road, rail and sea.
Southend has been included in the Thames Gateway blueprint plan, projected to become one of the UK’s fastest growing development regions, and which includes the new DP World London Gateway Port, opening nearby in 2010.
Stobart intends to implement Southend Airport’s development plans, including the construction of a new railway station, as soon as possible.'
This is excellent news, and will undoubtedly bring new jobs and re-generation to this area.
TVoR
SARFENDMAN
says...
6:25pm Tue 2 Dec 08
Good news too that Alistair Welch will front this development. He's done a sterling job so far. Seems a real genuine guy.
Makes Renaissance & Renewal Co's look like The Trotters or Steptoe & Son. Lots of hot air, no idea and no substance. Time for them to roll over...permanently!
Grey hair of leigh
says...
7:59pm Tue 2 Dec 08
The alternative being one big estate of social housing and a new prison etc. Keep Renaissance & Co away otherwise it will grind to a halt.
andyh
says...
6:55am Wed 3 Dec 08
"gross assets of £42m." ... sounds like a bargain buy to me!
tuttuttut
says...
9:33am Wed 3 Dec 08
It's about time Southend was put back on the map. I was born and bred here and I'm proud of the place, I'm all for improvements that will benefit many.
APR
says...
10:02am Wed 3 Dec 08
Why does this always happen on the run up to Christmas ?
tricky jacko
says...
11:10am Wed 3 Dec 08
As for the undoubted scaremongering that will follow about freight night flights - Southend will never be a major cargo hub, the runway is and always will be too short!!
thelonewhinger
says...
11:19am Wed 3 Dec 08
APR
says...
1:10pm Wed 3 Dec 08
seeview
says...
2:42pm Wed 3 Dec 08
Sooh
says...
5:18pm Wed 3 Dec 08
Marshwalker
says...
6:22pm Wed 3 Dec 08
DenisWalker
says...
8:10pm Wed 3 Dec 08
Do you like to fly to your summer/winter holiday or your short weekend breaks?
No, I have never flown
Do you use airmail?
No
Do you encourage high tech local employment?
That depends on what impact it has on the environment and the local residents.
Do you want Southend to grow and prosper despite the long term economic gloom?
The airport isn't going to magically provide this. If you compare the job creation claims in the Airport JAAP with the numbers employed at existing airports of comparable size, you will see they are entirely unrealistic. Foreign visitors arriving by air spent
nearly £11 billion in the UK in 2004, but UK residents flying out spent £26 billion abroad – a
loss to the UK economy of £15 billion pounds. If airports expand as planned, the loss to the East of England alone would be a total of £47bn. See http://www.foe.co.uk
/resource/briefings/
regional_tourism_def
icit.pdf for more detail.
Did you move to Southend after 1914?
No - I was born here.
Do have the ablity to embrace the 21st century with modern, quieter, greened aircraft?
No aircraft currently exist that qualify as "green". They emit CO2 at altitude, which has a greater impact than the same amount emitted at ground level. As confirmed by Andrew Tinkler in the above article, Stobart intend to make cargo flights from Southend, which will not only use noisier, more polluting planes than passenger flights, they will fly at night. Inevitably, this will also cause an increase in road transport to and from the airport on roads that are already congested.
Do you have any idea of the local benefits the airport brings? (thats actual facts not some of the rubbish published in this very paper)
The airport is a burden on local tax payers - Southend Council spends far more money on the airport than they receive in rent from it. Since 1994, they have received just over £1m in rent and since 1995 they have spent just short of £3m on the airport.
DenisWalker
says...
8:12pm Wed 3 Dec 08
If airports expand as planned, the loss to the East of England alone would be a total of £47bn by 2020.
Rick Jones
says...
11:04pm Wed 3 Dec 08
The £3million you talk about is NOT repeat NOT from the council tax payers of Southend, it came from the money raised from the sale of the parcel of land that now has the retail units on, when the land was sold the money was ringfenced for airport only use.
Not a fan of flying then Denis? Question for you have you ever flown?
Norfolk
says...
8:45am Thu 4 Dec 08
Firstly, the JAAP Option 3 proposal predicts direct airport employment to be 2,110. Southampton, an airport of 'comparable size' currently employs around 1,700 people BUT it does not have the heavy maintenance activity that Southend has and which employs large numbers already. There will also be the increased employment that an enlarged business park will generate and these jobs must surely be welcomed at a time like this in the economic cycle.
With its railway station the airport will be very attractive for inbound European passengers so will be contributing to the East of England economy, not being a drain upon it.
Why does DenisWalker assume that cargo flights will use 'noisier, more polluting planes'? Andrew Tinkler is talking about high-value, urgent freight not bulk goods and small freight aircraft already operate daily flights to Germany so that is nothing new. There is simply no possibility of large freight aircraft being used as even the extended runway could not accomodate them.
As for the airport being a burden on local taxpayers, this is simply untrue as Rick Jones has pointed out.
I think that fact that DenisWalker proudly states that he has never flown may be laudable from an environmental point of view, but it is certainly not the norm in the early 21st century and I suggest his views on the airport are coloured by that fact.
Thames Gateway
says...
9:24am Thu 4 Dec 08
Let's face it, EVERYTHING we do in life has an impact elsewhere. It is a question of being responsible about what we do in the future. From what I have seen the airport plans ARE responsible plans consistent with maintaining economic activity and meaningful employment staying/growing in the Southend area.
Everyone I have spoken to is in favour of (guess what, random thought!) using the airport for aviation purposes because they understand what a useful facility it is.
The fact that they they can reduce their car emissions by not having to travel to Heathrow/Stansted is appreciated too, but mainly for the time saving it would give.
jam55king
says...
9:27am Thu 4 Dec 08
Rick Jones
says...
11:05am Thu 4 Dec 08
jam55king wrote:Grotty Teneriffe never been so would not know I normally go places with rich history and things to do cant see the point of crashing out on a beach all day and getting bladders at night.
london is coming, time to move!! Congestion, noise , pollution immigrants. I will enjoy watching u all moaning in 10 years time all so u can have one week a year in GROTTY teneriffe YOU MUGS!!!!!
Get a life, you clearly dont understand the economic benifts that the airport will bring. Bit like our friend Denis Walker he seems to have gone quite now all the mistakes in his post have been pointed out wonder if I am still on hbis Crimbo Card List!
pw1954
says...
12:45am Fri 5 Dec 08
The Voice of Reason
says...
8:22am Fri 5 Dec 08
pw1954 wrote:Like Dennis, you should have paid more attention to detail, instead of doom-mongering. You are like 2 peas in a pod, unable to embrace change and clearly not being able to recognise a good opportunity when it comes along. Maybe we should just shut the airport, thus turning it into a industrial area/retail park/mass housing estate. Of course, none of these options would create more noise, more pullution or more congested roads ??????? As for where Stobarts are raising the capital, the answer can be found in my first posting under this thread - maybe instead of looking at the negatives, you should look at the bigger picture. Thank goodness not everyone was as stuck in the mud as you and Dennis - heaven only knows where we'd all be . . . no doubt we'd all be driving around in cars with square wheels
It's good to see the airport employees got their comments in early! Of course Tinkler will tell us how wonderful it's going to be - it's in his interests to do so! For ordinary Saarfenders this can only be bad news. More noise and fume pollution, congested roads, and at a time when the downturn must hit Stobart hard. I wonder where they borrowed the money? £11m profit last year and £21m for the airport... and what did the Council sell it for? One measly pound, wasn't it?
TVoR
pw1954
says...
9:40am Fri 5 Dec 08
The Voice of Reason
says...
10:49am Fri 5 Dec 08
pw1954 wrote:An economic crisis ? Maybe so, but i don't buy into this entirely - this is nothing more than an episode created by foolhardy lending, and in my opinion, the 'credit crunch' is providing companies with a excuse for making redundancies and the chance to hold out a hand for financial help for their own silly mistakes - i just wonder why all these companies who have enjoyed years and years of success suddenly hit the wall after one year of downturn ? Too many fingers skimming the cream off the surface i think !
The detail is that there's an economic crisis, a fuel crisis but worst of all a crisis of climate change. At a point when we all need to be turning to greener power and transport, some twerp proposes an expansion of aviation and a lot of dinosaurs say "Oh great! Jobs! Economic growth!" As the man said, "Growth for growth's sake is the ideology of the cancer cell."
Next, what fuel crisis ? Crude oil continues to fall in price, so what crisis are you referring to ?
Working in the export/import business, i am more qualified than most here to make comment on the possible use of the airport for freight purposes. Of course, owing to the mass orders that are placed concerning goods, the preferred shipment method is by surface (sea) although logistically, and in some cases due to urgency, shipment may have to be effected by air. Various aircraft type are used these days, and owing to the demanding nature placed upon these aircraft, they tend to be well equipped, modern aircraft, thus of the 'greener' variety. Southend Airport will never see large transport aircraft as the infrastructure isn't there, and never will be. As for night flights, which i know most people will fear, then i am sure that these will be kept to a minimum, although this, of course, is subject to available 'slots' being in place for designated flights.
So i say, grow so as not to be left behind - Woolworths chose not to, and look where they are now. Here endeth the lesson.
TVoR
Rick Jones
says...
4:11pm Fri 5 Dec 08
Thames Gateway
says...
5:22pm Fri 5 Dec 08
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