It seems that they're caught between a rock and a hard place here. They'll obviously want to sell as many seats as possible, but doing so increases the risk of a tech stop and if that happens, given the time it would add to the sector, it's very unlikely the aircraft would make it back to Southampton before the airport closed for the night.
I also don't get why they could be performance limited having sold less than 97 seats, surely the 97 seat figure was arrived at to make the performance work? Otherwise why not just sell the whole aircraft and tech stop if required?
That said, I don't understand the negativity towards Lolo on here. I don't like the name and the website could be much better than it currently is, but at least they are trying something new and innovating.
I'm sure SOU airport aren't pinning all their hopes for the future on them, but if they succeed it will be good for the airport as well as the airline.
It just seems strange that people who post on the SOU forum and are supposedly supportive of the airport seem to take great delight in ripping Lolo to shreds seemingly just for existing and trying to make new routes work from SOU. I'd understand it from BOH fanboys but it does seem a little strange how much dislike Lolo have attracted on here from almost everyone.