Cityjet has made no secret of its desire to tender for the Aer Lingus Regional business, and quite publically so too.
Despite the 195 challenges that Stobart has faced it appears to provide consistency across the Aer Lingus Regional branded business, carrying as many as 1 in 3 Aer Lingus guests between Ireland and the UK.
There is no reason why Stobart and Cityjet/Nostrom cannot each play their part in the future and let's face it, the AerLingus Regional contract has some time left to go, and IMHO significant consolidation in the regional airline market will take place before that. Especially in the context of Flybe's challenges there is bound to be some changes. Stobart's attempt to effect change with the proposed Cityjet link up, and then the proposed take over of Flybe, plenty has been happening.