So if the above rumours are true re A220 and MAN to London routes; I'm struggling to see what has changed since Little Red was operating in respect to Virgin's potential volume of connecting traffic? It didn't work then, what will make it work now? This route has limited point to point and in that respect is well serviced by BA, not to mention slot availability and cost at LGW and LHR.
Stobart is heavily invested with Embraer now and they potentially will proceed to add more complexity and cost to the fleet when it would appear streamlining it would seem more logical.
with a large fleet of q400s and a 'supposedly' loss making network, I'd have expected to see a route network restructure aligned to the stated objectives of providing network feed to VS and I'd guess the maintenance of the profitable routes. If that is completed there still is a large fleet to find meaning work for and now they are about to add extra aircraft and a new type ... the mind boggles ...