I can't imagine too many people connecting onto the EK service especially given that you can go direct from Edinbrugh and Glasgow just down the road and that the prices appear to be quite a bit more anyway.
Doesn't this point undermine the whole reason for the PSO? EDI and GLA are just down the road, so why are we subsidising flights?
PSO is for the passenger/user not for the operational suitability of an incumbent airline
Absolutely! What has the operational convenience of the airline got to do with it? Only argument would be if they could offer the same level of benefit at a reduced cost to the taxpayer.