gives me a sense that they were evaluating options and holding out for an alternative
It does look a bit like that...you can almost imagine the conversation in Flybe/Stobart towers.....
.....lets move this route to Southend....we can use the Stobart fleet out of a Stobart Airport....we'll save a sh1tload compared to LHR ops and we can combine this with the other domestic routes we are starting
.....but the people of Cornwall will reject that having already had their route shifted from LGW on a jet (which loads of them loved) to LHR on a fast turboprop (which they were starting to love)
.....ok, so what's Plan B?
Ok, a bit of dramatic/artistic licence, but I couldn't have made it up any worse than Flybe appear to have done for real here.