Never mind the performance criteria. what about the economics? I hear that the MOD are concerned about their many thousands of pax (soldiers and families) who currently use bmi having to use the less secure BHD. Perhaps we'll see a load more VC10s back at Aldergrove or perhaps easy will put some nice roundels on the fuse - OHMS.
Also another rumour going round is that two large NI corporate users have indicated to bmi that they aren't too chuffed about the move either. And finally, (allegedly) the travel trade have been told to restrict sales to less than 133 pax - so it's not likely to be a 'bus.
Now all that plus the fact bmi are only offering 7/8 of their existing capacity - it doesn't seem to stack up. Sir Michael must be sorely steamed - perhaps that's why the COO and the Service Director went (?).