Originally Posted by
Letsflycwl
Bit baffled as to why Loganair have not gone double daily between CWL & EDI considering the promising loads pre-Covid.
Covid recovery isn't the main issue affecting decisions in the UK domestic market, though business travel demand has fallen sharply since then. The collapse of the original FLYBE, which coincided closely with the emergence of covid, took around 70 regional aircraft out of the market in one swoop. Not long after that, Stobart Air went as well - though much of their operation has now been backfilled by Emerald. Loganair doesn't have anything like the fleet strength that original FlyBe had, and the aircraft they do have are largely committed to established services. In the absence of FlyBe, a number of far more lucrative regional routes than CWL-EDI came up for grabs. The surviving regional carriers were always going to prioritise their very limited surplus fleet resources to a land-grab on the best of those routes.
Whilst you may plead the case that CWL-EDI is profitable (I don't know whether it is or not), that is not enough. In order to be selected for expansion, it has to be MORE lucrative than ANY alternative use of the available scarce ATR or Embraer. My guess is that it isn't even close to top pick. Take a look at the number of commuter aircraft operated by British Isles carriers in mid-2019 and contrast that with the equivalent fleet strength today. That's the real problem. The UK doesn't have a really big regional airline any longer. The remaining commuter types are spread thinly.