Originally Posted by
willy wombat
The thing is, Loganair doesn’t have a base at SOU and I don’t think it has a base at MAN so how would it best operate a SOUMAN route? Would you want to set up a new base at either SOU or MAN only to have EZY jump on you? I remember sitting next to COW at a lunch when she was running Flybe and remarking that she had a very complex and disjointed operation with a route network that looked like a (drunken) spider’s web and bases all over the place. I’ve always been a proponent of the KISS approach to airline management. We will see if LM decide the SOUMAN route is worth the effort and risk. If I was them I’d only do it if it could tie in with other things at one, or both, ends of the route.
Loganair already serve MAN-NQY of which neither are bases so it's not inconceivable. Also, to have a based aircraft doesn't necessarily require based crew. Crew could night stop to operate on a trip pattern from one of their other bases. The positives I see that are both SOU and MAN have significant LM operations already, so it shouldn't be too tricky to add in the flight as a night stop or a triangle route (Ie: ABZ-SOU-MAN-ABZ). The difficulty with that would be getting the correct timings to make the flight viable.