Some usual ill informed comments on here. The summer sees 4-5 cruise ships in a day some of which hold 5,000 passengers plus 800 crew. So yeah a lot more than the fool who was suggesting it’s a small operation on some days. In fact there were 2 ships in the other day and it’s December!
The MAN route certainly didn’t see 200k annual passengers because of cruise ship passengers though. I reckon it would still see close to those numbers with a reliable service, certainly if it’s low cost fairs.
As to those still bringing up the ridiculous argument about loyalty to the incumbent carriers, remember this goes both ways and airlines will pull out of an airport if it doesn’t suit them. Also SOU put a numbers vid up and as of now passengers are at 670k for the year. If you genuinely think LM with their tiny little 50 seater jets are of value to SOU think again. As I’ve said before if LM had invested in larger aircraft to operate the SOU routes then perhaps there could be some sympathy but in reality they are just making hay when the sun shines.
Even the so called bulletproof reliable KLM are cancelling flights often including both flights today which is absolutely disgusting. I have no sympathy for these airlines when EZY push them out of all their routes. Competition is key. When a much more limited operation down the road is currently attracting more passengers it’s time for change.