Originally Posted by
Flightrider
An airport cannot turn an airline away unless there are objective capacity constraints (e.g. no slots available). But it can exercise a very considerable degree of latitude over the commercial terms it offers to any airline wishing to use the airport, which can have almost the same effect.
and as we saw with Flybe2 almost no airport cared that another operator was coming in on the same route. They chase short term passenger numbers and the fees they bring.