Originally Posted by
SWBKCB
Or is it as simple as RYR not getting the returns they want?
There's an established market there which they've been serving for many years. There's no question in the viability of the routes, it's not like they've just tried and failed. Demand at EMA has always been softer over the winter months relative to other airports due to it's heavliy lesisure/low-cost customer base and the absense of any real hub links, but it's always maintained a certain level of traffic. Numerous Ryanair EMA routes over the past couple of seasons have been shifted to BHX, the latest just announced being Lodz.
Having lost Flybe, Monarch and Thomas Cook over recent years BHX have had little choice but to turn to the likes of Ryanair and EasyJet to recover the lost traffic and no doubt have given them much more favourable terms than in the past. Fundamental issue is EMA has become uncompetetive, partly as a result of MAG's piss poor management of the place.
BHX wins because of economies of scale, the airlines win because they get better commercial terms in a larger market, MAG has bigger fish to fry at EMA with cargo, so the only real loser is the East Midlands region customer base, some of which towards the north have already lost DSA as an option.