Brabazon
Brabazon, you say "It's not easy setting up an airline and even more difficult to make money out of it, and yet investors seem to be willing to part with their money in the pursuit of a dream."
True it is not easy to start up an airline and true difficult again to make money but your third point that investors are willing to part with money doesn't seem to be completely true. Look at NOW, perfect location - Luton, perfect aircraft selection - 737, good route network selection, low-cost - popular trend being taken up, yet investors seem not to want to fund them, still they remain unfunded, many false starts and still no airline...