Yeah, GBAL ... because we're still in the '70s! I thought that kind of thing went out years ago!
Anyway, just back from a trip to the old sod (Shannon, to be exact, where - due to my pronouncements on various forums, I need a military escort and a bodyguard!) ... good trip with both airlines, FR and BE, with the only tiny differentiating factor being that for a 25-30 minute return flight from JER to SOU, I was charged a shade under £200 and for LGW-SNN, I was charged £76 (£15 out and £59 back - which was fair enough, because the flight was pretty well packed solid). And LGW-SNN is twice as long and, as if to ram things home, just over a third of the price.
(On the way back, I said "stuff SOU, I'll try and fly direct" and in fairness, BE were very helpful, for a small surcharge and another ... small surcharge and a surcharge again for putting on a surcharge they'd forgotten about earlier. Maybe Mr. French can change his first name to Charge, so when he's knighted ...
)
Anyway, that's how it is here; we're a captive market with a high cost airport and airlines flying not much more than 100-120 seat aircraft and not much incentive to fly anything else and with the Jersey authorities, to quote Mr. B, about as effective as a catflap in an elephant house in tackling this issue, it looks like nothing's going to chanrge. Unfortunately, what it's going to take is the equivalent of the tombstone imperative ... a major disaster (as in an airline pulling out or going under), before they start to get their act together - by which time putting the things right will be a lot more costly.