Pete
I remember that last summer there was a long-running thread on another international forum (well-known for aviation pictures) that predicted an early end for EWR-BRS, on the basis that the loads didn't seem good.
The first year has now passed and the target figure publicly announced by CO at the outset for that first year (75,000 pax) was comfortably exceeded. However, we of course don't know whether fares were discounted to achieve this or what the ultimate yield is.
The CAA stats for March and April seemed all right with 7,930 and 8125 pax respectively (percentage load factors in the high 70s). The provisional May figure isn't so good (low 7000s but for some reason the BRS-EWR route is always increased by several hundred when the final figures are published - as far as I can see it is the only BRS route that is treated in this way on the CAA stats pages, don't know why).
In raw pax figures BFS has done better than BRS in the first full twelve months of the routes - BRS around 86,000 pax and BFS around 95,000, again all extracted from the CAA stats.
Of course we know that bare pax figures aren't the main consideration when it comes to route profitability.
In the latest BRS Consultative Committee minutes, published on the airport website, the airport MD said the route is still predominantly used by pax originating this side of the Pond. They have tried and are trying various ways of bringing it to the attention of US travellers.
My son has used the route several times this year and speaks highly of it. He is not remotely interested in aviation so speaks as a punter, although he is lucky in that his company pays the tab for him to sit in the front part of the 757, so the views of those at the back might be more revealing.
Hope the route does succeeed but I keep hearing of people who still use LHR and, in truth, for those living to the north and east of Bristol the trip to Heathrow is not much more difficult than getting through or around Bristol to Lulsgate.
BRS is a much more civilised experience though and the M4 is liable to chronic congestion and sometimes closure.