Would be very surprised if the company went for either of those carriers!
Loganair are a very small outfit in the Highlands and operating these routes with Q400s! Don't think so! Also, these routes are mainly PSOs and will REMAIN AS BA CODE-SHARES which means the routes will be operated by another carrier. Personally, I think that the Loganair is more BMI division.
Eastern Airways are a perfect airline for the UK oil trade. Obviously this has now expanded (i.e. MAN-STN, SOU-Angers etc.) but the airline offers business passengers a top quality service with high frequency routes that are quite expensive! BE offer quite afew flights per day on busy routes but offer cheaper fares on larger aircraft. Eastern passengers love travelling on the small aircraft as they are less crowded and therefore take less time to board and leave.
BE should be looking more at WOW and what about RE? EIRE is outside the UK (not mainland Europe though!
)and there is no better way of getting into the regional routes in Ireland than taking over the regional carrier! This would be a major coup and would probably not go down well with the Irish but is very possible! Wenever expected BE's BACON take-over! (much
)