published charges vs deals
I work in tour ops and know that I would not walk up to a 5 star hotel one night, ask for a room and expect to get it at a discount or anywhere near what I might pay if I booked hundreds of rooms at that hotel a year.
I bet that the majority of airlines flying regularly to regional UK airports are not paying anywhere near the rack rates you see in their published charges.
If you operate ad-hoc's or "one-off" flights, expect to pay for it. IF you operate with a base or high frequency, expect to get a deal.
I can't believe all of you are so naive to think airlines like TOM and bmi pay anywhere near the rack rates for their operations at Cardiff.
TOM trimming capacity is part of a much larger group reduction. It is simply part of their merger with First Choice and the resulting changes in management direction to focus on higher margins. Other tour operators can all see this from miles away...