ORK - EMA and ORK - PIK
There's been a lot written about the dropping of these two routes here and on the Cork thread. Here are some stats:
ORK - EMA: first half of 2008: 36k pax, Average flown LF: 57%. The route has one of the worst LFs from the EMA base.
In addition, as has been pointed out earlier, the combined effect of this route and BHX - SNN (35k pax, LF: 59%) has had a dramatic impact on EMA - SNN (29k pax, LF 47%, collapsing from 48.5k pax and an LF of 71% for the same period last year and now the worst LF from EMA).
It would appear that there simply isn't enough traffic to sustain these three routes plus EI/WW on BHX-ORK.
ORK - PIK: first half of 2008: 37k pax, Average flown LF: 54%. The route has worst LF from the PIK base. And the second worst? By some strange coincidence, the 2nd worst is PIK - SNN (35k pax, 54% LF), which was already weak (39k pax and 58% LF for the first half of last year).
As is happening on an increasing number of routes, FR's biggest competitor is themselves. Some overlapping markets are not large enough.
Personally, with stats like these, I can't imagine that carriers will be queueing up to replace services on these routes.