Cork and Ryanair
Annalist thinking could also apply to Cork although it would probably support a few more routes than Shannon. Therein lies the reason why the CAA are under no pressure to deal with Ryanair.
The fact is that almost all of the viable short haul routes from Cork are already serviced by Aerlingus, Aer Arann and a handful of overseas airlines. Most of these are on full charges so why would Cork give Ryanair the kind of deal they're looking for if its only going to dilute their existing business.
The only way for Ryanair to get control of Cork is to meet the opposition head on. ie. Cork to Beauvais, Gerona, Ciampino, Murcia, Malaga and Faro would put it up to Aerlingus while EDI, BRS, NTE would put RE under pressure.
This would involve paying full charges.
A 2nd strategy would be to avail of Cork's existing incentive scheme and fly to destinations such as Milan, Biarritz, Pisa, Charleroi and Hahn. This would indirectly put pressure on the opposition as it would dilute their loads and yields due to the limited size of the Cork Catchment area.
The existing strategy of calling hyped up press conferences and attacking CAA/DAA isn't working.