DJ6, I can confirm Sardinia shuts up for the winter. When I work there in Feb, I always take Easyjet from LGW but via Milan nightstopping, costs about £100 return, against BA or Ailitalia wanting £900 a pop. There is no winter tourist traffic.
RYR aren't intersted in the pax, its the subsidies they want. Why fly to Lourdes from Stansted as a ski destination, why not advertise it as a Pilgrims destination................... because they dont want to have to deal with Wheelchairs etc.
Its going to be interesting to see what they do when 5 wheelchair pax turn up along with Mary , Mungo the guide dog and Midge the pet assist hamster !