It would be interesting to know the costs per passenger comparison between a large turboprop and a 737 when operating an IOM-LPL route.I would imagine a 737 burns a large ammount of fuel compared to a turboprop,especially on such a short route.
Easy and Ryan are also relying more on in flight sales and add-ons in order to make a route profitable and the short duration of the Liverpool flight(especially on a 737)would work against this.
The Luton (or Standstead) route is a different prospect, but are the passenger figures really there to support a 120 seat aircraft,especially in the winter. And if they take significant passengers away from Gatwick and London city,forcing the present operators to pull of the routes,we could lose those links forever.That really would be a disaster!