JimmyGerrard
Some of the posts here are correct about limited career progression within Ops, yes it is there but it is harder to come by than moving in to other areas of the Airline Business.
One thing you have to think about is that with Airlines going bust or merging and being bought up by others the number of Ops departments in the UK is decreasing. If an airline buys another one it generally doesn't need two Ops departments.
This has decreased the promotion opurtunites within Ops in the UK. It is a good role to do though and I certainly enjoyed it but for me it had a limited timescale. Although others are happy to stay in Ops for a long long time so it really depends on what you want out of it. My advice would be to do it for a few years as you already have sales experience which you can add to any Ops experience you will get. But be prepared to move around a bit within an airline if you can and add to that experience, which if you end up enjoying Ops you could then bring back to Ops management in later years.