I asked someone in the know about this and his reply was that their simply is little money in diversions any more.
Nigel - surely a diversion goes to whichever airport is operationally capable of taking the a/c and turning it around. I don't imagine the pilot haggling with BHX whilst the co-pilot barters down EMA on the other line - or have I missed something?
GF - yes, I agree, IST is great news, I assume a pretty good chunk of these are transferring on, not that I want to denigrate IST in its own right, which is indeed a fascinating city to visit, and gateway to a vast interior.
I flew with TK to IST in Dec 94, there was a group of 7 of use, and 3 other passengers in a 738. My feelings at the time were that this is what you get with state carriers not applying commercial logic, but the long term view obviously paints a very different picture. Well done TK, well done BHX.