Once again, I'm not trying in any way to detract from the distress this situation is causing for WW employees. However, I do wonder if people outside Northern Ireland realise just how big an impact the decision to pull the BHD flights just before the start of the summer holiday rush is going to have on local people's holiday plans. Let's consider the case of a two parent two child family due to spend a fortnight in the Algarve between July 3 and July 17. They're looking forward to two weeks in a family complex which is fully paid for, and until a few days ago, had flights booked and paid for with WW.
If they tried today (May 6) to book return flights from Northern Ireland to Faro, travelling on the above dates, their options were easyJet and Aer Lingus. EasyJet will have quoted a total fare of £1784.92, not including baggage charges. Aer Lingus will have quoted a total fare of £1847.92, again not including baggage charges.
If they were prepared to change dates slightly, departing July 7 and returning July 21, Jet2 would have entered the equation with a fare of £1475.00. Baggage charges not included.
If they tried to find flights with Flybe from BHD, they would have been routed via Southampton at a total fare of £1375. Baggage not included.
Would they have found cheaper flights from Dublin? Not with Aer Lingus. They would have quoted 1727 Euros, not including baggage. Ryanair would have quoted 1384 Euros, not including baggage.
The only option open to them to keep the total fare under £1000 would have been to travel via an english airport. BFS to LTN and LTN to FAO would have given them the option of a fare of £769.84, not including baggage. However, the timings involve a great deal of hanging around which might not be practical with young children.
A lot of people may well no longer be able to afford their holiday.