I remember back in 1992 when Loganair first launched EDI and GLA to SOU. I operated on the first day of ops there.
There is a ready market between the naval bases (less now that Rosyth has gone), plus we used to get a lot of Ford traffic (there is a Ford factory just off the end of the runway), as well as railways folk.
Even charging high prices, the flights were usually full. However, Loganair (later Manx/BA Regional/BACX etc) never exploited the potential of the route. It is actually a very, very good feeder for SW London, and the connections to LHR/LGW were good even then. Add to that, there is a main line railway station just outside the terminal door, you can get to central London in 40 mins or so.
We found that most pax had no idea we were flying into there, most only found out by accident- a function of BA influence over travel agents at the time. We should have a much better exposure using the internet.
Also, SOU is unavailable to the main low-cost carriers, so we have little competition. Bournemouth is another 40 mins down the road, has no rail link and poor transport connections.
The only slight worry is that I seem to remember us saying the LCY would be a major expansion for us...
