Fair enough they have considerably lower charges to contend with and will make money relatively more easily ex BHD but have BFS suddenly forgotten that most probably in the next 10 years EI will be back knocking at their door about T/A services? This is why I believe it is Ill-advised for a Management team to make a statement like that.
It's not all about an Airport operator having to be nice to an airline. Eventually someone has to realise that for any long haul service out of Northern Ireland, BFS is the only plausible option. Consequently, strong words now at least lets the airline know that they can't just do what they want, when they want, without some kind of resistance. If this doomed-to-fail experiment at the city comes back to haunt them, it is either pull out of NI completely or come knocking, cap in hand. I know what sort of stand the BFS management will be happier they took in that scenario.