Southampton has 600m more asphalt than Plymouth, has an ample sized terminal, well equipped in terms of infrastructure, is next to a substantial population centre, is well connected by road and train to the region and has shown itself to be capable of sustaining over 1.75m passengers per year. The Southampton-Edinburgh route alone manages 200,000 passengers
Typically, if an airline fails, other airlines will find a way to pick up the profitable routes within a few months and get passenger numbers going again.
If Ferrovial want to sell SOU to reduce some of their debt, they can do so now while passenger numbers are good - no need to wait for disaster to strike. Even if Flybe were to shut down, and Ferrovial lose confidence, it is likely that another airport management company or infrastructure fund would be interested as a purchaser
So why would SOU cease to be viable as an airport ?
Last edited by davidjohnson6; 20th Jul 2012 at 17:59.