Unfortunately the OLT Express flights from Southend are destined to fail. Southend has turned out to be a great success withnthe likes of EZ, however these German destination are a wrong fit for this airport.
LH operated a daily CRJ 900 out of LHR up until April this year to Dresden, which I travelled on, on a number of occasions. Each time I flew, the flight was at least 75% full. The reason LH pulled the route is due to the lack of premium travellers. However with the sale of BMI to BA, they obviously wanted to use the precious LHR slots into one of their main hubs using larger aircrafts.
If OLT Express were able to fly out of any of LGW, LTN OR STN, they would increse their chances of operating a profitable route 3 fold, with the right timings and marketing, they would have a better chance of filling one of their Fokker 100 aircrafts.
I understand that LH are dropping their LGW / Frankfurt flight, I wonder if they are re considering using that slot for a re commencement of the Dresden service? Maybe using OLT to operate the service on their behalf.