On my recent run to Conwall, we drove down from Berks on the Friday evening at the start of half-term week (24th May), running through Exeter at around 11pm and arriving in west Cornwall a couple of hours later.
Even past midnight, there was a fairly heavy stream of high-speed westbound traffic along the A30 into Cornwall, and it was noticeable how most of the vehicles were, shall one say, at the higher-end of the market (LR's, Jags, Beemers, Mercs etc)
How many of these vehicles were occupied by the "second-home set" on the race west from London and the home Counties for the weekend? A fair few, I bet?
Even if only 25% of them were happy to leave the car and fly to Cornwall, you could have easily filled a 319 from LHR or LGW that evening.
I also saw (on a rail users forum) that every train to Devon/Cornwall that afternoon/evening from Paddington was reserved solid, including the sleeper. All those people (an HST carries nearly 500, not including those left standing!) obviously didn't feel the need, or have the means to take a car. The quickest trains from Paddington to Penzance take 5 hours, and some a bit more.
I realise this is an example from a peak travel period, but the demand must be there for some sort of daily (at least) service to NQY once Flybe pull out.
Last edited by Wycombe; 6th Jun 2013 at 17:12.