I love this bit of management speak - "We put in a bid that was in line with the airport's cost aspirations and which reduced our own costs, while achieving a commercial return,"
Translated as "The airport told us what they were prepared to pay so we had no choice but to cut our costs to the bone while still trying to cream some profit off the contract."
It still begs the question, has the airport been paying way over the odds over the last contract duration? Why could costs not have been reduced previously? Why does airport management not do a Birmingham and do their own thing?