For a 4 hour flight on a route that went on sale last year, this seems
remarkably cheap - does this suggest that the route is perhaps struggling a
little
Maybe time of year? Ill have to dig them out (unless someone beats me to it), but there are several quotes from Carolyn McCall and head of sales saying the route was performing above expectation, with one quote hinting the yield on MAN-DME was higher than LGW-DME.
Edited: Found some quotes:
For now, even visas don't seem to be a huge obstacle. Although
easyJet only started selling tickets for the Moscow-London route
in January and the Moscow-Manchester route in December, bookings
have already surpassed expectations
Read more:
EasyJet Starts Flights to U.K. From Domodedovo | News | The Moscow Times
The Moscow Times
The second quote:
Watkins: A little bird tells me that the yields from here to Moscow are better than those being achieved in London?
Spratt: Are they? I couldn’t possibly comment on actual figures, but it does makes sense, as London to Moscow is a far more competitive market than what we face up here, where we are the only airline serving the route direct.
So not a firm yes, but not a no either, so definitely hinting that yield could have been higher (at least at one point).
30 Second Interview: easyJet Head of Sales UK, Ruth Spratt has a slice of route launch cake with anna.aero | anna.aero