Short haul in Europe it can happen a lot as those are massively expensive, especcially if you want to go on a day by day basis.
For a while, my favorite run was ZRH-SZG, which takes 1:20 with my Mooney and about an hour when there are direct flights per airline. For a while there weren't any so it was via Frankfurt or Vienna. During this time, time AND money gain was tremendous! 2:40 flight hours for the return trip as opposed to 6-10 and around 500 Euros flight cost as opposed to 1100 Euros the airlines charged for a same day return. Now there is a scheduled service again but again, day trips are around 600 Euros and the flight time is around 50 minutes, but add to that check in and gate time.
This goes for many such point to point trips within maybe 200-300 NM where no airline is flying to or where times are not suitable.