As owner of both LHR and SOU, how much capacity does HAH have to make things difficult if Flybe launch new routes to major business centres (eg Madrid) in competition with Heathrow ?
Can't see HAH doing that, even if there were multiple daily flights from SOU to the likes of MAD, FRA, ZRH, FCO, CPH, ARN etc. I can't see that making much more than a small dent in traffic to those destinations through LHR.
And even if they did make a dent, and a few short-haul rotations were removed at LHR, that would just mean they have more slots available to use more profitably for bigger a/c flying to more attractive long-haul destinations.
And, if Flybe fails, SOU fails, surely that would not be in HAH's interest either?