Originally Posted by
goldeneye
If a new operator can be found, will they not have to get slots at LCY, or will they look at another London airport. Maybe SEN or LGW.
Although I haven't seen the detailed PSO specifications (and indeed I don't know whether they have been written yet), I would be surprised if they specify LCY as the London airport. The purpose of a PSO is to provide city-to-city connectivity, not to dictate which airport is served, so any London airport should be eligible. I would therefore expect that the PSO will leave open the question of which London airport is served, and the PSO specification will include elements such as "at least x frequencies per weekday, at least x seats in the aircraft, scope for at least x hours in London city centre between first arrival and last departure, at least x% of seats to be sold below £x."
If there are multiple bids for the PSO, the evaluation process will then have to assess which is better value, a service to LGW costing £y or a service to LCY costing £z. There'll be good money for consultants to build that assessment algorithm, assigning values to different London airports!
