Falcon - I cannot comment on motivations at Luton, but it's worth remembering that in actively promoting an airline, the airport is in effect providing an endorsement. If a well known airport has doubts, it may be a better idea to limit the extent of public endorsement - the Daily Mail does not forgive ! As long as slots are available, fire cover exists and an airline can pay the fees, a public airport has difficulty refusing access. Some airlines (eg big stable ones providing new routes) are more welcome than others. A large airport like LTN should be competent to decide on desirability of any particular airline. Have a read through the Southend thread between September 2012 and February 2013 for an example of this.
Iasi and Chisinau for Tarom and Carpatair are focussed very much on ethnic groups and migrant labour. When I was in Iasi last autumn, the number of tourists was near zero. News of these routes will have been passed via word of mouth and any ethnic community media sources - when Blue Air launched Luton I remember seeing a big ad in the window of my local East European food shop. An advert on Luton airport's website is not going to make much difference.
Last edited by davidjohnson6; 30th Jan 2014 at 16:22.