Bet you wouldn't be saying it was a waste of money if MAG had been eligible
to get their snout into the funds being made available
I would like to wade in with this and state I also think it is a waste of money (unless its genuine PSO money such as the highlands or NQY-LGW in the face of the rail lines out of action), and my opinion is nothing to do with the fact MAN/MAG are not eligible for the fund.
Firstly,
Airports in the UK are private business'. Why should one airport be favoured over another 'just because it is smaller'. The government wouldn't give Morrisons £10million to give it a boost against Tesco or Asda, so why should say, LPL be given a boost against MAN?
If there was a scenario where say, TAROM were looking at a North West-Bucharest route, where do you think they will go? The airport with the bog standard fees or the one with the shiny pot of money attached? How is that a fair competition?
The one to watch could be Pegasus. They have publicly stated they are looking at a MAN/LPL-SAW route. Could MAN argue an unfair advantage by LPL if it waves the route fund in front of them? Surely all airports should compete based on the resources they have produced themselves, without the added bonus of public money. Yes, this could mean MAN has the advantage of a bigger profit pot, but at least its money they have made themselves and not a public hand out.
Secondly,
Could one argue that a route that requires a fund to get it off the ground likely to be a viable route in the long term? Surely if a route was so obviously needed, it could be started under its own steam?
Look at LPL-CPH. Norwegian got a fund from the CPH end to get it started, and where is the route after March? Oh yes, its gone.
Thirdly,
Without stringent conditions, this fund could be subject to abuse. Lets say Ryanair move MAN-CRL to LPL to get access to the fund as its technically a 'new route'. Firstly, very little, likely none new business is created as you are shifting flights within the same area. Then, Ryanair move the route back to MAN after the incentive period (Ryanair seem to like shifting routes between LPL and MAN). For the North West, what have you achieved after all that, apart from wasting public money on essentially, nothing?
Now, taking the 'of course you are against it as it is possibly detrimental to your preferred airport' hat off, surely the above are valid points, and a scenario that could be repeated in other areas too?