Originally Posted by
wallp
Pity Citywing don't operate something slightly larger than a J31, they'd be perfect to take on the now vacant IOM-LTN route
Citywing don't operate anything, they are a ticketing agency pretending to be an airline. The nature of that veneer is evident from a perusal of the accident report on the Manx2 Metroliner accident in Cork.
The fact that they are allowed to continue this pretence is down to a loophole in the CAA regulations relating to aircraft with 19 seats or fewer. If Citywing operated something "slightly larger" than a J31 they would have to become a real airline, with the oversight and safety systems that go with that.
This is not to cast any aspersions at all on Links Air, who fly for them and who by all accounts are a reputable carrier. But as the Manx2 report made clear, the "ticketing agency" wasn't carrying out any meaningful oversight or auditing of the carriers who flew for it. For the passengers it was therefore the luck of the draw whether you got a good carrier (e.g. Links Air) or you didn't (Air Lada/Flightline BCN).