Air Exel did not operate in competition with KLM Cityhopper. Air Exel had great load factors, specially to Amsterdam and London.
The purchase/lease of Embraer 145's killed them.
Anyway to get back on subject, Maastricht Airport will be de-privatised on May 16th. The Province of Limburg will take over and a lot of lobbying is going on to re-instate the Amsterdam service. Mainly pressure from local businesses.
The airline's CEO is around a lot to talk to the province, I guess hawkeyeing possible subsidies to give a local airline another try.
I don't know how serious he is taken, let's just wait and see !