Recently I've had a chance to vary from my usual diet of LHR and AMS and got to fly on the Ryanair routes to Pisa and Bergamo.
While it's not enough to draw conclusions, a few observations
- Both services had good loads ( > 90%) and judging by the prices I had to pay for my, admittedly late, bookings, yields aren't too shabby
- Almost everyone on the Pisa service is Irish. There were maybe 6 or 7 Italians. It is also very much a holiday service, with people going to Tuscany, the Ligurian Riviera or even joining cruise ships in Livorno or La Spezia.
- The Bergamo service has a much more varied clientele. About 30% of those onboard seemed to be Italian. There are also some business travelers to add to the vacationers.
I can see why Pisa is restricted to running for a few months in the summer, but I could see Bergamo having the legs to run into the should season and maybe take on a slightly longer run.
Unfortunately, Bergamo is operated by a Cork-based aircraft, while Parma is operated from the Ryanair base there, so the route that might have the demand to extend is the one that could have problems with aircraft allocation.