Flybe - 7

[mart901]

Daza

I use BHX-WAT myself, I've never paid more than about £70 return, granted I don't fly over at peak, comparing that to BHX-ORK the fares are almost always cheaper, and BHX-DUB has only come down in price since FR went into fares war mode and periodically dabbled with a fourth daily rotation. I'm pleased BHX-WAT is doing well, I'm brummie/Irish through and through! However there is clear proven demand for LON-WAT, LON has been the one route than has consistently ran over the years, predominantly LTN which was triple daily at one point. RE under stobart tried to drive SEN and really ramped up fares and cut capacity at LTN to the point starting fares were over £100 return, and they were flying full most days. SEN was just starting to catch on when EIR pulled it to concentrate on feeding transatlantic, I loved RE but their latter offering at WAT became very unreliable, on numerous occasions I have flown on an ATR with duct tape round seats and leaks from overhead, the lovely cabin crew having to explain not even having coffee available for sale in flight because literally everything had ran out - they were very lucky to keep the customers they did, but I stick to my guns there is definitely demand for LON service, LTN-WAT was RE's most profitable route until it changed its business model and became EIR, regional airports just aren't part of EI's strategy. The London area, in particular north London has the highest Irish population in the UK, and I don't buy the story everyone wants to fly via DUB, I certainly don't want to land in north Dublin to get to Waterford or Kilkenny.
Much of the issue lies in the fact that there are few airlines that can serve WAT as it can't take anything over regional jet size currently, hence the reason BE's name keeps coming up!