Alycidon: You make a good point. I was specifically comparing their equipment i.e. 50 seat RJ's as apposed to the 21st century solution of a circa 80 seat turboprop.
OltonPete: Nothing wrong with being biased, I quite clearly am. There is no doubt Birmingham is the bigger base and potentially the most profitable. However Southampton for me is arguably the best placed regional airport in the country. There is no doubt that it has the most affluent catchment, potentially has the best transport links and with it being in the very south it is pretty much open to the majority of the regional airports in the country. The bulk of its 1.8 million passengers come from regional traffic and also second home traffic to France. If EZY had the room to come in then they could offer the kind of routes and prices to fulfil SOU's untapped potential. I cannot see how opening a base at BOH is anything other than BE shooting themselves in the foot but I am open to being proved wrong.