EK77WNCL,
With respect to suggest that CityJet could make vacant routes at NCL work, when they cannot make a previously 'busy' route like CWL GLA work suggests that this is pie in the sky.
They cannot complete in a market where they are well established where there is a grand supply of customers i.e. London City. Routes like EDI LCY which was there flagship route for many years was not sustainable and axed.
They need to redefine where they are at with their strategy and identify what their point of difference is. The airline has never made sustainable returns except for maybe 2-3 years during the Irish Celtic Tiger. Prior to that it stumbled from one near bankruptcy even to the next.
The key issue at the point that AF came in to invest was the scale of the operation and relative costs. Divesting VLM piece only brings that scenario about again, higher unit costs. The organisation in my view needs to define how they intend to play in the game, and currently their single biggest market is under siege, Dublin London.
wethersfield
I wouldn't agree that SEN is the right place for Cityjet. While routes like BFS KRK and EDI had boardings that may be attractive for Cityjet, however, there is very low chances that Cityjet would capture these numbers. Also given Cityjet pricing approach, they are unlikely to attract anywhere near these numbers. EasyJet were charging very low fares on BFS SEN even close to travel dates, I'd suggest that outside of FRI and SUN the route was very marginal.
If Cityjet can fill all the gaps in the timetable ex LCY and then make right route choices and stay out of the way of BA they may just be able to carve a niche for themselves. However, sadly it seems that this opportunity has passed as BE has arrived on scene etc.
Incidentally, does anybody know for LCY what is the level of gaps in terms of slots, are there much slots available especially at peak flying times?
EI-BUD