Shocking waste of money. While I can see why routes to the Scottish Islands should receive support and probably already do I am at a loss why any route on this list needs government money.
Stobart comes out as a villain in all of this with their proposal for their double whammy services from their Carlisle airport using their own airline across the Irish sea for a town that has a population of just 70,000. Yes I can see the area's sheep farmers queuing up in their thousands for weekends away.
As for Stobart's proposed Carlisle's Southend service, which is a triple whammy, as they also own Southend, what is that all about? Carlisle already has an hourly town centre train service to London which is as quick as any service to London via Southend when you factor in minimum check-in times and the fact that Southend is on the coast and not in London.
I don't blame Stobart for applying for funding that at a stroke benefits all 3 of their enterprises but the service isn't needed and if there is a demand then it is for Stobart to carry the risk rather than looking for a government revenue stream.