Excuse my naivety runway08 but why don't your friends just drive the extra hour to STN rather than cross Sicily "in the heat" to reach Palermo? Surely that would be far easier for them...
Personal preference for myself. I live 5 mins from Luton airport I can get the bus rather than park the car at STN for a month. It avoids having to haul a tonne of luggage on the National express to Essex.. Id rather the extra hour and a bit driving on the otherside personally (if it has to be that way) viewing the sicilian scenery but alot of them are old and struggle. I can't pin exactly when it was but I think it was Monarch we used when I was a tiny kiddo 30+ yrs ago, LTN-PMO existed as long as I did. It became a routine I was sad to see go. Obviously you dont start a route because a "few people" might like it but I just can't see how it wouldnt be a success.