Dan, unfortunately there are posters on these forums that will only be happy when FlyBe and/or Harbour close down. I find it very hard to understand especially when these same posters have allegedly no direct interest in either business. There is an air of glee when there is any perceived dip in loads or revenue for anything other than the glorious Aldergrove, this is of course judged by these self proclaimed experts from the comfort of their armchair.
I still stick to the principle of competition and the fact that choice leaves everyone in NI plc better off overall. If Harbour and FlyBe were to disappear overnight then Aldergrove still wouldn't turn into a serious Dublin competitor. It appears this thread and also the Harbour one is populated by check-in agents and aerosexuals all desperate to outdo each other on the doom messages regarding Harbour and any business associated with it, its a pity as there can be some quite interesting things posted but you need a fairly robust bullsh*t filter to find them
Panpanpanpan,
I don't think there are any many people on here who feel that a one Belfast Airport strategy would challenge Dublin or turn into a serious Dublin competitor. The collective Belfast airport displayed strong growth overall last year which is welcome, and this year would appear to have the means to deliver an enhanced performance again all welcome.
You have been steadfast in your belief in competition and the working of the free market, this is all sound thinking. For my part I would like to clarify, I am neither anti Flybe (I believe they provide essential and niche services to Belfast and the province) nor am I anti Belfast City Airport, I fly from it frequently and I'd describe it as a great little airport, almost I'd say a boutique airport.
However, like many others I have tried to ask the pertinent questions about the strategic outlook of the airport business in Belfast. It is not unreasonable to discuss this and on this forum we are given an opportunity to do that. Doing such does not make me or many others aerosexuals, armchair whatevers, and nobody on here, no matter how experienced they are, have experience or input into all aspects of this jigsaw.
Nonetheless, it great to see that you are back on the forum, as I remember you were taking a sabbatical if I remember correctly!!