I'm staggered by the news that the successful applicant for the PSO is BMIR. I would wager that the management and DCC are disappointed in the outcome too. Was it that more credible airline partners didn't show up or did the procurement process screw up? It would be interesting to know.
Having been a long time supporter of this nice little airport, and flown into it several times (the Mrs is from not far away) I now seriously fear for its future.
The LDY-STN numbers will plummet as BMIR has almost zero credibility, market presence or knowledge of the local market. It's a small, high cost jet too.
Cost conscious Derry folk will get the bus to Antrim Intl to get a cheap flight with RYR. I suspect my own future visits to Co. Derry will be exclusively through BFS.
The 'economic benefit' justification whilst done by a highly credible aviation consultancy firm, is now probably 10 years old and was predicated on the passenger flows going through the airport at the time (circa 450kpa was it?). It would almost certainly not stack up if the same exercise was re-visited 6 months into the BMIR operation.