My point is that Eastern have priced themselves out of the market - return flights BHD-IOM with Flybe via Manchester cost £130. Imagine what Flybe would charge if the flights were direct - easily under £100 return. Even with Citywing in operation I always found it cheaper to use Flybe by a substantial amount.
Typically, airlines charge not less, but more for nonstop flights because the majority of passenger will pay an added premium for not having to connect and for saving time. So it should be expected that any airline offering IOM-BHD would be able to charge more than an airline offering IOM-XXX-BHD. The problem, however, is that the travelling public has gotten used to the ridiculously low fares charged (or rather: advertised) by Citywing which were only possible in the heavily criticized set-up they had invented.