DC3 Dave
Just to put it in context, what Glyn Jones says at the very end of that interesting article is that if you try flying from SEN and don't find it a more pleasurable experience than from any of the other LON airports then he "will give you your next flight for free".
Buster the Bear
Your phrase "Fill the planes at a profitable yield and they will stay" is obviously true. It's how you get to that situation that requires careful strategies and discounting fares when launching routes can be an effective and legitimate strategy. At SEN they currently suffer a lack of customer perception as to what destinations are available. One of the best ways of solving that problem is to try to ensure that their new routes appear at, or near, the top of the major online booking portals when searching LON as a departure point. You can achieve this by discounting fares in the first few months and you've then increased your market exposure considerably. You cannot simply go into the launch of new routes at the fares that you hope will ensure you achieve good yields from day one; that phase comes later on in the process.
Last edited by Expressflight; 16th Mar 2017 at 12:03.
Reason: re-phrased