IN hindsight, there was more than a touch of irony in the Flybe photocall at Bournemouth Airport in May this year.

The airline's chief executive, Saad Hammad and airport managing director, Paul Knight, renamed one of Flybe's Bombardier Q400 aircraft as 'Spirit of Bournemouth.'

It was done to celebrate the launch of nine routes in the summer programme, including Amsterdam, Paris, Dublin, Jersey, Manchester, Toulon and Biarritz.

Mr Hammad said more than million people lived within an hour of Bournemouth - making it "the perfect choice" for many new services.

Not so perfect as it turns out.

Flybe dropped the bombshell yesterday that it is to pull out of the airport after just one season.

Despite the fact aviation is always an uncertain industry, subject to the forces of everything from economic downturn and oil prices to terrorism and load factors, bosses at the Manchester Airport Group might have expected a rather longer term relationship than six months.

Not least because some of the routes over the summer had proved popular and passenger numbers were good.

There was talk of some kind of regional economic co-operation with Toulon on the Cote D'Azur for example.

They might not have expected such short-termism from the carrier and that would have given it more time.

Only a few weeks ago, airport executives were talking with some anticipation about Flybe's 2016 programme from Bournemouth.

They probably thought it would be tweaked. All airlines constantly look at their schedules to see what works and what doesn't and adjust accordingly. From Bournemouth, nothing worked apparently.

A total withdrawal though almost certainly came as a bolt from the blue to the airport.

Of course carriers rarely scrap services if they are filling enough seats and making enough money.

So clearly passenger numbers were not what Flybe had hoped for or anticipated. New routes always come with a warning from operators and airports. Use them or lose them.

Bournemouth Airport is clearly nowhere near where it wants or needs to be after spending £50m on a new terminal, arrivals hall, aprons and other facilities. There were hopes that Flybe would push passengers numbers back over 750,000.

So while Ryanair, Thomson and Easyjet continue to operate numerous well used services, it's back to the drawing board on the routes axed by Flybe.

And no doubt there will a quick paint job on the Q400 and another renaming ceremony.

The spirit of Bournemouth will have long departed.

Hard on the heels of the withdrawal of Royal Mail, these are tough times for Bournemouth Airport. Tough and uncertain.

BUSINESS leaders have expressed disappointment over Flybe pulling out of the airport.

Ian Girling, chief executive of Dorset Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: "This is obviously disappointing and I have to say somewhat surprising news after such a short period of time flying from Bournemouth but won’t result in direct redundancies at the airport. 

"It also comes at a time when both Thomson and Ryanair are reporting strong performance and the airport remains positive about the future."

Bournemouth council leader, Cllr John Beesley said: "It’s extremely disappointing news for the airport and the Manchester Airports Group and of course for those in employment and users of the airport. 

"I hope that the management are able to attract more operators to try and fill some of the vacancies left by its departure.”

He did not believe the work on the A338 Spur Road had been a key factor in Flybe’s decision.

“The work that’s happening on the A338 will be followed by improved road access to the airport and that’s in part the government’s contribution to helping us open up the industrial land around the airport to encourage more investment and more jobs,” he added.