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The FlyGlobespan story hasn't flown away.

Putting Scotland's largest airline into administration, nearly two months ago, turned out to be more than just a casualty of recession.

We know now that it was primarily because the company handling its online transactions, E-Clear, was withholding cash - £35m of it.

And it was not for insurance against the airline's collapse, as we were told, but because it was struggling to keep paying bills from two previous airline failures.

There's more coming on Thursday. Face the Facts, to be broadcast on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 4 at 1230 GMT, has taken a close look at Mr Elias Elia, the chief executive of E-Clear.

It has not only raised questions about the incompetence or illegality of his attempts to avoid collapse, but come up with some significant answers about the way he was funding his other businesses.

In Scotland, the collapse of Globespan and its FlyGlobespan airline has moved on to questions of how to fill the gap it has left.

It had well over 500,000 seats booked out of Scotland in the year ahead (one industry insider told me it was 700,000) and airport operators are struggling to fill that gap.

One problem was the timing. December is the point at which most budget operators have just finalised their schedules, and they don't have the flexibility to respond quickly to opportunities like a rival's collapse.

Edinburgh Airport reckons it has now made up the loss of seats on its sixth biggest operator, with Ryanair's chief executive, Michael O'Leary, taking one of his own jets from Dublin to Prestwick today to announce three new routes and a doubling of the capacity of his Ayrshire maintenance operation.

I asked him how he can afford aircraft maintenance on £5 tickets, once he has paid for the plane and for its fuel.

He assured me Ryanair can avoid heavy maintenance costs by running one of the most modern fleets.

And while he's re-oriented his Prestwick operation towards outbound, sun-seeking Scots, Edinburgh is the hub for inbound tourists.

It is easier to market Edinburgh to the world, and it seems O'Leary has at last found at the capital's Turnhouse a bit of BAA plc with which he can work.

The downside for Prestwick is that it means handling a more seasonal market.

And a downside for both is that there are never good margins on working with Ryanair.

Last year was pretty dire for Prestwick. Passenger numbers were down 24% to 1.8 million.

It badly needs to find some operators other than Ryanair: at present there are only a couple.

Glasgow passenger traffic was down 11% to 7.2 million. Because people are switching to the train? They've looked at the figures and concluded that's not the reason.

Aberdeen was down 9% to 3 million, while Edinburgh was up just under 1% to reach 9 million.

It was the only BAA plc airport to register growth. The capital also registered a bumper year for cargo, up by 135%, while its rivals saw air-freight fall steeply.

As a result of its location, well served by relatively uncongested roads, it's hard not to conclude that Edinburgh is a better proposition for airlines.

It doesn't help that Glasgow's rail network is now stuck in a siding for the foreseeable future.

And with the Competition Commission today serving notice that it intends to revisit its legally stalled push to break up Edinburgh and Glasgow, their relative valuations will be a key part of deciding which one gets sold.

While Ryanair has the scale and flexibility to swoop on the Scottish market with an expanded service, it's not a core part of the summer package travel trade.

That so-called "leisure market" is distinct from the low-fare one.

And without FlyGlobespan, Scotland now has two air operators - Thomas Cook and Tui - who have 80% of the market between them.

That, in itself, is seeing prices rise, by around 10%, and most steeply if you're booking flights only.

These leisure airlines want to sell seats to people who will be staying at their hotels, and buying their packages, so there's a hefty premium on not doing so.

And as they also prefer to stick to rigid seven or 14 day return tickets, that's not the flexibility many customers are seeking.

It adds up to a tough year ahead for outbound Scottish travellers, who have already shown a boost in demand with early January bookings.

The industry's hope is that the FlyGlobespan-shaped hole in much of the market may attract newcomers for their 2011 schedules.