Of course I am referring to Manchester Airport- there isn’t another airport south of Lothian that compares to it and yes getting over the Pennines can be tough but still it’s only 40 miles from Leeds and even at the worst it remains considerable quicker to get to via ground transport than ANY of the London options from Yorkshire and Derbyshire .
As for Birmingham it sorely under performs to the point of blite for a variety of reasons without doubt including proximity to Heathrow.
Again what real support has BA made in developing the reinstated direct services to Heathrow NONE quite opposite in fact !
Admittedly rail remains a work in progress and no thanks to Grayling regional benefits are lost for the foreseeable on that front.
However proper funding and completion of the now fractured electrification would still be cheaper on the public purse with evident employment opportunities well beyond the M4 corridor.