Originally Posted by
Prophead
So 20%+ tax income on a privately funded project is not a benefit to the uk?
Pet Project? Heathrow was based mainly on business travellers. Gatwick was holiday charters and Stansted Loco. That is how they separated them up Heathrow is also well connected to central London and when Crossrail came along, ideally placed for a connection improving access even more. Why would they choose any other to upgrade to a major hub?
Thank you, you have just explained why Heathrow expansion is such a good idea, Create easier connections to the regions and, as you say, growth follows. The fact MAN can support a Beijing link is good news and will hopefully lead to more investment. Other cities however are not viable from MAN. Other regional's cannot support a Beijing connection. This is why an easier transfer through LHR will be so important.
It seems to me that those around MAN want all this access and growth for themselves.
Chinese operations need to be understood very carefully they more to do with Xi Jinping global power projections than simply profit.
As for other cities Edinburgh has service about to start and Birmingham is fighting hard.
Other Chinese cities including Guangzhou and Shanghai are in negotiation .
Whilst the likes of Tianjin and Quidao and Xi’an and Changsha already have those lucrative services into “Full” Heathrow though they are stuffed with low yielding loss making
tourists you know the type that Heathrow doesn’t apparently need or want !