Originally Posted by
VickersVicount
What is BHX left with in terms of any longer haul nowadays? Theyve never had a great record at holding routes Indian airspace issues or not
On the contrary. BHX has had problems holding on to long haul
westbound. Heading east BHX has held on to PIA (aside of political issues) for 20+ years, Turkemistan for a similar period, Emirates for a in excess of 10 years, and Qatar, despite all the political problems, for 3 years now. AI has been on / off mostly for operational and political reasons (AI is overtly a political football in India). This latest suspension is geopolitical, with the closure of Pakistani airspace to Indian carriers.
Westbound, I'm very pessimistic about, can't see anything viable on the horizon, and the more Manchester expands and becomes a magnet for long haul carriers, the less likely it becomes that BHX will get much more in the way of new higher frequency long haul. It was bad enough being too close to LHR, even worse now it's "too close" to what has become the UK's second most important airport for long haul!!