Originally Posted by
ATNotts
The problem is that hub services have been tried, and failed. DUB (for North America), AMS with KLM, FRA and BRU with BMI / Star Alliance, for a variety of reasons, mostly the proximity of BHX and to a lesser extent LBA that makes multi-daily connections to serve these hubs properly unviable. If EMA / GCI can only muster 11 PAX out of the holiday season is dire, and frankly surprising. It make you wonder who is bank rolling the service. That might just have been a bad day.
Long haul passenger schedules are pie in the sky, won't happen - ever, not least because the airport's owners want to attract that traffic to MAN first, and then STN. Again BHX with it's limited long haul is one hour down the road from Nottingham, Derby and Leicester so where is the business case for Emirates, Qatar, Air India or PIA - who serve the VFR traffic opportunities that undoubtedly exist from those three East Midlands cities?
Cargo is the business for EMA, along with bucket and spade traffic to European destinations. Sadly, it looks as though some new business in the way of Cargo Logic may have gone to DSA; surely one that EMA would have wanted to capture. However against that the parcels integrators continue to grow and prosper.
So far as road infrastructure is concerned, once again the Department for Transport has spent millions not improving the access to the MI from the A453 westbound, with traffic still queuing over a mile towards the J24 island at peak times because they have done half a job (no different to what they to across the UK road network by the way) by not putting in proper sliproad directly on to the M1 and flying the A453 over the M1. They'll be doing it all again in 5 years time! Then there is Donnington Park, and whenever there a big events getting to the airport is difficult and stressful. Dualing the A453 past the airport was obvious, but hasn't been done, I don't know if it has even been considered. The local authorities need to sort out whether they want a worldclass regional airport or a racing circuit / entertainment venue. Presently the two don't work together
Totally agree, the airport needs a direct entrance off junction 23a, the A453 should have been upgraded to dual carriageway to the race track, the East Mids railway hub is miles from the place, the new freight development over the other side of the runway should have had the rail spur extended up to the terminal.