Originally Posted by
SpringHeeledJack
A slight thread drift, but why would Aeroflot or LOT etc need to fly to Manchester back then on a regular basis ? London had Government and the Embassies, perhaps tourists in smaller numbers, but I'm scratching my head about Manchester and environs.
Manchester's twin city was Leningrad, so every couple of years a TU104 would pitch up on an exchange visit.
Eventually Moscow / Leningrad became city break tourist destinations with regular summer charters on Aeroflot 154s on behalf of Thomson
There were regular LOT flights using IL-18 and TU-134 and sometimes IL-62 with a mix of tourists and visiting friends and relatives. Not to mention Tarom IL-18/TU154 and IL-62 and Balkan TU-134/154 on package holidays.
Gave the savvy people of the north an opportunity to fly direct without all the hassle of having to go over London