One of the problems with poor old BHX is that there is not much consistancy on any of the long haul routes.
Take BOAC back in 1970 with their slogan 'Brum Brum Brum to New York' with the SVC.10 That didn't last long and disappeared around 1974 then along comes the BA 767 operation in the 90's and that didn't last. Oh yes what happened to the Tajik flight that used to go direct to JFK two years ago?
We also saw all the hype about Flyblu to Florida this year with all the promises of a professional carrier, and that came to nothing.
Now we have 'odd' carriers trying for India etc. Last year it was flyjet doing the Delhi run via Gatwaick, this year we think it's 'Midland Airways' with an old TWA 767, oh yes plus one or two other Central Asian carriers flying to India via an Eastern European point.
The only carrier to have proven success at the moment is Emirates. They plan to expand next year so much so that Gulf Air are jumping on the bandwagon, will they last the course? Who knows
Then there was PIA who used to come into BHX with a 743. What happened to that it had to be routed via CPH because of the runway length. Then they tried the services with an A310 which seemed to work and BHX became a nice little hub for them - until they bought the B772 into operation and what happened? it all got transferred to MAN!! Now all BHX is left with is a couple of flights a week to ISB and one to PEW & LHE.
What does 2005 hold in store for long haul operators???