Re :- XLA via MAN
It's all very frustrating, those passengers that really don't want anything to do with MAN get a visit imposed upon them. Those of us who would choose not to transit via London & other overseas hubs, to get longhaul connections can't get any convenient access to the place !
I keep reading about all these "new routes" discussed on this forum, some exotic & some that certainly aren't. Basically like it or not to those "diplomats" in the North East seem over the years to one way or another have put up obstacles to any form of airservice to MAN.
When one considers the alternative transport options available & the cost, let alone that no one who conforms to legal speed limits could get there in less than 3 hours (3 hours may itself be a miracle), then something ought to be done !
Long gone are the "Dan Dair" days when they ran a service of sorts, on aircraft you would probably only now find in museums.
Surely this has got to be a viable route given types of equipment now available.
The earlier reference to politicians was not a throw away comment, as I believe there was (still is!) a lot of "negative attitude" between the management at Newcastle over potential competition from Manchester that would have affected passenger loads at NCL .
Basiaclly if this was the case, just as is with their retrospective football teams, they need to realise that they are not in the same league & develop accordingly, and in any event the coming of the low cost boom at NCL has in itself surely undermined such concern.