Akerosid. I agree totally on your thinking. Having worked for Brymon Airways when the PLH-NQY-LHR routes was the prime source of income for the airline and a vital link for Devon and Cornwall to the rest of the world then this is a sore subject for me. The are various issues to address with domestic routes out of LHR. Look at the routes lost from LHR ... NWI/JER/GCI/IOM/NQY/PLH/CAX/DND/LBA/HUY/BLK/BHX etc etc
The main problem is that the revenue generated from them back in the 90's wasn't all that great as approx 70% of the passengers we carried had onward connections so the fare's had to be sufficiently low enough to get bums on seats, which made the route even more susceptible to outside influences such as war and high fuel prices and extortionate landing fees. I do believe that for a 46 seater aircraft, the landing fees equated to £250,000 in one 12 month period and for a small airline, that was a large sum of money. I dread to think about the profit margins now!
Why do you think extra runway capacity in the South East seems to be taking decades!! he BAA, like with most organisations are money driven. Why waste valuable runway slots on vital regional links when we could get more passengers through with a 747. You can see why FLYBE sold their slots at LHR for £1m each, and why BA bought Brymon in '93 and Manx Airlines/British Regional in '02 purely for slot aquisition!!!
If they continue with the policy of 'bigger is better' then they will shoot themselves in the foot. Look at the growth of longhaul sectors from the regions with Continental/Emirates and Air India. With the more point-to-point flights with low cost carriers then they need to realise that LHR is ''unfashionable'' unless you live near it, and I'm sure they would rather not see a 5th runway given to regional operations, because as air travel grows then history will repeat itself and smaller carriers will find their slots pinched all over again. A 5th terminal at LHR and no extra runway capacity.......interesting times ahead.
If the situation doesn't change soon then, yes, ABZ/GLA/EDI/MAN connections to London will also die. They don't make money now......
Last edited by Dash-7 lover; 4th Jul 2005 at 21:58.