Correct me if i'm wrong, but birmingham's proposed second 'short' runway is proposed at 2000m, a practical versatile length to achieve european destinations. From memory, Coventry is restricted to 1600 odd metres take off in one direction, a restricting handicap, surely?
And JA, nobody in their right mind would spend several hundred million pounds connecting the 12 miles between the airports with a maglev, when in true coventry airport stye, a few busses could do the trick quite adequately.
The cost to wdc fighting cov airport may well be approaching £1m, but that was caused by the airport not applying for planning permission, and wdc (in their eyes at least) having to enforce the law.
Anyway compared to the money that Cov city council pumped into the place year on year, (including building a cross runway that was promplty closed again) it's peanuts. How much do you estimate cov city lost at the airport when it owned it, before selling it to AA for next to nothing? Wasnt it losing '£1m a year' for 10 years or more?