Originally Posted by bar none
I would not be so cynical as to suggest that Baby are in T3 simply to boost the throughput of the shops
Moving baby passengers from T1 to T3 will reduce the airport's income because there are fewer shops in T3.
The reason they moved is because:
a) BA persuaded MAPLC to extend T3 with a promise that they'd increase their routes/freqs/capacity and increase their passengers. As we all know, BA is gradually going t1ts up and thus there is spare space in T3.
b) T1 is busting at the seams, especially with Jet2 growing so quickly. There isn't space for them all.
c) bmi and baby have been subsidised by MAPLC (yes, £000s of real cash has been handed over, for years) to cover their costs of running a split operation between T1 and T3 previously. This will reduce costs.
d) baby want to be near the runway for faster turnarounds.
Airlines don't pay MAPLC to use the airbridges, but they do pay the handling agents. It's a specialised task and there aren't the trained staff to do it. If baby can use a/c with inbuilt steps then no bridge or towed steps are required. More cost and time saved.