As for the long-distance routes floated in his survey by bycrewlgw's pal, many of them are already available from CWL via AMS.
Over the years I have used this connection for inter-continental travel many times, admittedly from BRS but the principle is the same, although not since KLM were taken over by Air France.
I have read through the CWL draft master plan and no specific new long-haul scheduled routes are mentioned as likely to be viable during the period of the plan (until 2030), although significantly larger totals of long-haul sched pax are forecast, so some new l-h sched routes will eventuate.
In its draft master plan BRS states that demand for such routes from its catchment is limited and specifically mentions only four as being realistic during the next twenty-four years, viz, New York (already operating), Washington, another US destination which it thinks might be Atlanta and Dubai. This is based on perceived demand, not airport infrastructure limitations. BRS does, however, believe that l-h charter flights will blossom.
I would think that CWL would be in a not dissimilar position as regards likely demand.
If Dubai becomes the massive hedonistic destination that appears to be developing there, I don't think it is rocket science to say that within ten years there will be flights from a lot of UK airports, in the same way that Sharm el Sheik has become popular in recent years.
Last edited by MerchantVenturer; 17th Aug 2006 at 12:35.