I hope this finishes the catchment area argument once and for all
from “The future development of air transport in the UK: North of England”
Page 42, Table 2.2 ‘Population Catchment’
1 hour road catchement population
MAN 5-7 million
LPL 5-7 million
LBA 3-5 million
MME 2-3 million
NCL 2-3 million
HUY 0.6 – 1 million
2 hour road catchment population
LBA 16-18 million
MAN 15-17 million
LPL 13-15 million
HUY 10-11 million
MME 6-7 million
NCL 3-4 million
data per DLTR NAAM model.
So as we can see NCL and MME have the same population living within an hour drive, neither is credited with a bigger population. Within 2 hours drive though MME wins hands down. True there are many other factors that come into play, like what routes and frequency is on offer.
I know people say that they wont travel past NCL or LBA to get to MME if there the same flights but that is just not true. Many travel to MME from within Newcastle to get flights to Spain. I ve seen it and actually been in the terminal when people living in Newcastle have gone out to Spain. Also people do actually drive past MME to get to NCL when there are the same flights on the same day etc. This is often down to travel agents pushing NCL.
Postcard I think you should know me by now not to argue. Think I have proven it now!