mmeteesside -I do think however that domestic routes as a whole do not have a very good future, especially the shorter ones such as LBA, NCL, MAN and MME as they cannot compete against the train any more. The only thing that they are useful for is connections to long haul routes.
In the case of MME I have to agree. These days given LHR's current problems, no one of their own choice would elect to go anywhere via LHR. In the case of NCL those that do & significantly support the BA NCL-LHR route consist of considerable no.'s of pax connecting to onward 'one world alliance' flights at beneficial fares / flight timings. Other connecting pax with more choice would probably choose to connect via other European hubs, and more frequent timings of such flights which again make NCL that more attractive. I would suggest that it is not a case of frequency alone that affects MME - LHR loads more that it is simply not a BA operation. Historically this has always been the problem with this route dating back as far as Autair in the 60's, I don't see that the train service has any greater or lesser effect as it did back then.