Now theres an idea... Longhaul from regional airports!
Why not allow Longhaul flts out of the 'regional' airports? In fact the only reason there are no flights presently (with the exception of MAN-JFK) is that British Airways - sorry London Airways, are greedy to the extreme and they are about to pay the price for this attitude with all their eggs in the one basket - Terminal 5 at LHR.
Fact - GLA-JFK did make good money, even though pax figures were not always high. The magic profit-making aspect to the operation was CARGO on the flight. Crew who flew this route confirmed that the cargo was making megabucks. BUT as usual BA claimed that passengers were not using the flight, so it was being withdrawn...
Fact - BA didnt promote the route properly with sales staff encouraged to offer alternative routes - and in some instances not even mention the GLA-JFK service! Former BA call centre staff have confirmed this.
EDI and GLA have (had until Monday) the skilled staff in place to handle Longhaul services from said airports. B757/767 aircraft ideally suited to USA, Canada and seasonal Carribean routes. The airports are big enough to operate the aircraft and there IS demand for these flights.
Why should pax fly south to catch a longhaul flight, then fly back up north over Scotland? Why cant pax fly north to join the service in Scotland?
The number of 'through-checked' pax from Scotland to North America is amazing. Pax from as far away as Newcastle come to EDI to fly out on holiday.
Continental, US Airways, American Airlines (BA partner no less), Delta and now Globespan are all jumping on the bandwagon, cashing in on flights direct to the USA. Now you can argue till the cows come home about how they structure the costs etc, but look at the evidence and the pax loads.
BA being the strongest UK airline should be ashamed at not flying out of Scotland on Longhaul routes. You want it all out of LHR so hell mend you when the fog comes down, your staff walk out on strike for no reason at all or your caterers give give you a bad bout of the sh**s!
Dont be greedy chaps. Spread the joy and create a truly British Airline by flying out of other airports. LHR will be your downfall. Slots and available airspace in the south is becomming a very scarce commodity... Maybe now the 'open sky' policy looks as though its going to be relaxed, you (BA) will come running with open arms to airports in Scotland, offering to fly longhaul routes as LHR looks to be shaking on its foundations with every man and his dog with an aircraft ready to jump in and start operating in competition with you
PS - Remember, Virgin are trialing a flight from GLA-MCO this summer (ok, it starts in MAN first, but at least they are testing the market)
