Well, this is no real surprise from BA who have never been committed to Manchester in any way.
They dropped MAN-Orlando,where Virgin manage six times a week, dropped Islamabad where PIA manage about 14 flights a week, dropped Hong Kong where Cathay manage daily.
You can't get on the B737 to Rome most days as it's full - but they won't increase the service, Iberia to BCN is nearly always full, but BAR will only serve BCN from BHX not MAN, Emirates daily direct DXB nearly always full - no BA option.
With the right equipment & marketing you can make money long haul from the below decks traffic, ie cargo, before you even think of the passenger side.
Lufthansa have a good network for medium / longhaul routes from the German regions.
BA = London Airways, their only interest is to shuttle to LHR. However, the punters these days much prefer to transit via AMS or FRA if there are no direct services from MAN.
Thank god for EK, IB, SIA, CX, MS, AC, CSA, PGA, PIA,AA, USA, DAL COA & BMI etc
As for the Barbie jet,
well, it may be nice to fly-but for the humble pax it's awful - no headroom, no leg room, cramped, & no room for cabin baggage. To try & provide club service is laughable, though no fault of the hard pressed two cabin crew.
In fact I have a friend who just will not fly on the E145, preferring longer routings to the claustophobic feeling he gets on the Barbie. Of course this means in effect he rarely flies BA / BAR
At least the CRJ has more room ( 4 abreast) more headroom & more cabin bag space, alas, I expect they are more expensive to buy.
Bring back the Viscount for some comfort factor !
In the long term, it's probably better that BA get off the scene & leave it to those actually interested in developing direct services from MAN
[This message has been edited by Mr A Tis (edited 30 June 2001).]
[This message has been edited by Mr A Tis (edited 30 June 2001).]