skyman771
I'll turn it around, to make any sense to pax number increase then what you are implying is that these pax that are suddenly going to check in for this new flight to 'backofbeyondsville' or where ever would not have flown at all prior to it's introduction. Err no ! they would transit as they have always done. As an example the CDG LF's would be higher for those transiting to Central Africa via CDG. SAME NO. PAX "
So what? I'm not saying the number of pax to these destinations is going to increase (although they would slightly, since people are more likely to travel if they can get a direct flight), just that they would be re-distributed through London as opposed to other hubs. This has benefits of:
- Opens up new nonstop destinations to London > new business
- Helps growth of UK airlines > more jobs, economic advantages
As for London Airways looking for more slots to fill new marginal & in some cases potentially obscure new routes
Marginal/obscure? More like routes well established with most of BA's main rivals, KIX, ICN, KUL, more Latin America destinations, etc.
well they aren't even able to record a profit with a virtual monopoly
BA recorded possibly their largest operating profit on record last year and for a few years prior to that were consistently the most profitable airline in Europe. The fact they are making a loss at the moment shouldn't come as a huge surprise given they a UK based airline with large exposure to the weakened premium market, a heavy reliance on the financial services industry, and the weak pound.
As for a "virtual monopoly" - utter rubbish. BA have more competition than any of their European competitors in the form of VS for longhaul and BD for shorthaul out of their home base, plus all the LCCs which are especially cut-throat in the UK. BA are responsible for roughly 43% of flights at LHR compared to well above 50% for AF, KL, and LH at their respective hubs. The competition for most of BA's transatlantic routes is also huge and there are very few major longhaul routes which they do not have at least two other airlines competing on. They have nothing like a monopoly.
PAXboy
I take your statement in the good faith in which it was posted but if that happens, I would be surprised.
I do not believe any government could immediately turn around and allow full capacity on runway 3 when one of its key "appeasing" features when approved was that it would be initially 50% capped. Just look at the level of opposition from local communities already. Some years down the line of course the situation would have to change but there is a very big feeling within the aviation industry as well as out that LHR should be given some 'breathing room' and not allow max runway use again to avoid the delays it is so well known for at present. Even the additional 125,000 movements p/a would be a very substantial increase.
That is because the tipping point of customer understanding, acceptance, tolerance etc. was passed about ten years (arbitrary figure it was somewhere in the last 20 years.)
Well, you may say that, but why are BA still handling close to 10 million connecting pax through LHR a year if customers refuse to go near it? I firmly believe the average customer who needs to connect somewhere in Western Europe looks first for the lowest price. And T5 is, slowly but surely, changing the LHR perception. It's definitely a much nicer place to connect than CDG or FRA, and its punctuality/baggage statistics are better than both too.
MUFC_fan
If LHR is to get it's third runway which lucks increasingly likely now, I would be EXTREMELY surprised if that runway isn't full within months of operations
As I've said above, one of the conditions attached to the 3rd runway is that it will be initially capped at 50% of movement capacity. Whether that will last remains to be seen, but given the amount of strong feeling about the expansion I find it very hard to see any government going against that in the short term.
I'm guessing BAA will be working with BA to make sure it gets the most slots available
It is not up to BAA what happens to the slots, it's decided by EU regulations. One thing that has to be considered is letting new carriers have access.