I'm not sure how much the airport facilities would affect a business travellers decision on whether to use the airport.
I fully agree with you on this. As they say in business; "time is money". The Continental option from Bristol is obviously the quickest way to the USA, however there just cant be enough business passengers using the service to make it viable. Unfortunate really.
I don't think lack of awareness can be used as the reason for the route failing. The route was heavily advertised and its now in its fifth year of operating. If people don't know about or use the route now, there is not much more Continental and indeed Bristol Airport can do.
As others have suggested, perhaps the "Heathrow effect" is what brought this route to its knees.
Unfortunately it does not bode well for future scheduled long haul flights, east or west bound. Disappointing really as I thought Bristol could have been on Emirates radar after Newcastle.