pwalhx - I agree that transiting between airports is a pain and unrealistic. However, a substantial amount of the short-haul traffic from Europe to Heathrow is to travel to/from the south east of England
The LCCs at Gatwick, Stansted and Luton generally do not officially accept connecting passengers, but still seem to be fairly busy and have plenty of passengers. If anything, Stansted could probably do with an additional runway of its own this decade.
Thus, would it really be a bad thing if the private sector were to be encouraged to migrate some of their O&D traffic away from Heathrow towards Oxford ? If Continental can make transatlantic work to the likes of Belfast and Bristol, then increased constraints at Heathrow may well provide additional encouragement for long-haul routes at Manchester which presumably would make you happier. The words "if rather than action X you take action Y you can save time and money" seems to be remarkably effective on many people. British Airways may not want to open up in Oxford, but if the demand is big enough and the profits available, an entrpreneurial bod in an airline may well spot the opportunity.
At the very least, I'm not sure why for example a ski trip to Switzerland, or a day trip to Frankfurt by someone living in Berkshire needs to begin specifically at Heathrow.The people of the Thames Valley might even find this rather more convenient.
Last edited by davidjohnson6; 15th May 2010 at 17:28.