Fascinating stuff, but not an answer to the question: why can the UK not sustain two full-service carriers.
The UK had three full service carriers till recently - and that's just those at LHR!
Now it has two (probably because of some bizarre management decisions at BD) and this is likely to continue.
But what about those not based at LHR, BE and T3 for example, don't they count just because they're "regional"?
Because the competion from other airlines and combine that with the issues with the world economy is facing, means that it is only going to get harder to compete with those airlines, hence the last thing we need is 2 UK-Based Full-Service Airlines competing on routes where there is already stong competition
We are the only nation in Europe (along with Germany) that has this, but due to the incresing competition this cannot go on, what makes things worse is that there is a lack of space at LHR to launch routes to destinations in the emerging world, the last thing we need is those slots being used to add further competition on routes that already have competition
The only reason VS is still running and refusing to sell out is due to SRB, once he retires what will happen after that?
If we do need a 2nd Full-Serivice carrier, we already have one, its called KLM