Skippy:
There's no flights between LHR and BRS because there's no market for it. It's not far enough and is well served by an existing fast train.
Barling:
The M4 motorway gets you from LHR to Bristol in about an hour and a half, so you might as well hire your car in LHR rather than at BRS.
The problem is in the detail...
a. There are no flights from BRS to LHR not because there is no demand, but because there are no slots available. Or if there are slots available, they are so expensive they would double the ticket price. Thus commuter turboprops are priced out of the London hub, and thus passengers are prevented from going via LHR.**
b. The car will get you there, but the parking will be more than the ticket price. Plus not everyone wants to dice with death or risk being late, because of the diabolical M4 (or M1 or M6 or whatever).
c. The train will get you there, but an hour after the flight departs (no overnight rail services on the UK's decrepit railways.) That means an overnight in a hotel, and more expense.
The net result, is it is cheaper and easier to fly KLM to AMS (4 flights a day) and use that as a hub. And at £140 return, it is much cheaper and easier to go to AMS than take the train or car to LHR.
This is the problem with the present London hub. If you make things
so difficult and
so expensive, people will go elsewhere. And so London loses out, and so does BA lose out. RIP London as a business center. RIP London....
** (An early morning slot at LHR will cost you about £18 million. If you want to recoup that expense over 5 years on a commuter turboprop, it will add £165 to each ticket price, not including interest payments. Perhaps you can see why turboprops - and therefore passengers - do not frequent LHR.)
Silver