Quote:
"BHX suffers from being squeezed by LHR and MAN; whilst EMA has to battle on 3 fronts - with LHR and MAN plus BHX to contend with.."
"The MAG management and marketing people have my sympathy as they must constantly be battling on the passenger side, for precious little reward, full service airline-wise"
EMA never has and in all likelyhood (due to its close proximity to BHX) never will be able to attract Legacy/Full service carriers, irrespective of its terminal facilities; and it certainly does not need to battle with MAN. In fact I would imagine it is strongly discouraged to do so from a group perspective.
In EMA, MAG have the second largest freight airport in the UK and a very good track record with leisure traffic. It therefore makes sense for MAG to concentrate on these strengths and commit the bulk of any future expenditure on the airport, whether it be on the development of the terminal or marketing, on building on these successes; after all there is little point in spending millions of pounds on infrastructure that is not really required or will not be fully utilised. I do however accept that the arrivals area does require a serious upgrade.
Whilst discussing competition let's not forget that BHX is also squeezed on three fronts; I am sure Mr K and Co. would love to get their hands on the four million plus passengers and three hundred thousand tonnes of freight handled by the little airport down the road. It would go some way to help pay for their extra bit of concrete....!
Balair