Not sure what others think but if there was an Open University exam on ;
"US Hubs - Conceptual Thinking"
...I think I would be tempted to sign up, given the bandwidth on "the Manchester" thread in last few days.
Very informative as ever but could we maybe move back "on piste" so to speak ?
For students perhaps interested in other issues, namely 5th Freedom rights Ex MAN, this is the most comprehensive doc I could find to date on the subject BUT there appears to be one circa 2010 ?
This is the copy the CAA drafted back in the day ......
Interesting that Manchester featured so much !
An Economic Assessment of the Impacts of Granting Fifth-Freedom Rights to Passenger Services from UK Regional Airports | Regulatory Policy | About the CAA
Does anybody have a link to latest methodology Or applications ?
On 17th October 2005, Government utterences suggested;
In future there will be a general presumption in favour of allowing such services, for both passenger and cargo services.
BUT more recently an observation by Manchester Airport.
....UK airlines do not want to serve the regions internationally on a point to point basis, but do not want their overseas competitors to do so either. This has been to the detriment of UK connectivity.
Source ;
Aviation Strategy (10th January 2013)
It does tend to cut down dead those protagonists who persist in suggesting any airline can fly from any regional airport !
Clearly they cannot !
Touche as they say !
PS I hope the responses on this (assuming there are any) are as impassioned as the US hub debate !