Hopefully I'm not the only one who has noticed these slightly contradictory statesments regarding a China link.
From Skipness's linked article
"Mike Carrivick, chief executive of the Board of Airline Representatives, a trade association for airlines that do business in Britain. Carrivick says cities such as Birmingham and Manchester probably do not have enough passengers to fill the type of aircraft that can fly to China nonstop. There are few long-haul aircraft that would fly from Britain to China nonstop carrying only 100 people, he says. "
and LAX-LHR's internal e-mail
"China to Manchester has a market of roughly 245,000 passengers per annum. "
If the market is as large as that (and why would the Air China manager get this wrong!), then it means an average of (drum roll please!).... 671 passengers per day. 335 there, 336 back. Not quite "100 people" is it?
If those pearls of wisdom are being told to various airlines regarding the regional UK market by analysts, is it any wonder why so many are reluctant to venture a service.