Welcome aboard Mr Smitham
I agree, on a personal level "if" it was £200 cheaper I would do exactly the same no matter what my loyalty is to Mancunia and ManAirport.
My argument is and has always been about the formulae.
Most tickets are sold via the ticketing portals, they work for the most part on price sensitivity, it is an undisputed fact that that they are loaded against Manchester as they are biased towards the major hubs.
I would also argue that they do not always give the same weight to time savings as they do price, so you have to hunt down the direct element. Because some are run by certain airlines they can also be quite frankly misleading as they give the impression there is no direct flight
It is not a problem that effects other UK "provincial airports" as they simply don't have the range of long haul destinations that Manchester has so jumping on a LH from BHX or a KL from Leeds works fine for them.
You could also argue that MAN pax benefit like the LBA/BHX pax do from what appears to a subsidy if you fly to a destination where there is no direct service.
BUT my interest is purely in the success of the MAN long haul network so on that basis I am happy to argue that it discriminates and has done for sometime against our very specific long haul services.
It appears the status quo may be crumbling but if it is maintained you never break out of the cycle !
There are those who will argue vehemently that this is how the market works, so tough !
I would contest that no other industry would work like that !
How you solve it is another Q !
I am not a tree hugger far from it BUT there is something utterly barmy (and whilst I am wearing my loincloth), dare I suggest environmentally damaging about a system where it is dearer to fly via an airport 200 or 600 miles away than fly direct !
It becomes even more ludicrous when in the case of US flights to New York , you then fly back over Manchester 3 hours later, especially if you are in economy and are sat there isolated in solitary splendour !
There simply has to be a cost involved so how on earth can it possibly be cheaper ?
Last edited by Bagso; 11th Apr 2014 at 07:04.