hardly unbiased I'm afraid - that's why I asked for ACADEMIC papers...........
Are you seriously looking for an academic study that's unbiased in a politically loaded subject matter like this? Not possible Harry, that's a loaded question.
"There is an enormous economic benefit to the whole region from being a hub location."
Harry are you seriously questioning this? Almost every post we see from you is anti-Heathrow, one suspects you may have worked there and perhaps left under unhappy circumstances? You clearly liked the place well enough when you chose the username?
If you don't think that Heathrow's hub status brings benefits in terms of jobs and connectivity to the world to London and the wider region then I honestly feel you're denying a clear and apparent reality. The only winner if the anti Heathrow brigade wins will be Lufthansa / FRA, Air France / CDG and KLM / AMS.
Half the businesses I have worked for are located exactly where they are because we can get people in and out of Heathrow and into Europe at a decent pace, it's not rocket science.