A comparison with long haul connectivity between Manchester and Amsterdam is of course quite ludicrous I was merely making the point that Manchester has much better connectivity than LHR, in terms of the 12 domestic points served and its geographical relationship to Liverpool, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, its a point that should not be lost in any "sensible" debate on airport capacity.
But both of the last two posters are as usual quite correct !
The case and appetite for regional connectivity Ex LHR is so truly overwhelming BA used all the slots it inherited from BMI, (how many was it 56 slot pairs), to fully re-establish connectivity to quite a significant number of regional cities
oh hang on, they didn't did they ! Only Leeds comes to mind !
With regard to slot values the basis on which these values are held seems to be me to be a bit like The Emperors New Clothes.....
£20M for a slot pair , I don't doubt the valuation, but which route exactly could realistically generate that kind of return and over what timeframe?
MANFOD, sensible comments as ever, according to the economists and now Mr Osbourne , critical mass seems to be the power behind economic activity with 7m people living within an hour of Manchester the largest conurbation outside London, its Manchester which is at the epi centre dare I use the term "hub" off a number of spokes !
Last edited by Bagso; 24th Jun 2014 at 13:31.