Given that Virgin have just axed various "trunk" routes to Heathow where does that leave the domestic connectivity debate ?
That unless you have the appropriate level of scale to feed and de-feed the hub, it doesn't work. Little Red were attracting point to point passengers at relatively low yield and competing in part with their own point to point service on the railway
Do we assume that this connectivity has to be introduced by BA ?
They have the scale, so naturally. Or an affiliate they could partner with to offer code-share agreements. Similar to Stobart / Aer Lingus or bmi regional / Lufthansa
Are they going to invest in a short haul fleet on what to me appears to be a punt ?
They have a short-haul fleet. There are lots of short-haul routes in and out of LHR. If there were greater access into LHR then the opportunities to consider partnerships with airlines with smaller a/c become more viable both for the UK domestic market and access from smaller mainland Europe markets.