Excellent result for October and good to see something is being done about T3 Border Control, who I hope will provide sufficient staff for the extra desks.
I always find it worth reading the debate involving Shed and FDF. Regarding the necessity of a mega hub, although I accept there is a good case, I've never been totally convinced it's an overwhelming one in terms of benefits to cities and regions outside London and the South East. For example, would a domestic feeder from, say, DTV to Heathrow really generate extra business or would it mainly cause some London only passengers to transfer from rail? For those travelling abroad from Teeside, would it dilute traffic on the limited KLM service to AMS, or pax who might otherwise use NCL or LBA or even MAN? A similar argument could be put for a LPL-LHR feeder. Nevertheless, while pax simply transferring at LHR may not spend much money in the UK, I can appreciate that increased numbers can make flights to new destinations and increased frequencies to existing cities viable with the potential for extra cargo as well as passengers.
It was something of a shock to find a dissenting voice to the claimed benefits of a hub in the London-centric Daily Telegraph. Jeremy Warner, Assistant Editor and Business & Economics commentator, broke ranks rather in an article the other day suggesting a third runway at LHR would never be built and that there was a better, less risky case for LGW. He ended his article:
"And who wants a “hub” anyway. Having once had the chance to look around Singapore’s vast container port, I’m not convinced by the economic arguments for “hub” transport models. They can, of course, be very useful to the big operators, who can mix and match transit cargo and passengers to maximum effect, but their impact on the surrounding economy is at best marginal. Nor should we take seriously threats from BA to move to Madrid if Heathrow isn’t expanded sufficiently to accommodate its own ambitions. Passengers will only take indirect flights if offered huge discounts to fill up the seats. BA would lose its British customer base if it moved.
A third runway at Heathrow is never going to be built. Let’s just get used to it"
I'm not saying his comments about hubs are necessarily correct but simply pointing out that there is an argument to be had and one which I hope Davies has not closed his mind to.
As far as MAN is concerned, I share Bagso's delight that it has now come out of its corner fighting. Hope the rumour of 3 more easyjet routes to be announced is right - it will keep the 9th based a/c busy.