'long haul can only work from hubs such as heathrow' and airlines rarely put long haul routes into the regions.
OK that's somewhat
selective.
http://www.cityam.com/207147/only-he...al-race-growth
It underlines that airlines can only make flights to many long haul destinations viable from a hub airport like Heathrow.
Airports across the UK play a critical role in supporting local economies, with low cost flights to Europe, hubs like Dubai, and holiday destinations. But Heathrow is a national asset, connecting the UK to global markets, and making it easier for Britain’s exporters to win business and attract inward investment.
When airlines cannot get into Heathrow, they rarely opt for other point-to-point UK airports. Instead, they go to hubs in France, Germany or the Netherlands, helping their economies at the expense of ours to the tune of £14bn a year.
other than to note that LGW's long haul offer is much the same as MAN'
Actually it's not, MAN offers many spoke to hub connections with the US majors, LGW offers sun flights to the Caribbean and Florida.
Hardly anti-regional airports at all, just a commercially realistic viewpoint. When Delta were denied access to LHR they did not try and build a second hub at MAN, they built a JV at AMS with KLM.