Well it does seem a dig at regional airports, as it implies that if airlines cant get into LHR then they dont come to the UK at all, which isnt quite true, is it?
Take singapore and AA, they lobbied government to let them into MAN, because they wanted to serve MAN, not just Heathrow.
Cathay, Emirates, Etihad, Qatar etc etc all serve MAN because they wanted to serve MAN, not because they didnt get into LHR. The same can be said for any UK airport with long haul, they have the routes through demand, not because LHR was full.
And that was my point. Regardless of how i originally put it across, the comments ti me smack of 'LHR is the be all and end all, the rest of the UK is lucky to have what they have'.
Dont get me wrong, LHR is a national asset and the prestige point of entry, but, the article is severly open to interpritation, and i am entitled to state how I enterprited it.