Originally Posted by
Andy_S
We can argue with them because you treat the figures far too simplistically. In your mind population = big airport therefore case proven, and everything else - the the money, the economics, the competitive environment is dismissed as insignificant, a minor detail that can be overcome with a bit of "political will".
Very few, I think, would dispute the non-ideal location of Yeadon. What most of us appreciate, though, is that it despite it's shortcomings it works sufficiently well that the barriers to entry for Church Fenton are enormous.
Oh my friend from clarty waters! Population does = big airport. Name anywhere in the world where that very basic principle doesn't follow. Of course you can have big airports where the population is not that big with hub airports but generally wherever there is a lot of people they need to be moved.
What sometimes skews this is political weighted decision/mistake making. I think only someone with an interest in MAN would say that LBA works sufficiently. It simply does not. The economics of CF do stack up-as we move forward in time it would be the most efficient airport in Yorkshire, it would be the most easily accessible airport to all of Yorkshire, it would keep passengers and money in the Yorkshire region. That is real issue here - the effect it would have on another region's airport where millions of Yorkshire people at present are being forced to travel to.
The barriers to developing Church Fenton are huge but logically and economically as we go forward it would be the right thing to do, not for MAN airport but for the whole Yorkshire region. The evidence is utterly overwhelming and anyone who cannot see it I think has a vested interest elsewhere.