Originally Posted by
North West
There was a separate thread called 'Davies commission' or similar. It was set up after the event in Manchester a few months ago. It was essentially Shed and Bagso talking to themselves and died a death, but by all means, try and dig it out and resurrect it.
Personally, I've yet to meet anyone involved in airline route development who believes that MAN is a substitute market for LHR. It doesn't surprise me at all that people in the business don't engage with the debate because for many (me included) it's based on an entirely false premise.
North West this is not about MAN being a substitute market for LHR, of which I am sure you are well aware. Just in case you or anyone else is under any misapprehension, this is about protecting the market Manchester has worked hard to gain and grow and give it a level playing field on which to compete, not just with LHR but anywhere else. This country is big enough for more than one major gateway. The population within a 70 mile radius of both LHR and MAN is surprisingly similar and the business market, whilst smaller in terms of HQs in the Manchester catchment area, has a large concentration of manufacturing and, just as importantly, research centres, the staff from which travel and who have inbound visitors.