Excellent post Phil and I'd particularly endorse the following comments regarding the pushing of Heathrow, marketing and likely impact on regional airports.
[quoteThe proposal ia a threat because:
1. It is obvious that an expanded Heathrow will be pushed as "the" gateway for the UK at the expense of ALL regional airports. The idea of expanded connections from regional airports to feed LHR services, regardless of the fact that both business and leisure travellers would prefer non stop flights from a more local departure point, gives the game away. ][/quote]
No one is saying London should cease to be the premier UK gateway. London is a world city that will always attract the greater volume of traffic. The problem with the HAL proposal is that, to make a worthwhile return for the shareholders and for UK PLC not to be seen to fail, the marketing and, in a case worse scenario, the viability of the project will have to be underwritten in a way it cannot fail. Thus there will be no level playing field for the regions and, as has been the case in he past, the marketing of London will come first and will get the preponderance of the budget, in the worst case there will be some form of regulation to "encourage" use of LHR
It seems inevitable to me that an even greater predominance of LHR and emphasis on connectivity would result in some important regional airports not gaining the range of viable direct short haul and long haul services they might otherwise win.
Edit: apologies the first quote didn't post in blue in the normal way.