Timing of Airport Redevelopment Announcement ?
As we still wait with bated breath for the announcement of the terminal redevelopment would it be an act of genius to prepare covertly and announce this on the same day as the Airport Commissions recommendations
.............OR indeed would it just be pure folly with the LHR juggernaut sweeping everything off the headlines ?
PR re MAN is normally restricted to the M E N and in some respects that is good as it possibly keeps the noise down re environmentalists issues etc but on the down side announcing some major coup in terms of airline expansion to one man and his dog from the M E N also comes with its own limitations.
If a strategy was employed where it MAN expansion did come out same time as HR/LGW recommendations would it not provide debate at a national level which although misguided "operationally" might just give those MPs who are against it some political capital to suggest
"hang on a minute, there you go, there's part of your capacity increase".
It would certainly give the airport some traction and that platform to finally get over their message that it has the best road/rail links, central location, best domestic air connectivity, massive catchment blah, blah, blah.....
If MAG had the guile to tie this in with #NorthernPowerhouse debate and invited Jim O'Neill to the presentation the effect could be gamechanging could it not ?
There is little doubt in my mind that if the Government could make LHR/LGW go away they would, whilst it is clear to those who "have the detail" the argument is about capacity for London, both projects have been sold and indeed advertised as a benefit to the UK.....
At purely a political level of thinking a similar project originating "up North" would surely leave a few of them scratching their heads thinking this would provide exactly the same benefit at no political cost and with the major advantage of a tie in to the NP ?
There is little doubt in my mind that if they used Jim ONeill to sell this rather than their own MAG board members you suddenly get that massive groundswell of prestige outside of Greater Manchester that the airport so desperately needs. What this guy says carries more weight than any of the MAG board members, AND his opinions are NOW crucially at the centre of Government.
If you look in detail nay intrigue at how Devo Manc has been put together by messrs Osbourne, Bernstein and Leese it is clear that Jim ONeill has had his hand on the tiller, totally outmanoeuvring every other UK City, the kudos that Manchester has gained in terms of column inches in papers like the Guardian and incredibly now The Telegraph has been dramatic, it is seen in many circles as the only game outside of London. Maybe this will be the same re airports ?
The two projects specifically LHR and MAN are of course totally separate to most rationale people who know of this subject but "politically" that is a different matter, the huge no-cost benefit a project such as Man Airport expansion or possibly LGW / MAN in tandem would bring, would be a joy to the ears of Cameron, Osbourne.
It remains to be seen whether MAG can deal their ace !