kcockayne - Sceptics are dismissing the LHR hub argument on the grounds of cost, not operational desirability. Do you honestly suggest that upto £40Bn should be spent at LHR to spare a small minority of passengers an occasional one-hour transfer aboard a luxury coach? Have you stopped to consider just how much money forty thousand million pounds actually is and how it could be otherwise used for the benefit of the UK? For one-thousandth of this sum [£40M] you could subsidise scheduled services from JER/GCI to hubs at AMS, DUB and MAN for years to come. No coach journeys required. And rather better value all round.
LHR doesn't have a hub requirement problem. It is a substantial hub already. LHR has a desire-to-expand-in-the-face-of-economic-logic problem. That is quite different. And Gatwick R2 would do nothing for you in the Channel Islands? Well, with all due respect, LGW R2 does not purport to be the answer to Jersey's dreams. But it can function very successfully in accommodating the growth in leisure travel demand originating in London and the SE. That is an identified need which can be practically addressed.