Anyone who advocates Gatwick as the solution fails to see how the 21st century aviation MARKET actually behaves.
I have no wish to upset you, Skipness, but if you write the line quoted above you cannot then claim:
Please don't put words in my mouth, I know there are segments in the market, it's my day job
LGW is a perfectly reasonable solution for providing much needed new capacity in the SE, and to criticise those who advocate LGW as 'failing to see how the C21st aviation market actually behaves' is really quite naughty. If you understand market segmentation as you claim - and I'm absolutely sure that you do - then you comprehend the case for LGW quite well.
LGW are claiming they are the answer to the problem here when the key problem is hub connectivity
I respectfully disagree, Skipness. The problem here is to provide a solution for London's future market growth in its entirety, not just the cherry-picked hub-transfer element. London-Tenerife punters must be accommodated by the system too. LGW can make a second runway succeed on that basis. It deserves to be considered because it can viably address the SE's capacity bottleneck by growing its own natural market segment(s), not because it can morph into a global hub interchange.
Hub transfer traffic (whether business or leisure derived) should not be the 'Holy Grail' in this process. Meeting the capacity needs of the
indigenous SE market must be the priority, not providing for international passing-trade which has many alternative options.
Hub transfer traffic is a bonus, a luxury which should only be pursued if the cost of doing so makes economic sense. The cost basis for expanding LHR to this end is absolutely prohibitive (for reasons amply discussed earlier in this thread). The capacity which is truly essential is that serving indigenous demand from Southern England itself, and LGW can address that need at a far lower cost than LHR in terms of both finance and disruption.
Finally, thanks for the tips on blue quote-boxes, AndyH52. 'Preview Post' suggests it is going to work this time.