hubs
sorry supermarine I understand your query but this north/south discussion is connected to R3 at lhr...
as a londoner I have every sympathy with all those north of watford and all the way to shetland/orkneys who are obliged to go through lhr to get to their destination. you would think that somewhere in that 1000 mile corridor there could/should be another hub. sadly the economics of it just dont add up, not enough demand, not enough airlines interested and a lhr airport operator determined that it shouldnt happen anyway for their self-interest reasons. besides all that, another hub up north would need to be in scotland if distance is the deciding factor. manchester is the obvious choice but its too close to london in flying time. if you have to go to a hub is it really a big problem to spend the short extra time to get to london? perhaps annoying but you have to be pragmatic about what is achievable compared with what is desirable. in the end the airlines decide these matters and if they decide (as they appear to have done) that lhr is the place to be that is what will happen.