excellent news and puts paid to the slot sitter naysayers about BA and commitment to regional domestics. Even LBA has lasted!
Agreed, never bought into the idea a new route would be launched just to slot-sit if it was not profitable as well. Also
not suggesting that LBA and INV are profitable slot-sitters!
Bang!
"Look what LHR can do for the wider economy".
Like LGW-JFK, this is strategy driven rather than commercially driven surely?
Can see that LGW-JFK could be stategic with DY starting on the route, but LHR-INV? No one else is on that route.
BMI tried and failed badly at this, JER next?
JER would be good, but who can say.
BD used to have 14% of LHR slots but by the time BA bought it from LH it was down to just 8%. That's a hell of a lot of slots to go from BD!
Maybe these slots were asset-stripped from BD to LH or else leased/sold to other Star Alliance carriers? Whether BD ended these routes just because they were unprofitable (or failed to get a proper share on interlinung) or not is a moot point. Even if profitable for BD on INV, JER, LBA, MME, etc., or not, maybe LH believed the slots were more profitable elsewhere?
Ensuring the SNP vote in favour of RY3....not that it was ever really a question for them.
Clearly not enough on its own, but as a part of a bigger deal? Or maybe just coincidence?
Wouldn't suprise me if BA are paying next to nothing in charges at LHR for the route!
Could be, LHR management were talking about reducing charges for domestic flights.
given that BA have stuck with the similar examples of Belfast and Leeds where BD appeared to have failed, one presumes they are more than just political show pieces and they expect some return. The days of political loss making routes are gone. If some think a once daily to INV will clinch RW3 then imo thats naive
Exactly, it's all about commercial considerations and a return to shareholders, which is fair enough as airlines are private sector companies.
It also remains the fact that BA (like any hub-and-spoke operator) needs feeder flights to connect with its longhaul offerings.