Originally Posted by
Peter47
Possibly MAN - JNB. I've just been checking the CAA data & the LHR - JNB market was 940k in 2014. LHR - CPT was 423k so a few weekly frequencies from MAN in the winter season would make sense.
I saw in a CAA publication a few years ago - before CX started the route - that (from memory) 140,000 passengers transferred a year at LHR between MAN & LHR so I wasn't surprised when CX started the route. It must surely go daily.
UK - LAX was nearly 1.4m pax p.a. in 2014 & UK - SFO approaching 1.0m (including transfers) so 10% of passengers could justify a daily flight to each. Surely MAN could manage this?
It is interesting that the ME3 are doing very well with eastbound traffic - over 3m pax travelled from regional airports to AUH, DOH or DXB in 2014 most of them doubtless transferring on to the Indian sub-continent or Australasia.
There are fewer westbound routes although I suspect that a lot of traffic transfers at DUB & AMS - & that IAG plans to increase the former. This may be because the ME3 are more concerned about volume (you could argue ad nauseam about subsidies) the US & UK carriers need high yield traffic and it is probably the lack of high yield traffic holding back MAN - LAX/SFO. As said probably less of an issue for VS than BA and not one at all for DY or TCX. There are 3.1m pax p.a. to the US from regional airports but many go to the leisure destinations of LAS & MCO.
Lastly could LGW - Winnipeg support at least a weekly frequency by TS? I seem to remember Wardair operating it may years ago.
As an aside I was asked to look at the feasibility of starting a new route from LCY when I was doing my M.Sc. back in 1994 and suggested LCY - Bern. I was only around 20 years ahead of my time!
Gatwick - Winnipeg will be served weekly by Westjet this summer.