Originally Posted by
BKS Air Transport
LA-I don't accept your analogy, in that LBA and DSA are not in that same 'high street', they both have their own. Had proper provision been made for two airports, one to serve Leeds and one to serve Sheffield many years ago, we would not now see the dominance that MAN has over the north of the country. But we are as we are, and we must now make the best of it (and one airport at Church Fenton is most certainly not that-it would be an attempt at compromise doomed to failure).
Manchester has most certainly aided many people from east of the Pennines over the years in that it has sent them on their holidays. It was this comparative ease that was used as an excuse to oppose both applications to extend the runway at Leeds. Whether MAN has helped Leeds obtain international inward investment in meaningful amounts is a very different question, and I personally have seen little evidence to suggest that it has.
You quite clearly do not understand the relationship between catchment area population and the ability of an airport to have sustainable routes! If every city had its own airport very few routes would be viable - exactly opposite to your reasoning. For instance if your catchment was too small you would not even be able to make routes to Dublin and Belfast (for example) work. That is why the geographic location of an airport is utterly critical in making that airport a success. Exactly what is going wrong in Yorkshire.
Because Yorkshire and Humberside is surrounded by efficient, well located competing airports within their regions having more than 1 airport within Yorkshire will directly leave to massive massive passenger leakage and gigantic failure.