Originally Posted by
A320.b744
The UK economy needs new flights to South America and Asia that will attract inbound investment, not more flights to Alicante that predominantly benefit the Spanish economy.
You mean like Chengdu? Or Lima?
Even if we are going to go down the line of easyJet being solely 'loco leisure', the tourist receipts from additional links by easyJet and other low cost carriers are going to provide far more income to the economy than a 3-weekly flight to China - which generally serves as a link home for Chinese tourists in the UK, aside from anything else.
Any major business links will exist regardless of slot constraints. If low cost carriers can base an additional 30-40 aircraft (or 100 if you want to believe Norwegian's CEO - I personally don't) in Gatwick, and flood the market with cheap seats, there will be an enormous benefit to the economy. Tourism accounts for 10% of UK GDP, and is one industry that cannot be conducted over a conference call.