An ex-MAG employee, amongst others, using an economic argument for greater air connectivity between the Regions and LHR, rather than for MAN route growth with improved surface connectivity in the case of those major Northern cities only 30-50 miles distant.
MAN doesn’t have LHR’s range of overseas destinations and frequencies (although much broader UK air connections), however you can get just about anywhere in the world which is of business significance either direct or with a myriad of one-stop options.
I wonder if the lobbying is more in recognition that these smaller airports will never have a great number of flights to business destinations, certainly not long-haul. Therefore a way to boost passenger traffic is to get a Heathrow route which might then add 20/25% to their annual throughput?
As for improving Regional air connectivity pre-R3, you could argue that MAN-LHR slots be given over to service smaller Regionals-LHR in recognition that MAN has all those other direct / one-stop options and so LHR is just a nice-to-have. I am not advocating this but if you apply the logic of allocating a scarce resource, as these people are, then it follows.
UK RABA Group and Heathrow intensify efforts for domestic access