Looks like BAA's new Spanish owners want to change the charging system at LHR to discourage the use of smaller aircraft. At the same time possibly a good excuse for bmi to drop some of their domestic flights to MME, LBA and MAN if it means they will be paying more per pax in charges for operating a 50 seater than they would for operating an A320/A330 on longer routes.
Mhodgson From United Kingdom, joined Dec 2002, 5047 posts, RR: 29 Reply 3, posted (5 years 3 months 3 weeks 5 days ago) and read 1319 times:
I doubt we will ever see an end to UK domestic flights; as it is simply too much hassle to get to LHR unless you want to get from central London.
If I were to get to LHR via train, I'd need to get a train to London Euston, and then either get a tube to LHR (changing trains at least once to the Piccadilly Line), or get a tube to Paddington for the Heathrow Express. With the tube having very few elevators, doing this with more than one bag becomes hugely impractical.
Alternatively, driving. Either I can drive one hour to MAN, or 4 hours to LHR, where I'm likely to pay more for parking. Plus on the return, who wants to drive 4 hours after a trans-Atlantic flight?
While it's nice to assume that this will be great for the regions; it won't - AF, KL and LH will capitalise, and while some airlines like EK and CO will stick with the regions, most will lose out. If it were that profitable to fly to the regions compared to LHR, most airlines would be doing it already. This will only benefit other European airlines who do see some benefit in serving the regions.
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