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This video is published today on BAA´s website... "What is a Hub?"
hub.heathrowairport.com
which is complimented by this on my blog - "Manchester as an air hub"
http://trans-trax.blogspot.com/2012/01/manchester-as-air-hub.html
A very well written article, I have to say.
But, I consider BA and VA starting up new hubs in Manchester as very unlikely in the short to mid term because neither of them have enough fleet capacity to allow for it- especially with the BMI purchase increasing fleet demands substantially.
It has a fundamental flaw. The hub status of Heathrow has less to do with the numbers of people served as to the yield of their travellers. Quite simple Manchester lacks significant numbers of high yielding business travellers that are the bread and butter of long haul airline hubs.
The major hub airports in Europe are based on cities that are business capitals - Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Munich and even Zurich. These all sustain airlines that have extensive long haul networks because they have significant numbers of business travellers willing to buy business class airfares. Without them, it simply isn't viable to set up a long haul carrier.
Manchester is a marginal cost long haul route for airlines based elsewhere, because they have lower cost bases at their home airports (we are talking US, Middle Eastern and the odd Asian carrier here, many do not fly here). These airlines meet the small premium demand in Manchester, but most long haul travel in and out of Manchester are bottom end cheap economy fare routes. Air France/KLM, Lufthansa group supply services there to feed their own grand hubs into long haul.
It isn't a viable alternative to Heathrow or a Heathrow replacement.
If it is yield that is needed perhaps Scotland would be more sucessful, if executives from the oil, whisky and other exporting industries were targeted.
I think we have a scale issue.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airports_in_the_United_Kingdom_by_total_passenger_traffic
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