Quote:
Originally Posted by Maggy J
So why not increase capacity somewhere else in the country? Why only Gatwick or Heathrow..Spread the chance of profits across the country. Who wouldn't rather use their local airport rather than travel halfway across the country towards London?
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Because Heathrow operates a hub and spoke model. Long haul destinations are served from there. It is inefficient, in most cases, to operate long haul flights to the same destination from multiple airports that are located close together. That's why it has to be Heathrow; the infrastructure and services are already there, and the new runway can be built more quickly than Boris Island could be put into the Thames estuary. Every day we have delayed this, other airports (Schiphol, Paris CDG) have been working hard to steal business. They, too, are hub-and-spoke airports, and they are located close enough to LHR that their competition could result in flights shifting there.