In message , at 21:12:38 on Thu, 22
Sep 2016, Neil Williams remarked:

I guess that this MO got killed by the need to add on an extra hour
for security clearance meaning that the time saving over the train to
London disappeared for all but a small number of final destinations.

London to Manchester flights in general have been hit very hard by the
high speed and high frequency of the WCML service - VT near enough have
the non-car market sewn up. Unless I lived in south Manchester and was
travelling to west London (or vice versa), or was connecting onto
long-haul, I can't see why I would even consider air for that journey.

One reason is price.
--
Roland Perry