On Mon, 6 Apr 2020 14:42:57 +0100, "tim..."
wrote:



"Recliner" wrote in message
...
tim... wrote:


"Recliner" wrote in message
...
tim... wrote:

thus
reducing the use of other hubs like Madrid or Schiphol. Those benefit
both UK residents

if it happens

and the planet.

how?

Flights from these other hubs are still going to operate.

There will be fewer of them

but, certainly in the case of South America, that's not going to happen

I've flown the LON-MAD-S America route and 90% of the passengers on the
long
haul part are Spanish Speaking.

Which routes have you flown?

I flew to Bolivia and Panama

not destinations noted for direct flights from London (if there was I would
have used them), and yet there were few non Spanish on the flight

Several major South American cities do have
direct London flights,

agreed

ones which are currently popular destination for Brits to go to (business or
pleasure)

that's the point

the ones that Brits mostly want to go to already have direct flights

opening up slots to enable direct flights to extra destinations will not
result in these extra destinations being South America destinations
currently not served, as they aren't popular enough

so not many Brits would take the MAD indirect route
unless it was a lot cheaper .

they do it because the only alternative is having to pass through US
immigration (or sometimes KLM via AMS)

tim


The economics of aircraft like the 787 are changing route structures.
I very much doubt BA would have opened routes like London/Santiago or
London/Lima without it even allowing for the increase in people going
to such destinations.

It's my belief we will see more and more "long, thin, routes" in years
to come and that, in the case of South America, the need to travel via
Madrid or Amsterdam will slowly fade. In any case, my own preference
in recent years has been to use a non stop flight from London to one
of the few places in South America (e.g. Sao Paulo) and then get my
connection rather than going via Madrid although I accept that for
destinations in countries in the northwest corner of the continent
(e.g. Ecuador) that might not be ideal.