In message , at 11:42:26 on Thu, 15
Jan 2009, tim..... remarked:
Especially given that passenger numbers at heathrow are dropping
according to this report. The whole thing stinks.

We are in a "bust", so of course short-term passenger numbers are likely
to fall. The new runway is (one possible) solution for the capacity
required in the next "boom". If there's not going to be another "boom", we
don't need a lot of things, including Crossrail.

But it is quite possible that by the time the next boom comes along, the
attitude to companies for international travel has changed.

I've seen no discernible change in the 25 years I've been flying "on
business", apart from a few glitches caused by terrorist incidents and
nervous Americans, not cashflow.

It is business travellers that "demand" the benefits of a Heathrow hub. I
would suggest that tourist travellers would much prefer point to point from
their local airport, even if the cost of that is "one flight per week".

That's where much of the expansion is coming from, and I agree that
people should not expect the tourist sector to be a growth generator at
Heathrow. But Heathrow has spurned charter flights for a generation, and
has very few "low cost" airlines operating from there.
--
Roland Perry