So you’ll know there are two RDFs in Scotland then, although BAA are somewhat ‘hush hush’ about their’s. It is significantly bigger though? (than the SE’s)

LOL
It is naive to think that BAA are alone in what they do. Unlike at Charleroi, privately run airports can support air services in any way that they like. All airports have published charges, but very few of them charge these, in actual fact many airports do not hgave two airlines paying the same fees.

What happens with the RDFs is that they can only match the discounts offered by the airports, and cannot exceed them, this is done on the understanding that most airport operators will give some level of discount.

I know that feeling of paying ridiculous money to an ISP to moce broadband..thieves!

There are lies, damned lies, and then there are statistics. I’m sure that somewhere on the net are the stats that will prove Farnborough is the 2nd most important financial centre after London. Both Leeds and Edinburgh are important in their own right, and do similar things, you will not get a conclusive answer as to which is “more” important.

Goodbye EDI vs GLA hello EDI vs LBA 😀

I refer you to my above post, the GDP of Leeds is double that of Edinburgh.

I guess that depends on what type of work you do then. 😉 I shall try and find some figures etc to back up what I have said.
As for operating from the two airports, if the time ever comes that EK look to go 2x daily at GLA, I bet the odds of them starting from EDI instead would be high, that way they would be entitled to more subsidies. 😉 I’m not inclined to agree with you entirely, as CO have shown it is possible to operate from both airports with little or no impact on any existing service. You may also find this news article of interest: 😉

http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=667892004

I am an aviation consultant, with specialist economists as colleagues. The subsidies you talk of are NOT subsidies as such, and again I can definately consider myself to be somewhat of an expert! What you are talking about is the Scottish Route Development Fund, which does not equate to a subsidy, but purely acts as a way of assisting airlines when their load factors fall below desginated levels in order to help them establish routes earlier than the natural market would stipulate. As I say I can guarantee from my work that I am a relative expert on RDFs!

Looking at GDP statistics… Edinburgh = €22,351,000,000, Leeds = €56,373,000,000, quite a significant difference. These are taken from Eurostats.

I always though Leeds was the 2nd largest business centre? LOL, must be wrong then! 🙂

Leeds IS the second largest city in the UK after London for Financial type business.

I can see where are you are coming from, especially now, with the help of CO alone virtually anywhere in the US is likely to only be one-stop away from a fair number of regional airports this summer, and beyond.
But, that’s where the scope for regional growth from EK, Qatar etc could come in, as the success of EK has already highlighted.

As for yield, this is true, although would it be a fair assumption to make that yield from EDI is likely to be stronger (strongest?) than other regional airports given it’s status and it’s popularity with tourists and being an important business centre, second in both only to London, infact.

You are right, the airlines have a better chance of raising yield where there are more air intensive sectors, although I would dispute the importance of Edinburgh being second to London as a business centre based on work I do. Tourist markets tend to be lower yield though and so a strong tourist market is not necessarily the answer.

I could agree that EDI may be stronger than some regional airports which have or may receive other long haul routes, but bear in mind the proximity to GLA makes these two airports almost serve the same cities (sorry all you GLA/EDI fans, but they do!). In the case of EK they are probably willing to accept that passengers must travel from Edinburgh to GLA in order to keep operating costs down, it is always cheaper to fly from one airport than two! Furthermore we do not know what deals BAA is willing to make regarding each airport.

Regional airports being MAN and GLA? Even GLA is summer only. There is scope for more services from regional airports than the handful that BA currently codeshare on.

To some extent you are right….BUT if you look at detailed CAA stats these show regional demand, and bearing in mind that CO have got into many markets first then actually there isn’t a huge amount of demand left to fill capacity. I certainly don’t think we have seen the last of long haul airlines starting regional routes, that is not what I am saying at all (because I know it not to be the case), but you can offer all the capacity in the world and you won’t necessarily have the demand to make routes viable. Remember, yields on these sorts of routes tend to be lower because of providing a ‘through ticket’ price. Only the point to point traffic is higher yield, and this often makes flying from regional airports more expensive as the airlines try to claw back some money. That is why often (I’m NOT saying always!) it is cheaper to fly via a hub than direct.

No need to apologise, we all make mistakes. 😉

BA being part of the Oneworld alliance surely would mean that a whole load of connections would be available once you arrive in the US with AA, maybe not so many from the other end though. (UK regional airports) 😉

BA already codeshare on AA’s services from regional UK airports, why compete against each other?