I'm with forest1979 on this topic, although I would add to the 'shopping list' AY via HEL, AT via VIE and maybe SK via CPH.
BRS will probably always live in the shadow of Heathrow and not just for long-haul. Many short-haul routes already operating at BRS have greater frequency and thus flexibility, especially for business travellers, at LHR. There is also the question of fare prices. A current debate is taking place on another aviation website regarding the fares at BRS on the FRA route compared with those from LHR.
Fully agree that frequency and flexibility are fundamental considerations. For me, a one-stop option two or three times daily is preferable to a one/two/three weekly non-stop service, although I accept that price can be a factor depending on booking leadtime and what 'frills' are included.
I have also seen the discussion about pricing vs LHR, and whilst I can understand economies of scale to a point, LHR charges must be vastly greater than those at BRS, plus less need to account for additional fuel to occupy holding patterns around London, so I don't understand the pricing model!
We all know that strikes, bad weather or aircraft going 'tech' are not that uncommon, and the low cost cariers inevitably run very lean operations, often with limited scope for service recovery. OK, so Easy Jet appear to be generally pretty reliable and they may have a spare aircraft at BRS, but it still needs a crew!
I agree that the flexibility requirement is not just for business travellers. If a leisure traveller has to return from their holiday to BRS to go to work the next day, but their weekly flight does not operate for whatever reason, they are quite likely to miss several days work - or end up paying last minute full fare to route via a european hub to get back to BRS if they can afford to do so. How many people take out insurance policies which would adequately indemnify them against such a scenario?
Either way, the one-stop option needs to be available, and the more hubs that BRS is connected to, the better the insurance to mitigate such issues. This also offers competition to the likes of the orange brigade, thereby addressing the 'all eggs in one basket' issue that is justifiably raised from time to time in this forum.
