I was kidding about MSP being named Craig Airport - it still goes by its old name - Brett Favre Airport.

I'd be more interested in the NWA flight SEA-LHR if it went to Gatwick. All we need is more flights into Heathrow, even with the new terminal.

but Heathrow is gold for airlines because of its many more lucrative connecting flights - that's why everyone wants slots there and would move, like NW their attention from gatwick to heathrow.

and many travelers will find for that reason Heathrow also more convenient than Gatwick

and after viewing the hour-long wait to get thru Customs last Feb at Gatwick and the longer waits to check-in for many airlines i'd rather go to the new terminal in Heathrow.

LHR is slot controlled, so there are no more flights going to LHR on March 30 than today. Difference is that European airlines flying smaller planes are transferring/selling the slots to US carriers flying widebodies.

So, more passengers, yes; more flights, no.

One issue with the new Skyteam flights (including NW) into LHR is that all Skyteam carriers use T4, and the Heathrow Express will no longer stop there once T5 opens. You need to transfer to T1/2/3 for the HEX. Or take the tube or Heathrow Connect direct from T4..

I think the SEA-LHR-SEA timings work well for SEA based pax. The eastbound flight arrives in London in plenty of time for the last connections to Europe, and on the return it allows Europe-originating pax to go into the office and still get to (AMS, CDG, PRG...) in time to connect through LHR to SEA.

SEA-LHR is principally a premium cabin route (given large corporate users) - so much so that BA has added a second flight most days. It's hard to see NW competing for the front of the plane, especially given LH and AF are flying nonstop to the continent (LH as of the spring) as well as SK's daily flight to CPH and NW's current AMS nonstop. So there could be two outcomes - more rate competition for business class from SEA (yea team) or more discounting in the back from BA and NW for LHR, in order to keep pax from non-stopping it to the continent.

AS and BA are partners, but nowhere nearly as close as AS is with NW (with codeshares, cross-qualifying FF programs, NW upgrades provided by AS to its elites, etc.) With their already strong partnership with KL/AF, DL and CO, it looks like AS is creeping closer to Skyteam affiliation than to Oneworld. Feh.

Brett Favre Airport! PalenQ, how dare you?!?!?! Just wait until us Vikings fans don our stylish Vikings hats with the Helga braids, paint our faces purple, and raid your house!

Ah go get a shanty and do some ice fishing!

"Heathrow is gold for airlines because of its many more lucrative connecting flights "

Apparently not. Most numbers I've seen show that Heathrow has fewer connecting passengers than any of its NW European competitors. 80%+ of Heathrow passengers don't connect to another flight.

The knock on from Open Skies - and a faster Eurostar will reduce the number of transfer passengers still further. Slots are moving from European destinations to US American ones (there won't be any new slots till 2015 at the earliest).

Heathrow is desirable partly because of airlines' herd thinking (London-New York already has more airlines on the route than any other international city pair anywhere, three of them are in danger of going bust in the next twelve months, and at least one almost certainly will), and partly because it's the handiest airport for Europe's commercial capital - a city which has seen uninterrupted growth for fifteen years.

Heathrow is preferred because premium travelers prefer it. Access to central London is at least as easy, but probably better. The Tube is a big plus. The HEX is at least as convenient as the Gatwick Express (though I don't think either is a great choice). And a taxi to almost any business destiation will more often be cheaper from Heathrow than Gatwick. Throw in that the area directly around Heathrow is a bigger business destination, and Gatwick just doesn't make as much geographic sense.

As for the airport experience, I think that, for premium travellers, Heathrow wins. The fast track and Iris lanes minimize any differences in security/connection/immigration times, and the better lounges, shopping and amenities mean that any time at the airport passes much more easily than at Gatwick.

Of course, for the coach traveler, I think that the difference is minimal and Gatwick may even be very slightly better, but these moves are not about coach travelers.

<Brett Favre Airport! PalenQ, how dare you?!?!?! Just wait until us Vikings fans don our stylish Vikings hats with the Helga braids, paint our faces purple, and raid your house!>

poohgirl - why did they name MSP airport Brett favre Airport?

Because they have a lot of touchdowns there!

Good one, PalenQ!

Is it confirmed that NWA flights are at T4? I see that MSP-LHR arrivals are at Gate 410.

Yes, NW uses T4.