The future is changing and it is point to point. Dubai was a huge hub but now they realize with the likes of the Airbus A330neo,the A350 and the Boing 777X that you don't need to fly to Dubai to get an Emirates A380 to your final destination because the planes mentioned are cheaper, more fuel-efficient so can fly straight to your destination from its other airports with good capacity cutting out the internal flight and possibly a 2 hr wait for your connection in a busy airport. For that reason point to point i think will grow. With that said and with the way aviation is changing all airports will want expansion, not just Heathrow or Gatwick at some point. Many airlines depart at certain times of the day or night and land at certain times of the day or night depending on slots available. That is not possible if you don't have the capacity and that is another issue. Another change is planes for freight. Planes of ten years old are now being brought because they are now good for converting them from used passenger-planes to freighters. It is a rapidly growing business because its aircraft options for conversion and engine options mean its now value to fly cargo than by other means which was not the case too long ago. And you can now fly non stop to almost anywhere so it will grow more in time. But remember, everyone is against expansion, whatever airport you live near, but numbers just keep increasing. The planes and engines are pretty green and getting more green, only the fuel is the issue. While around 300,000 flights to date have been on biofuel That is another long issue so ive left it out.
Julian Pavey ● 2442d