Originally Posted by
DavidJBell
I am surprised OW hasn't courted an indian, chinese and a SE asian carrier, eg Malaysian, along with an african carrier (not sure there are any candidates?).
Not sure about the comment regarding the "need for a compelling hub in central europe". There's Malev with Budapest which provides a european hub, or do you mean BUD being an inter-continential hub? I'd suggest that there aren't many large cities in central europe that justify being an inter-continential hub.
I'm sure OW has been courting carriers but I think their emphasis on "quality" has meant they haven't moved as fast as the others, in particular Star.
As for BUD as a hub, it has no OW inter-continental flights other than to Israel/Jordan/Syria. For most flyers based in Asia, Australia or Africa getting to points in central Europe, BUD involves a double connection which makes it useless as hub - and LHR, MAD and HEL involve much more travel time than connecting FRA/MUC/ZRH/VIE or FCO/CDG/AMS. I really wish BA hadn't let LX slip into the clutches of LH back in 2004.