Originally Posted by
T8191
Provincial Town - yes
Global Finance Centre - yes
But the fact that BA deems it appropriate to run 5 [and imminently 6] a day, all year round, suggests there's perhaps a bit of commerce going on. Certainly there are plenty of suits and briefcases when I fly the route, and that's on a mid-day flight.
I have no idea what the pax do after reaching LGW, of course. Whether it's in the City, or heading off to more distant locations, is an unknown. I guess BA have an idea of who goes where, and have sensibly determined it isn't worth running an LHR slot.
It's certainly not a global finance centre; it has a niche role for offshore banking which is contracting and in future will not have critical mass except for expats. It's insurance activities are limited to group and captive insurance plus hosting regulated entities which have little substance on the island. Beyond that it is a sunny place for trust and similar activity for shady people. It's not global, it's not even a regional centre and it's a backwater that serious skilled professional advisers and financial services staff avoid as it does not offer intellectual stimulation (work wise) nor prospect for serious advancement! (You might see this as harsh but it is brutally accurate.)