Originally Posted by
graraps
It's almost lunchtime- please do wake up and smell the coffee.
Very few people want to go to MXP. Even fewer among the highest-yield pax (i.e. those who pay €1000 for a European nonstop in C). They'd much rather fly into LIN. So the MXP hub both has weak o&d demand and loses AZ premium customers who want to fly from/to Milan.
i'm one of those.
Let's be honest:
Domestic travel:
the longest flight is probably MIL-CTA (1h50min): why should i spend more than 50 mins to get to the airport (and about 11EUR +1 to reach MXP by train) if i'm lucky (because there's a train every 30 mins), when i can reach LIN in 20 mins by taxi, spending about 15/20 EUR?
European destination:
here i think the choice is strongly influenced by price and timings... so it's very difficult to establish a general rule. A case-by-case discussion could be more appropriate.
Longhaul (not direct connection):
Several destination are not served directly from MXP. So if i have to connect through another gateway, LIN is the logical choice since it's closer to city center.
Longhaul (direct connection):
if my destination is server through MXP, my personal choice is influenced by carrier: if SQ, TG or QR, MXP is ok for me. Any other option ( CO, DL, AZ and even EK) will bring me to fly BA to LHR and connecting onwards on BA. Notwithstanding the problem transit in LHR, being BA Gold, fast track is ok, LIN is close to city and i prefer to spend 50 mins transiting in London and flying BA (which is strongly better than CO DL AZ AA and similars) for the whole trip.