I and probably Bombay will remember the old 'bucket shops' here in London, where you could go into a place, usually in an office above a shop, where they could get you a flight by changing at a European hub, which very often reduced the price quite dramatically. O.K, you might have to wait an hour for your connecting flight
, but that was nothing, when you knew how much you were saving.
I have learnt that the 'hub' system seems to have gone out of the window these days, it more to do with 'alliances' these day, like Star Alliance. For example the whole of that new Terminal 3 at Cairo is given over to this group, with the idea that your luggage will get to your final destination the same time as you,..........really.
Often when staying in Cairo, EgyptAir gave me the choice of their plane or BMI, further more BMI's flights always showed up on their screens at all the sales office, even though at that time BMI had its own shop in Cairo. Perhaps the near future will be more to do with alliances than the old hub system. Will that benefit the passenger though in the future?
I am sure many who live in Britain will remember the old British Rail system of Hubs, being of course Crewe, Derby and Nuneaton, where you were often told to change at these places. These huge stations are now like ghost towns, the reason being that each private operator do not want you to use any other part of the network, that is not run by them.
Any train from London to places such as Birmingham, Manchester, or for that matter even that small provincial town, 100 miles north called Leicester can be got to, for at least half price, and WITHOUT ANY restrictions, by not taking the obvious route, instead by changing at the old hub system. Yes the journey may take half an hour longer, but when the difference in price can be as much as £75, it's worth thinking about,.............Don't you just love privatisation and multi-nationals.