No point flying planes from an isolated airport

SIR – For a hub airport to work, it needs spokes. Those spokes are the air, rail and road connections. Travellers need to be able to come and go from a hub airport easily, whether by plane, train, coach or car.

In this respect Gatwick airport is handicapped by being cut off from much of the country by London. It has no direct rail link to Heathrow; it is 20 miles from a Tube station, a great deal further from Crossrail, and even further from the HS2 route. Gatwick’s sole rail connection, the Brighton line, is a source of constant problems and complaints.

If Gatwick’s contractor is to rectify all these deficiencies in the proposed timeframe, presumably the taxpayer will paying for all these essential works: for they are certainly not in Gatwick’s figures, despite assurances that their scheme can be operational “with no public subsidy”. Gareth Hayton Dorking, Surrey

SIR – The Heathrow Express takes 15 minutes but operates from Paddington, requiring most passengers to lug their baggage on the Tube. The Gatwick Express takes 30 minutes but goes non-stop into Victoria, a much more central location.

Road journeys from Heathrow to central London via the M4 can take up to two hours – about the same as driving from Gatwick. Flights into and out of Heathrow pass over heavily populated areas while those to Gatwick pass over open countryside. Expansion at Gatwick is a no-brainer. Duncan Rayner Sunningdale, Berkshire