Further afield, Middle Eastern hubs have invested heavily in new infrastructure. Their carriers are competing for both European regional connections and key routes that over-fly Europe such as those linking the USA and India. There’s a danger that losing critical connections will reduce Heathrow’s attractiveness as a major European hub. This will reduce traffic on feeder routes, in turn putting those routes at risk along with other long-haul routes. This would be to the significant detriment of UK passengers.