Not geographically speaking, of course. But in terms of passenger interest and footfall they may well do.
Heathrow Airport is well known as a huge complex, with five terminals and millions of passengers passing through it every year. Some people dislike having to travel through it simply because of the sheer number of people they will be rubbing shoulders with.
And if a new rail link goes ahead Heathrow could be in danger of losing passengers to airports further up the country – with Birmingham Airport being a prime example.
So how would this happen? And why would passengers choose to make that decision when they could simply carry on travelling from Heathrow?
The answer lies in the fact that the new rail link will be a high speed one, travelling at speeds of up to 200mph. This means that people could travel from London Euston – one of the stations designated to be used on the high speed network – and reach Birmingham in less than an hour.
But would you do this? It may be possible in theory and indeed in practice, but does it make life easier for those passengers who would consider eschewing Heathrow in favour of Birmingham?
The truth is that some people will be set in their habits. Even if they travel regularly from Heathrow they will be used to navigating the airport and getting from A to B reasonably quickly. If they considered going from Euston to the Midlands instead, they would have to relearn the whole journey to be able to use it effectively. It may be faster but would they be prepared to try a whole new way of travelling just to save a small amount of time?
Some would be keen to get away from the crowds at Heathrow in favour of what is essentially a smaller airport. And of course since different airports do offer different flights to a certain extent it could be that they are finally within reach of a more practical solution to their travel plans.
A lot will depend on the individual traveller, so it will be interesting to see whether the fears about the future of Heathrow will come to fruition or not. Until the link is built and we can see exactly how it works and who uses it, we can only speculate on its knock on effect.