Young kids were left shivering outside waiting for hours after aircraft had landed.
Oh please, save us the Daily Mail sob story.
The captain probably didn’t say why because he didn’t know. They would have had a list of alternates on the flight plan ranked commercially and picked the highest one that was open and available. At most they would’ve asked operations through ACARS. It’s not his job to know why the company favour one airport over another commercially.
If you really want an explanation, it’s most likely because Newcastle is a 737 crew base, so it would’ve been easier to get the aircraft back to Aberdeen the next day. Slap on the wrist for the captain not knowing this and saving those poor children from pneumonia.