After checking FR24 I can confirm the airport is currently having to deal with unprecedented numbers of vultures circulating overhead.
If short haul returns to normal levels over the next couple of years then you would expect a well run forward thinking regional airport to start to recover.
To me the real question is not the old chestnut about 20,000 houses, it is whether there is a serious player out there to take on the challenge and put Esken out of their misery.