Flybe disappeared 2 years ago, and its revival is unlikely to grow to the same size for a long time. Soton cannot rely on one carrier any more
The future of commercial passenger aviation is 100+ seat aircraft, not sub-75 seat aircraft
SOU can either extend its runway and hope to survive long term... or be assured of long term decline into irrelevancy. I hope only that the extension planned is enough
Think of how airports with grass runways acted in the years post WW2... or examine the case of Sheffield STOLport