Just reading this thread for the first time in ages, there seem to be some very insular attitudes or agendas in play. The activity levels at pretty much every UK airport are at rock-bottom again right now, with the Omicron impact on passenger demand being the reason for it. It is hopefully short-term but it is severe. From what I can see:
Cardiff has only one flight departure on Wednesday for the entire day - Ryanair to Dublin.
Southend remains all but closed.
Gatwick has one of two terminals still firmly shut.
Doncaster has one flight departure on Wednesday for the whole day - Wizz to Bucharest.
Airports that were/are much larger than MME are seeing vastly reduced levels of traffic right now. 94 passengers a day by those standards isn't bad. So as I say, I'm not sure whether it's simply an insular approach or whether it's driving a particular agenda, but at least a) the airport is still open and b) there are flights going to and from it. In today's world, that's a bonus.