A few points about Teesside folks (including information from the other thread):
1) Tees Valley population - 640,000. Tyneside - 790,000. Considering North Yorkshire, Sunderland and County Durham figures as well and the drivetime statistics (one hour from MME - 2.6m and NCL - 2.2m), one can see that there is great potential for the airport.
2) LBAir wrote: 'regional cargo hub covering Newcastle to the North and Leeds to the South' - do me a favour. No airport could sustain itself on the above market and nor will Teesside (I'm sure) follow your suggestion.
3) Teesside has a strong catchment area, a good product (dated but being updated and heavily invested in) and an operationally superior runway (lack of obstructions etc - hence NCL charters ocassionally having to stop at MME on the way).
4i) As others have pointed out, Easy did not start with 4/5 aircraft at NCL ('it' started with GO doing STN and then grew from there 2 based a/c?). bmibaby have more issues to contend with unlike FR and Easy. i.e. mainline, regional and ownership structure of the parent (lufthansa, SAS etc). I think the fact that baby have based an aircraft shows good sense. One aircraft, sell it hard and then grow from there. I can't think of any airline that would commence a new base because 'it looks good on paper'. How much do you think it costs an airline to open a base?
5) Teesside does compete with NCL. It will never be as big as Newcastle but it will see its fair share of growth I am sure. NCL has its obvious attractions (Airport and City) and will therefore always have a strong business.
The whole point seems to have been missed by some on this forum. The White Paper does not necessarily define what will happen, it suggests what might. What is clearly evident however, is that given the right opportunites and some solid investment from the private sector and development agencies, regional airports can not only survive, but grow and become sustainable business centres for the regions and catchment areas they serve and are served by.
Oh and by the way, regional airport growth (any regional) should be supported. The development of regional airports (NCL, LBA, MME, LPL, Finningley etc) is to the benefit of everyone. The success of a 'competing' airport will not herald the demise of another. IMO, Finningley will be a success and LBA etc will also continue to be a success as will NCL/MME, LPL/MAN even PIK/GLA.
PS - some sensible notable good points on this thread from (amongst others) Andy_S and Silkman.