WWW,
Thomsonfly have sold over 100,000 tix so far, and this is twice their initial expectations, so they can't be doing too bad.
Coventry itself has been plastered with TOM ads on buses, billboards, bus stops etc. This is pretty effective imho, and the ads are very slick. They've been on tv too - EZ already have the "airline" programme, it would be very crowded to try and do anything in their shoes. And a few local nimbys have certainly heard about them!
Air Atlantique are afterall a freight airline company, so I'm sure TUI can do a better job of running a passenger airport than they did.
With WDC having dragged its feet over the terminal for so long, it will be interesting to see if TUI bypass them and go straight to the planning inspectorate.
A fresh start with a large and respected organisation should be good for TOM, good for the airport, and may even open up a more constructive dialogue with some of the anti-lobby.
The very first thing I would be doing if I was TUI is holding a public meeting to explain future plans to local residents. If TUI are going to give priority to TOM, that could mean some of the noisy freighters get moved on.