Although this does look like a panic measure (and probably is) by TUI to ensure that their Thomsonfly startup goes ahead, in the long run it could turn out to be a good bit of business. O'leary is always banging on about how airports are his biggest headache in terms of their charges, the obvious answer would surely be to buy your own base airport, put in a decent management team and run not only a profitable airline but also a profitable airport - and have complete control from top to bottom. TUI are the first but will they be the last?
CVT is centrally located with probably the best road connections in the country, people would be willing to use CVT from a huge area (100,000 bookings in the first 2 months give us an idea). Instead of the farce which Buster might want to put forward and which still might happen for the first few months as things are getting tight for the start up date, in the long run, TUI may have just put themselves in a very strong position.
The big problem is getting planning permission for the new terminal, the farce caused by Atlantic over the temporary buildings and runway means that the chance of CVT getting the permission for the terminal is diminishing, however with TUI's lobbying power and ability to offer the locals some sweeteners, any planning rejection should hopefully be countered on appeal. (I may be being a bit optimistic there, the planning decision is what it all rests on now)
Cheers
52N