Carlisle to anywhere is a non starter, the west coast rail line upgrade is almost complete and it's only 45 minutes drive to Newcastle, where you can travel to London (or anywhere else) far more cheaply than you ever would from Carlisle.
Failing that, Edinburgh is only an hours drive away, with similar air routes available.
I'm not optomistic about about the future of Carlisle airport, after getting through about 5 airport managers in 2 years or so, it makes you wonder why the whole place isn't a building site.