Scheduled services, I doubt it. Limited catchment area, and there are already much better services available from NCL, PIK, LBA, LPL, MAN and even BLK, with good transport links from the area to each of these. Only west Cumbria and maybe parts of the Solway have CAX as the closest airport, and there is neither a great number of people or money in those areas, parts of West Cumbria being amongst the most deprived in England.
As regards airport facilities, the runway may well be listed as 1800m, but it is undulating, with significant displaced thresholds, and in poor condition for any kind of larger transport a/c. IFR facilities are basic, with the NDB being classed as unreliable by the AIP, so possibly limiting commercial traffic to VFR ops. The physical facilities are laughable for a modern airline, and nobody is going to invest the money to upgrade to a useable standard for what may turn out to be a short-lived experiment by one operator on an occassional basis.
It's a lovely thought, but it just isn't going to happen. (And that's before Cumbria's legendary NIMBYs get started).
Niknak
You'll never get from CAX to NCL in 45 minutes by road by any legal means (unless it's by bike). Even driving 'enthusiastically' it is at the very least a 1 hour journey door to door given the lack of dual carriageway west of Hexham and the heavy traffic (the old military road is no faster, but considerably more fun).
Last edited by Maude Charlee; 6th Sep 2005 at 10:33.