Andy don't get me wrong I am not denouncing HUY but coming at it from a different perspective. Personally I will fly from Manchester for the long haul stuff until that is DSA start their Florida flights. I agree to some extent that spotters take their thermos with them however on my recent visit to HUY I did make the effort as I do at every airfield I viist to give something back if only by buying a cup of tea. For spotting I prefer NEMA and Manchester. Both have aeroparks which affords me the chance of getting underneath aircraft ( in particular at NEMA) and this is money going back to the airfield.
I agree with you that convienience is a benefit but when that benefit is outweighed by cost ( I don't know the comparrisons with HUY) as in the case of a recent flight I was going to take, I will take the cheapest option. For example last year I flew to NYC from Gatwick because it was £130 cheaper to do so than travel from Manchester so even with the train costs to and from Doncaster it was still a saving of £70. Will Humberside be able to compete in that market if DSA were to start long haul flights and not on the lo co circuit?
What is the public transport links to HUY like? I know at DSA they are pretty good and if Peel could get their way ( which I am sure they will in the near future) there will also be a rail link. I also see the potential of expansion at DSA but with HUY they seem to be stuck as to where they could go should they need to expand.
From a spotters point of view I would like to see both expand so that we get the chance to view more aircraft type in a local area as well as bringing in money to these two areas, from a flyers perspective I would like to see DSA and HUY offer a lot more flights than they do right now and not just for the leisure industry
Rob