Let’s clear up some points;
Air bridges – Yes we don’t have many but who would use them? BA and Britannia at the moment, yes others do but its costs extra to use an air bridge so the likes of Easy wouldn’t! By the way plans are in place to put more in.
Busing from pier stands – This occurs when the likes of Easy arrive international or domestic and depart the opposite i.e. arr from BFS depart to BCN so is parked on an international stand so the arriving pax’s are bussed or vice versa! The airport has to be divided into Domestic, Arriving International and Departing international and never the three to meet!! Not airport instructions but DoT/immigration rules! Add to that the requirement for flights to/from Ireland (north and South) and you get a very complex situation.
Expansion – The airport is always expanding; new stands south side, new control tower, new hotel and this will go on. However the airport has to measure expansion with income, it does not have a bottomless pit of money. The people of the NE want low cost flights but low cost flights do not directly earn the airport a lot of money, hence the need to earn money else where for example parking and shop spend. Plus some expansion does not see direct dividends i.e. our new tower however much it is needed. But you will see further expansion over the next few years don’t worry.
Space – The airport has a lot of space to work with, you may not know but the airport has always had a policy of buying land around it when it comes to market. This you will find means the airport safely owns most of the near land around it and hence can expand subject to planning of course!
Runway – The runway is adequate at the moment. East coast USA and the Middle East being easily possible. New aircraft types are making this easier just look at the A330 in recent years. The cost also again comes into this roughly £1 million per linear metre, think about it! However again the airport has plans should the need arise to do this.
Running an airport is very complex and costly every thing has to be balanced with safety and regulations always coming first. So next time you are on your ‘simply ridiculous’ two minute ride around the apron think why you are doing it! Rant over!