I have to agree that the timing of this runway re-surfacing was a little unfortunate and some might say, ill thought through.
Obviously, Mr. Skipp did not want disruption to services in summer which of course, would have been a wholly more appropriate time to carry out heavy maintenance work such as this, as the chances are that the weather would have been more suitable for the job. Of course, the charter flights might well have been inconvenienced- ah well, the old balance sheet problem again!
In Italy, Bologna Airport needed to carry out similar runway maintenance which included resurfacing and adding an extension. Here they did the right thing and closed the airport for the duration of the works and relocated all operations to Forli Airport, just down the road. Result: a little inconvenience for all operators for a short time but the runway was completed quickly and more to the point, safely.