Thread going round in circles a bit I'm afraid.
I'm surprised this survey is being discussed as it was posted here some time ago and is old news.
Long term Manston watchers will tell you there have been umpteen "surveys" over the years - some conducted by the airport owners, some by the local authority, and some by the local press, and all claiming to draw the same conclusion - that there is a healthy demand for services at MSE.
Of course, the owners are seeking a positive prognosis for the airport, the local authority are seeking business rate revenue, and the press are sniffing for more advertising income, so the credibility of these surveys is questionable.
A survey might be a useful tool at start-up, but after nearly ten years of failed operation, this is simply a desperate
PR exercise.
The sample group for this latest effort was, I believe, 10,000 people, and the nature of the way it was conducted would suggest it mostly attracted people who had already used Manston.
The 71% of postive respondants only equates to 7000 people who were interested enough to reply, which out of a supposed catchment population of 1.6 million doesn't amount to much I'm afraid.
Of course, the best "survey" is a real airline offering real tickets at a real price, and from observing the track record of Seguro, Newmarket, and the little Jersey flights, the demand for this would appear to be around 50 return passenger flights per year in total from MSE.