When you come from Bangor and you're family and friends all live in East Belfast and North Down then yes, Aldergrove is the middle of nowhere. Getting to the other side of Belfast is a right pain in the arse from Aldergrove.
Not to dwell on this point, and everyone will have different opinions as to, how far is too far to get to an airport, or how easily people are inconvenienced. After all people still drive to Dublin to save a few quid on routes served from a Belfast airport!!!
Like i said, the city airport is undoubtedly more convenient to Belfast and areas of North Down, esp if you are using public transport, however I think it is a bit of an exaggeration to call BFS in the middle of nowhere. I live in East Belfast, very close to Forestside in Four Winds, and normal journey time to BHD is about 15 minutes in normal traffic. To BFS would be about 30 minutes. Yes, its longer, but hardly inconvenient (like I said if you have a car). Straight down the Ravenhill Road, on to the Motorway and then off the M2, 10 minutes up single laned carrageway and there you are. From North Down, yes you have to pass BHD on the bypass, but BFS is about 15/20 minutes further on along the motorway.
Maybe I'm just not that easily put out, but for the difference of 20 odd minutes in a car really wouldn't concern me, taking into account the time spent at an airport, flying to wherever, baggage reclaim time etc. The other aspects involved in the journey. Have a good friend living in Bangor, who flys with work out of Heathrow. He frequently uses Aer Lingus from BFS, and while he say's BHD is closer, BFS is far from a nightmare to get to.
Though each to their own I guess.
On a seperate note, how are the loads on the Jet2 flights to CMF. When flying to Brescia on the 24th Jan, saw the passengers boarding, but couldn't really judge accurately.