Whether they never came or indeed came and went is academic, they are not there now.
The whole head in the sand "we've got a bigger catchment area than you" or "its great because its quick to get through" or any other tin pot reason is shambolic.
As SLF with high disposable income to spend on leisure and a large corporate travel budget I see nothing to entice me to head to DTV for either purpose and spend my loot.
It's about time some people woke up to the harsh reality of life and accept it will never compete and beat NCL in the North East, it might give LBA a run in some areas and everyone comes second to MAN.
Given the economy, the dwindling offers and routes available, is this airport truly viable long term without some major change of direction or is it going to be the next place I can go to visit an unattractive business park on a former airfield site?
I shall now don my tin hat, take to the slit trenches and await incoming abuse grenades. Standby.