Well said, andrewmcharlton.
Teesside Airport is not alone in the challenges it faces. Perhaps it ought to look elsewhere for inspiration. Many years ago, I lived in Belgium for a while. At the time, Sabena operated a Beech 99 from Liege, via Ostend, I think, to London. That link has long since demised, and indeed Liege now has, according to OAG, only one scheduled flight a week - a Belle Air A319 to Prishtina. However, somehow it managed to see over 400,000 passengers pass through last year and 500,000 tonnes of freight. Many of the passengers are on charter flights to sunnier climes than eastern Belgium, and a lot of the freight is in transit, with TNT, EL Al and most recently Avient using the place as a hub.
Let's remember that Liege is a former iron and steel town, of both industrial and manufacturing heritage. Much of that has gone, replaced by mechanical and space tech industries, biotech and science. It's airport - served by regular buses to the railway station - is linked into a fast and efficient motorway and rail network from the city. The happy burghers of Liege can therefore be at Brussels Airport in about an hour, and CDG or FRA in 2-3. So how come LGG is so successful? Why can't MME emulate some of that success? Liege has carved out a number of key niches over recent years, and sought to cleverly fill them. Yes, Brussels takes a lot of cargo; but runway capacity and night operations are constrained, and road traffic is heavy: So Liege has developed into a hub for perishable cargoes, with fast handling, customs and road transportation provided.
Perhaps MME managers need to sit down with One North East, Yorkshire Forward, local authorities, business leaders, operators and regional transport planners to brainstorm some potential niches. I'm not saying Teesside could or should do what Liege has done; but it's an inspiration and an example of how an industrial centre sandwiched between larger air transport centres can still make itself a going concern.