cost of redevelopment
Concur with much of the above but there are way too many barriers to making it into something useful
Farnborough has had over £100 million pumped into it since being taken over by TAG from its previous incarnation and that was one hell of a lot better equipped and in better condition than North Weald is today.
The Nimbys will kill off any hope unless you have a public enquiry and it's part of a national aviation policy to develop some of these old airfields - it isn't and so it won't happen.
Airspace issues are significant.
For what is required on the ground and by the CAA (or EASA one day), you will never get a return on the investment and you'll never be allowed scheduled services in all liklihood, which could expedite that ROI - so forget it.
Nice idea but way too much needs doing. Newquay just spent £58m tidying up the edges to appease the CAA. It's a great big lump of crumbling concrete stuck in the middle of Essex - that is all. Almost every single element, component, wire, drain, surface - you name it, has to be dug up and/or thrown away.