If this airport's future depends on persuading people to fly from Middlesbrough to Oxford then we really are in fairyland.
I suspect the real test will be what happens to Cobham under the looming defence cuts. I don't know how they pay the airport but look at the number of movements each day - frequently more Cobham movements than all air transport movements put together. I guess they did a good deal with the airport otherwise I assume the MoD would have told them to base themselves on an RAF base to make it cheaper. But that must always be an option for them.
NS