we need some airlines such as bmi, sas, lufthansa
Why would they be interested when they already fly into Birmingham just down the road? Go much outside the Derby/Leicester/Nottingham triangle and you're already encroaching on to the catchment areas of BHX/MAN where they are already established and the facilities are infinitely better than can be found at EMA. The infrastructure is acceptable for the likes of Ryanair et al, but not good for those airlines who like to market themselves as a cut above the low-costs.
In addition, does EMA and its immediate catchment really have the potential to be able to sustain the type routes such 'legacy' carriers would be interested in? Obviously Derby and Nottingham have a fair bit of business potential, but is it enough to attract the legacy carriers up the road from BHX? I would suggest not.
Unfortunately I think EMA has found its niche with freight and low-cost traffic. And I think previous contributors are correct when they say that to turn things around, the cost of upgrading the infrastructure would be so great that they would destroy the niche they have created by driving away the likes of Ryanair, and still might not be able to attract more upmarket replacements.
Just my 2p-worth!