Remember the business supplement in the Belfast Telegraph, maybe about 4 or 5 years ago, front page headline, Emirates to Belfast, and reporting how the deal was pretty much done. Think at this stage EK at Belfast is total pie in the sky.
BFS main problem is the same as CWL or MME, poor catchment area and competition from other more local airports with better road links.
I think BFS rested on their laurels when they believed that BHD was capacity restricted, had a strict curfew and the shorter runway. They felt that most if not all expansion in NI aviation would be theirs.
Fair to a point, BHD will never handle the cargo, long-haul or late night charters, and LDY too far from the large population centres in the East of the province, however BFS really need to step it up; lobby for fair ADP in this part of the UK, really connect with their airline customers and to the public at large to ensure they are offering what the public and airlines want.