highwideandugly the revenues come from all over the airport (TNT, FR/Cobham, the clubs, any cargo, MOD, fire school, Terminal revenues, GA fees, car parking) not just passenger numbers and flights! The development fees will help cover short falls too. I wish people could see past the idea that passengers are the be all and end all! Yes they are very important but so are other areas!
On another note the idea of a Southend service isn't such a bad one, the train goes straight into Liverpool Street and is ideal for the City and Canary Wharf. As such Eastern would suit the type of person the service may attract. Lets face it the days of a London service putting 10k+ a month through the airport are gone unless the forced sale of Stansted leads to the opening up of slots at LGW or LHR through better competition, but to be honest I can't see it really, at least not for 5-10 years!