Another Teesside?
I don't blame FR for PIK fall from grace, its continued longer than it would have done with out FR for sure!
FR do tend to scare away many airlines at the smaller airports because their cost advantage is so great ($20 a seat i reckon) less of a problem at the likes of MAN EMA BHX LBA where there is volume to be had.
With passenger volumes in free fall in the UK PIK could well be the next BFS with a wavier of APD for direct long haul flights from PIK at which point CO in GLA will kick off!!
APD has become a dogs dinner of a tax policy, the only hope is that it has become so dire that something will have to give sooner or later, i suspect the chancellor will move in some way at his Autumn statement with ETS starting next year they must wake up to the havoc they are doing to the uk aviation industry, bmi on the brink,Flybe profit warnings, TCX shedding pilots and aircraft, Monarch canx the 787, lot of high paying jobs and easy to collect tax revenue, unlike FR's merry bunch of self employed tax avoiders.
Even the Jarrow marchers gave up at Harrogate, it won't belong before 3/4 of the UK population never go to Scotland, its cheaper to fly anywhere else........get off soap box
PIK has fond memories of qualifying cross country, it seemed along way from NCL