highwideandugly - I think you have more or less summed the situation up i.e. that it will survive as an airfield of sorts, though not in it's present format.
You introduced an interesting point that has been somewhat overlooked in recent postings, that being the current state of repair of the "asset" DTV.
Remember a lot of investment is needed even to maintain the current standards.Thr runway is going to need attention soon-the taxyways do now..
As such any price paid for DTV will have to reflect these concerns, as such maintenance does not come cheap.
mmeman - If MME closed how much more will Newcastle be able to charge airlines/users as the airlines won't have the bargaining tool of if you we wont pay your charges, we will move down the road..
You need to take a reality check !, DTV was NEVER a bargaining tool for airlines operating out of other local airports as it simply could not offer the infrastructure or facilities. IF DTV were to close, then it will simply be normal business as usual up & down the road!, no more or less pax as there will be none to migrate.
It needs to be noted that airlines in considering new services, carry out significant market resaerch, and undoubtedly take into account at what is happening at neighbouring airfields, but it is possibly public perception as to how they saw DTV, that was a historical issue that was too hard to overcome.
As I said on many occasions then any problem can be addressed with the right competent management team backed with sufficient financial resource, sadly DTV was seriously lacking in both!