FRatSTN, I'm not suggesting that the catchment area for Stansted is any smaller than some of its competitors - I live in this area and understand the local geography/train lines/motorways which could potentially bring custom to Stansted.
I guess what I'm trying to question is out of those people, how many actually want to use what's on offer at Stansted any more? Most of my family and friends have come to the same conclusion that Easyjet is an all round better experience than Ryanair. Therefore the more Easyjet cut back at Stansted, the more we'll be looking to Gatwick instead. I don't have anything personal against Ryanair (I've flown them over 200 times in the last 7 or 8 years), all I'm saying quite simply is that they seem to become more unbearable as the years go on whilst Easyjet are on a continuous drive to make life easier for their passengers (i.e. allocated seating, the mobile phone app, an easy-to-use website which remembers your data, etc).
Of course it is the fault of the airport in the first place, driving away the likes of Air Berlin, Germanwings, Norwegian etc, and not doing more to hold on to the routes that Easyjet had at their peak. But now that those airlines have had the taste of life at Gatwick, do you see a new management being able to win them back at Stansted any time soon? Airlines don't want to chop and change airports too often, it annoys passengers and gives them a bad reputation. I just feel that the more Stansted becomes Ryanair-centric, the more that they'll struggle to claw back the passenger numbers they had a few years back.