When DSA did get the go-ahead, they changed their focus for MME from a commercially viable airport to a significant land development opportunity and as part of this ran the facility into the ground.
Complete Nonsense. The catchment area simply isn't strong enough to support services in an environment of high APD, high fuel and declining real terms disposable incomes. When airlines become risk averse, they pull back from marginal markets and consolidate around bigger ones. Small airports are always the first to feel the brunt of economic downturn and the last to feel the benefit of an upturn. How many Teesside like airports in the UK (not owned by Peel) have followed the same pattern ?