TwinAisle - That is an excellent post and a mighty big elephant.
It is a few years since I ran an airline out of Cardiff but I do go back as far as the days of Donaldson International and BEA as far as marketing charter capacity and have seen them all come and go at Cardiff, have even been a Director of one or two along the way.
The market has changed over those years, the traditional Tour Operator that supported the majority of the traffic from Cardiff has been diluted by Low Cost Carriers and we are in the middle of the worst recession of recent years. The demand for the old style IT has diminished considerably.
There is still a demand for an airport at Cardiff but like so many struggling regional airports it needs to develop other revenue streams to support the few services that are viable to survive. Many airports survive with just a few regional full cost services plus ancilliary income.
To those that think low cost carriers are the salvation, they aren't, a shiny new terminal, it isn't. If you think Bristol shutting down thousands would flock to Cardiff they wouldn't. THE MARKET ISN'T THERE
If the deal does go through stop dreaming guys and certainly don't spend shed loads of money chasing fantasies.