Phileas, yes there were a small number of scheduled domestic and European routes at each airport but many more charter, 15 years ago (the AirUK name disappeared that year, closely followed by many of their routes). I was comparing their position back then to Finningley now. Finningley is not solely charter - they have about 7 scheduled destinations. So my point about DSA's position being comparable to others 15 years ago is still correct.
15 years ago LPL had 600k passengers.
15 years ago LBA had 1.2 million passengers.
Both had been open decades before reaching these numbers.
In 2011 DSA had 800k, and had reached 1.1 million annually within 2 years of opening, and then the economy went pear shaped. If DSA had been luckier with the economy not being so attrocious so soon after opening they would probably have been exceeding 2 million passengers annually by now, based on the growth in the first couple of years.
Finningley bypassed HUY after year 1, and had three times the number of passengers in 2011.
So I wouldn't be concerned about DSA just yet. Give it another 10 years, when hopefully the economy will have picked up.
According to a recent LPL press release, Liverpool did host charter flights pre-loco days.No idea when, but I guess in the 90s.
Last edited by wb9999; 9th Feb 2013 at 00:28.