if Peel do want the land, it's a damn sight more valuable with an airport on it,
That might be true if the airport was "Heathrow", "Narita" or "JFK". Given that it's loss making Teesside that can't make any money on Thomson (hardly the Ryanair of airport fees), I reckon it might be more valuable with some <
insert random noun> on it.
Cobham and Serco are two powerhouses as big if not bigger than Peel, if Peel did try to close the airport, they along with the other above mentioned companies, would soon stop them.
What's the contract issue between Serco and Peel? It is likely to have a termination clause with some degree of compensation surely, nothing unusal in that, it's not WWIII by any means. Worst case scenario is a truncated runway with taxiway access and flog the rest. btw Galway Airport just closed for good, following Plymouth's lead and Filton and Woodford.....
Who's the remaining handling agent at MME? Did Aviance and Servisair merge into one Servisair operation?
When this master plan gets released, Peel are going to have to try and pull something special out of the hat to bring in some very positive
PR.
I think
PR matters not one whit here, people heard baby leaving and assumed BMI also left at the same time, the same people hear no more charters and job losses at the airport will also assume the airfield is closing. It's not
PR you need to worry about, it's market credibility and presence.