I've been watching this thread for quite a while now, with the odd post or two in DTV 5... but what can I say?
The airport is pretty much ran down, and with Peel turning down Thomson it seems like another nail in the coffin. But, with Eastern and KLM still operating from the airport, it atleast shows some resilience from the year round characters.
I'm not going to go on about a wishlist, nor am I going to post about any timescales for DTV, because I just don't know. From my point of view, I can see where people are coming from in relation to the London flights - but is it really going to work with half-hourly East Coast services from Darlington (with excellent connections to Thornaby & Middlesbrough), or even 4x daily services from Eaglescliffe by Grand Central?
I feel this route is becoming saturated... and any flights to London would just be moving passengers from one mode to another.
Yes, DTV can move forward, and yes, DTV will - but it'll take time and very good planning.