There might be some relevance to this discussion if airports existed purely to support airline services. Taking MV's list of South West airports as an example
- Staverton is a thriving GA airfield with a few airline services almost as a side line,
- St Mary's is very much a niche airport with its' Scilly runs,
- Hurn again has significant non-airline aviation related business,
- Exeter also has significant engineering presence.
- Newquay is also diversifying and needs to do more.
DTVA Has a couple of "blue chip" residents in Cobham and Serco - it has recognised it can't survive on airline services alone and is looking to broaden its activities (this was recognised when Peel got involved over ten years ago). This is the right thing to do, but whether they are going about it the right way is a different discussion...