Not sure if Ryanair expansion is the longterm sustainable answer to getting passenger volumes back to 2006/7 levels.
Back then we even had a "Winter" schedule of :
Daily 737/320 flights to Stavanger, Oslo & Bergen (formerly operated by Braathens SAFE)
TOM & TCX Weekly flights to Orlando (Double present)
More flights to Greek & Spanish resorts
Twice weekly to Toronto
4 flights per day to Brussels
Widebody DC10/767 to TFS and Palma (Summer)
TCX to Goa, India
And all this was without Emirates & United, yet total passenger volumes exceeded 5,650,000 more than 1million more than today (10 years later!) Other comparable airports seem to have more than recovered from 2007 passenger volumes.
Surely we have more disposable income than most other areas of the UK.
Yet, .... If a price comparison is made on a number of departure points NCL is often considerably higher (Often by as much as £1,000 per family of Four)
Maybe this is the main reason we are not growing at a similar rate to our nearest comparable airports.
I have close friends/relatives flying out of Manchester to Orlando, London to Canada; and Edinburgh to Turkey and Greece saving Thousands of pounds per family bookings.
This may indicate deficiency of Supply v Demand i.e. Increase number of flights and services to attract further demand - Profits to equal comparable airports. - Conclusion: We are currently under served from NCL. and should have passenger volumes in excess of 7.5m per year in line with National increases in growth