I like to think that I am, generally, a positive sort of person with a bright outlook – not just in life but for Cumbria’s future.

But even I have had to fight dark thoughts, as I suspect others have, when it comes to Carlisle Lake District Airport.

After so many false starts it was hard for the doubts not to creep in over whether commercial flights would ever take off.

But now, it appears, we have a date – July 4. Cumbria’s very own Independence Day!

Because the airport really is going to be a gamechanger for the Cumbrian economy.

I was once told that there are two key ingredients when it comes to developing a knowledge-based economy. One that will (pun intended) fly in a modern, and increasingly small, world.

The first is a university, and of course, we got our own in 2007 in the shape of the University of Cumbria. With the presence of the University of Manchester and UCLan in West Cumbria and the close proximity of Lancaster University, one of the top educational establishments in the UK, we are now well stocked in this area.

The second key ingredient is an airport – giving access to national and international markets.

In July, we will have this – barring any unforeseen issues. It is incredibly exciting.

Tourism is obviously going to be a huge market and a more direct air link should only increase the county’s £2.9 billion visitor economy.

After all, the airport carries the Lake District brand, and while it is still a fair few miles from the national park boundary it is significantly closer than Southend or Luton is to London, as their airports are so named.

It now gives a competitively priced and quicker alternative to rail when it comes to reaching visitors in the South East. The links to Belfast and Dublin in particular, with its onward global connections, opens up huge possibilities for visitors.

Manchester and Newcastle airports, with Glasgow, Leeds and Birmingham on the fringes, are currently the primary entry points. Carlisle Lake District Airport gives us more, and a more direct one. That can only be a good thing.

And of course, there is a significant business angle too. The county welcomes many businesspeople from across the UK each day who, in the main, rely on train or car. And of course, many of our own businesses need to get out to London to build relationships, secure deals, or push their – and Cumbria’s – case in the corridors of power at Westminster.

The ease of access the airport will provide, will make these trips easier and will help oil wheels quicker.

And when it comes to the Irish links, they too offer the prospect of strengthening existing and building new relationships, particularly in the post-Brexit world.

The Republic of Ireland is our biggest trading partner and is set to be a key gateway in to the EU after (or should it be if?) we eventually leave.

The impact of the link will be substantial, and it will be interesting to see the economic impact this could have – in terms of inward investment, productivity and GVA in general.

On a social level, this also opens up new opportunities for people here. It will be easier to catch a show in London, catch up with friends, and explore new places across the Irish Sea.

We’re constantly told about Cumbria’s relative isolation, although I don’t agree it is. The airport brings us so much closer to so much more.

There is going to be one, pretty significant challenge, that Cumbria does need to get right to make the most of the air link, and, should they materialise, improved rail and road.

At the launch of Transport for the North’s (TfN) Strategic Transport Plan – which un-coincidentally took place at the airport – there was much talk about Cumbrian organisations needing to work together to improve the “last mile/s”.

How we get travellers from the major air, rail and road links onwards to where they need to get to, whether that is for business or pleasure?

This is where Cumbria is lacking. The airport, West Coast Mainline, and M6, gives Cumbria direct, and relatively quick, access to the national transport network. But for those venturing to places like Barrow and West Cumbria, in particular, the onward journey can be challenging.

And the last thing we need is that last step of the journey being so onerous it deters people from coming again. It would be a case of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Rail timetables need to be slicker. Roads access need to be improved. We need to get creative about how people travel onwards. Electric cars anyone?

TfN’s plan goes some way to addressing that – indeed improved road access on the A689 between the airport, M6 and Carlisle, is one of those long-term, no funding or timescale assigned, projects nestled at the back of their plan. It, like so many others, could do with nudging up the pecking order.

But I don’t want to dwell too much on the negative. I’m not going to give the potted history of the false starts, they’re painfully well known. And I don’t want to fall in to the trap of needing to see before I believe.

I know that Stobart Group would not be setting the date unless they are 100 per cent confident of it happening. They have lost too much face already to gamble on this.

But, as they, say good things come to those who wait. And, should the airport achieve its full social and economic promise, then all will be forgotten, and Stobart Group will be rightfully recognised for its role in transforming the county’s economy.

We need to be looking to the skies with new optimism and confidence. Because, from July 4, the sky really will be the limit for Cumbria.