Business community urged to rally behind Durham Tees Valley airport (From The Northern Echo)

Business community urged to rally behind Durham Tees Valley airport

8:00am Monday 19th September 2011 in North-East Business News By Andy Richardson

BUSINESSES are being asked to back the latest bid to safeguard Durham Tees Valley Airport.

"Tell us what routes you want and help us to bring them here," was the key message from recently-appointed airport director Steve Gill who called on the region to support his rescue mission.

Introducing an extra KLM flight to Amsterdam is high on Mr Gill's list of priorities as he plots the route to recovery.

"Failure is not in my thinking. This is a turnaround opportunity and I am looking at it very positively," said Mr Gill, who was handed the task of lifting the beleaguered airport out of the doldrums following the shock departure in July of director Mike Morton.

Mr Gill may be a far more softly-spoken character than his Merseyside-born predecessor, but the latest incumbent is determined to bring the good times back to an airport which four years ago boasted annual passenger numbers of about 650,000. Without its three daily flights to the Dutch capital the facility would almost certainly close. Mr Gill, who will split his time between the North-East and Robin Hood Airport Doncaster/Sheffield, intends to harness the power of local business leaders and politicians. Stephen Catchpole, managing director of Tees Valley Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and Neil Schneider, chief executive at Stockton Borough Council are among those whom Mr Gill and airport manager Shaun Woods have met this month. "We'll leave no stone unturned to maximise the potential of this business," Mr Gill told The Northern Echo. "The initial challenge is to rekindle relationships with the community and key stakeholders. I can see that they are all very supportive, but the challenge is to turn that support into a clearly orchestrated plan.

"We need to hear from business what routes they need so we can understand what could be viable. We want local businesses and politicians to help build the case with us so we can lobby the airlines as a region. That will be far more powerful than the airport bidding on its own. This is about the airport acting as a catalyst to help market the Tees Valley."

Mr Catchpole described the LEP's role as "a conduit between businesses and the airport on two levels. Firstly, to help highlight the opportunities the airport already provides such as its route to Schiphol which acts as a hub connecting travellers to the rest of the world. Secondly, to find out the destinations required by local businesses so the airport can approach airlines about securing additional routes that would be well-supported by Tees Valley companies." Attracting passengers away from rival airports in Newcastle, Leeds and Humberside will also be key, but Mr Gill accepted that he must offer new destinations if he hopes to to boost demand.

He concluded: "The KLM Amsterdam route is the absolute jewel in our crown. It gives us connectivity to the world. With the strong and varied business sector that we possess there are undoubtedly growth areas to tap into. In discussion with our partners at KLM we hope to bring an additional turnaround to Schiphol. But it will not happen overnight, and we need the whole region pulling with us."

The controversial £6 fee imposed on passengers flying out of the airport will remain in place but there are no plans to increase the charge which came into effect in November.

No job losses are expected at the airport but consultation is ongoing to cut staff from the site's 31-strong fire service.