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Fate of Durham Tees Valley Airport to be revealed after talks

8:00am Friday 10th February 2012 in North-East Business News Photograph of the Author Exclusive By Joe Willis, Regional chief reporter

Durham Tees Valley Airport Durham Tees Valley Airport

A DECISION on the future of loss-making Durham Tees Valley (DTV) airport is expected to be announced today.

DTV owner Peel Airports is due to confirm whether it will continue offering the business for sale following a board meeting at the airport this afternoon.

Alternatively, Peel could call in administrators – a move that could mean the end of flights from the airport, at Middleton St George, near Darlington.

Another option would be for Peel to buy back its shares from Vantage Airport Group, previously known as Vancouver Airport Services, putting the company back in control of DTV.

The airport has faced dwindling passenger numbers in recent years and showed a £1.6m loss in its last accounts.

It was put up for sale in December, with Peel stating that it no longer fitted in with the company’s strategic plan.

The sale prompted an angry reaction from Tees Valley MPs and leaders of the Tees Valley councils that own a 25 per cent stake in the airport.

Last night, Councillor Jim Beall, the deputy leader of Stockton Borough Council, called for a decision on the airport to be made as soon as possible.

He said: “The current uncertainty surrounding the future of Durham Tees Valley Airport is not helpful to anyone, and we are hoping a successful resolution can be found.

“The sooner it has a new owner principally focused on delivering a successful airport the better for the region as a whole.”

Last month, Stockton council accused Peel of reneging on investment pledges made regarding the airport.

In a strongly worded statement, Coun Beall expressed the authority’s deep disappointment that Peel had put the airport up for sale when, 18 months earlier, the firm was planning to invest in the business.

He said the council shared the views of many local businesses and residents who thought that no significant developments at the airport had been made since then.

In response, Peel said it had spent about £25m on DTV since acquiring the majority shareholding in 2003.

Last night, Peel declined to comment on today’s meeting.

Comments(4)

moxie34th says...
9:30am Fri 10 Feb 12

If they gave us an airline to fly with , we'd ALL use it more ! Get some 'budget' airline(s) operator in , free of fees if need be , if only briefly .... and you'd see the huge increase of passengers from our area . 'Pile it high-sell it cheap' is the motto of a succesful business , as always . Much better than having to waste an hour going 45 miles North into Northumberland , and back !

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moxie34th says...
9:33am Fri 10 Feb 12

.... 'Regional government' has been trying to kill off our airport , almost from it's inception ..... it took V Bombers and the like when Newcastle was a tin-pot areodrome , let's cut down road congestion and fuels , and time spent travelling , by NOT having MORE runways down London way , and using what we already HAVE here.

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GeordieB says...
10:43am Fri 10 Feb 12

The management and running of this airport has been a disaster.

I will not travel to Leeds/Bradford or Newscastle to fly.

There is absolutely NO reason whatsoever that any airport owner cannot attract airlines and open new routes to/from here IF THEY WANTED TO.

I think it may be the case that the decision to close the airport has already been made.

With their 25% stake in the business, the councils involved also appear to have been negligent in their oversight.

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Guy Fawkes says...
5:04pm Fri 10 Feb 12

There is absolutely NO reason whatsoever that any airport owner cannot attract airlines and open new routes to/from here IF THEY WANTED TO.


There are two reasons, and they are especially relevant to budget airlines serving leisure routes.

1 - The downturn in the economy, and especially the contraction of the public sector (which employs most of the people who can afford to fly in the north-east).

2 - Air passenger duty.

The future of MME is certainly not going to be secured by winning market share back from NCL or LBA, and it probably won't be by attracting more business travellers on full-service airlines. When the airport boomed from around 2005-09, most of the passenger growth was generated by BMI Baby and Ryanair.

They left, because the passengers left - not because of mismanagement of the airport (though the high landing fees and £6 departure tax certainly didn't help). Your average public sector middle manager can no longer afford to take four or five European mini-breaks on Ryanair each year: his cost of living essentials have shot up, while his salary has stayed the same at most.

And one of the reasons he can't afford those mini-breaks is the APD on short-haul flights, which is the highest in Europe and specifically designed to deter people from taking them.

Unless both of these things change or the airport can really slash costs significantly, I can't see this ending well.

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