Airport poised for take off

Vincent Kas, commercial director for Air France-KLM UK and Ireland

had flown in to share a platform with the airport's recently appointed chairman, Robert Hough and Peter Nears, strategic planning director of owners Peel.

The survival of the airport will depend a great deal on these three men.

At the end of last year DTV faced an uncertain future after the loss-making operation was put up for sale by its previous owners, Peel Airports.

It was rescued when Peel Investments (DTVA), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Peel Group bought a majority share. The remaining shareholding is owned by six local authorities - Darlington, County Durham, Stockton, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and Redcar and Cleveland.

The launch of last Friday's "The World's On Your Doorstep" campaign

was the first step in a bid by the airport, KLM and their partners to

convince passengers that they are in this for the long haul.

Do you think the Tees Valley was close to losing its airport earlier this year?

Robert Hough: "Yes I believe it was. We weren't on the inside at that stage, we were buyers rather than sellers. But without Peel coming in it is very difficult to imagine any other scenario. We are determined to make this a success. We need more charters in here and a low cost operator would be fantastic. That is the mix we are aiming for."

Did KLM ever consider pulling out of the airport?

Vincent Kas: "No, never. We have been in this region since 1974 and have strong roots here. We have stayed here through good times and bad. So at no point did we turn around and think it is time to reconsider.

"Passenger numbers are up, modestly so in the first few months of 2012. The key thing to do now is to get a positive spin on things rather than article after article of stories saying it's going down the drain - that is not the case.

"The figures speak for themselves. We still have three flights a day, 100,000 passenger per year go to and from this airport. By no token is that small or is something that is going away.

"This is more than just a regional departure airport for KLM in the UK. The UK is our second home market, there is no market that is bigger or more important for us. We see our added value as being the strongest carrier in the UK. That only becomes meaningful if you put your money where your mouth is and operate out of regional airports. Right along the east coast your have Aberdeen, Newcastle, Durham Tees Valley, Humberside, Norwich - you can't go very far before encountering a KLM airport. And I think that is tremendous strength."

Will we ever see a return to the glory days of 2006 when DTV had more than 900,000 passengers?

RH: "Oh yes definitely. The population in the area is of sufficient size and we have the resource here to handle those sorts of numbers. It needs

about that number to make a business actually. It won't survive financially on 300,000 passengers.

"This will be challenging. We are putting all of our energies into it and hopefully it will succeed. We wholeheartedly believe that it can. We nearly reached 1,000,000 passengers a few years back. To try and repeat that exercise should be within our potential."

Do you plan to increase the number of KLM flights from DTV?

VK: "We are always looking at where we can add flights. Here we have good connections with three flights but with four it's even better. The tipping point comes if we see a continued increase in passenger numbers. Then we could very well go to four flights in the future."

The airport made a £1.6m loss last year, how many passengers do you need to move into profit?

RH: "Break even depends on the mix of fares you can generate. If you are dealing with a KLM a decent profit comes probably with half a million passengers. But if you bring in low cost carriers it's closer to the one million passenger mark."

Are you going to restore the name Teesside Airport?

RH: "Frankly, we have bigger fish to fry. The decision was made to call it Durham Tees Valley and I think our money and time would be better spent on promoting our services rather than another name change. It is always something we can look at in the future."

What other income streams are you looking at?

RH: "Income from the site allows us to invest in the airport and take it forward. We want to attract other aviation services. That could be in the refurbishment of aircraft, maintenance or specialised services for the military in the way that (aerospace technology company) Cobham already offer. The southern part of the site has space that could be used for logistics."

What can companies do to help?

RH: "Passengers want more routes and the airlines won't fly without the guarantee of passenger numbers. That creates a stand-off that we need to

address. We want local businesses to become more than suppliers of passengers - they are all potential partners. We need to understand where companies in this area want to travel and get them to help build a business case to operators."

When will we see the return of flights to London?

RH: "We are working hard to restore that. We have made strong representations to government that connections to Heathrow from this airport are key. We have got a situation where IAG (International Airports Group) having acquired BMI have got more slots. To what extent can they be allocated to Northern airports? Those discussions are taking place and I know our local MPs are on the case and more conversations are set to take place with the Transport Minister in the next three to four weeks."

Peter Nears: "We hear talk of London as a hub but it often seems to be forgotten how the nation connects to the capital. When the previous air transport White Paper was produced about seven years ago the Department for Transport had a regional airport specialist which took account the views of regional airports. I think the government now should focus a stream of work specifically on how to improve connectivity from regional airports to London."

Air Passenger Duty means higher fares for your customers. How concerned are you that Scotland may soon be able to set its own APD and undercut you?

PN: "I think the whole issue of APD is coming into focus as Scotland gets powers to set its own rates. I'm sure they will do what is best for their economy. Scotland having lower rates wouldn't stall what we are doing here but it wouldn't do much to support our drive to get new operators on board who already tell us that APD is a disincentive for them coming to UK regional airports. It's something that needs to be addressed at government level."

RH: "We would be concerned if there wasn't a level playing field. The Northern English regions have great opportunities to deliver industrial expansion and greater connectivity is a way to provide it. I hope government recognise that."

What are you doing to bring more flights here?

PN: "We are working hard. Our commercial director will be at the routes conference in Tallinn at the end of May talking to operators. The economic climate is difficult to get people to invest in new services but we keep trying. We have also started a piece of work with Tees Valley Unlimited to help make a case to put to airlines that shows all of the local companies that travel overseas."

RH: "People often complain that too many of our firms are foreign owned. But for us that is a plus point. It means they need good connections with Europe and the wider world. Amsterdam links us to Asia, Africa, South America - all of the growing centres of business. The North-East can build a strong case to attract more operators. Today is the first sign of that collective approach."

NIGEL Williams, partner at North-East law firm Dickinson Dees, which acts behalf of the local authorities that hold a stake in the airport, said:

"As a proud Teessider I want to see the airport's fortunes take an upturn. Many of our clients are in the energy and chemical sectors, many with foreign owners and having an airport on their doorstep is a godsend.

"I think we all need to support it as business and leisure passengers. It clearly has a major role to play for the regional economy."

Stockton South Conservative MP, James Wharton, said: "KLM have made a clear and long term commitment to maintaining flights, which is a welcome statement from such a significant carrier.

"With a large advertising campaign now promised it is clear Peel and KLM are serious about making Teesside Airport work again, addressing some of the decline seen in recent years. The range of locations out of KLM's Schiphol hub is huge and the opportunity is now there for local people to use our airport once again, hopefully securing its long term future."