AN aerospace firm operating Ministry of Defence services at a North-East airport says it expects to continue cutting costs as it faces challenging markets.

Cobham, based at Durham Tees Valley Airport (DTVA), says it is looking to make year-on-year savings.

Earlier this year, The Northern Echo revealed Cobham was making up to 30 staff redundant in plans to switch flight inspection services to Bournemouth Airport.

However, bosses said it was committed to operating in the North-East and provide training for the Ministry of Defence, using Dassault Falcon 20 aircraft to operate equipment to work as targets for gun and missile firing.

An interim management report, covering the first nine months of the year, revealed Cobham’s cost plans, and also how its net debt increased to £1.2bn at the end of September after it bought testing and measurement equipment firm Aeroflex.

It added: “The company has continued to pro-actively drive cost reduction and continues to expect it will deliver the anticipated year-on-year efficiency savings in 2014.

“Following the completion of the Aeroflex acquisition, Cobham has put in place $930m of medium-term fixed rate debt, with maturities covering three to ten years.

“The group anticipates organic revenue will decline by low-to-mid single digits in 2014, which is against a background of ongoing challenges in defence and security markets.”

In March, Cobham told The Northern Echo up to 30 of its near-90 DTVA staff would be made redundant as it moved flight inspection work, which covers engineering flight checks and inspections for instrument landing systems.

At the time, a spokesman said: “We expect between 20 and 30 positions at DTVA will be made redundant and up to 20 new positions will be created at Bournemouth Airport.

“We will continue to use DTVA for the foreseeable future as our Northern base to provide the Ministry of Defence with operational readiness training.”