ONCE upon a time, parents were never keener to show off their offspring than in the queue for a Ryanair flight, writes Jeffrey Ball, assistant director at Brewin Dolphin.

“Can all passengers with children please make their way to the front” the tannoy would screech to signal a procession of families brandishing their children like they were in the opening scene of The Lion King. Their emphatic demonstration that they had first pick of the unallocated seating on the plane left the childless masses scowling as they passed.

Sadly it is allocated seating only now for the budget airlines, reducing the fun/stress of boarding while also providing another potential expense if you want to ensure you all sit together. With the summer holidays approaching, many families from the North-East will be considering if these added extras are worth it.

A holiday spent being thrifty is a holiday wasted. It is an unspoken agreement amongst all involved that you pay for the privilege of leaving the homestead, so you may as well enjoy it. Even if it starts at your front door with the airport taxi that, despite looking and sounding like a normal taxi, whisks you away with the fare ticking up at a rate usually only seen on New Year’s Eve.

Airport concessions also make use of their captive audience to charge premium prices with many high street names commonly dotted around the terminal.

Last year, the region’s main airport at Newcastle saw 4.6 million passengers stream through the departure lounge and pass the likes of Starbucks, Burger King and WH Smith. All essential when you have an urge for a cappuccino, cheeseburger and crossword combination. Perfectly acceptable when waiting for the 3am flight.

Why do we pay for this premium? Well clearly the date restrictions of school holidays play a part, with the clanging of the school gate at the end of term sounding remarkably like the chime of cash tills as the holiday companies bump up their prices up by 20 per cent overnight.

This is because the summer is highly important for the travel industry. A cursory glance at Thomas Cook Group’s accounts reveals that revenue and profit in the six months to September every year is typically double that seen in the preceding six.

Accumulating cash during the summer months is important to see them through snowier times.

In the North-East, our airports are an important part of the economy all year round.

Two years ago, Newcastle Airport released its masterplan to grow its regional economic impact from £646 million in 2012 to £1.3billion by 2030. Job increases will benefit an estimated 10,000 people across the region, with passenger numbers expected to double to 8.5 million.

Considering the Cleveland centre in Middlesbrough welcomes around 10 million visitors a year, this is not an unsubstantial amount of people to pass through what is in effect a retail lock in.

Durham Tees Valley Airport operates on a smaller scale, handling only 165,000 passengers in 2012, but still provides an equally important economic and transport asset to the Tees Valley. Their own masterplan has similar ambitions for growth, aiming for 200,000 passengers by 2020 and 400,000 by 2050.

Therefore if you are wavering over that weekend in Amsterdam, just book it and let the knowledge you are doing your bit to support the North East economy speed you on your way.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily the views held throughout Brewin Dolphin Ltd. No Director, representative or employee of Brewin Dolphin Ltd accepts liability for any direct or consequential loss arising from the use of this document or its contents. Any tax allowances or thresholds mentioned are based on personal circumstances and current legislation which is subject to change.