REGARDING the sale of Durham Tees Valley Airport (DTVA), Private Aircraft Owners Ltd is based on the airfield.

It operates a hangar for the use of its members and will be seriously affected, along with other based organisations, if the airport closes.

We have seen the decline of the airport and it is no surprise to us that it is being put up for sale or is likely to close.

Despite the call for investment in the airport, it is clear that what it really needs is stabilisation at this time, in order that it is preserved for a future time, a decade ahead or more, when passenger traffic may return.

The airport management’s attempts to get sufficient passenger traffic to bring it to financial stability were never going to work with Newcastle and Leeds Bradford airports on the doorstep.

The answer for Durham Tees Valley Airport is to rid itself of the burden of the high cost of handling passenger traffic, and of the cost of the infrastructure surrounding such operations, and to operate for the time being as a general aviation airfield, continuing to meet and develop further the needs of Cobham, Serco, business and freight aircraft, police and air ambulance, flying clubs and light aircraft.

Furthermore, there are numerous potential developments of aviation activities which could be attracted to the site, such as aircraft maintenance and training.

All of these could be accommodated within the present site on a very low cost basis. There are many examples of successful airfields operating on this basis throughout the UK.

Only by such a process can the risk of total closure, with the loss of the site with no chance of its resurrection in better times, be avoided.

The Private Aircraft Owners Group asks the local authorities, politicians and local businesses to think again and be realistic. Who is going to invest in a failing airport with two large airports close by?

Be practical and at least ensure that the site is not lost for the future.

We ask you to actively support and press for the site to continue in operation as a general aviation airfield.

Directors, DTVA Private Aircraft Owners Group.