AS the longest serving pilot currently operating out of Teesside Airport since 1964, I would like to add to the debate regarding the sale of Durham Tees Valley Airport (DTVA).

According to the aviation press, Peel promised to invest heavily in Sheffield City Airport. Once in place, they refurbished Sheffield’s terminal buildings, before selling them off as separate units. This and the removal of the instrument landing system from the end of the runway sounded the death knell for Sheffield City Airport, so the airlines disappeared.

In 2008, Peel pointed out the small print, which stated that if it could not make the airport more viable in ten years, which it didn’t, it could buy the land for £1, which it did.

I asked a Darlington councillor if a similar contract was in place at DTVA. He was most unhelpful and told me he could not answer my question. I wonder how the airport could have been handed over to Peel, without Darlington Borough Council knowing everything about the sale of a 75 per cent share to Peel?

Meanwhile, Peel has cut DTVA land in half by erecting an eight foot fence on the south side of the runway to separate it from the airport. Why?

Stan Howes, Author of Goosepool, the History of RAF Middleton St George and Teesside Airport.