NEWS RELEASE
AIRPORT STATEMENT
Durham Tees Valley Airport (DTVA) has today (February 15) issued
the following statement on proposals made to the Tees Valley
Combined Authority (TVCA):
These proposals are part of
delivering our promises made as part of the Flying for The
Future campaign launched in November 17 reaffirming our
commitment to the Airport and securing passenger growth.
We are disappointed that the Mayor is
intending to block these proposals as we believe we have a
shared ambition to bring growth in passenger services to DTVA.
The proposals are made against funds already earmarked to DTVA
development by TVCA and are to help strengthen the commercial
offer to bring new leisure and business routes to the Airport,
delivering economic benefit and important connectivity to the
region. They are made in the best interests of Tees Valley
and its Airport.
The practice of working collectively with stakeholders such as TVCA is common place across the UK given the wider economic benefits an Airport delivers. This has been seen recently with a £4.95m investment from the Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership made to develop Carlisle Airport to support passenger flights.
Should our proposals be supported
there would, of course, be complete transparency of the
investment of funding, with the benefit passed to airlines in
entirety and evidenced in expanded terminal facilities.
It is important also to emphasise that any funding received from the TVCA would be matched by at least as much again by the Airport on top of our existing commitment to support airlines.
With regard to the Mayor’s pledge to
bring the Airport into full public ownership, as we stated at
the launch of Flying for the Future, we have no plans to sell
our stake in the Airport and nine months since the Mayor’s
election, DTVA has still not received any form of proposal from
the Mayor nor have we discussed any initiatives he can enable
that might help the Airport grow. With this all hanging
over the Airport, opportunities are being missed and damaging
confidence in the Airport.
A case in point is Loganair who have
informed us just this week that, despite their route to Aberdeen
launched in October performing well, they are unable to make the
commercial case to lease the required aircraft to continue the
route and as such will be withdrawing it from sale.
We are naturally very disappointed that Loganair are withdrawing their Aberdeen service, with the passenger numbers performing well and competition had proved a growing market. However, sustaining a new route in the early years is challenging.
We would therefore urge that any
available funding allocated by TVCA to the Airport should be
used to support passenger growth and attracting businesses to
the site.
Loganair commercial director Kay Ryan said “It’s with deep regret that we have taken the decision to cease our operation on the Durham Tees Valley to Aberdeen route due to broader considerations within our network.
“The management team at DTVA have
been incredibly supportive and have done all possible to make
the service viable. We intend to continue our strong
relationship with DTVA who have been an excellent Airport
partner and welcome the important proposal put forward to TVCA
in considering alternative routes in the future.”
The Airport further added, “Aberdeen,
a key route to the region, will remain being served by Eastern
Airways, ensuring the needs of the business community are served
by DTVA in line with our promises made in the Flying for the
Future campaign
“DTVA is a critical asset to the
region providing vitally important connectivity; by working
collectively we can achieve our shared ambitions to see growth
and its development. The dynamics facing Airports to
attract and sustain new routes in early years are ever complex
and require support to give greater certainty they will be given
the time to succeed.”