Originally Posted by
Get me some traffic
highwideandugly get real. Try getting from Darlington to either EGNT or EGNM in an hour. If I were flying from either I would allow at least 2 hours to be safe. Those airports are NOT local airports. People of Teesside are brainwashed into thinking EGNT is their local airport, IT IS NOT!! Improve public transport to EGNV, provide reasonable destinations that people want, market the airport properly as Teesside Airport and we would see pax figures approaching the 2006 levels in no time. If the labour leaders of the five councils oppose the plan they should be ditched as soon as possible. A Tory Mayor proposing a public buy back (nationisation?) is innovative. He has ditched petty party politics for the good of the region. Power to his elbow. Onion makes a very good point in the fact that the £2m loss includes loan payback. The loss should not be so high once the deal is done. Give us back our own airport, it is part of our transport infrastructure.
Population of Teesside combined authority is just over 600k, whereas Tyne and Wear, N.Durham, and Northumberland is just short of 2m. Name another successful UK regional airport with such a low urban hinterland and within the same travel distances to competitive airports. Tesside's commercial base is a lot different now compared to the major business travelling of the days of ICI and British Steel.
Geographically, the nearest equivalent I can think of is Exeter, but the combined pop of Devon and dorset is 1.1m, it's a much longer hike to Bristol or Southampton, and it is the main base for Britain's major (for the time being) regional airline. Where is all this busines coming from?