One looks back with fond smile at the fallacious bilge churned out in 2019 by the demonstrably naive Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership which channeled £4,950,000 of taxpayers' money into Stobart's tinkering around with the airport runway and its creation of a terminal building offering greater benefit to itself and its employees than to airport passengers. Here's stuff to savour from a CLEP newsletter in April 2019:
"Loganair will operate eight flights per-day across the working week [oh really? Ed] and a total of 12 at weekends, connecting Cumbria and the Lake District, which receives 45 million visitors per year, to London Southend Airport, Belfast City Airport and Dublin Airport.Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership is investing £4.95m in Carlisle airport to help make improvements to its runway and the terminal, with the aim to open up more flights to and from international hubs.
""Nigel Wilkinson, board member of the Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “The opening up of new air routes into Cumbria, providing more direct access to attractions and the county’s newest UNESCO World Heritage site, is a boost for the visitor economy here. Cumbria LEP is contributing £4.95m to help the airport improve its runway and terminal, an important investment which will enable flights to and from Carlisle and provide wider global access via international hubs.”
"Jonathan Hinkles, managing director of Loganair, said: “We’re delighted to become the first operator at the new Carlisle Lake District Airport, and will be opening up Loganair’s services to a whole new range of customers. With frequent services on each of the three routes, we have every confidence that these new flights will transform access to and from the Lake District for many thousands of customers each year.”Gill Haigh, managing director of Cumbria Tourism, said: “The new flights from Carlisle Lake District Airport will be a major boost for Cumbria’s connectivity and our £2.72billion tourism industry. We welcomed 45 million visitors to the county last year, but a large proportion were day trippers to the Lakes. Our marketing strategy has a key focus on encouraging visitors to stay in the county as a whole."
Kate Willard, head of corporate projects at Stobart Group, said: “Stobart Group is committed to delivering a brilliant air travel experience across the UK and Ireland. We are therefore delighted to be announcing flights with Loganair connecting London, Belfast and Dublin with Carlisle and the Lake District.
“There is huge demand from London, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to visit Carlisle, which is home to major businesses and serves as a gateway to the Lake District, two UNESCO World Heritage Sites and South Scotland.”
(Note: this is the same Kate who continues to preside over the vapid nonsense which Stobart's Southend airport website has to say in relation to Willard's assertion about the "huge demand" that exists for Carlisle as a place worth visiting.
Says Stobart Southend about Stobart's beloved Carlisle, "top pick" is: "Located on the western side of the city, the Union Terrace Gardens are large sunken gardens that can be found near His Majesty’s Theatre. Dating back to Victorian times, this pretty park has a variety of trees, flowers, and grassy areas as well and has an old viaduct located on one end. With a number of statues scattered through the gardens, keep an eye out for Scottish poet extraordinaire Robert Burns, Braveheart’s William Wallace and Prince Albert."
You'd need more than a good eyesight to see any of that: Union Terrace Gardens and His Majesty's Theatre are 229 miles away. . in Aberdeen. Good though that Stobart's has so great and genuine an interest in the life and times of Carlisle. None of which, of course, has anything to do with that £5 million bung..