The airport were referring all queries to the organisers Skylive earlier, the Mayor has apologised
I am so sorry to those people who experienced delays and were caught in the traffic on your visit to the airshow. As a result of the incredible demand and interest in our airport and the airshow, I know for many it meant hours of delays with some giving up completely and going home. I will be speaking to the organisers and the police who stopped and diverted traffic following an accident on the A66 and we’ll be conducting a full review and debrief as a matter of urgency. I will also be liaising with the organisers to do whatever I can to get refunds for those who suffered major delays or who were unable to attend as a result of the delays. I can only apologise again
Somewhat flippant response from one of the organisers...
Organiser Chris Petty of SkyLive is still to officially comment on today's chaos despite being contacted by Teesside Live. However he earlier spoke to the BBC.
He said:
We've heard there's been an accident on the A66 and that's something we can't put within our plan.
We put the message out there weeks before give yourself plenty of time to get here. It's a sellout event and there's obviously going to be lots of people travelling.
It's one of them things unfortunately. If we could change things and fly everybody in then we would.
Sunderland used to manage with a few more than 20k