Originally Posted by
P330
The world of politics is murky; I hate it. Its a pony show with each side taking shots at each other backed up by angry polar opposites on social media looking for the demise of the opposition. Should we expect full transparency and better standards...of course we should...across the board.
But as I have said before....careful what you wish for. This is an aviation forum full of people who largely want our local airport to grow and thrive. If the Houchen witch-hunt ramps up and he is proven to be a bad apple or he gets sick of the noise and walks, who else will stand in and champion our cause with the financial clout to get us back in the black? I'm not saying he shouldn't be held to account, but I am also mindful that good things are happening on Teesside (airport and wider) and throwing stones may not be in the region's long term interest.
Anyway - onto more operational matters. A raft of TUI news around the regions this week on S24, Bournemouth and Newcastle for starters. If anything is happening with TUI on Teesside, you would expect an announcement soon wouldn't you?
Isnt the whole point of the exercise to ensure the airport remains viable long after Ben Houchen goes off to Westminster or whatever his ambitions might be? So it is entirely appropriate that those who are pulling the strings are scrutinised, even on an aviation forum where some of the members might know a thing or two about what is going on that would otherwise remain under the carpet.
Regarding TUI, I too would be interested to see if anything new developed, however given you mentioned growth at NCL, is this not something to consider? Wouldn’t put it past TUI to be talking with LBA about expansion now too with the loss of their DSA base. Teesside have recently offered to pay Wizzair to start flying from there but they went to LBA instead.