I believe the airport has a charity fund "Reach for the Sky"of £1,000,000 yet to be allocated for 2005. Last year it went to needy children in the north east. This information has not been confirmed yet but if true perhaps some could be allocated to NACT.
So you are now proposing to divert charity money away from needy children and use it to provide subsidised flying lessons to predominantly middle-aged, middle-class men? I await the response from the council with interest. I suspect it may be short, and not as sweet as you hope.
It seems to me that there are two issues for discussion here.
1. The mismanagement of the Aero Club and alleged inpropriety of the people running it.
2. Whether a market exists for a flying school in Newcastle.
I suspect that the Aero Club's current position is as a result of a combination of the two. However, I leave it to more knowledgable posters to assign a ratio.
I can appreciate that you have lost your flying school, and that many of you scrimp and save to enjoy your flying. However, if you are going to attempt to portray yourselves as a 'needy' cause worthy of charitable funding then I'm afraid it won't wash. There are thousands of people in the North East who scrimp and save
just to survive from day-to-day. No matter how much you consider that you sacrifice for your flying, the
perception (and after all that's all that counts) is that you are better off than many.
As far as I can see, the Masterplan contains an Aeroclub up until 2016 (after which there is no public Masterplan, so we can't comment.) I think that a lot of the anger against the Airport is not deserved; I doubt that there has been any concerted effort to get rid of the Aeroclub. As some others have posted, NAC rarely got in the way (ironically, in comparison to the ATC) and if you look at the Masterplan, much of the Southside development will take place elsewhere, up towards Woolsington Hall.
Now, as to the 'viability' of a flying school in Newcastle. The North East is the most deprived region of England, and therefore the average incomes are the lowest. Consequently, there is a limited demand for a flying school. Now, conversely, Newcastle Airport can be considered a 'premium' facility...it's got a long runway, good ATC, quiet airspace and it's close to the city centre. So from the market point of view, use of the airfield could be construed as attracting a 'premium' price. Ironically, some of these features make it attractive to Easyjet, who have a training allowance as part of their package at EGNT.
So, you have a low demand, low incomes and a premium facility. It seems that the business case for the Aero Club
independent of whether you do or do not have NIAL support is shaky at best. Again, you cannot compare flying schools at other major airfields because the North East is a uniquely poor region.
Personally, I thought that Elia's bid was the most likely to succeed. Believe it or not, I've run into him previously and was impressed with his drive, determination and awareness of 'the big picture'. I'd be interested in hearing why his bid was apparently unsuccessful.
Oh and a fly-away suggestion: has anyone looked into getting the Aero Club building listed? Surely it has historical value.....and they'd never be able to knock it down!