Newquay Airport
 

Newquay Airport is suffering a cash crisis. See the following BBC article. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/3124374.stm

I think Sutton Harbour Holdings plc were the operators of Newquay Airport until last year, but not the owners. Can anyone confirm?

If so, I wonder what effect, if any, their pulling out had on the airport. It is interesting to see that Sutton now owns Air South West, the airline that says it cannot afford the landing fees that BA is apparently paying.

I guess that the sub region will consider Air South West's presence at the airport, with its LGW connection, more important than economic landing fees.

It looks then that public money of some sort or other will have to be found if the airport is to continue. Cannot see MOL putting his hand in his pocket for the good of Cornwall, and why should he.

Well NQY is actually an RAF base with the PAX terminal on the otherside of the field so I guess that Sutton harbour did not actually own the airport.

Having seen the regional news in Cornwall last night, it seems a tad ironic that the council are up in arms because to quote what they say, will leave them short of funds by some £500,000 in landing fees with BA pulling out.........meanwhile they went on to say Ryan are not paying a bean in landing fees as they argue they are bringing buisiness to the region.
So who's the fool here? certainly not MOL!
:oh:

St Mawgan is up for sale from, I believe, early 2005, when the MOD pull out.
I can't see that the beleagured Cornish rate payers would tolerate subsidising a regional airport that can only attract 2 flights a day from Stansted, no matter how long it takes by road or rail to travel to London or anywhere else.

Prior to Ryanair, the town thrived with tourism of the proper and decent kind, it's these people who actually "invest" a lot more money into the region by spending two weeks holiday there, than the vast majority of the B.A or Ryanair passengers.

Let the poor little spoilt brats who are the vast majority of Ryanairs NQY passengers, take their surfboards and drugs by road, it will take them so long to get there, by the time they arrive they'll have forgotten why they went in the first place.

At least it will return to being a decent place to take the family, and the residents of Newquay might be able to get some kip at night. :rolleyes:

At fifteen quid each way I'd expect not so thick Mick is highly delighted to be lugging waterproof ironing boards to and from pastieland. I'm sure he'd take a dim view of drugs on his planes though, wouldn't he?

Down here in the southwest this was all forseen (except of course by the regional development agency).

How b****dy stupid can you be. You have a regional airport operating on a knife edge financially with one major commercial operator. You then say, 'I know that the current operator has kept us afloat for donkey's years, but let's subsidise a rival operator, (foreign operator I might add), by allowing him free/susidised access. This will give us more airport through traffic and hopefully bring more people to the area".

Oops! now we've upset the current operator who has seen profits drop and they have now pulled out. Still, at least we have the new one. Oh s**t! but we don't charge him anything to land so the airport is now financially in trouble.

Never mind there will be another operator coming along to operate that route. Ah! but will they want to pay any more than the one we have subsidised? .....I'll give you one guess!

Having seen the latest press coverage of this issue, I found it incredulous that when the airfield operators cried poverty and losses, not one of the reporters asked why. Just what sort of business school did these guys attend?

Ah! I feel better to get that off my chest.

niknak and the dude,

Is the majority opinion in Cornwall that it would be better not to have an airport if it means a large subsidy from local tax payers?

Without a London air connection would not the region be even more isolated, and I am thinking of Cornish people wanting to travel rather than tourists coming in?

Without an airport it means a surface jaunt to Plymouth (for LGW, always assuming that Air Southwest would find a LGW-PLH route viable without NQY), Exeter (for slightly more choice given flybe's new plans) or Bristol (for more choice again, but still only European destinations). Otherwise it means a road or rail trip to the capital.

It seems to me that the Southwest Regional Development Agency is alive to the needs of the far southwest as they out it, mainly Devon and Cornwall in plain language, when it comes to air services.

They commissioned a survey earlier this year into air travel in the far southwest and certainly subsidy of routes is something being considered, but that would not come from local tax payers directly.

MV,

actually the point I was trying to make was not anti-subsidy, but one of anti-one-sided subsidy. You can hardly subsidise one party only to complain when the other pulls out. :cool:

thedude,

I take your point, but because I see you live in the southwest, probably nearer to Cornwall than me, I was wondering if you had a view on the feelings of local people, local government on putting hands into local tax payers' pockets to keep the airport going, as opposed to route subsidies which might eventuate as well but from a different, not directly locally funded, public purse.

I would have thought that NQY is important, if not vital, to the economy and social fabric of Cornwall.

NIKNAK

I doubt if Cornwalls' tourist industry will have any future if it hopes to rely on families driving down for a 2 week holiday.

1. The weather is too unreliable- it is far cheaper to holiday in a more sun sure destination.

2. The current surfing craze has brought the first investment for years to many of Cornwalls' north coast resorts. Newquay was not thriving before the advent of Ryanair, but was cheap and tacky a classic example of the worst of English run down seaside resorts, it has degenerated into its current mess precisely because of the decline in people taking family holidays in Corrnwall, not the other way around. However due to the new found and increasing popularity with the surfing community and probably more particularly the Sloan hangers on who aspire to buy in to the surfing community, there is now evidence of properties being renovated and new projects, for example Rick Stein is proposing a substantial and quality redevelopment to an old and run down cliff top Hotel in the town centre. The national surf centre on Fistral beach is a recently completed example of what the new investment has achieved, more of this type of high quality development and Newquay could start to rival some of the best surfing resorts of Southwest France.

3. In my view the future of Cornwalls' tourist industry depends upon being able to continue to attract the growing number of people who come for a short break at short notice when they know the weather and/or surf is good. It is easy to knock those who come down with out much money to spend, but their presence is vital to creating the 'surf dude' atmosphere that attracts those with the money to places such as Newquay.



As any one who has attempted to drive to/from Cornwall on a Friday/Saturday and increasingly Sunday will know, the traffic can be appalling, definitely no incentive especially when driving with children.

The rail service is such a joke as to be hardly worth a mention, but even if you were to use it, once in Cornwall a car is essential due to the lack of useful public transport, unless you plan to stay in Newquay for 2 weeks (it is one of the few resorts with a railway station).

Unless road/rail links are improved substantially.....(2 chances), then air travel is the only way of making Cornwall more accessible to the rest of the UK and vice versa. This was stuck in a rut with the BA Dash 8 service, which stifled demand through high fares and poor capacity. The Local authorities might have begun to realise this but they are not noted for their sharpness and foresight as THE DUDE points out, and are probably terribly confused by the turn of events they just need a little firm guidance. Hopefully this will be forthcoming before RAF St Mawgan/Newquay airport is sold off and turned into a business park. It is already too late for Plymouth airport due to local authority weakness in the face of the NIMBYS.

Not withstanding the double standards shown by the French regarding subsidy, their local authorities have all realised that finding the cash to attract Ryanair pays dividends, all that is required is for Cornwall County Council, R.D.A. etc. to get the message, and put the case to the taxpayers that this is a good investment of their money and will make us all richer in the long run.

Greetings from the far west of Cornwall and one of its 'taxpayers'.

Here are a few facts.

the dude speaks the truth, those that control the airport pursestrings shouldn't be suprised a new carrier isn't paying mlanding fees, but surely this is an interim situation. Do the new owners know the airport will be for sale in 2005?

Plymouth and Exeter are east of the Taimar and therefore not in the West Country. Bristol is bl**dy miles away.

Cornwall does not revolve around Newquay, 99% of surfers drive vans and cars they do not fly on Ryanair. They have always been here - though the popularity has increased. The few whinging residents of Newquay are the same ones who own the bars, restaurants, taxi's, campsites that are happy to take their cash. They are the few.

The passengers that fly down here are either business, vfr or leisure ( many second home owners). Cornwall has more than beaches and a great way of life to attract them down.... Eden project, Maritime Museum, Minnack Theatre... how long have you got.

Rick Stein has had a big influence on Padstow (and property prices there) but I doubt the residents of Redruth or Camborne have felt much of his influence.

Would I pay money to keep St Mawgan open ... NO! Switch all the flights to Culdrose, develop Truro or Perranporth. ( both of which the Council have rejected so far)

Would I pay money to maintain an air service to Cornwall.... YES!

Finally if anyone from St Mawgan reads this.... think about engineering companies. freight services, a private jet centre, storage etc after all there is a lot of money around for attracting business to these regions!!

MV,

unfortunatley, as my lively-hood is aviation related, my opinion on whether St. Mawgan should get local subsidy is irrelivant. It would be like asking someone if they wanted a pay rise.

I do believe, that contrary to current aviation commercial belief, an airfield central to the Devon and Cornwall area, ie. St. mawgan, can be productive, with a little forsight and if correctly managed. After all, this area is the nicest in England!
I'm gutted at having to leave. :(

Newquay Airport
 

My spies tell me that Newquay's debts are nearer £1 million, not £500,000. Cornwall County Council has apparently agreed a £350,000 bailout as an interim measure and Restormel Borough Council is apparently being asked to stump up the same. The authorities jointly own the airport.
Ryanair is reportedly paying £1 a passenger and £100 a plane as part of a 10-year deal.
The other local authorities in Cornwall are now being asked to put their hands in their pockets and stump up some cash, the argument being that the airport supports the whole county.
I expect to see the airport groomed for privitasation and sold off in the next 18 months - exactly the same, in fact, as what is being proposed for Exeter.

If Newquay's debts are what has been speculated, and their entire customer base revolves around no more than a couple of commercial flights a day, the limited catchment area means that it has no future as a commercial airport.
Unlike Exeter, there appears to be an insufficiant business case for anyone wanting to buy the airport, and if I were a local politician, burdening the ratepayers with the cost of running it would not be the major item on my manifesto.
However, local authorities seem to like having an airport to burn ratepayers money on, and that, combined with the EEC money that is available to independant nations such as Cornwall, should see the airport survive in some entity or other.

A previous report said that the future of the RAF presence at the airport was subject to a further iteration of the "Strategic Defence Review" to be published in July or August '03. I don't seem to be able to find this, although a previous version, published about a year ago, had St Mawgan earmarked for "quick reaction alert aircraft".

What has changed since then? Is the JMCC still active?

Serco Group are currently running the civil side of the airport, until 2007.

Newquay Airport
 

Local press has been carrying a story about the trialling of a freight service out of Newquay Airport. Due to start flights in January 2005.

Anybody know who will operating the flights?

Newquay Future
 

With the RAF announcing that St Mawgan is to be mothballed within two years and Cornwall CC already subsidising the civil operation to the max, what does the future hold for commercial flying?

Will a private buyer be sought, and could that work if the RAF want to retain the site?

Will this have an affect on operations at PLH?

Perhaps look at it from a different angle....would the major commercial operator Ryanair want to pay the going rate for keeping the airport open.

Maybe they could apply for a RDF to subsidise the service??

Hello Air Hop .... another local eh?

I know the council were half expecting this and they are looking at other ideas, I believe the media as usual are blowing things a little out of proportion.

I cannot see Newquay closing as a civilian airport, there are plans afoot to get in new revenue streams and it is too commercially important to Cornwall to let it fade away.

If you keep watching I think you will see more positve news in the not too distant future.