Think we all are.

I guess holiday flights = volume and thats what the airport needs in the absence of a similar increase scheduled flights, more destinations and an airline /s interested in providing them.
Personally I'd like to see Jet2 there, taking some flights away from NCL and LBA.
Pipedream?

The Mayors campaign to buy the airport was based on the need to connect local businesses to the world, with holiday flights being seen as a bonus. This is the first time I've seen holiday flights mentioned as a priority - a change of emphasis?

Who's "need" I wonder?. The Airports, I guess. Has anyone heard any "local businesses" yelling out for more flights, due to their "need"?
Denigrate "bucket & spade" all you like, but it puts people IN the airport in the first place. Bums on seats, in the Cafe, Bar etc, such as they are.

There's been plenty wheeled out by the Mayor.

40 business leaders back plan to buy airport

As part of his election campaign the Mayor said that the airport had to be brought back into public ownership as there was a need to promote local industry and that foreign investors weren't interested if you couldn't fly there - holiday flights were very much seen as a secondary benefit.

Now they're being described as a priority. Nothing against Bucket and spade flights, but they're hardly boosting the local economy - the story seems to be changing.

April CAA stats:
Terminal passengers: 12,603 - up 7% v prior year
Aberdeen: 1,638 - down 19%
Amsterdam: 10,804 - up 11%

Amsterdam shows year-on-year growth for the 19th month in succession and (at 114,092 passengers in the past year) is doing better than any time since 2008 . Aberdeen still down (due to the extra Loganair flights last year) but volumes have picked up and April was actually up on the same month in 2017.

Rolling 12 month passengers: 139,272

Quote from the Mayor after the launch of Heathrows Masterplan

I think the only way a non LHR London link would work is if it in some way includes an element of connecting traffic as it would be difficult to see how a point to point service will beat the train connection from Darlington. For this reason I can't see how SEN, STN and LTN would stack up.

LGW might be interesting and would open a lot of destinations that are not served directly from the North East & Yorkshire. BA & Virgin fly a lot of long haul leisure out of LGW plus Easyjet & Norwegian both have extensive LGW networks. LGW seem keen on developing connecting traffic with the launch of GatwickConnects, a service that insures against missed connections and the airport is also currently building a proper domestic connections area which will avoid both using bus gates and the need for a second security scan. However LGW is pretty slot constrained which means flying 80-100 seater aircraft into the airport does not appear to stack up financially.

Maybe FlyBe/Virgin Connect could be a possibility? They have the LGW slots and are clearly changing their business model to provide feed for LGW and MAN.

The only realistic London area airport with spare capacity right now has to be Southend. LCY will be too expensive, LTN and STN aren’t exactly reknown for encouraging regional aircraft ops, plus are pretty much full at peak times.

May CAA stats:
Terminal passengers: 13,688 - up 13% v prior year

• Aberdeen: 1,683 - down 18%
• Amsterdam: 11,026 - up 20%
• Jersey: 232 - up 7%
• Lourdes: 747 - up 101%

Amsterdam shows year-on-year growth for the 20th month in succession and this was the best May on the route since 2004! Aberdeen still down but volumes have picked up recently and May was well up on the same month in 2017. Lourdes numbers are inflated as the return flights took place in June last year.

Rolling 12 month passengers: 140,839

looks like we might need a new thread title soon....

"Durham Tees Valley Airport WILL get new name as long-running wrangle ends"
https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/durham-tees-valley-airport-new-16518521

Glad this is resolved but it sounds like Chris Joseph did not have a legal leg to stand upon.

With all the conflict of opinions on here, it's nice to have something we can all celebrate! Welcome back Teesside International!

Currency exchange and jewellery shop to open in the terminal.

https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/t...msACHIEVr3_8Bo

A wonderful leap of faith.
Good luck.

Unsurprisingly passenger numbers don't you think as there is only one train service a WEEK ( outbound 11.00ish, inbound 12.00ish) on a SUNDAY. For goodness sake, what did tthey expect?
If the hoped for Airport expansion plans happen, and shock horror, there are even some bucket and spade flights, it might make sense for current non-stopping local trains to stop there IF a shuttle bus were available.

Is it viable to promote a train and bus service which only takes revenue away from your car park.