Potential at DTV is good
Jan 14 2009 by Kathryn Smith, Evening Gazette
AS environmental group Greenpeace attempted to frustrate expansion plans at Heathrow by announcing it had bought up land needed for a third runway, pro-aviation campaigners rallied behind Durham Tees Valley Airport, saying it had potential to create thousands of jobs.
A decision on an additional runway for what is already the world’s third busiest airport will be made later this month, the government said yesterday, but not before the Prime Minister has met with rebel MPs who want to ground the plan.
Lobby group Flyingmatters - a coalition of industry, including Durham Tees Valley operator Peel Airports Group - urged the government to stick to its guns and honour a previous policy decision to build capacity at Heathrow.
It said to limit the London terminal’s growth as an international hub would result in thousands of North-east jobs being exported. Bmi already operates a seven-day-a-week connecting service to Heathrow from DTV, which increasingly sees its future linked to the growth of a European hub network.
The lobby group also urged politicians to support development of the UK’s regional airports, including DTV, which is underway with the £110m, 250-acre Skylink International Business Park, set to create 2,000 jobs.
Robin Tudor, head of PR at Peel Airports Group, which will publish its 20-year master plan for Durham Tees Valley in 2009, said failing to develop now meant Britain would miss out when the global recovery came.
“It’s a difficult time. Few airports are seeing any growth in passenger numbers. (But) this is not about the short term. We have plans for long term development and although that may slip a little we believe it’s still needed.”
He said ambitions to radically improve DTV’s passenger facilities were “still very much on the cards”.
The airport plans to quadruple passenger numbers from 750,000 last year to three million by 2015.
