2022 Annual Review
Welcome to this years Teesside Airport Movements Annual Review!
2021 additions:
New Years Eve is popular for late developments, 2020 saw a busy final day of the year and 2021 was no different as we had the news that Willis hope to build new north-side hangars just to the right of the drop-off car park. The development was re-announced in July with more specific detail and artist impressions, and then announced for a third time in November.
What we thought might happen:
In the last annual review we noted the airports desire for leisure and cargo expansion. We were a little...'hesitant' shall we say...over their southside ambitions given the history of that site, but credit where it's due progress has been made with the access road now clearly visible.
Reasonable Expectations (2022):
Green = achieved Blue = ambiguous Red = failed
-
Expand leisure offering
TUI delivered with double Palma and new Dalaman -
Keep all Loganair routes
We lost Heathrow, Newquay and Southampton -
GA Development
Both flying schools made progress during the year, AeroSchool especially
What did happen:
| January | 10 additional firefighters | Such numbers could only mean an increase in our daily RFFS CAT, whether this is in expectation of something or just 'speculating to accumulate' remains to be seen |
| February | Bannatyne Spa opens | Met with scepticism from social media commentators, but it appears to perform well enough |
| Southside revealed | Following initial concerns that aviation did not feature, architect drawings showed a small aircraft apron and presumably one of the adjacent buildings is a hangar of some kind. We've since learned each airport-facing warehouse unit can be converted into a hangar and attached to the airport infrastructure should a prospective tenant so wish. Preliminary work on the access road began in May | |
| TUI postpone Antalya | They announced Antalya in August 2021 for a May 2022 start, then postponed it in February because most people already had their summer 2022 holiday plans firmed up (you'd think TUI would have known this). It was assumed that the route then remained on sale throughout this period for 2023 and would therefore be a fairly safe bet, however on 23 October a Northern Echo article announced that only now had these flights gone on sale - i.e. two months less notice than for this year! So in theory, everyone is once again already booked up?! | |
| Serco IFTC under threat | Troubling news as the Serco IFTC becomes at risk of closure due to the southside project, odd given previous incarnations have accomodated them. The concerns revolved around smoke billowing over business units. A positive compromise was announced in November | |
| Loganair expanded winter schedule | The loss of the second aircraft meant the schedule certainly wasn't "expanded", but we kept a limited series of Dublin flights over December and January | |
| Regulated Agent status | Following completion of the Hangar 3 conversion into a cargo facility, we were awarded "Regulated Agent" status, allowing us to start handling cargo | |
| March | New airport Chair | Kate Willard, previously of Stobart Aviation, continues her involvement at TIA as she is appointed Chair of the board |
| NMH contract bid | March saw an unexpected surprise, a new based company, AceHawk Aerospace, were bidding for the MoD NMH ("New Medium Helicopter") contract, to replace the RAF Westland Puma HC2 fleet. They fell at the first hurdle, but had they won it they would have been reconditioning ex US Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters on site | |
| Draken new jets and hangar | At the end of the month we were able to reveal Draken Europe were to get eight Aero L-159E ALCA "Honey Badgers" from their US parent company and a new hangar to accommodate them. Still no closer to learning what will eventually replace the Falcons though!! | |
| Airport financial performance | A £13.4m loss up to March 2021 is announced, almost entirely attributable to Covid. It's sad how many naysayers get excited and try to present the loss as being a reflection of the airports potential | |
| April | Nil | A quiet month thankfully - we needed the rest! Having to run to keep up!! |
| May | Loganair axe Heathrow and Southampton | A hammer blow at the start of May was the news that Loganairs Heathrow route was to end due to unrealistic charges by Heathrow affecting smaller aircraft, just as the route was starting to do well. Southampton was collateral damage, having not had time to bed in and build up, such a shame they couldn't have padded out the second aircraft with a Paris or a Cork etc. Once again, too many naysayers within our community thought they could say "told you so", despite more than enough people willing to travel to even the weakest Loganair destinations at the price point they offer. It's an awareness issue not a demand issue, Loganair wouldn't attempt the routes otherwise! |
| TUI triumphant return | TUI fly to Palma after an absence of nine years | |
| PAOG evicted from hangar | The Chairman of the now-disbanded Private Aircraft Owners Group had an article published in the Northern Echo criticising the airport and the Mayor for evicting them from their hangar and reneging on a promise of new sheds, before then rejecting a PAOG compromise that they build some themselves at a fraction of the cost the airport was quoted. This is why we included GA Development in last years "Reasonable Expectations" segment. We are pleased to see this matter get the attention it deserves and hope a resolution can be found | |
| June | Skybar opens | The Skybar opened early on in the month and very smart it is too! Please support it if you can, the car park is two hours free subject to a spend over £2.50 - a small ask! The rooftop viewing terrace is hoped to be complete by the end of the year but looking unlikely now |
| Draken hangar approval | The second Draken hangar received planning approval during the month despite the foundations having already been completed in order to keep the project on schedule, on the basis that had it been rejected the base could ultimately have been used for anything | |
| Air Show fiasco | The single most negative PR in a long time was the fallout from the air show fiasco. The complaints in relation to traffic management are very well justified and the "planning" is to be condemned, but sadly our community used the traffic issues as a springboard to criticise the wider event because they expect it to be RIAT. As said in the past:- it's not for us! It's for the general public who appreciate the spectacle, sight and sound but ultimately don't know a Spitfire from a Tomcat. The alternative is nothing and we had something. Both local papers ran stories on how much those who managed to get in enjoyed the event. Still, looks as if it's irrelevant now as the event is unlikely to be back, if not because of the poor management then because the southside development will leave insufficient clear ground for aircraft to display over. The Mayor has hinted the event could move to Redcar sea front, so we presumably would still get the traffic | |
| Vandals target Willis aircraft | Unfortunately vandals targeted Boeing 737 CN-RNJ during June, over three or four multiple evenings, causing a lot of damage. On one particular evening, security got to them just in the nick of time, as a rave was planned. Luckily the youths in question weren't too bright and included their names on the videos that subsequently appeared on anti-social media platform TikTok, leading to convictions. Even some enthusiasts don't know how to get to the location the aircraft was at, so you have to wonder how the general public found it. The Mayor had to clarify the aircraft was parked away from operational areas after poor press reporting suggested the airport itself had been trespassed on | |
| July | Extra £20m investment following loss | Odd that 2021s figures were reported in March, and only four months later we get 2022s?! A slightly improved loss and still largely attributable to Covid. A pessimistic figure is probably around £5m of the £11.8m loss boils down to performance. When 2022/3 figures are released next year it will be a far more accurate reflection of the state of play. The Mayor has said the airport should now "reasonably" not be asking for any more money - a brave statement! |
| Solar farm | Solar panels could appear to the east of the airport site near the runway and taxiway where only very low level development is possible for safety reasons | |
| Willis £25m investment | A re-release of the New Years Eve news with more specific details and architect drawings etc. We're getting two maintenance hangars with a new apron, at a 90° angle to the existing main apron, and a kick-ass "Farnborough-level" Jet Centre. The plan was presented as using the land previously ear-marked for housing, but to fact-check this statement, it is using a mere fraction of that land, with the bulk still too far removed from the airport infrastructure for aviation use when compared to other locations around the site | |
| August | Parking enforcement | This caused a lot of controversy with both the general public and within our community too, and not entirely without justification. That said, the airport have provided us with permits to use so we can continue to go about our hobby (please bear in mind when criticising them that they were under no obligation to do so! Don't bite the hand that feeds!). We're not alone, East Midlands and Liverpool both operate red routes around their entire perimeter, perhaps this may have been a better option? |
| Cargo facility opens | Having been complete for around eight months, the Hangar 3 West cargo handling facility is declared open | |
| Newquay scrapped | Loganair suspended all of their routes from Cornwall Airport Newquay, citing subsidies favouring other airlines. They've since reinstated most if not all services bar ours. Shame given the potential was far more than the 1x weekly service we had. | |
| September | Strike action? | Members of the Air Traffic and Fire Service departments were considering strike action after rejecting a pay rise. Luckily in the end an agreement was reached. Let's hope any increase in salary expenditure doesn't hinder the efforts to reduce the annual losses |
| October | Most punctual airport | We won an award for "most punctual UK airport" which was largely ridiculed..."It's easy when we have no flights!" but as explained by one of the Directors at the FOTIA 10th Anniversary party, it's based on percentages and the same criteria the likes of Heathrow and the rest are measured on |
| November | Double Palma and new Dalaman | November was a busy month with lots of positive developments including the news that TUI are doubling capacity to Palma next year, a logical decision given how well it performed. A few days later they also announced Dalaman for summer 2024, although it's thought that this may be instead of Antalya |
| Draken hangar completed | Drakens new hangar went live in November and the jets started flying more frequently | |
| Oil Spill Response | 2 Excel Aviation moved their two Oil Spill Response Boeing 727s into Teesside following the closure of Doncaster Sheffield Airport. It is thought they will return to DSA should that facility be sold to new owners | |
| Serco sign new deal | Serco sign a new 10-year lease albeit the burning ground will reduce in size, and there will be no more "black burns". This may well be the first ever example of a tenants future being reported as in doubt only to then be saved. Similar cases in the past were always usually a predetermined conclusion! | |
| New Lapland flight | Transun Holidays announced a Lapland day trip for 2023, adding to the existing one by Newmarket Holidays | |
| December | Cargo is a go | A series of "just in time" car parts charters uses the airport, and whilst a couple did slip through the net, they're normally a 50/50 split between us and Newcastle, whereas this time we're seeing the vast majority of them. Don't expect to see freight figures appear on the CAA monthly stats mind - they only include aircraft with a MTOW over 15,000kgs! |
| AeroSchool | Expanded | Scenic Air Tours and Flight Training taken over by new owners and aggressively expanded, with a much simpler title that does exactly what it says on the tin. Replaced C150 G-PHUN with C152 G-CMAH, and added further C150s G-BMBB and G-PLAN, as well as C152 G-BNPY, and C172 G-CISX. Unfortunately during the year P28A G-AVRK was confirmed as a write-off, having previously thought to have been repairable. The fact the new owners during their due diligence have deemed the school a worthy pursuit suggests there is still a future for GA at Teesside. |
| Balkan Holidays | Static | Suffered considerably due to the proximity of Ukraine to Bulgaria, although picked up towards the end of the season. A 14% decline on 2019 is probably good going to be fair. Will remain 2x weekly in 2023. |
| Draken Europe | Expanded | A new hangar and eight new jets, see segment above. The Mayor suggested in a social media live Q&A session on 22nd June that further as yet unknown expansion from Draken is expected. |
| Eden Flight Training | Expanded | Moved from the Jet Centre to the landside offices attached to Hangar 1, added PA34 G-TRUU to offer CPL and MEPL - two things we've lacked in a flying school probably since the days of Teesside Aero Club! |
| IAS Medical | Regressed | No longer have an aircraft based exclusively for air ambulance work, just the charter aircraft operated for Prestige Skyhawk G-IASB. Their current contracts are at Belfast International, Dublin and Isle of Man. |
| KLM Cityhopper | Static | Failed to reintroduce the third daily rotation due to both their own staffing issues and those of Schiphol. The loads on the current two daily services are encouraging especially given the inconsistency that must have affected consumer confidence. |
| Loganair | Regressed | Axed the second based aircraft after initially
announcing an expanded winter programme, see segment
above. Announced: Nil Axed: LHR, NQY, SOU |
| PAOG | Regressed | See segment above. Whilst several aircraft were said
to have only temporarily relocated, it's now fair to
assume these won't be returning. Group has now
disbanded with private owners now responsible for their
own management. Arrived: G-GSIX, N5757 Departed: G-AKDN*, G-AVWL*, G-BAVL*, G-GSIX, G-MUMY, G-NSUK, G-RICO*, G-STEA* * = last year but only now accepted as accurate |
| Ryanair | Static | Continued as per last year, Corfu operated
June-September but given the strong performance we have to wonder why it doesn't run
March-October like their other seasonal services? Announced: Nil Axed: Nil |
| Serco | Static | See segment above. |
| Thales Flight Inspection | Static | Nothing to report. Have been consistent for years, would be nice to see some expansion in order to better challenge the market leaders Flight Calibration Services. |
| TUI Airways | Expanded | Consistently full and gave us
our first 737 MAX visit. Announced: 2nd Palma, Dalaman Deffered: AYT Axed: Nil |
| Willis Lease Finance Corporation | Expanded | See segment above. Two further subsidiaries now based after Willis Asset Management who deal with the engineering operations. These are Jet Centre by Willis and Willis Aviation Services who are responsible for ground handling. The latter have the contracts for the Ryanair and any cargo turnarounds (although the cargo itself is processed by the airport). |
Passenger Figures
For the most part our statistics are extremely healthy. People often weigh our figures up against those of Newcastle and Leeds and that is neither a fair nor accurate comparison, they are plus-three million pax per year facilities and largely indispensable irrespective of how much loss or debt they rack up, we don't have that luxury. If we are to be compared to other airports (and there is an argument that we shouldn't be at all) then it needs to be to our peer airports which are sub-three million passenger per year airports.
There are concerns over the load factors of our regional connectivity routes; when you look at the weekly seating capacity of the same routes during our peak years versus the current capacity on offer, the gulf is so wide that no possible excuses should make any difference, be it price, timings or whatever. To pick one example - Dublin - 1323 weekly seats were successfully filled for several years, so a mere 100 weekly seats in 2022 is a very small ask. To repeat a line from above - it's an awareness issue, not a demand issue.
Click here to view our passenger figures page.
Visiting Aircraft
1st of type/sub-type visits: B737-8MAX, B737-8MAX-200, CRJ-1000, ERJ-190E2, Lineage 1000, Piper M600, Quest Kodiac 100, Aero L-159E ALCA and AH-64E Apache - possibly a record number?
Lauda Europe - 17 of 29 airframes visited all of which were 1st visits, 9H-LOI won with five visits. Ryanair - At the time of writing we've had one Ryanair MAX visit (EI-HEZ - March is expected to be all MAXs) and one Malta Air (9H-QCP). It would be futile to measure the total number of Ryanair airframes versus the total fleet but a whopping 47 were 1st visits including the MAX and Malta Air. 27 airframes visited on two or more routes, only three visited on three out of four and zero visited on all four. Four Ryanair aircraft shared the most visits with four each.
The rise of operators such as VistaJet, Flexjet and Air X Charter mean the days of seeing the full sub-fleet of certain operators in any given year are gone (although the NetJets Latitudes and Phenoms gave it a good go!), though interestingly the average size of the typical bizjet visitor has been driven up, with notably more Super Midsize and larger. PC12s are also now far more common.
On the military side, variety may be less but numbers-wise the retirement of the RAF King Airs, Tornados and Tucanos hasn't hurt us like many thought it might, with increased activity from Atlas', Phenoms, Prefects, Typhoons and Qatari Hawks all adequately compensating.
Click here to view our 2022 statistics page.
Resident Aircraft
| 2022 Stats | Rolling Stats | |||||||
| Dec 21 | Dec 22 | % +/- | Jan 10 | Dec 22 | % +/- | |||
| Active | 31 | 40 | +29.0% | 41 | 40 | -2.4% | ||
| PWFU / Stored | 12 | 11 | -8.3% | 08 | 11 | +37.5% | ||
| Totals | 43 | 51 | +18.6% | 49 | 51 | +4.0% | ||
* The above table does not include temporary winter-only residents.
Our picks of the years best visitors as judged by Dave Rose.
| BEST VISITORS | ||
| GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE |
| COMMERCIAL | ||
_RB.jpg) |
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| D-AKJC | OY-ASB | HB-AZH |
| BUSINESS AVIATION | ||
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| P4-PPP | TC-RSE | 9H-FAB |
| GENERAL AVIATION | ||
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_AG.jpg) |
| N922JC | G-RVEI | G-ETET |
| MILITARY | ||
 |
 |
_AG.jpg) |
| E82/8-LW | 08-0049 | ZZ190 |
| MOST VISITS | ||
| GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE |
| COMMERCIAL | ||
_DR.jpg) |
_BS.jpg) |
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| G-SAJR (7) | G-OSRA (6) | G-SAJC/T (6) |
| G-OSRA prior to becoming based. The Loganairs were positioners/charters, had there been more choice, these would have been discounted. | ||
| BUSINESS AVIATION | ||
_CS.JPG) |
_CS.JPG) |
_AG.jpg) |
| G-JSNS (21) | N288Z (11) | N542MP (8) |
| GENERAL AVIATION | ||
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 |
 |
| G-FFMV (28) | G-AWOT/BNOH/BOHR (22) | G-BODE/NHAD/VOAR (18) |
| G-BNOH had received the new Sherburn Aero Club livery by the end of the year. | ||
| MILITARY | ||
_AG.jpg) |
 |
 |
| ZM335 (22) | ZB134 (15) | G-BYXJ/BYXL (9) |
| The top three would have been all Phenoms, so we've only allowed one entry per type. | ||
| BEST LIVERY | ||
| GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE |
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| OO-AIE | D-CHMS | 2-CAZZ |
| BEST PHOTOGRAPH | ||
| GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE |
_PH.jpg) |
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_SC.jpg) |
| ZA949 | 9H-XFX | 08-0049 |
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Most Visits are measured up to 29 November with the exception of N288Z which is known to have one further visit of the year planned.
Click here for our 2022 photo albums.
Click here for our annual media coverage.
We haven't listed our monthly viewer statistics this year, it's starting to feel perhaps a little egotistical. If anyone's that bothered we can provide them but in short the website continues to perform as strongly as ever.
Night-Shoot II
We held our second night-shoot event back in March and once again it was a huge success. It's tricky to organise and in the build-up Chris was leaning towards this being the last one, but it's difficult not to be charmed by the gratitude and appreciation from those attending! As per last time, we will only organise another one when the previous one can be improved upon, however with new resident fast jets and vintage 727s - that could be now!!
Investment
Technology has long since outpaced the software we use to manage the website, and in order to maintain standards it's time to move with the times and invest in an upgraded product. We are very pleased to announce the website will be getting a makeover soon courtesy of Cornerstone Business Solutions. There is no other website quite like this one and as such it's been a real challenge to ensure simplicity and ease-of-updating go hand-in-hand with a little bit of automation, but we're getting there and hopefully everyone will love the finished product!
We're living in a time where due to public ownership, developments that would once have been deemed commercially sensitive are now in the public domain, meaning this section is now difficult to write as usually we know what's coming. We've also altered the title of the sub-section below, previously called "Targets", "Goals" then "Reasonable Expectations", once again this was starting to feel a little vain as it's not our place to be setting the airport objectives, or making demands, although that was never the intention (mind you, we own it as tax payers so maybe it is our place!!!). The below title better reflects the harmless fun nature and comes across as less assertive.
We've just rolled over last years points on this occasion.
Hopes and Dreams (2023)
-
Expand leisure offering
This will be a rolling expectation until such a time we match the previous peak, which including non-based w-patterns was the approximate equivalent of 3.66 based [leisure] aircraft. -
Keep all Loganair routes
Every route we currently have and historically have had with Loganair should be a safe bet, with easily enough demand locally even when factoring in price and flight timings. As such there is little reason for them to fail. -
GA Development
With other areas of the business prioritised since the takeover, we would love to see this important avenue of revenue developed somehow.
The air show cast a sizeable shadow over an otherwise solid year. We now have easily one of the best resident aircraft fleets in the world - a perfect mix of vintage and fast jets. People are getting a little restless for new routes, spurred on by the over-performance of last year which saw seven flights gained, but the 2nd TUI Palma and Dalaman represent a 20% increase which is not to be sniffed at. Aggressive expansion can be dangerous, we don't want to climb too high too fast, and on the GA side if AeroSchool continue to get it right they will be a force to be reckoned with and the envy of flying schools across the country.
From the two Daves and Chris:
Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year!!!
Disclaimer
The updaters have often discussed the negatives surrounding opinion and rumour/conjecture relating to Teesside International Airport and have agreed it should be excluded from this website. All of our previous annual reviews have been moderated to remove any and all such material and to ensure the airport business is analysed from a neutral perspective. This can be difficult given our hobby is often rumour-driven, and discussing what might or might not be happening in the future could be considered a large part of our pastime, but ultimately we endeavour to avoid any such items with the exception of any information provided by official sources that has no replicable evidence.
Credit and Thanks
Thank you to (in surname alphabetical order) Richard Bowater, Steve Curtis, Andy Gibson, Paul Heasman, Matthew Perree, Andrew Povey, Brad Simpson and Aidan Williamson whose photographs have been used in this report.