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Annual Review

2023 Review

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What We Thought Might Happen

Normally we would write a few paragraphs on our projections for the year ahead, but public ownership puts everything into the public domain long in advance so we all already know what's in store.

Reasonable Expectations (2023)

Green = achieved   Blue = ambiguous   Red = failed

• Expand leisure offering
It's a bit thin but we gained a third weekly Alicante

• Keep all Loganair routes
We lost Belfast and Dublin

• GA development
AeroSchool increased their fleet by eight aircraft taking their total to 15 aircraft, to put that in perspective the average fleet size of a typical Teesside-based flying school over the years has been around five or six.

What Did Happen

The Willis Aviation Village was recommended for approval on 1st March however it didn't go unnoticed when a 3rd September deadline for Willis to address 41 planning issues passed with no submissions or extensions requested to Darlington Borough Council. There was some movement on the council website during mid-December when a "Notice of Grant" and details of a Section 106 agreement appeared, but it remains to be seen if this represents progress or if it is just a formality of some kind.

The TVCA called foul mid March when reports suggested London City Airport were the first to scrap the 100ml liquid rule when in fact we were. Thanks to cutting edge "C3" security scanners, passengers can now take up to 2 litres of liquid through, as well as being able to leave their electronics in their bags too. The Government has set a June 2024 deadline for all UK airports to introduce the technology.

4th April saw further plans revealed for two new hangars originally earmarked to go in the space between Hangar 1 and the terminal building, but it was a bit of a squeeze so they will now be built on the former Hangar 5 site but will inherit the Hangar 4 name. For perspective the Willis development has been in the public domain for two years - in comparison our hangars were already under construction by October just seven months after conception! The hangars showed the Oil Spill Response 727s stored within leading to obvious speculation as to who the prospective tenant was, but perhaps the first sign that they weren't sticking around came on 3rd July when a news article covering the appointment of a building contractor showed the livery digitally removed from the architect drawings. Incidentally one thing that seems to have slipped under the radar from this development is the construction of an engine testing bay just off Britannia Corner separate to the one that will come with the Willis Aviation Village. It will be the airports own and Draken are expected to be the primary user.

Announced on 14th June was a third weekly rotation to Alicante during winter, no surprise given the popularity of the service although it is back to twice weekly for summer.

The Mayor stated as fact during an interview on Hospital Radio in June that new destinations had been secured, but he couldn't discuss them until they went on sale "in September or October". It built a palpable level of suspence as the time approached but here we are at year end and nothing. Similarly at the FOTIA 10th anniversary celebration in January he used words along the lines of "If scheduled cargo hasn't happened within two-three months something has gone very wrong - call it six months to be safe!".

Early July saw a milestone when the first steel was erected for the first unit of the southside business park, something many enthusiasts felt would never happen in their lifetimes. What struck me (CS) was the speed of the progress, when I went on four rest days there was nothing, I came back to find the entire foundation had been laid, then on the day the frame went up it was complete by 11am - the steel had only been delivered three hours prior at 8am!

Also in July Willis announced a new sustainable aviation fuel plant on TeesWorks, the airport are big into SAF and hope to pioneer its development in the coming years. British Airways are invested in a second such plant also on TeesWorks. You might dismiss it as environmentalist nonsense but if we get it right airlines could ultimately fly into us because of its very existence.

On a similar subject, we secured a permanent £8m hydrogen fuel station on site following a successful trial last year.

August saw a hammer blow when Oil Spill Response moved out to London Southend Airport. Their investors were getting twitchy at the aircraft not being undercover and Southend had vacant 'side-by-side' hangarage.

A new Teesside Aviation Skills Academy was announced in September in partnership with Teesside University using newly converted office space in the Arrivals Hall. Peel were looking at converting a Hangar into an aviation academy toward the end of their tenure, and Doncaster Sheffield was a good example of how to get it right - with fuselages readily available to be worked on by students. Most airports have an academy of some description, it would be nice to see Teesside go further and look at the Cranfield model. Teesside University is a good start but all of the local colleges have reputable aviation courses too, all of their efforts could be channeled through a one-stop-shop with participation from Willis (engineering/ramp), the flying schools (pilot training), our own ground handling (check-in), as well as cabin crew and air traffic control. There should be no avenues of aviation where you can't go from entry level through to fully qualified right here at Teesside.

Also in September a major partnership with energy provider SSE Energy Solutions was announced to provide a huge solar farm on the airport site as well as a base for SSE. Our understanding is the solar panels are located close to the maneuvering areas - if you were unfortunate enough to suffer a runway excursion the last thing you would want to be plowing into is sharp metal and glass joined together by high voltage electric cables but the CAA are involved so there must be a way to do it. In the recent past the airport has objected to a building extension on the airport site by the HGV driver training school, expressing concerns about reflections from solar panels planned for the roof impacting airfield operations!?

In December the airport announced the latest financial results, always a confusing time. Last year, the airport published two separate accounts within a five month period, the most recent showing an £11.8m loss, yet these accounts show the improvement as being "down from £9.03m" - so which was it? £11.8m or £9.03m? There's no question the results are a significant improvement and that is to be celebrated but they've clearly used financial trickery to make the best of them.

Early December also saw contractor GMI move out of the southside construction site having completed the first unit and fenced off the location and installed security cameras pending a tenant moving in.

Nothing much has happened during the last quarter, however the year may not end quietly...

Company Watch

COMPANY	PROGRESS	COMMENTS
2 Excel Aviation	Departed	We lost both 727s (see above). Arrived: Nil   Departed: G-OSRA, G-OSRB
AeroSchool	Expanded	Grew by eight aircraft and one base (Humberside), they're also looking at Carlisle. Hopefully their aggressive expansion away from Teesside doesn't mean we become expendable in future. Arrived: G-BEAC, G-ICDP, G-OCPC, G-OMAS, G-TSDA, G-TSDB, G-TSDC, G-TSDE   Departed: G-CMAH
Balkan Holidays	Regressed	Axed the second weekly flight for 2024, the route performed much better this year and will likely be no worse off next year despite the 50% reduction in capacity. Announced: Nil   Axed: Burgas (1x rotation only)
Draken Europe	Expanded	The last two Honey Badgers arrived by road in February. Arrived: N256EM (G-DKNG), N277EM (G-DKNH) - both by road   Departed: Nil
Eden Flight Training	Regressed	Downsized by three aircraft and seemed to benefit from it as their rate of flying improved towards the end of the year. G-TRUU now operated on behalf of a private owner. Arrived: G-ATIS, G-MAKS   Departed: G-AXZD, G-BPES, G-CHER, G-MAKS
IAS Medical	Static	No real changes to speak of although worth noting that DA62 G-IRJE is now owned by NALJets at Newcastle. Arrived: Nil   Departed: Nil
KLM Cityhopper	Static	Finally reintroduced the third daily rotation but doesn't really qualify as an expansion especially given the volume of ad-hoc cancellations. Incidentally the restrictions on Schiphol movements was down to the environmental party being in power in the Netherlands until November, it is expected their new Government will improve the situation.
Loganair	Regressed	Axed the base including Belfast City and Dublin, having failed to make even the most foolproof routes work. Announced: Nil   Axed: Nil
Private owners	Regressed	Lost P28A G-TSGJ, the syndicate had been here since 1982. Arrived: G-TRUU (sort-of)   Departed: G-TSGJ
Ryanair	Expanded	Added a third weekly Alicante rotation for winter. Announced: Alicante (1x extra rotation)   Axed: Nil
Serco IFTC	Static	No change.
Swissport	Departed	Left the airport after an estimated 30-40 years here.
Thales Flight Inspection	Static	No change, would be nice to see them increase their market share.
TUI	Expanded	Palma went twice daily. Dalaman will replace not supplement Antalya next summer. Announced: Nil   Axed: Antalya
Willis Lease Finance Corporation	Expanded	Took over all airside ground handling at the airport, announced a SAF plant on TeesWorks. Whilst an exact measurement is tricky given off-site contracts, broadly speaking the arrival of G-EZAY on 23/09 saw them equal in just three years what Sycamore achieved over their full existence! Arrived: C-FNWT, EC-ELT, EI-IKB, G-EZAW, G-EZAY, G-EZBA, G-EZBB, G-EZBC, G-EZBE, G-EZBF, G-JZDA, G-JZDB, G-JZDC, G-SAJD, OE-LKI, YR-ADI, YU-ALU   Departed: G-ISLH, G-JZDA, G-JZDB, G-JZDC, G-SAJD