Common enough in the UK, but a complete surprise for us, no-one was expecting an F-15 overshoot! - Richard Bowater		One of the many MoD charters we receive, even the general public turn out to view these big beauties! - Aidan Williamson		We regularly get classic German Learjets, but even the 55 variant is rare for us! - Richard Bowater		One of our summer holiday flights, it's always nice to see a non-British charter - Rob Smith		Air Mediterranee operating one of two annual Lourdes charters - Richard Bowater
	This former Royal Air Force Agusta A109 is now owned by the company that built it - (not sure who took this, initials 'SO')		It doesn't always go according to plan, this resident Cobham Falcon 20 decided it needed more runway that was available! - Chris Smith		A very smart looking ultra-light visiting - Colin Granton		We get many copters drop in each year, if not for fuel stops then transferring clients from their aircraft to the Grouse moors - Richard Bowater		One of the more uncommon light aircraft types - Bill Greenan
	Common enough if you know where to look for them, but you never expect World Airways MD-11s to drop by! - Richard Bowater		A smart looking large single prop resting on the ramp - Bill Greenan		A surprise visitor, this MD-87 may be mostly white, but is still a colourful little fella! - Ian Ellington		We had to chuck a regular in, this KLM Cityhopper Fokker 70 is on very short finals for 05 - Rob Smith		Another Air Mediterranee visiting on a Lourdes charter - this classic 737 may one day return for a final time courtesy of Sycamore! - Richard Bowater
	A VC10 never leaves DTVA before Ian's had a shot at it! I'm still convinced he's got one in his garage!! - Ian Ellington		One of the rarer Royal Air Force visitors, a C-17A is always a welcome sight - Richard Bowater

IN THE NEWS

DTVMovements has always provided news as and when it's happened, here are some of the main stories from 2012:

With the airport in administration we were all expecting news regarding the outcome, with the optimists anticipating a new owner whilst the pesimists (which there were seemingly more of) expected closure. So when the news finally came in, it was quite a surprise for all!

16/02/12 - Durham Tees Valley Airport has been sold - to Peel!? Click here & here

With the airports future looking more secure, Peel needed to demonstrate their commitment to the airport to the many doubters that still existed, this came in the form of yet another planned south side development.

24/06/12 - £5.9m Freight and Logistics Operation planned for the south side, Click here

After months in the planning, the DTVMovements updaters and other local enthusiasts teamed up with the general public to take on a more hands-on involvement with the airport by bringing you FoDTVA - Friends of Durham Tees Valley Airport.

05/09/12 - Durham Tees Valley Airport in association with DTVMovements are very proud to announce "Friends of Durham Tees Valley Airport". FoDTVA is a support group aimed at both the general public and enthusiasts it is designed to promote and assist Durham Tees Valley Airport whenever and wherever possible. For more information and to apply for membership, please visit our website; www.fodtva.co.uk

After much less bad news so far this year compared with recent years, some had to come and it did in the form of the Government rejecting the airports bid for Regional Growth Fund money, something the airport thought they were nailed on for. Fortunately, Peel plan to go ahead with the development regardless.

18/10/12 - Blow for the airport as South side funding from the government may not be approved - read the article here

After local MPs kicked up a fuss, the RGF invited Durham Tees Valley Airport to take a second bite at the apple.

24/10/12 - Airport gets second chance to secure funding for South Side

As part of our separation from Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield and Liverpool John Lennon airports, a new Commercial Director was brought in, full of ideas and boasting a solid background, his appointment has been well received at the airport.

12/11/12 - Airport appoint new Commercial Director, click here

Sadly, we've become aware of an unfortunate piece of news whilst writing this article, we're not in a position to reveal it yet, nor is it the fault of the airport, but it's quite bad - not disastrous - but bad enough. If it gets revealed in the media before the New Year it will appear here, otherwise keep an eye on the front page.

For all the years headline and older news, click here.

2013 NEW YEAR MESSAGE

It's amazing how much can change in a year. Reading over my last new year message (see here), there was a huge question mark over the future of the facility, now, the downward trend has stopped and the 'situation' (for lack of a better word) at the airport has stabilized.

In the "2012 Prospects" section of last years message, I incorrectly predicted the direction that the airport might take this year, I didn't think for one second 'business as usual' would be an option, I thought closure, or more likely, a non-passenger aerodrome, would be the direction we found ourselves taking. Little did anyone know things would essentially carry on as normal - or so it would appear to the untrained eye. Sure, on the surface we may still appear to be a failing airport as far as the general public are concerned, but let's take a look at what's happening behind the scenes; I know a lot of you don't believe in the "PPRuNe" website and nor do I for that matter, but a recent discussion has taken place on the DTVA thread which has thrown up a few points of interest, fair enough, a lot of it is still BS, but I've picked out the parts that aren't, such as:

* Investment - something Peel Airports never really did, our new owners, Peel Investments (which incidentally are much higher up the Peel Holdings ladder than Peel Airports) are spending money. Six figure fees have been spent revamping both the terminal and hangar one this year. Also, despite the rejection for the Governments Regional Growth Fund money, there is a significant investment planned for the south side, which is set to go ahead even if the second bid, due to be submitted in spring, also fails (I know - we've been here at least three times before, but we're dealing with a rehabilitated Peel now).

* Independence - despite being separate, after the takeover Peel Investments asked Peel Airports to continue to operate the airport on their behalf in the short term. Without putting it as strongly as what appeared on PPRuNe, this is an 'issue' and the airport is in the process of bringing everything in-house, which is why Andy Foulds and a new Property Director have been brought on board, amongst other changes.

* Confidence - this time last year staff morale at the airport was lower than rock-bottom, now it has risen significantly but more importantly, I'm told confidence has been restored with the airlines. This includes at least one case where an airline made an approach to the airport, rather than the more common scenario of the airport approaching the airlines.

The biggest and yet most surprising, even refreshing piece of evidence that things have changed for the better, is that Peel are admitting their previous mistakes themselves!!

2013 Prospects

I don't think we're likely to see any new routes for 2013, we'd have almost certainly heard about them by now, but I'd wager we might see something announced during the second half of the year for a 2014 start, fingers crossed.

Besides, it's all about what's happening away from the terminal. Despite not being officially unveiled to the press at the time of writing, Sycamore Aviation have moved into Hangar One and they're a very ambitious firm with fingers in many pies - if they bring in the amount of aircraft they hope to, any passenger flights we may get will be more of an added bonus compared to a much needed necessity as they are now. We also have a new air operator opened up shop in the old Cleveland Flying School building, Teesside Flight Training, who, despite their name, also plan to conduct air taxi and private charter flights as well as multi-engine and rotary training.

Finally, at the end of last years message I mentioned "We're working on something a little bit special for 2012" - this came to fruition with the formation of Friends of Durham Tees Valley Airport (FoDTVA). FoDTVA will come into it's own during 2013 and at the time I wrote last years message I never for one minute expected we'd be bringing you an air show (after a 24 year hiatus!) via the scheme!! Things are progressing well with the planning and the highlight of 2013 could well be something we ourselves have played a major role in setting up - the 2013 Tees Valley Air Show!! FoDTVA are always looking for new members so register today by visiting their website (link on the menu to the left).

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone!