2015 Review
The year got off to a surprisingly fast-paced start, with a number of positive press releases issued by the airport, including a General Aviation incentive which has so far seen twelve (!!) new residents and four new air operators move in, though three of those residents have since moved out again, as well as one of the operators - GW Microlights - due to medical reasons relating to the companies owner. Still, we finished the year with a significant and welcome increase in resident GA activity. One of the disappointments of the year was Naljets moving the jet aspect of their operation to Leeds, meaning we are once again left without any resident executive jets (an area where there's surely plenty of potential?) and highlighting the importance and urgency of the planned new hangars.
The master plan is progressing slowly, the cornerstone being the housing application, like all huge projects this can take an age to progress through planning, a hint of this came from some local authority meeting minutes which noted the Section 106 agreement (an agreement that means legally all income received from housing must be re-invested in aviation) was being drawn up. Elsewhere in the master plan the only significant development was the approval of planning permission for the road connecting the north and south sides of the airport which is due to begin around March, with construction lasting around 12-14 months, a good positive start.
Around 40% of the terminal building was mothballed (essentially the old Café Oasis area), whilst other areas were heavily refurbished, airside was done first which saw the excellent new Swissport Café and lounge open in Autumn last year, new offices above the old Yard of Ale, the landside toilets and the security screening area have all been re-done, the work that has been done so far really does look a million dollars.
Sycamore Aviation have had a much busier year, though this is mainly due to some off-site work rather than aircraft flying in - hopefully for our benefit that will change in 2016!
Passenger figures
You might be expecting me to dismiss the ninth consequtive decline in passenger numbers as an insignificant one-and-a-half-percent, but the simple fact is we are down in a year that we should not have been. Thankfully Amsterdam performed very well, and I don't suppose anyone would blame the airport for the downturn in the oil industry which has seen Eastern's figures drop by an average of around 20% (though they budgeted for 25%). Hopefully 2016 will see an increase?!
In the News
* = very negative | ** = negative | *** = indifferent | **** = positive | ***** = very positive
The first news of the year broke in early January with details of a slightly revised brand and a new look website
09/01/15: Durham Tees Valley Airport lift off 2015 with new-look initiatives ****
Then came a report on the previous years losses and further dip in passenger figures (the loss is expected to half for 2015 providing the master plan is working as it should)
14/01/15: Durham Tees Valley Airport plunges further into the red *
Then came the announcement of what the airport had described to us as an "Airfield within an Airport" concept, they should have used that in the press, it sounds pretty awesome!
24/01/15: Durham Tees Valley Airport launch new General Aviation campaign *****
The first of the new operators arrives, a flex-wing microlight school which has since had to close down due to medical reasons associated with the owner of the company
30/01/15: Microlight flying school launches at Durham Tees Valley airport ****
News of the return of a lapland flight was welcomed during early February
02/02/15: Durham Tees Valley Airport to offer Lapland flight *****
Airport launches the Priviedge Club
02/02/15: New Privilege Club offers more benefits for passengers ****
Some bad news followed with the announcement that NPAS Tees Valley is one of ten police helicopter bases to close
21/02/15: Durham Tees Valley Airport police helicopter base to shut, aircraft could move to Newcastle *
Airport looks to improve by consulting with local businesses
26/02/15: Durham Tees Valley Airport looks to improve ****
The refurbished office suite above the old Yard of Ale pub is the latest phase of the terminal reconfiguration
07/03/15: Durham Tees Valley opens airport terminal offices ****
Airport moving in the right direction with a 3% increase in passengers
18/03/15: Durham Tees Valley airport 'moving in the right direction' *****
The second new operator to move in during 2015, fixed-wing microlight school Durham Aerosports, opens for business...
20/03/15: New flying school opens at Durham Tees Valley Airport ****
...but the first one suffers a mishap
21/03/15: Microlight aircraft 'crash' at Durham Tees Valley Airport **
A number of new appointments are made in an effort to boost business at the airport
27/03/15: Durham Tees Valley Airport bids for business boost ****
A second attempt at relaunching an air show at the airport is announced
02/04/15: Durham Tees Valley Airport manager excited for airshow plans after success of Lancaster Bomber landing ****
A sharp drop in passenger numbers is reported
13/05/15: Durham Tees Valley Airport 8.7% drop in passenger numbers *
A report into the microlight "crash" is released by the AAIB
16/06/15: Pilot blamed turbulence for light aircraft crash at Durham Tees Valley **
KLM hint at an increase in services around the UK - including at DTV
18/06/15: KLM could increase Durham Tees Valley Airport services *****
Airport apply for planning permission for south side link road and first Aero Centre building
02/07/15: £10m pledge will kick start Durham Tees Valley Airport's Southside development ****
Further details of the south-side development are revealed (seems to me that the building is earmarked for TNT rather than the widely rumoured Serco?)
14/08/15: Durham Tees Valley Airport development revealed ****
With just two days to go, the Skylive Air Show is postponed
27/08/15: Durham Tees Valley air show postponed *
Airport bids for Belfast route
16/09/15: Durham Tees Valley Airport bids for Belfast route as bosses try to increase flights *****
A somewhat sensationalised headline causes a stir as the airport - like most other large firms these days - tries to get out of pension obligations
16/09/15: Durham Tees Valley Airport to end local authority pensions **
The Avro Vulcan flies over the airport as part of it's farewell tour
11/10/15: Vulcan farewell tour: Cold War bomber flies over Durham Tees Valley Airport ***
The various nuisance campaigns and petitions resurface in the wake of the steel crisis
24/10/15: Save Teesside Airport campaign relaunches following steel crisis **
The link road is approved - but only just!
01/11/15: Durham Tees Valley Airport's £5m link road approved ****
Airport responds to critics
05/11/15: Durham Tees Valley Airport bosses make KLM vow; call critics' claims 'nonsense' ****
Yet another call to rename the airport
18/11/15: Calls for Durham Tees Valley Airport name change following meeting with Northern Powerhouse minister **
The final piece of news from the airport during 2015 was a welcome growth on the Amsterdam route
30/11/15: Airport welcomes significant growth on Amsterdam Route *****
A couple of items that failed to make mainstream news were the arrival of Flying Fox Aviation **** and Eden Flight Training ****, plus the rejection of the proposed DTVA-Belfast City route *
Awards / Stats
No awards as such due to no 2015 stats being available yet, but to pick out a few things from memory An-12 UR-KDM surely takes the crown for most interesting visitor with B744 G-CLAA up there as well. On the bizjet front, I would say there has been a decline, certainly our no.1 'regular' N288Z hasn't visited nearly as much this year and we know grouse numbers are at a record low so we assume this is the reason? That being said, looking through our 2015 photos variety has been much better - there are some right gems! For reasons unknown the Germans still seem to heavily dominate the foreign bizjet numbers. To pick a stand-out trip report, the two Dave's recent visit to Dubai for the air show easily wins! But there hasn't been much in the way of challengers - we're receiving a lot less trip reports these days, are you guys bored of writing them or is no-one doing trips anymore?!
Photos
2016 Expectations
The focus on GA should continue, although there's only so many new residents and air operators the airport will be able to attract leaving visiting GA as a potential target, the airport are working on a number of incentives in this sector and hopefully we should see a rise in the number of visiting aircraft.
DTFT and Skydive have moved into the Aero Club building providing a better environment for students and visiting crews alike. Food and bar services will be available from February and also great viewing of the runway for enthusiasts with free parking outside (please support the cafe by making a purchase when using the facilities).
Looking at routes, we are set to welcome the Embraer 175 from March on the KLM route, I would have thought we would be a prime candidate for one of the first routes to get the aircraft. As for expansion, hopefully once Flybe are settled in to DSA it would be nice to think a W-pattern or two would fit into their plans for us, we shall wait and see. We were made aware of just how many airlines the airport have spoken to and over what timeframe and it's impressive to say the least but whilst all were happy to talk, none of them see the north east region as a worthy investment at this time.
2016 Targets
Last year just as a bit of daft we set some goals we felt were realistic for the airport to achieve, four were not, but two were smashed! Here are this years (with some carried over):
> 2015 loss to not exceed £2m
The airports own aim, in line with the master plan and axing of charter
flights plus other cost cutting measures
> Housing application to be submitted
and approved!
> Attract two or more aviation related companies
of any kind
> Attract two or more non-aviation related companies
We've already heard rumours of one!
> Grow the number of resident aircraft from the current 42 to 44
or more
Two might not seem very ambitious, but you
have to be realistic
> Skylive to deliver a successful air show
We have every confidence
Summary
In a nutshell, I think we're in for a similar year to 2015, the economy in our region has taken a major set back with the closure of the SSI steel works, the low price of oil has hit our oil industry hard and a lack of any new major investments from government's so called "Northern Powerhouse" doesn't help. I'm sure there will be snippets of good news and perhaps a reduction in the bad. I'll breathe a sigh of relief when the road construction begins as this will essentially turn the master plan from "just another plan" to "wow it's actually happening this time!". We do know the airport staff are working hard in the background to not only reduce the losses but also to increase revenue for their business, steps in the right direction that will hopefully soon lead to a profitable airport and the decisions made to achieve this sometimes doesn't suit every individual looking in from the outside.
On a sad note, local aviation enthusiast Peter Harris recently passed away having had cancer, Peter was over the years a regular contributor to the website, our thoughts go out to his friends and family.
We've had a great time bringing you another year of almost-live aircraft movements and very much look forward to doing so again in 2016! The site has grown from our small local site to a one used by people from all over the world with an average of 40,000 visits per month, our site comes up in many searches relating to aviation, logs, trips, historic refererence, reports etc. Our military Mode S pages are used by thousands of interested visitors and is one of the most accurate and up to date references for UK military Mode S information. The Fleet List pages are an underused section that once again is a very up to date and easy to use reference section, maybe we need to advertise this more? New and well received this year has been the inclusion of Fishburn movements and info and we have David Thompson to thank for a lot of hard work on those pages. Without a lot of help from our updaters, contributors, enthusiasts, airport operators and the airport staff themselves we couldn't bring you the information in a way we have done and hope to continue to do so, a huge big thank you.
Please feel free to provide any feedback (good or bad) or ideas you might have for the website via the Contact Us link on the left hand menu. This annual review, along with previous ones, have been added to the new Articles section of the Trip Menu.
Chris
Have a happy and prosperous new year!!!