2019 Annual Review
Welcome to this years Teesside Airport Movements Annual Review!
What we thought would happen:
To be honest, we didn't really know what to think! We weren't too fussed which way the big vote went on January 24th, we were happy we were in safe hands either way. We did note that the new radar along with 8.33kHz frequency spacing would be introduced in 2019, and military fleet retirements would cause a decline in movements. The new radar is in place but not quite active, and we converted to 8.33 earlier this month. We limited our reasonable expectations to just two (see below).
Reasonable Expectations (2019):
Green = achieved Blue = ambiguous Red = failed
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Takeover to conclude
Done and dusted! -
Passenger Figures
Terminal figures were up but we specified an increase in aircraft movements too which was not the case.
What did happen:
We don't want to go over old ground too much, if you're taking the time to read this page then you're likely familiar with the takeover and all things relating to it, anyone wanting a recap can visit our dedicated page here.
May saw the triumpent return of Inclusive Tour charter flights courtesy of Balkan Holidays, demonstrating that such flights would be entertained under the correct circumstances. Previous policy was to try and find smaller operators who do not require the same financial incentives as the major players, and it seems this policy is wisely being honoured by the new owners with the welcome announcement in July of ten flights to Palma, Majorca courtesy of JetsGo Holidays and operated by AlbaStar Boeing 737-800 aircraft for summer 2020.
Also in May was an influx of visitors for BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend at Stewart's Park in Middlesbrough. Being vaguely familiar with the event I expected lot's of traffic, but many were surprised at the level of aviation activity it generated. Widebody movements always attract a crowd and the AirX A340 was no different and a very welcome visitor. The movements were sufficient enough to justify a dedicated page here.
July 25th was a major milestone in the history of our airport when the name was reverted back to the beloved Teesside International Airport. Throughout the history of this website we had always used the DTVA name out of respect, but in our hearts we didn't like it any more than anyone else. It's unfortunate that there is no 'ideal' name, the term "Teesside" is obsolete following the adopting of "Tees Valley" which itself is geographically inaccurate, and outside of the UK there isn't a singular well known name for our region. Ultimately we don't care we're just glad to have the righteous name back! Should you notice any references to the old name anywhere on this website that we have overlooked (some occurances may be deliberate if the subject matter is specific to the DTVA era), please contact us and we'll correct it.
Our Amsterdam route performed ahead of all expectations and the prospect of the long mooted fourth rotation is starting to be taken very seriously and/or a larger aircraft. We believe the latter is more likely given the slot constraints at Schiphol, especially after Leeds/Bradford are being upgraded to a 737-700 from March - crucially freeing up an Embraer 190.
The final thing of note from 2019 is the return of the air show. The Skylive name has gone in favour of the Tees Valley Air Show but it is the same team behind it with support from the Friends group. Tickets are a fraction of the price of previous shows at just £5 and we are told to expect it to be approximately three times bigger than the previous event. It's unfortunate that the initial reaction from within our community was of a critical nature, many of those commenting never attended the previous events so I'm not quite sure how they can judge the quality but the key thing is that the feedback and reviews vindicated the two previous air shows as critical successes, and we know from the organisers that they were also commercial successes. The enthusiast community make up less than 5% of the audience - it's the general public the air show team need to please and they have achieved this in the past.
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COBHAM Aviation Services |
STOBART Jet Centre |
EDEN Flight Training |
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| After the MoD cancelled the ASDOT contract earlier in the year, there were concerns about the future of Cobham at Teesside after December. Since then, we have learned that the MoD have requested an extension, with negotiations taking place to determine the length. They are also busy with foreign militaries and are recruiting engineers as they are going to be carrying out more maintenance here at their Teesside base next year. The Falcon 20 aircraft have three-four years left in them, they are searching for a replacement with a strong wing in order to mount pods. | Previously Consort Aviation, this brand is shared across the Peel Airport portfolio and thus not part of the airport sale, necessitating the rebrand. The business remains an in-house operation following the logical reasoning of the previous owners "why facilitate a third party to make profit and take 10% when we can do it better ourselves and take 100%?" Unlike other Stobart Jet Centre bases, we are simply carrying the brand i.e. 'Teesside International Airport trading as Stobart Jet Centre'. This is one of the more trickier migrations from Peel and was still on-going as of December, with "Stobart" expected to replace "Consort" in radio communication towards the end of the year. | Expanded by two aircraft, firstly they threw a Beech C23 Sundowner into the usual mix of Cessna and Piper aircraft which was a nice touch, then they brought in another PA-38 Tomahawk 'on steroids' with an advanced cockpit. | ||
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GREAT NORTH Air Ambulance |
IAS Medical |
PRIVATE Owners Group |
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| Due to move into their new home at Urlay Nook in December, now being quoted as January. Replacing two 1991 model Dauphins (G-NHAA/B) with G-NHAD a 2015 model and looking at purchasing a second shortly after. | No change, though we have learned that G-IASB is for sale as it's executive configuration makes it ill-suited for air ambulance work. There are aspirations to replace it with a Learjet 60. | No major changes, the addition of a new twin engined resident, PA-34 F-HMDA, was a welcome surprise. It replaces both Mooney G-OPWS and PA-32R G-GOBD. | ||
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SCENIC AIR TOURS North East |
SERCO IFTC |
SYCAMORE Aviation |
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| Added a third PA-28 (their second Warrior II) in February. | Got rid of the fake Tornado and replaced it with a real Jaguar - beauty!! | Dormant rather than extinct with one employee still actively on their payroll. | ||
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THALES Flight Inspection |
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| Swapped locations with the airport management/admin staff during August, with Thales now in the portacabins and the airport now in their old offices in the terminal as well as those previously occupied by Durham Aerosports above the conference suite. |
Passenger Figures
Terminal passengers will be up, likely by around 7 or 8% driven of course by the return of a charter route to Bulgaria as well as the continued strong performance of KLM who have seen their figures spike for most of the last two years and as noted above the airport are confident of a larger aircraft type and perhaps even an additional rotation. Aircraft movements continued to decline, we are still suffering from the bankruptcy of PTT Aviation, both as a resident operator and more so from their other bases using us for cross-country exercises (replacement companies have much smaller fleets and are visiting less), the Tucano retirement may have an effect on the figures next year. Flux Loganair data skewed Aberdeen figures but there was still a marked decline due to poor reliability. Jersey was stagnant due to the flight always operating at capacity.
Click here to view our passenger figures page.
Visiting Aircraft
Not much to note; hunting traffic bounced back from last years problematic season as we once again saw a handful of mass influxes on Thursday and Sunday evenings which must be some kind of changeover day on the hunting estates. No Citation 650s visited in 2019 but we enjoyed our first 700 "Longitute", the 680A "Latitude" is proving a very popular machine with increasing numbers as Textron ramps up production. The "Hempishere" would have completed the set but development has been suspended due to engine design issues. The Bell 206 Jet Ranger and Robinson R22 helicopters were notable absences in 2019, as was the SA-227 Metro, likely due to the bankruptcy of BinAir. The Pilatus PC-24 was also welcomed for the first time during the year as was the V-tail Cirrus Jet. On the military side, due to being retired late in the year we didn't miss the Tucano once it had gone but next year it will be a notable absence, and there was also an increase in Typhoons following the retirement of the Tornado but not quite up to the same level as the Tonka. We finally saw our first F-35B overshoot in December which of course is the real Tornado replacement, hopefully they will increase in frequency as more come online.
Click here to view our 2019 statistics page.
Resident Aircraft
| 2019 Stats | Rolling Stats | |||||||
| Dec 18 | Dec 19 | % +/- | Jan 10 | Dec 19 | % +/- | |||
| Active | 34 | 33 | -3% | 41 | 33 | -20% | ||
| PWFU / Stored | 11 | 10 | -9% | 08 | 10 | +20% | ||
| Totals | 45 | 43 | -4% | 49 | 43 | -12% | ||
* The above table does not include temporary winter only residents.
Teesside Airport Movements Awards
Our picks of the years best visitors as judged by Dave Rose.
| Commercial Aviation | |||||||||||
| Best Visitor | |||||||||||
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| LZ-BHG | Airbus A320-232 | BH Air | |||||||||
| Runner Up | Commended | ||||||||||
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| 9H-ZAZ | Boeing 737-436 | Air Horizont | OY-CLY | ATR 72-500 | Alsie Express (Air Alsie) | ||||||
| Most Visits (04) | |||||||||||
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| G-CISK | Embraer ERJ-145LR | Flybe (Eastern Airways) | |||||||||
| Best Livery | |||||||||||
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| EC-MTV | Boeing 737-8K5 | AlbaStar | |||||||||
| Business Aviation | |||||||||||
| Best Visitor | |||||||||||
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| N703CX | Cessna 700 Citation Longitute | Corporate | |||||||||
| Runner Up | Commended | Also Nice | |||||||||
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| N707SN | Cirrus Vision SF50 | Vision Jet Inc | 9H-BIG | Airbus A340-313X | Air X Charter | A7-CGQ | Gulfstream G-VII-500 (G500) | Qatar Executive | |||
| Most Visits (24) | |||||||||||
_AW.jpg) |
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| G-SNJS | Cessna 560XL Citation XLS+ | Gama Aviation | |||||||||
| Best Livery | |||||||||||
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| M-DSKY | Socata TBM-910 | Sterna Aviation | |||||||||
| Runner Up | Also Tasty | ||||||||||
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| D-CPMU | Bombardier Learjet 60 | FAI Rent-A-Jet | YU-PZM | Textron 560XL Citation XLS+ | Air Pink | ||||||
| General Aviation | |||||||||||
| Best Visitor | |||||||||||
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| N95D | Piper PA-34-220T Seneca V | Zeta Aviation | |||||||||
| Most Visits (23) | |||||||||||
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| G-FFMV | Diamond DA 42 M-NG Guardian | Cobham Aviation Services | |||||||||
| Best Livery | |||||||||||
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| G-KOKO | Cirrus SR22T | Private | |||||||||
| Military Aviation | |||||||||||
| Best Visitor | |||||||||||
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| 8T-CC | Lockheed C-130K Hercules | Austrian Air Force | |||||||||
| Runner Up | |||||||||||
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| T-784 | Cessna 560XL Citation Excel | Swiss Air Force | |||||||||
| Most Visits (12) | |||||||||||
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| XX203/CF | British Aerospace Hawk T1A | Royal Air Force - 100 Squadron | |||||||||
| Best Photograph | |||||||||||
| Aidan Williamson | |||||||||||
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| G-EGVO | Dassault Falcon 900EX | Concierge U | |||||||||
| Runner Up | |||||||||||
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| ZK331 | Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon FGR4 | Royal Air Force - 11 Squadron | |||||||||
| Star Resident | |||||||||||
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| N628JN | Cessna 208 Caravan Amphibian | Mission Aviation Fellowship | |||||||||
| In Memoriam | |||||||||||
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* The bmi regional photo is from 2017 and the Thomas Cook from 2016.
More photographs albeit from less contributors in recent years, many thanks to all contributions during the year. Our attempts at launching a calendar got off to a poor start, but following a few tweaks to the format sales exceeded expectations and we now should have a nice little annual event.
Click here for our 2019 photo album.
Highlights were the takeover completing, the name change, the announcement of Majorca flights and the return of the air show for 2020.
Click here for our annual media coverage.
Website Visitor Statistics
| Unique | Total | |
| January | 52,961 | 4,434,554 |
| February | 50,616 | 3,581,076 |
| March | 56,442 | 3,937,294 |
| April | 52,857 | 3,625,884 |
| May | 60,950 | 4,883,418 |
| June | 55,712 | 3,932,667 |
| July | 59,703 | 4,517,658 |
| August | 58,034 | 3,709,811 |
| September | 54,902 | 4,035,905 |
| October | 53,717 | 3,329,932 |
| November | 58,897 | 3,193,775 |
| December* | 26,616 | 2,055,082 |
* Up to 15th December
We were delighted to change our name in July in line with the airport name change. If you haven't already please adopt our new web address as displayed in the footer of this page.
We would like to politely remind our viewers to please, please, please give credit if you re-use or otherwise benefit from data from this website; it's a very small ask for such a valuable (and more importantly free of charge) service. It's not very pleasant when we see movement data copied almost word-for-word elsewhere online, or photos posted somewhere and it's quite obvious the authors have not just happened to be at the airport by coincidence. It is of course only a very small minority and we express our sincerest thanks to those who respect the service we provide.
A BBC Tees news article revealed the hated £6 PFF would remain until April 2020, so we can expect to lose this burden during the year, although we have to say, this is much sooner than we expected. Also in 2020 Flybe becomes Virgin Connect, who of course are 30% owned by our own operators, Stobart Aviation. This may give us an advantage when they come to expand, although their recent announcement that they are to operate a Southend-Newcastle service raised more questions than answers..If not Virgin Connect, we will get new routes from somewhere - that much is clear from our meetings with airport management, there's enough in the pipeline that if only a fraction of it makes it over the line then we'll be doing ok. We were also pleased to hear the airport hierarchy stress that they do not want "quick wins", only sustainable routes, this put us at ease because in the back of our mind we were thinking we've lost it all before what's to stop us doing so again? We've been made aware more terminal refurbishment is coming, focusing on the arrivals area which is often neglected by airports across the country, the idea is to give an instant good impression to potential inbound investment to the region. The takeover has been so focused on the passenger side of the business that we're unsure what the future holds for GA, so I've reflected this in the reasonable expectations below, which have once again been limited to just the two.
Reasonable Expectations (2020)
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Gain a new GA air operator
We've lost four in as many years, with another set to leave in January and gained only one during the same timeframe and it's starting to bite -
Road signs
Not a single sign referencing the old name by the end of 2020.
It's been a fast and furious year for the airport and I don't think it's going to slow down all that much in 2020. We almost always project hope in these reviews year after year based on solid information, but now if feels different; all of a sudden it's a new kind of hope and there's a real excitement in the air, and we look forward to continue contributing and being involved in what is hopefully a new era.
From Dave, Dave and Chris:
Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year!!!
Credit and Thanks
Written by Chris Smith, "TAM Awards" judged by Dave Rose, edited and ratified by Dave Anderson and Dave Rose. Thank you to (in surname alphabetical order) Richard Bowater, Andy Gibson, Jon Irwin, Andrew Povey, Dave Rose, Chris Smith, Rob Smith and Aidan Williamson whose photographs have been used in this report.
Disclaimer
The three main 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 by one or both Dave's to remove any and all opinions and to discuss the airport business from a neutral perspective. This can be difficult given our pastime is often rumour-driven, and discussing what might or might not be happening in the future could be considered a large part of the hobby, but ultimately we endeavour to avoid any such material with the exception of any information we are given by official sources that may sound fictitious when put into writing due to a lack of available references.