Teesside Airport - The Facts
Teesside Air Letter Volume 3, No. 8, September 1991
History shows that Teesside started with an advantage over North-east competitor airports. The 1974 Stratford Report recommended that, ideally, a new airport for the North-east should be built in the vicinity of Sedgefield; alternatively airport development should be concentrated at Teesside. What finally emerged was that Newcastle's Woolsington aerodrome would be developed despite being north of the North-east's centre of population.
In the Airports Policy Paper in 1978 the government decided that in future there would be four classes of civil airport: International Gateway - for intercontinental flights, e.g. to the U.S.A. Regional - for international flights e.g. to Europe. Local - " ... concentrating on general aviation with some domestic feeder services and some charter flights". General Aviation - for air taxi, private and club flights.
Newcastle Woolsington was accorded Regional status, Leeds and Teesside accorded Local status. Leeds and Teesside fought hard against the policy and Leeds was made a Regional airport in 1980: however Teesside was not given an equal status until 1986. Although the playing field was then officially levelled, all was not equal. Airlines and tour operators had concentrated on the Gateway and Regional Airports so that is where the travel demand focussed. Not surprisingly, government funding followed the demand. As a result of these policies, Teesside Airport has developed most of its business on scheduled flights, mainly used by businessmen and others who need to travel at set times.
The charter flights, or more correctly the Inclusive Tour (IT) holiday flights, are a separate and distinct market with different rules. When IT started up in the 1960s the government ruled that a holiday package could not cost less than the comparable regular air fare. Consequently, in order to offer low package holiday prices tour operators had to use airports in southern England where the comparable air fares were lowest. The government later changed these rules and allowed the IT industry to develop from other airports. Broadly, a tour operator is a CAA licensed company with accommodation at a holiday resort abroad. Price is very important and margins are small: typically in the UK we pay about half what the continentals pay for the same package holiday. If a particular holiday doesn't sell well, the tour operator "consolidates" it with another flight from the same or another airport. Thus, the success of any particular destination from any airport depends on how well it sells because airlines, tour operators and travel agents are commercial organisations with shareholders to satisfy. One of the airport's tasks is to persuade tour operators to take the commercial risk of putting on IT flights. They will only do so if they judge it will be profitable.
(Author assumed to be Editor Brian T. Hunter)