| Durham Tees Valley Airport | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: MME – ICAO: EGNV | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Owner | Peel Airports Ltd (75%) Local Authorities (25%) |
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| Operator | Durham Tees Valley Airport Ltd. | ||
| Serves | North East England, North Yorkshire | ||
| Location | Darlington, County Durham | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 120 ft / 37 m | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Website | |||
| Map | |||
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EGNV
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| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| 05/23 | 2,291 | 7,516 | Asphalt |
| Statistics (2009) | |||
| Passengers | 289,464 | ||
| Aircraft movements | 25,208 | ||
| Freight (tonnes) | 298 | ||
| Sources: UK AIP at NATS[1] Statistics from the UK Civil Aviation Authority[2] |
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Durham Tees Valley Airport (IATA: MME, ICAO: EGNV) is an international airport in north east England, located 4.7 NM (8.7 km; 5.4 mi) southeast of Darlington,[1] about 10 mi (16 km) southwest of Middlesbrough and 24 mi (39 km) south of Durham. The airport serves County Durham and parts of North Yorkshire, and is in Middleton St George in the borough of Darlington. The airport is still locally recognised by its previous name, Teesside International Airport.
Durham Tees Valley Airport is one of the United Kingdom's smaller airports, but offers links to several domestic and European destinations. The airport has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (number P518) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers and for flying instruction. Originally an RAF Station, the airfield became Teesside International Airport in the 1960s and was renamed Durham Tees Valley Airport in 2004. The majority shareholder in the airport is Peel Airports Ltd which owns 75%,[3] while the remaining 25% is owned by a consortium of local authorities, consisting of Darlington, Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and Redcar and Cleveland Borough Councils. In 2010, Vancouver Airport Services purchased a controlling 65% stake in Peel Airports Ltd.
Passenger numbers peaked in 2006 when the airport was used by 917,963 passengers, but declined to 224,673 in 2010, the lowest level seen at the airport since 1975.[2]
In November 2010 the airport introduced a passenger levy of £6 to curb the airports losses.[4]
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The airfield began its life as Royal Air Force Station Goosepool, and in 1941 became RAF Middleton St. George. The RAF station was closed in 1963 and the airfield was put up for sale.
The former RAF Station and airfield was purchased by the former Cleveland County Council, which saw the potential of the airfield as a commercial one, and developed it into a civil airport. The first flight from the airport took place in 1964 with a Mercury Airlines service to Manchester. Princess Margaretha of Sweden opened the international passenger terminal in 1966.
After flights to Manchester the airport continued to develop a small yet strong network of both scheduled and inclusive tour charter routes. In November 1969 the first flight to London Heathrow was operated by British Midland—this route continued operating until 28 March 2009.
In 1974, the shares were divided between the newly-formed Cleveland and Durham County Councils.[5]
1990 saw the one millionth aircraft movement at the airport, in the form of a British Midland service to London Heathrow. In 1996 when Cleveland County Council was abolished, the airport ownership was divided amongst local Borough Councils.
In 2002 the airport sought a strategic partner to assist with future development and Peel Airports Ltd was selected as the preferred company, taking a 75% stake in the airport with a commitment to invest £20m over the subsequent five years.
On 21 September 2004 the airport was renamed Durham Tees Valley Airport as part of a major redevelopment plan. The renaming was unpopular with some local residents.[6]
The name was changed in order to place the airport better geographically, as many of the airport's passengers, particularly those from outside the UK, were unfamiliar with the location of Teesside, whilst Durham is better known.
Shortly afterwards, a new access road, terminal front and terminal interior were completed, but the remainder of a planned £56 million expansion and development programme which would have enabled the airport to handle up to 3 million passengers annually never materialised due to the above mentioned decrease in passenger numbers.[7][8][9][10] Other minor developments have seen new airfield lighting installed and £250k that had originally been set aside to replace the condemned roof on one of the hangars has been instead used on much needed repair works on the terminal.
On January the 11th 2011, Ryanair left the airport after ending service to Alicante Airport, the airline had previously served Dublin Airport and Girona - Costa Brava Airport, they left the airport due to falling passenger numbers.
On 14 December 2011, Peel Airports Ltd put their 75% stake in the airport up for sale.[11]
On 15 November 2010 the airport introduced a passenger levy of £6 for adults and £2 for children to curb the airport's growing losses. Passengers must purchase a ticket from a machine before being allowed to proceed through security.[12] Similar schemes are already in place at other small English airports including Blackpool, Newquay and Norwich.[4] However, despite the introduction of the Passenger Facility Fee, in the first stages of 2011 the airport received a considerable increase in passenger numbers with a 47% increase in January and a 24% increase in February compared to 2010.
The Sky Express bus service was launched in May 2005 and connected the airport with Darlington's Rail Station and Town Hall. Travel was free for bona-fide passengers. The service ran up to every hour during the day and was operated by Arriva North East. The service ceased operation on 25 January 2009.
Arriva presently operates services 12 and 20, the 12 runs from Hurworth/Neasham and Darlington to the airport. The 12 runs every hour at 00:47 from the airport terminal, providing links to Darlington only; The extension of service 12 between Durham Tees Valley Airport and Teesside was withdrawn as a result of cancellation of Stockton Council financial support .[13]
The airport is situated off the A67 and is within easy reach of the A1(M), A19, A66 corridors, it is well signposted from all major routes (sometimes as Teesside Airport). A significant upgrade to complete a fast link direct to the airport from the A66 was completed in 2008.[14]
Whilst the airport has its own railway station, rail links are poor as this remote station, some distance from the terminal building, is served only by two trains per week. The station is a 15-minute walk from the airport terminal.[15] On Saturday 24 October 2009, a group of 26 people travelled to and from the airport station on the only scheduled service, to highlight the station's existence and its poor rail service, and to persuade rail authorities to move it 500 metres closer to the airport terminal.[15][16][17]
A new station could be built closer to the terminal, as part of the Tees Valley Metro project.[18]
Taxis are available directly outside the airport terminal.
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| BH Air | Seasonal: Bourgas [begins 21 May] |
| Eastern Airways | Aberdeen, Norwich, Southampton |
| Flybe | Jersey [begins 26 May] |
| KLM operated by KLM Cityhopper | Amsterdam |
| Thomson Airways | Seasonal: Alicante [ends 24 April], Palma de Mallorca [begins 5 May], Tenerife South [ends 28 April] |
A number of flight training schools and flying clubs are based at the airport.
Durham Tees Valley is a base for Cobham plc, who have a fleet of six Dassault Falcon 20s based at the airport. Cobham's Durham Tees Valley aircraft fly electronic countermeasure flights for the Royal Air Force and other NATO air forces. These aircraft can be found on exercise, usually around the UK or Europe.
Cobham Flight Inspection is a Durham Tees Valley based Cobham subsidiary who operate two Beech B200 Super King Airs & a single Beech B350 Super King Air. They also have a single Diamond DA42 Twin Star on order which is due for delivery in December.[19]
The Great North Air Ambulance has a single Aerospatiale AS365 Dauphin based at the airport. Cleveland Police has its Air Operations Unit based in the form of a Eurocopter EC135.
| Number of Passengers | Aircraft Movements | Cargo (tonnes) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 746,983 | 54,625 | 3,011 | |
| 2001 | 733,617 | 58,494 | 1,926 | |
| 2002 | 671,131 | 52,276 | 1,006 | |
| 2003 | 704,269 | 51,976 | 1,087 | |
| 2004 | 788,382 | 49,529 | 484 | |
| 2005 | 900,035 | 51,714 | 363 | |
| 2006 | 917,963 | 55,788 | 457 | |
| 2007 | 743,727 | 57,515 | 786 | |
| 2008 | 654,192 | 45,310 | 290 | |
| 2009 | 289,464 | 25,208 | 298 | |
| 2010 | 224,673 | 20,756 | N/A | |
| Source: CAA Official Statistics[20] | ||||
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Durham_Tees_Valley_Airport Durham Tees Valley Airport] at Wikimedia Commons
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