Proposals for air show at Durham Tees Valley Airport could be dropped after organisers missed out on investment

6:00am Thursday 7th February 2013 in News Photograph of the Author By Steven Hugill

The Red Arrows put on a show at the Sunderland International Airshow last year The Red Arrows put on a show at the Sunderland International Airshow last year

PLANS to bring back a popular air show could being dropped after organisers ran out of cash.

Bosses at Durham Tees Valley Airport hoped to bring back the show for the first time since 1989, with displays from the Red Arrows and Tornado and Falcons Parachute demonstration teams.

But tonight (Wednesday, February 6), Colin Granton, chairman of the Friends of Durham Tees Valley Airport, said the group had to find £30,000 by Friday, February 8 after missing out on key investment and sponsorship.

The show is due to take place on Saturday, June 22.

He said: “This was something we really wanted to do, but it is now in real jeopardy because we are short on investment.

“We have raised £35,000, but it has been extremely difficult to attract companies and councils to support the show.

“We have a meeting on Friday, February 8 to discuss the situation, and that will be a last-ditch attempt to keep the air show going.

“If we can't find the money we won't be able to run it, which would be a real shame.

“We have put in so much work and so many hours, but times are hard and businesses say they just don't have the cash to invest.”

Mr Granton, a private pilot, revealed the proposals in November last year, and said he believed a show at the airport, near Darlington, would provide a strong boost to the North-East economy and could even rival Sunderland International Air Show.

He said: “This would be massive for the area and everyone who we have spoken to wants to see the air show back.

“It could certainly rival Sunderland, not on scale, but on the impact visitors would get from seeing planes, helicopters, and aerobatic teams flying past at great speed and in closer proximity.

“The hotels, restaurants and bars would also benefit because people come from far and wide to watch these shows.

“But if it doesn't happen this year, we are committed to trying to get an air show back at the airport in 2014.”

Comments(3)

Spy Boy says...
11:17am Fri 8 Feb 13

We won't rival Sunderland air show unless we do it right. Doing it right means a return to the type of show that we had 25 years ago. This won't happen, so what's the point. We don't want some half baked event that will fail to bring people in. Anyway, how can they do this when they have closed off the viewing platforms and sideroads due to terrorist issues. We used to go there quite a lot and take photos of airliners sitting on the apron. Suddenly this all stopped in case we had some surface to air missiles hidden in our trousers. Now they want to fill the whole place with people in cars parked all along the perimeter. Makes no sense, but then, it's executives making executive decisions again.

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johnny_p says...
4:02pm Fri 8 Feb 13

The problems at Teesside Airport are all caused internally. The rude/difficult/over zealous security staff, lack of flights, passenger flight surcharge, expensive parking, scruffy and outdated terminal building and the ridiculous name change (interesting to note that even nearby road signs still say "Teesside" Airport).

The managers of this place should focus their attention on what needs correcting instead wasting time on trying to promote an airshow. The facility is hardly a showcase airport anyway- why on earth would you want thousands of spectators to see the state the place is in?

It's the Fawlty Towers of the Airline Business.....

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outragedofmiltonkeynes says...
2:17pm Sat 9 Feb 13

The best thing to do with the place is turn it into a museum. A lot of the original buildings are still standing and with a bit of initiative it could be turned into somewhere worth seeing. Eden Camp started out as a small project and is now thriving. On the other hand they could carry on flogging a dead horse and stick with flights to Amsterdam and Aberdeen.

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