PASSENGER numbers at Durham Tees Valley Airport have slumped to their lowest for 35 years.

Officials at the airport said it has “borne the brunt” of a difficult period for the aviation industry.

The Civil Aviation Authority has yet to confirm finalised passenger statistics for 2010, but figures updated last week reveal 225,000 passengers flew from Durham Tees Valley in the 12 months from December 2009 to November 2010.

If the trend continued last month, it would represent the lowest annual amount since 1975, when 212,000 passengers flew from the then Teesside Airport.

It is a far cry from 2006, when numbers peaked at 917,963.

Several airlines have pulled out of Durham Tees Valley since 2006 – two years after it changed its name to attract more continental customers.

The rot set in when bmibaby unexpectedly pulled out, sparking a multi-million-pound damages claim by the airport’s parent company Peel Airports.

Since then, Flyglobespan and Wizz Air have gone, while Thomson has axed some services. There was further bad news last month when Ryanair announced its final route – to Alicante – would not resume this year.

At Newcastle Airport, figures have climbed from 1.5m in 1990 to almost 4m last year, but have fallen since 2007, when there were 5.6m passengers.

Robin Tudor, a spokesman for Peel Airports, said: “It is a very difficult time for everyone in the aviation industry.”