Government will not step in to save Plymouth Airport

Council leader Tudor Evans, Chief Executive Tracey Lee and Director for Place Anthony Payne met the Transport Minister Simon Burns in Westminster last week to press the Government for support in helping enable the airport to be reopened.

They called for Government help to secure the site, which currently has a long lease to Sutton Harbour Holdings, and highlighted the need for the Government to support regional air and rail connections.

The meeting with the minister followed Councillor Evans’ letter to the Prime Minister asking for support in light of a 37,000 name petition calling for state ownership of the airport, which was supported by the full Council in September. Councillor Evans said: “We went to see the minister on behalf of the people of Plymouth and made the strength of feeling about the airport in the city very clear.

“We pressed the minister on the need for Government support in light of the importance of regional air connectivity and the extremely challenging conditions in the aviation industry, which have been highlighted by Flybe’s announcement that is will be reducing its workforce by 300.

“I explained that our aim is to protect the airport for the longer term and stressed the importance of regional connectivity to delivering the Government’s own plans for economic growth.

“With Plymouth City Council being forced to deliver £17.8 million cuts this year and a reduction in our Government funding by £30 million over three years, we emphasised that the scale of support needed for the airport could only come from the Government.

“He was well aware of the challenges that the airport faced but we were extremely disappointed that he offered no hope of Government support for securing the site or any willingness to consider options for how it might do this. While we are aware the Government’s policy is not to nationalise assets, we asked him to consider other ways of providing financial support for acquiring the leasehold interest.

“It is really disappointing that the minister didn’t offer any support for the airport but that does not mean we will not keep pressing the Government on the issue.

“We took the opportunity to press the minister about improvements to the mainline between the South West and London. As we have seen recently, the line is far too vulnerable to flooding and needs to be treated as a higher priority for investment than some of the improvements planned elsewhere.”