Teesside Airport - more route cuts

I went to Ohio once, when I was going through TSA border control at Kentucky airport, he asked what I had in the bag. Told him chemical weapons. He looked at me sideways and I pulled out a tube of deodorant. Asked me if I was being funny.

'Apparently not' got me 2 hours being interviewed about why I was coming to the US.

Yanks have no sense of humour :)

I knew someone would have a story. Those guys scared me so much I forgot how long I was in Vegas for.
 
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Usually if I fly to Berlin I'd go from Manchester/Newcastle (2 flights) depending on time of day and price, especially with direct trains to Manchester Airport from Thornaby.

These days anyone relying on the railways to get you anywhere as planned are insane, can't be trusted.

Last time flew Teesside > Schiphol > Berlin ... cost more but with the early flight, quicker and way more convenient and reliable. Will definitely fly from Teesside next time
 
Usually if I fly to Berlin I'd go from Manchester/Newcastle (2 flights) depending on time of day and price, especially with direct trains to Manchester Airport from Thornaby.

These days anyone relying on the railways to get you anywhere as planned are insane, can't be trusted.

Last time flew Teesside > Schiphol > Berlin ... cost more but with the early flight, quicker and way more convenient and reliable. Will definitely fly from Teesside next time
Yes you’d think it would be flourishing really given how terrible rail services have descended to recently.
 
I find airports stressful, especially when driving and leaving a car etc. I constantly worry about missing a flight. I hate paying £60 or £70 to park the car for week, sometimes miles away. My car once broke down on the way to a airport and I caught the flight for a holiday in Rome with one minute to spare and had to pay the equivalent of £450 for a taxi for a 150 mile emergency taxi trip. A recurring disturbing dream is forgetting my passport.

So being able to have someone park outside the terminal for 30 minutes without any traffic jams and have only a few gates is bliss.

People on Teesside are quite lucky to have 3 airports within 60 miles including a quiet one several miles away.
 
Nobody has said they want the airport to fail, so let's put that nonsense to bed once and for all, criticism is not about failure but about improvement and the absolute crux of the airport argument is the amount of tax payers money being used to fund an airport that is failing by every metric.

For me the focus of transport investment in the area should be on services that are used primarily as an everyday necessity, buses, trains, trams etc the vital services that get people to work, school, health appointments, etc.

More support of a commercial venture with a partnership with the local authority who would increase and improve the communication links, regular trains with connecting shuttle bus service, more frequent bus links, would have been far better use of resources rather than taking the airport into TVLA ownership.

One of the cornerstones of the takeover was the provision of a direct connection to London, it was a fundament of Houchen's business plan and the ongoing development of the airport, the lose of this route makes any figures and projections originally quoted as meaningless so why hasn't Houchen revised the numbers and admitted that we will have to continue to subsidise the airport for the forseeable until a alternative operated is found ?

A booming, self sufficient local airport would be a bonus to the area but the reality, sadly, is that what we have is far removed from that and the noises coming from the Mayor's office don't indicate any competency or plan of how to change things around, if Labour continued on the same course then they would too be criticised, the freight operation seems to be the side that could be developed but that seems to have been overlooked with the focus on the Freeport.

I have no criticism of Houchen for trying but I'm very critical of where his efforts have ultimately left us, the airport is a white elephant haemorrhaging vast sums of money, a nice to have not a necessity whilst services and people with next to nothing are being cut deeper and deeper to the bone.
 
I went to Ohio once, when I was going through TSA border control at Kentucky airport, he asked what I had in the bag. Told him chemical weapons. He looked at me sideways and I pulled out a tube of deodorant. Asked me if I was being funny.

'Apparently not' got me 2 hours being interviewed about why I was coming to the US.

Yanks have no sense of humour :)
TSA certainly don’t, but in my experience we make the mistake of thinking that we share more than just a language with these guys. We don’t. I’ve been lucky enough to travel and work across much of the globe and I’ve always thought that our closest cousins in humour, outlook and culture are the Germans.
 
does anyone know if other local mayors around the country are this involved in the day to day running of local services such as airports. the way he talks about it is as if he is the operations and contracts manager
 
TSA certainly don’t, but in my experience we make the mistake of thinking that we share more than just a language with these guys. We don’t. I’ve been lucky enough to travel and work across much of the globe and I’ve always thought that our closest cousins in humour, outlook and culture are the Germans.
I hope not. I've seen Thomas Muller make jokes !
 
It really doesn't matter that we have Newcastle and Leeds close by what matters is the product that's on offer if it's cheaper than the 2 above pax will choose us over them. There's lads I work with that have worked there 20/30 years and have seen the place go through its highs and lows and know it can be a success. Logan air are finished we need to find another to replace them which could be a return of flybe. Willis the American company with very deep pockets based at the airport are taking over the private jets and cargo. They eventually want to controll the full ramp and I think Swisport will be kicked out. I wouldn't be surprised if eventually the company own most of the airport
 
There‘s no demand. No one wants to fly into Teesside and there’s not enough local demand for flights out.
When it eventually folds Ben T. will say the people of Teesside turned their backs on their own airport and put the blame firmly on them. Then he will go back to his full body massage in his Bahamas villa.
 
How has the airport failed? Passengers are using it. More holiday flights next year, Willis investing millions of pounds to build a brand new taxiway for 2 new hangers and a state of the art Jet Centre, Draken have bought 8 new fighter jets built a new hanger and committed the next 10 years to the airport, oil spill response have chosen to base 2 727's at Teesside and a brand new cargo facility built. I'm struggling to see how the airport is failing when so many private companies are prepared to commit to the airport
 
Teesside airport should be amazing . The Physical Airport has been renovated, it looks great, it’s really easy to get to, parking is a doddle. the check-in is the easiest check-in of any of the airports that you will find in the UK and passport and baggage check is amazing following the new machines.

The problem for me something is the lack of flights. As someone who travels at least 60+ flights per year, which many of which used to be from Teeside to Amsterdam I absolutely loved it. Anyone who has to get up at 3am for the Newcastle red eye flights will agree.

The klm flights were totally disrupted during covid and still not back to their old number of routes which is a real problem .

It’s the lack of a decent London flight to Heathrow and more holiday flights . It could be brilliant . Jeez anyone who prefers driving to Newcastle Leeds or Manchester need to give their heads a shake
 
In September 2021 Houchen predicted that 400k passengers would use the airport in 2022 the figures are less than 170k have used the airport this year.

400k would have seen the airport lose £5m in 2022, 170k passengers means losses of over £25m and a cost to the taxpayer of £15 per passenger, I'm not quite able to fathom how given these facts and the current cost of living crisis how anybody can say it's reasonable or fair that the low paid are expected to subsidise an airport that they cannot afford to use.

Pass those costs on to the passengers themselves by all means but someone struggling to make ends meet should not have their tax used to subsidise holidays or business travel for others, it's utterly immoral.

 
Teesside airport should be amazing . The Physical Airport has been renovated, it looks great, it’s really easy to get to, parking is a doddle. the check-in is the easiest check-in of any of the airports that you will find in the UK and passport and baggage check is amazing following the new machines.

The problem for me something is the lack of flights. As someone who travels at least 60+ flights per year, which many of which used to be from Teeside to Amsterdam I absolutely loved it. Anyone who has to get up at 3am for the Newcastle red eye flights will agree.

The klm flights were totally disrupted during covid and still not back to their old number of routes which is a real problem .

It’s the lack of a decent London flight to Heathrow and more holiday flights . It could be brilliant . Jeez anyone who prefers driving to Newcastle Leeds or Manchester need to give their heads a shake
I'm going to Paris for 2 nights in march to see a band. I just gave my head a shake and checked the flight options again

A9D7E193-D71C-427B-BC05-93FBE251763A.jpeg
Flying from Teesside could be a real bonus here as we won't have to drive to Manchester airport and it's only 3.5 hours travel time each way with one stop. Not bad for four of us at £1,032 total

3034A2FF-C371-4A13-92BB-733F342F5E21.jpeg

If we went to Manchester we'd have to endure a direct flight taking less than half the time and we'd be forced to pay a total of £232, meaning we'd have to stomach a saving of £800. Even after fuel and parking, still looking at £700+

Must be mental wanting to do that when we could be going from Teesside.
 
I'm going to Paris for 2 nights in march to see a band. I just gave my head a shake and checked the flight options again

View attachment 49694
Flying from Teesside could be a real bonus here as we won't have to drive to Manchester airport and it's only 3.5 hours travel time each way with one stop. Not bad for four of us at £1,032 total

View attachment 49695

If we went to Manchester we'd have to endure a direct flight taking less than half the time and we'd be forced to pay a total of £232, meaning we'd have to stomach a saving of £800. Even after fuel and parking, still looking at £700+

Must be mental wanting to do that when we could be going from Teesside.
Why not wait until they play in the UK?
 
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