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The battle over the expansion of Coventry Airport has taken a turn in TUI’s favour, after the local council agreed to lease it land to be used for airport parking for 3000 cars.
TUI bought coventry airport just under a year ago and is using it as the midlands hub for its low cost carrier Thomsonfly. The travel company would like local councils to agree for the airport to be able to handle 2 million passengers a year, and a report from the Highway Agency last summer said that such an expansion would need airport parking for 3000 vehicles. As if by magic, TUI now has the land for exactly that amount of airport parking.
Local papers say that opponents of the expansion plans are questioning why the local council designated the land sale as ‘urgent’, which meant the land could be sold without going before a scrutiny board.
Some reports claim that TUI needed the deal signed before a public inquiry starts this week into its plans for a temporary terminal. TUI currently opperates from a temporary terminal at the airport and it is facing a separate inquiry into its plans for a permanent terminal.
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