MP calls for Government support for Durham Tees Valley Heathrow flights
29.02.12
An MP called on the Government to restore flights between struggling Durham Tees Valley Airport and Heathrow during a House of Commons debate yesterday, the Northern Echo reports. Stockton South MP James Wharton asked for Government help to restore the vital route.
Mr Wharton revealed during the debate on transport in the UK that, despite the issue having been discussed for a number of years, former Regional Development Agency One North East failed to apply for a Public Service Obligation (PSO) to protect the airport's Heathrow flights. He asked Ministers to consider designating the Heathrow link a PSO, which could see daily flights between the region and London restored.
In Scotland, PSOs were imposed in the mid 1990s to enable subsidies to continue to be paid to operate air routes linking the Highlands and Islands with Glasgow - routes that are not commercially viable but seen as economically and socially necessary. Mr Wharton also noted that the Irish Government had used European legislation to support a number of regional airports and asked Secretary of State for Transport, Justine Greening, to look carefully at whether the same could be done for Durham Tees Valley.
However, a previous report carried out for One North East by RDC Aviation found that a PSO could cost the region £20m to set up (to buy the Heathrow slots, we assume), plus between £1m and £2m a year in subsidies for the airline operating the route.
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