A meeting to update councillors on Gloucestershire Airport is likely to be held behind closed doors, it is understood.
The Staverton airport, currently owned by the taxpayers of Gloucester and Cheltenham, is in the midst of a sale process.
Leaders from Cheltenham Borough Council and Gloucester City Council decided to offload the 350-acre site for more than £25m in June this year.
Gloucestershire Airport Limited, established in 1993, manages the site, with both councils holding a 50 per cent shareholding.
However, a few years ago the two authorities disclosed their plan to sell the site, which has faced commercial difficulties.
The airport was put up for sale in October 2024, with Savills marketing it at a guide price of £25m.
Council leaders and the airport company's executives have emphasised that the site is being sold as an ongoing business, and its aviation future will be safeguarded.
Yet, since Horizon Aero Group was named as the preferred bidder for the site, there has been widespread speculation about its future.
Concerns have arisen in Churchdown that the site might be redeveloped into housing in the future, a claim repeatedly denied by council chiefs.
The joint Gloucestershire Airport overview and scrutiny review panel, scheduled for October 8 at North Warehouse, will provide councillors from Cheltenham and Gloucester with an operational and financial update on Gloucestershire Airport.
However, the agenda indicates councillors will be requested to consider excluding the press and public from this item due to what they regard as exempt information concerning financial or business matters.
Councillor Stan Smith (People Against Bureaucracy, Prestbury) is amongst those who maintain the public has a right to be informed.
"Why shouldn't the press be there?". With all due respects, the residents of Gloucester and Cheltenham need to know what's going on."
Councillor Andrew Gravells (C, Abbeydale), who chairs the overview and scrutiny committee at the City Council, indicated he would verify with legal advisers whether portions of the update could be discussed publicly.
"The reason for the confidential exemption is that final negotiations with the prospective new owners of the airport are still ongoing and the scrutiny meeting is expected to touch on the financial and business affairs of the airport, this is classed as exempt information as defined by the 1972 Local Government Act and its subsequent modifications including the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006.
"Any business activities mentioned in an open session have the potential to impact on the disposal price and as such, are deemed to be exempt.
"I will double check all this again though with the legal team before the meeting to see if any parts of this item can be discussed in an open session."
