Operating losses have narrowed at Teesside International Airport but the company's liabilities have increased to nearly £100m, newly published accounts show.
During a year in which airport bosses struck a deal with Tui to reintroduce flights to Dalaman in Turkey but later scrapped its daily flights to Aberdeen, operating losses narrowed £5.78m to £4.79m and turnover fell about £660,000 to £14.9m. Pre-tax losses in the 12 months to the end of March 2024 widened from £4.45m to £6.62m.
Airport bosses, who have not this year included passenger numbers in the accounts, said work continued to develop other revenue sources that reduced reliance on passenger carrying activities of scheduled and charter flying, in the face of expected slower growth. That activity has included the signing of a five-year deal for airfreight handling with FedEx and development of commercial property including the first 25,000 sqft unit at the airport's £200m Business Park South site and a near 27,000 sqft hangar at the Business Park North site, which will host aircraft painting business Airbourne Colours. Staffing levels meanwhile increased from 124 to 153 people
The airport is also set to host a new hydrogen refuelling station after plans were submitted earlier this year and following the success of the Tees Valley Hydrogen Transport Hub trial in recent years. Hydrogen specialist Element 2 previously created a temporary refuelling facility and now hopes to set up the permanent station to provide fuel for vehicles at the airport and those being trialled by local authorities and commercial fleets.
The airport is part way through a 10-year turnaround plan, first brought into play when it came into public ownership in 2019. The Tees Valley Combined Authority provides a £64.4m loan facility to keep the hub operational and a further £23.6m facility to fund the development of Business Park South. By the end of the accounting year under review, nearly £90m had been drawn down from the funds. Accounts documents also show net liabilities of more than £95m at the airport.
Earlier this year, when the airport published a press release hailing Ebitda profit of £308,555, managing director Phil Forster said: "This is a fantastic achievement and a reflection of the huge amount of hard work by all our staff to bring in new passengers, make the Teesside experience the very best it can be and develop our airport as a great location for businesses."
