District Council supports airport
A PACKAGE of funding worth nearly £1 million designed to ensure Exeter Airport can avoid the “worst-case scenario” of closure has been unanimously backed, writes Daniel Clark.
The combination of the collapse of Flybe and the coronavirus pandemic has led to the airport facing a threat to its future.
East Devon District Council’s cabinet met on Wednesday and approved a package of measures to support the airport which included a further deferral of £180,000 of business rate relief, forward-funding the airport’s share of the Long Lane enhancement scheme to the tune of nearly £750,000, and endorsing the concept of a sustainable aviation cluster centred on Exeter Airport.
Project director Andrew Wood said that Exeter Airport had probably been the business most impacted of any in the district by coronavirus, particularly given the collapse of Flybe that happened right before the lockdown.
He said: “The package of support is in place for the airport to help counteract the impact of the lockdown, promote recovery and chart a course to a more sustainable future. It is not possible to say categorically that the package of support outlined in this report will stave off the threat facing the airport. It is not a cure, but it will help to cushion the impact of the pandemic and we hope it is more than a gesture.
“The most obvious alternative option would be not to provide any form of public sector-backed support. The airport does, though, face an existential threat currently. In the worst-case scenario, the airport would close. This would lead to further large-scale job closures, reduce business-rate revenues and also diminish the connectivity of the region.”
When Flybe, which accounted for 75 per cent of the passengers numbers at the airport, went into administration on March 5, it led to the loss of 931 jobs locally. This was followed by the coronavirus crisis.
Mr Wood added: “The package of support is in place for the airport to help counteract the impact of the lockdown, promote recovery and chart a course to a more sustainable future.
“Passenger numbers at the airport in May, 2019, were 97,000 and in May, 2020, the equivalent figure was just nine. From the beginning of the financial year to the end of July, passenger numbers dropped by 99.5% compared to the same period last year.
“As we emerge from lockdown, commercial flights have now recommenced from the airport, but this is nowhere near the scale that might otherwise have been expected, with passenger numbers down by 94 per cent during August.”