Quest to reopen airport goes on despite barriers
THE organisation set up to press for the reopening of Plymouth’s airport has not given up hope of restarting flights and even tried to buy the land, it has emerged.
FlyPlymouth, which has been campaigning for a return to operations at the mothballed facility for more than 10 years, said the airport was “still worth fighting for” and added it had offered above the market value for the 113-acre site.
Writing on the website Business Travel News (BTN), FlyPlymouth chief executive Raoul Witherall said there was still a good economic case for bringing back flights to and from the city. He stressed: “Commercial aviation opportunities at Plymouth have never been as strong as they are now.” He added that FlyPlymouth has a “robust plan supported by current evidence and financial backers”.
Mr Witherall continued: “There are so many good opportunities right now around electric aviation, UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] operations, skills and training in emergent industries for a city that has been granted freeport status.
“We have held many meetings with the various parties; made funded offers to acquire the airport at multiples of the market value in an attempt to get the thing done. Yet nothing happens. Council officers press on with their ‘airport options’, paying little heed to external influences.”
Plymouth City Airport closed on December 23, 2011, when long-lease holder Sutton Harbour Group Plc (SHG) triggered a so-called ‘Armageddon clause’ enabling it to stop flights if the aerodrome was deemed uneconomic. Plans were later drawn up to build on the site, but no development can take place until 2024 after planning inspectors safeguarded it solely for aviation operations for five years, in March 2019, via the Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan.
FlyPlymouth, which was originally set up as Viable but changed its name in 2015, has campaigned vigorously for a return to aviation at the site and even wanted to acquire and reopen it. The company developed plans to operate the site as a business and general aviation facility but has been silent since the planning inspectors’ ruling three years ago – until now.
Mr Witherall, one of three current directors of the Union Street-based company, stressed that “the research is clear” and wrote on BTN that FlyPlymouth would “press on”, saying the organisation was “convinced of the case for aviation at Plymouth. Convinced of the importance of an airport to Plymouth’s future prosperity and wellbeing”.
Mr Witherall said: “It has cost a substantial amount of time and money backed by a few private individuals to stay with this issue. But we see ourselves as contending for a better future for Plymouth, so we consider it worthwhile.”
He described Plymouth as a “growing city” with 400,000 people within its area, and said that “despite its modest size, Plymouth Airport was busy and growing” prior to being closed, but he said airport land often falls into the hands of developers.
Mr Witherall added: “Pristine airport land is deemed brownfield and can be a soft target for ‘regeneration’. It is often politically less painful to ‘regenerate’ brownfield sites than develop greenfield alternatives. We may not be surprised that sometimes local authorities find themselves conflicted. Of course, most councils want good transport links.
‘Commercial aviation opportunities at Plymouth have never been as strong as they are now’ RAOUL WITHERALL
But big-ticket, low-hanging income associated with development schemes is more bankable than the pursuit of transport connections.”
He added: “In Plymouth, 40,000 people petitioned to retain the airport, provoking a unanimous vote of councillors in support. As a result, Plymouth’s airport is protected in the Local Plan. The business community is supportive; most MPs have been supportive for most of the time – even joining the AllParty Parliamentary Group on General Aviation.
“Local political parties have been verbally supportive; a recent council administration adopted reopening as policy with one cabinet member describing plans for the airport as ‘a breath of fresh air’ – the best thing for Plymouth they had heard in 10 years.”
In 2021, the disused airport site was valued at almost £13 million, but SHG thought the land was worth at least double that. SHG’s accounts revealed the firm holds an unexpired lease of 136 years on the site, with a right to renew for another 150 years.