A refreshed business plan for Teesside International Airport has confirmed an extended commitment from Ryanair, but revealed a financial forecast of further losses.
Since being brought back into public ownership in 2019, the airport reported its “first profits in a decade” in the 2023/24 financial year. Under the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) measure, the airport had more than £300,000 earnings.
However, when Teesside International Airport Limited published its accounts for the same year in December 2024, the report showed losses of £6.6m. Now, projections in the refreshed business plan for the 2024/25 EBITDA predict losses of £4.2m – with estimates suggesting the airport won’t return a positive EBITDA until 2027/28.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service previously, Tees Valley Conservative Mayor Ben Houchen said: “[The EBITDA result] was a nice thing to happen, but I’m not overly shouting about it when I usually overly shout about most things that we do because I think you’ve got to take that, over a longer period of time.
“Any year in isolation is either good or bad. Sometimes when it’s good, that’s great. But actually what you’ve got to look at is over a five or 10-year horizon. So there’s still a lot of work to do on that.”
The predictions are outlined in the refreshed business plan for the airport, which was drafted in 2024, as it marked the half way point of the 10 year plan for the airport. Published publicly in recent days, the plan has confirmed that budget airline Ryanair has extended its commitment to operating flights from Teesside International Airport to 2030 – a three year addition.
The move by Ryanair is set to “see the carrier grow the range of routes and increase capacity over the term of the agreement”. The airline has been operating leisure flights over the last four years, with one of their routes operating throughout the year, according to documents being presented to TVCA Cabinet on Friday 28 March.
Teesside International Airport Limited (TIAL) is currently searching for a second low cost airline, to increase destination choice and capacity going forward. Documents detail how Malaga and Tenerife are “two highly sought after destinations” and that discussions are ongoing to secure these routes.
In November 2024, it was confirmed that Ryanair would begin operating flights to Malaga from this March.
On the refreshed business plan, Lord Houchen said: “Our work is far from complete. We are halfway through the 10-year turnaround plan and the world is in a very different place. So, it’s vital our plan is reviewed to reflect the new challenges and opportunities we face for us to continue to move forward on a sound financial basis.”
Other headline figures include the ambition set out in the business plan to reach 485,000 passengers annually by 2029. 2023 saw 227,000 passengers travelling through the airport, up from 151,000 in 2019.
The report predicts 2024 is set to beat 2023 when it comes to the number of passengers. The long term goal of reaching one million annual passengers remains, but is now expected to be achieved in the mid-2030s.
“By improving the range of services offered at TIAL, the airport can attract passengers from competing airports like Newcastle, Leeds Bradford and in the longer term, Manchester,” the business plan states.
The airport aspires to be operationally net zero by 2030 and introduce net zero flights by 2035. “As part of this commitment, we are implementing several key sustainability initiatives,” the business plan outlines.
The plan adds: “We currently see a relatively small number of military movements at TIAL but this is just a fraction of what could be achieved with the right approach. The airport recently requested to be added to the NATO procurement portal and this has already seen a small increase in military movements.”
The report also outlines that the airport’s business park currently sees all existing buildings operating at capacity so “to reach its full potential, investment into constructing new buildings is required”. It adds: “A marketing strategy has been adopted to attract target occupiers to Teesside International Airport Business Park (TIABP).
“The strategy aims to reach and engage with businesses looking to invest in a unique location in the Tees Valley and establish TIABP as a nationally and internationally recognised location to invest and grow.”
