Exeter Airport is to receive a £1million bailout from East Devon District Council to stave off a “worst case scenario” of closure.
A combination of the collapse of the Flybe airline in early 2020 and the coronavirus pandemic and its restrictions have hit the airport hard with passenger numbers down 90% year-on-year.
There are now fears for its future and East Devon District Council has leapt in to approve a package of measures to support the ailing airport.
These include a further deferral of £180,000 of business rates relief, forward-funding the airport’s share of the Long Lane road enhancement scheme to the tune of nearly £750,000, and to endorse the concept of a sustainable aviation cluster centred on Exeter Airport.
Project director Andrew Wood, in his report to the council’s cabinet put forward the recommendation and said the airport had probably been the business most impacted of any in the district by coronavirus, particularly given the collapse of Flybe.
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, is not a cure, and won’t address in totality of issues they face, 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 rates revenues and also diminish the connectivity of the region."
When Flybe, which accounted for 75% of the passengers numbers at the airport, went into administration on March 5, it led to the loss of 931 jobs.
This was followed by the coronavirus crisis with passenger numbers down by 94% during August.
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 the 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% during August.
"While some former Flybe routes have been picked up by alternative operators such as Logan Air and Blue Island, other key routes including to Paris and Amsterdam are not currently being operated.
"The flying programme continues to be further impacted by the uncertainties around quarantine restrictions."
Cllr John Loudoun, portfolio holder for policy co-ordination and regional engagement, proposing the council goes ahead with the rescue package, said: "This demonstrates the confidence we have in and around the airport."
The range of the measures that the cabinet agreed will aid short-term recovery, ensure infrastructure improvements can continue to be progressed and work towards the strategic objective of developing a sustainable aviation cluster can be completed.
As well as the proposed business rate relief request within State Aid limits to be funded through the Enterprise Zone programme, the cabinet endorses increasing the budget for the Long Lane project by £1.1million, and recommended to council the borrowing of up to £3.7million against ring-fenced business rates income to implement the scheme.
The Long Lane Enhancement Scheme will widen the road that runs past Exeter Airport and down to the Hampton by Hilton hotel, which will enable a new Airpark – one of the four planned Enterprise Zones – to come forward, as the current “unfit for purpose” road prohibits its development.
The Long Lane scheme includes the construction of a T-junction, rather than an initially proposed roundabout, at car park 1 at the airport. The carriageway between car park 1 and the Flybe Academy/Hampton by Hilton hotel will then be widened to ensure a road width of 6.5m and footway is achieved and to ensure tie-in to the proposed roundabout junction.
And while Long Lane is being widened, a new road to connect Silverdown Office Park to the FlyBe Academy access road, known as the Silverdown Link, will be built.
Once the Long Lane works are finished, the Silverdown Link will become a permanent bus and cycle only link.
