Another local airport set to close

Yet another UK regional airport is set to close.

Blackpool International is set to follow the recent closure of Manston in Kent.

Perhaps it's a sign of the times that travellers are happy to 'follow the crowd' and use the big players such as Heathrow and Gatwick rather than try and support their local terminals. Some may argue that the local airports do not offer a reasonable choice of destinations. This is almost certainly true, but likely only as a result of local apathy in making use of the airport in the first place.

When the business model for the local airport is first created, it is very likely to have been based on local research of intended use - it is probable that in reality the local traffic numbers did not live up to expectations.  This in turn may well have resulted in the airport becoming less attractive to airlines to operate from and resulting in a spiral of downward activity.

In common with most businesses, airports have a fair proportion of their costs that are fixed and payable regardless of how busy they are. If traffic numbers do not at least reach that required to break even then the airport makes a loss.  Reports say that Blackpool Airport had been making losses for several years.  The airport is due to close to the public on 15 October with the potential loss of the 100 jobs directly employed plus the knock on effect to the local economy.