Coventry Airport rescue revives Birmingham rivalry

THE NEW owner of Coventry Airport says he hopes to reinstate scheduled passenger flights at the troubled facility, which faced a winding-up order just a few months ago.

Sir Peter Rigby, whose Patriot Aerospace group bought the airport this week for an undisclosed fee said he wants to create a successful business and freight hub at Coventry, but has not ruled out the return of passenger flights.

Aviation industry observers say Sir Peter’s ambitions for Coventry could have a knock-on effect on nearby Birmingham International Airport and its aspirations for a runway extension to attract lucrative  long-haul services.

Sir Peter said: “Coventry Airport is located in the centre of the country and we’ll maintain a full air traffic service and capability to continue handling a wide range of general traffic, including business jets, cargo, light aircraft and helicopters. I would like to think that in the future I can also bring in some scheduled flights.

“The airport sector and aviation in general have had a difficult few years, however, I expect it will pick up in line with an overall economic recovery and the region will be better positioned to benefit from this with a well managed local airport.”

His pledge has the potential to reignite the rivalry between Coventry and Birmingham airports, because they share precious air space when their runway flight paths intersect just 3,000ft above Kenilworth in Warwickshire. If the volume of flights at Coventry increases significantly, Birmingham could be forced to create ‘dead time’ in its schedules to avoid congestion. Birmingham’s own plans for a runway extension are already based on a finely balanced economic business case, and any limitation on revenues has the potential to threaten the scheme.

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Coventry  airport’s previous scheduled holiday flights stopped in November 2008, just a month after the High Court ruled against an appeal for planning permission to build a new terminal capable of handling two million passengers a year. Sir Peter’s long-term plans for more passenger flights may require that plan to be revisited, and there remains a question mark over the runway, which is too short to allow most budget airlines’ planes to operate at full capacity. Carriers such as Ryanair favour the high-capacity 737-800, but its range would be limited by the length of the Coventry runway.

Sir Peter said: “I’m truly excited to be launching a new era in the long history of Coventry Airport. Not only is this acquisition the next logical step in the development of Patriot Aerospace as a leading general aviation player, but it is also essential in supporting the local economy and future of the region.

Cllr Ken Taylor, Leader of Coventry City Council, said: “This is excellent news for Coventry and the sub region. We are an ambitious city with so many plans for growth and regeneration and having a successful airport is an integral part of those plans.

“The development of the airport will provide a massive economic boost across the city and the region. I’m delighted we have been able to work with Sir Peter Rigby’s Patriot Aerospace to secure the long term future of the airport.

Mark Avery, editor of Coventry-based flight information website said Coventry Airport was likely to attract small regional airlines offering flights to destinations like Jersey, Newquay, Cork and Shannon. He said: “Coventry has the huge advantage of being able to charge far lower landing charges than nearby Birmingham International, but the strength of no-frills airlines like bmibaby, Flybe and Ryanair there means that Coventry will have to be very shrewd to position itself as a viable niche alternative.”

The airport purchase is the third acquisition by Patriot in the past year. In July 2009, the group acquired Heliflight (UK) Limited, a helicopter charter and flight training company, based at Gloucester and Wolverhampton. In December 2009 it acquired helicopter charter and engineering specialist, London Helicopter Centres, based at Redhill, and  Northern Ireland. Patriot also holds the Cessna and Schweizer distributorships for the UK.