Durham Tees Valley Airport welcomes Heathrow expansion announcement

In a statement to Parliament, announcing the start of consultations over the plans to construct a third runway at Heathrow, Mr Grayling said the Government expects Heathrow to add six more domestic routes across the UK by 2030, bringing the total to 14, strengthening existing links to nations and regions and also developing new connections.

In October Heathrow proposed that Durham Tees Valley would be one of the new domestic routes to be added once the expansion is complete.

Chief executive Steve Gill said: “Today’s announcement from the Secretary of State that the Government sees the increase in domestic routes as one of the key objectives of expansion at Heathrow is good news.

“Connectivity into the UK’s global hub is key to supporting economic growth of the regions and secured slots for regional services will ensure the economic benefit, including inbound tourism, are felt across the UK.

“We look forward to working with Heathrow and airline partners to explore the opportunities offered by the expansion programme. Obviously, a project of this kind will take a considerable time but I am sure that areas such as the Tees Valley will hope that progress on increasing regional connectivity can move forward as quickly as possible.”