Daniel Bailey and John Barter
According to the latest CAA data, in Q2 2018, there were 611,856 commercial flights in the UK which together transported nearly 79 million passengers, representing a 0.3% uptick on the same quarter in the previous year.
Yet against that backdrop, there has been a steady stream of closures among Britain’s smaller, regional airports. Bristol Filton, Coventry, Plymouth, Penzance and Manston aren’t just a sorry roll-call of casualties – they’re also examples of the acute strain that is being placed on smaller airports and the constant cost, not just of expansion, but survival.
