Airport sale set to complete as losses soar by £millions

Gloucestershire Airport is on course to be sold by the end of January, but with losses soaring and debts rising will the two local authorities who own it have anything to show for it afterwards?

Dear readers,

Welcome to Thursday’s edition of The Raikes Journal CIC. Today we revisit the saga that is the sale Gloucestershire Airport - just days from the change of ownership.

Why does it matter?

It matters not just because people are passionate about aviation, and they have strong opinions on whether the land - one of the last bits of green space between Gloucester and Cheltenham - should be developed or not.

And then there are the numerous successful companies on the site’s two business parks that depend on its airport status. We know investment has already been frozen by some businesses and exit strategies investigated.

The airport is also a public asset. Despite that, we still don’t really know exactly how much the sale is for. Only time will tell how watertight the assurances are from the two local authorities that currently own it that it will remain a working airport.

Accompanying the saga has been speculation that if it were sold for development instead the land at Staverton cou…