New money for Newquay Airport?

On 12 December I reported that the South West Regional Development Agency had given £8 million to Newquay Airport which is shortly to lose some support structures when the MOD closes RAF St Mawgan. It now seems that under the Objective 1 scheme the airport might be in line to receive another £12 million for their expansion plans.

I have to say I do have a problem with the stance to take with regard to our love affair with the aeroplane. Without a doubt we and the rest of the world need to look seriously at the number of transport movements that are made, not just at a personal level but in jetting in out of season food from abroad as an example. So far as flying is concerned improving facilities at a peripheral airport such as Cornwall's Newquay is OK by me but building an additional runway at somewhere such as Stanstead is a definite no-no and Ryanair's Mike O'Leary can bleat as much as he likes about that! What we need to do is put a lid on the amount of air travel in the UK particularly regarding London's airports. The government seems happy to let passenger numbers explode - so much for their green credentials!

It is the case that air travel and its ancillary services plays a very big part in the UK economy particularly regarding employment but we have to strike a balance which means halting or even reducing the total number of airplane movements right NOW.