Gloucestershire Airport improvements welcomed

A Liberal Democrat councillor has welcomed improvement work to the runways at Gloucestershire Airport.

Councillors at Gloucester City Council and Cheltenham Borough Council, which are joint shareholders of the airport, agreed the redevelopment.

The two councils will provide funding for the resurfacing work and in return the airport will transfer the Meteor business park to the councils, which will provide an annual rental income of £650,000.

The airport is an important contributor to the local economy, which is worth £52 million annually.

Councillor Jeremy Hilton, a former director of Gloucestershire Airport, said: "Gloucestershire Airport is a great asset to the county and the deal to resurface and strengthen the main runway and the larger cross runway is a sensible investment.

"It will allow for heavier aircraft to land and take off. A few years ago, the airport lengthened the main runway, but it has been known that it also needed to be fully resurfaced at some point. Now is the time to invest.

"The closure of the smallest cross runways will allow for Gloucestershire Airport to build a new aviation-based business park.

"The transfer of Meteor Business Park to the two councils will provide the city council with an additional income of £325,000 per year to support our services.

"This is prudent investment, which the city Liberal Democrat group unanimously supported. We are strong advocates of maintaining a general aviation airport at Staverton."