Councils could try again to sell Gloucestershire Airport
The planned sale of the 375-acre Staverton airport fell through earlier this year after months of negotiations
Putting Gloucestershire Airport back up for sale again is among the options being considered by council chiefs in Cheltenham and Gloucester.
The planned sale of the 375-acre Staverton airport, which is jointly owned by Gloucester City Council and Cheltenham Borough Council, fell through earlier this year after months of negotiations.
The site was being sold for more than its asking price of £25m. But it fell through after the preferred bidder, Horizon Aero Group, could not secure the necessary funding after a financial partner withdrew from the deal.
The airport is currently costing taxpayers around £2.7m a year and work is underway to reduce its operating costs.
Cheltenham Borough Council’s leader Rowena Hay sees the airport as one of the biggest challenges her authority faces and putting the site back on the market is her preferred option.
“I’m still very firmly of the view that we need to sell,” she told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
She said there is active work ongoing and that they “are going to continue with selling it”.
Gloucester City Council’s leader Jeremy Hilton did not rule out a potential future sale but said no decision has yet been made between the two shareholders.
“We are discussing options at the moment,” he said. “We will get round to that but we haven’t actually firmed any decision yet between the two shareholders.
“That’s my position at the moment until we make a decision, that’s it. I’m assessing the various details.
“I’m not ruling anything out at the moment. I have my personal preferences, but I’m not going to declare those at the moment.
“But, we’ve been making progress. We’ve appointed a new interim managing director, which I think is a positive move as well.
“We’re looking at various business options to reduce the operating deficit.”
The airport was built in 1936 and originally named Staverton Airport, replacing its predecessor at Down Hatherley Airfield.
The two councils created Gloucestershire Airport Limited in 1993 to run the site which today is the UK’s busiest general aviation airport.
It ranked top in the Civil Aviation Authority’s airports for aircraft movements in 2023.
Gloucestershire Airport has its own fire station and two business parks which span a combined 700,000 square feet.
Numerous high-profile aviation-related firms, such as Safran Group, Babcock and Weston Aviation, are based at or near the airport.