Small airports are joining forces to make a case for their future by forming the Regional and Business Airport Group.
Members include Exeter (pictured), Norwich, Southend, Newquay, Durham and Blackpool, which is threatened with closure within days unless a buyer can be found.
John Spooner, head of Regional and City Airports Management – which operates Blackpool – said the government had to offer more support.
“The government should recognise that small airports serve a vital role in their policy of rebalancing the economy and if they’re going to serve the less well-connected regions they are going to need some breaks,” he told the Financial Times.
The cost of regulation and Air Passenger Duty weighed heavily on the smaller airports, he added.
Spooner said Blackpool might survive if it could attract flights that could not get popular slots at Manchester.
“Aviation has had one of the toughest periods it has encountered and Blackpool has had a history of passenger numbers growing and falling,” he said. “It’s too early to say it’s the end of Blackpool airport.”
Regional airports have suffered as airlines have focused on a few bigger hubs such as Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh.
Manston in Kent shut this year while Plymouth City closed in 2011.
Owners who often bought when demand from passengers was forecast to grow exponentially have ended up with heavy losses.
In 2007, a number of UK airports with fewer than 1 million passengers annually saw declines of 40% or more in the next five years, compared with an overall UK drop of 8.1%.
“You need half a million to a million passengers a year to service an airport,” said David Bentley, an analyst at the Centre for Aviation in Manchester.
“Since 9/11 [the September 11 terrorist attacks], regional airports have been left competing for low-cost carriers, who can drive down their fees. Over 40% of airports in Europe do not make a profit,” he told the newspaper.
Newquay airport in Cornwall looked in danger last year when Flybe announced it was stopping its daily Gatwick service. The government stepped in to subsidise the route and has helped to fund a £6 million industrial park development.
Southend has turned around its long-term decline and expanded under ownership of haulage company Stobart group.
Entrepreneur Sir Peter Rigby has been a supporter of regional airports, buying Coventry, Exeter and Norwich.
But others remain in difficulty. Peel Group, the property business which owns three airports including Liverpool John Lennon, this year bought back a majority stake from the operator of Vancouver airport for £1.
Liverpool had been one of the fastest growing airports in the 2000s but has been hit by Manchester’s success in luring back budget carrier Ryanair. Passenger numbers have fallen from 5.2 million in 2007 to 4.3 million in 2013.
Peel is not actively marketing the airport but would be open to offers, the FT reported one person close to the group as saying.