Teesside Airport sees best passenger numbers in 16 years

Passengers using Teesside Airport rose in 2025 to the highest level in 16 years.

Numbers grew by 14.5% year on year to 260,762 with the addition of new flights.

Ryanair introduced a year-round service to Malaga from the airport near Darlington while flights to Alicante rose by 22% over 2024.

Twice-weekly Ryanair flights to Faro and Majorca will resume this spring, with a weekly link to Corfu starting in June and four flights a week to Alicante also available this summer.

Tui will continue to serve Palma this summer, including Marella cruise packages, while KLM is maintaining a link to its Amsterdam Schiphol hub.

A new route to Antalya by Turkish airline Mavi Gok Airlines (MGA) starts this year.

Other destinations served from Teesside include Guernsey and Jersey.

Airport managing director Phil Forster said: “These figures are encouraging and show real momentum building at Teesside, particularly in what has been a very tough and uncertain environment for the aviation industry.

“We’ve had our share of ups and downs along the way, so to see passenger numbers continue to rise - and to record our highest total in 16 years - is a real credit to the hard work, resilience and commitment of the entire airport team, our airline partners and everyone who supports the airport.

“There is still a long way to go, but this result shows local people want to back their local airport.

“Popular new and returning routes, strong year-round services and significant growth in cargo all underline the role Teesside Airport is playing for the region. 

“We’re proud of what’s been achieved so far, but we’re ambitious and determined to do more - with more routes, more opportunities, and an even stronger performance in 2026.”

Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen added: “It’s worth remembering that when we stepped in to save our airport from closure, it had been written off and left to decline, but we knew there was huge potential waiting to be unlocked.

“These figures show we’re continuing to head in the right direction, with our airport delivering the highest passengers figures seen in over a decade.”