Firm controlling closed airport in £1.3m deficit

COSTS OF MAINTAINING SITE AND FIGHTING COUNCIL IN LEGAL ACTION ARE BLAMED

- By WILLIAM TELFORD

COSTS OF MAINTAINING SITE AND FIGHTING COUNCIL IN LEGAL ACTION ARE BLAMED

(A derelict Plymouth Airport DANIEL CLARK)

THE company which controls Plymouth's out-of-action airport has made a loss of more than £1.3m in a year and is being hit by huge legal costs over the site and the Barbican's lock gates.

Newly released accounts for Plymouth City Airport Ltd, the subsidiary company which holds the long lease on the 113-acre site, shows a loss for the year of £1.378m - up from a loss of £927,000 in 2024.

The loss, for the year to the end of March 2025, reflects the costs of maintaining the former airport site, plus interest and costs of £172,000 relating to expert legal counsel to "refute a claim made by Plymouth City Council that the company is in breach of its long lease".

A recent statement by parent firm Sutton Harbour Group Plc (SHG) revealed that an additional £194,000 has been run up in the six months to the end of September.

SHG has also had to pay out £411,000 in legal bills in relation to the maintenance of Sutton Lock.

SHG said: "The company is restricted from providing further detailed information about either of these matters due to the legal restrictions in place."