Teesside International Airport sank to a £5.7m pre-tax loss in the year to the end of March

The airport nationalised by the Conservative mayor of Tees Valley saw losses widen last year despite increasing passenger numbers.

Teesside International Airport, formerly known as Durham Tees Valley Airport, sank to a £5.7m pre-tax loss in the year to the end of March, compared with a £2m loss the year before, as costs rose and the value of its land fell. Turnover was flat at £7.6m.

Ben Houchen, who was elected the first mayor of the Tees Valley region in 2017 in a surprise result, nationalised the airport at a cost of £35m last February after declining passenger numbers threatened closure under the ownership of John Whittaker’s Peel Group.

The airport had been privatised by local Labour councils in 2002, when it was sold for