Durham Tees Valley Airport (DTVA) looks set to be brought back into public ownership as part of a £40m deal.
Tees Valley mayor, Ben Houchen, has announced the terms of the deal to buy the airport, which includes acquiring 89% shareholding in DTVA and 819 acres of land.
Mayor Houchen has also agreed to buy a parcel of land with outline planning permission for 350 homes to stop the planned housing development.
Mayor Houchen said: ‘Using the money devolved to our area from central government, I am proposing to use just over 6% of that – £35m – to acquire Peel’s shareholding in our airport and 819 acres of land.
‘In order to stop the planned 350-home development outside the terminal, we have agreed to acquire the land with planning permission for £5m. Stopping this development is central to our long-term plan to make this airport great again.’
He added that a new airport operator and a 10 year business plan will be announced in the next few weeks.
He has called an emergency meeting of the Tees Valley Combined Authority cabinet in January 2019 to approve the deal.