Sky's limit for airport with big ambitions

He needn't have been concerned.

While the potential for change of ownership and new management can have an unsettling effect on the best of staff, all he discovered was a passion to demonstrate the strengths of a real economic driver that supports more than 700 jobs and helps underpin the region's business credentials.

Recalling his first few days last spring, Mr Lavan said: "My expectations of how staff would react was completely out of tune.

"I was amazed. It was so positive, there was a feeling of 'this is my airport, it has got to be business as usual, we will carry on and see what the future holds'.

"Because of that we managed to grow and bring business in, which I didn't originally expect to happen."

And such attitude inspired Mr Lavan, in his first posting away from Manchester.

"It was at that early stage that I began to get a passion for the airport myself," he said.

"If 160 people employed here want to take the airport forward given a chance, then there cannot be much that is going to get in our way."

The aviation industry was one of the first to suffer the forces of the economic downturn, and Mr Lavan is honest about the expectations over the next year.

But while passenger numbers are likely to drop quite significantly, the diversity and non-reliance on one aspect of the industry is the key to Humberside's future.

He said: "We have to look at Humberside in the context of where the world economic situation is at the moment, and particularly where the aviation industry is.

"At the moment it is not even treading water. It is an industry going backwards, and for the majority of airports there is not a likelihood it is going to change over the next 12 months.

"At best we need to retain what we have got and maintain our position and look for growth.

"At the earliest it would be our winter programme for 2009, but more likely it will be summer 2010."

Recent successes have seen new contracts won with offshore support firms, with scores more weekly helicopter flights.

And there was also the 10 per cent increase in travellers over the festive period.

Mr Lavan said: "We had a really good Christmas, and we saw that as a reaction to what is happening.

"There were two aspects, one was people saying 'we need a break', the second was the fairly cold, wet and frosty period prior to Christmas.

"When we broke that down we saw a massive increase in people using the KLM service. Only 10 per cent of those people actually go to Amsterdam (as an end destination).

"The rest are flying to 200 destinations around the world. That is almost the jewel in the crown, the international service and connectivity with four flights a day - the access to the world.

"Perhaps we don't do enough to publicise that for the region, the fact you can fly to the world from Humberside Airport.

"That really is our USP - that you can drive here quickly, park, and clear security in a single level terminal that is very easy to navigate."

The Canaries also proved popular, but it is not enough to halt a slide when it comes to people passing through the departure lounge.

"Year on year we will expect to see a downturn," said Mr Lavan.

"We had 450,000 passengers in the year to April 2008, we are now looking at 400,000 for this year.

"It is a short-term drop in - predominantly - the charter sector.

"There have been amalgamations and losses of tour operators. There has been consolidation of routes and aircraft.

"It has resulted in an overall reduction in capacity across the industry, which has all been influenced by the general economic situation."

The arrival of a neighbouring airport wasn't a great boost for Humberside either, but neither has it been the death knell that many first thought.

Mr Lavan said: "We have to be honest and say the opening of Robin Hood Airport had a big impact initially.

"A number of operators moved flights from here to Doncaster, but over a period of time we have managed to consolidate the flights that remained and have started to see more operators come in.

"It is not ideal to have another regional airport 35 miles away, but we are holding our own and growing niche markets like the offshore work."

This is where much of the new work has been seen.

"What is helping out over this period is a real increase in offshore activity," he said. "We have attracted a new contract with Bristow and CHC has also started a new contract which involves another 24 flights a week.

"It is all for the gas fields in the southern North Sea.

"This is exactly what the beauty is about Humberside, the diversity of the business. We do not have over-exposure to one aspect of the aviation revenues, we haven't got a reliance on low-cost operators like some airports have and all our eggs are not in one basket with one airline.

"We have maintenance work here, we have Eastern Airways with the only simulator of its kind in the world, and all that brings more passengers in.

"This diversity gives optimism going forward, there are lots of growth areas there."

Interesting development plans

REWARDING customer loyalty and working closely with the business community are key aims for the future of Humberside Airport.

For Mr Lavan, the role of airport director at Humberside is his first away from his home city, having joined Manchester Airports Group from school.

And what has struck him most about the area is the loyalty customers show, something he is keen to reciprocate once the economy gets back on its feet.

Mr Lavan said: "The Humber region is slightly different to anywhere else.

"The loyalty people have for the local airport is one of the real positives, it has a very, very loyal catchment, almost to the extent where they will not take a holiday if it is not from Humberside.

"We know that 90 per cent of all the passengers are within a 45 minute drive time.

"If we have the connectivity and destinations we will fill the seats on the aircraft.

"A very loyal catchment wants to fly from here, and what they need are the routes. The focus is to get back the right routes to serve that market."

An advantage of having an on-site travel agency is that he can get an immediate feel for what the customers want.

And the plan is to put that to good use as soon as it is practical to do so.

Mr Lavan said: "We have to accept at the moment that decision making in every company is slowed by everyone checking their own performance.

"My thoughts about consolidation and retaining business apply to everyone else as well.

"There are not many organisations willing to take a chance at the moment.

"There is, however, a measure between standing still and taking some risks and putting a foot on the accelerator a little."

And routes are not the only developments that are being worked up so that when the time is right the airport is read to move swiftly.

"We are still moving forward. There are interesting development plans for the future. 

"There could be another maintenance hangar built on the airport site, and we have had outline discussions for a hotel development, which is something that has been talked about for a long time.

"Everyone agrees it is the right thing to do. We could fill three-quarters of a hotel from the business coming through from CHC and Eastern Airways."

Mr Lavan, who is living in Barton, joined MAG as a mechanical apprentice.

He moved from engineering and into operations and the final two positions he held were general manager of engineering and fire services at Manchester, before heading up Ringway Handling Services, the $owned aircraft ground handling business there.

It was from that role that he came to Humberside Airport, with a remit of ‘business as usual’ for the duration of the review period.

Now the airport is clear of that chapter, Mr Lavan is keen to work with partners in the region and the industry to move forward.

"We cannot be an island at this time," he said. "We need to do some collaborative working with both the aviation community and the local community."

One example is to reverse the scaling back of flights of fresh fish now the new perishables hub is operational at the airport.

"We have flights from Icelandair, bringing fish in," said Mr Lavan. "We had five flights a week but that went one flight a week due to logistical changes. We are now working with North Lincolnshire Council and strategic development people at Yorkshire Forward and Anglia Cargo, operators of the hub, to look at a workstream for outward supply operations.

"We need an export consolidation operation to make the Icelandair flight work. They love Humberside, the quick turnaround, but they need to take something back.We are working in a holistic way to identify what the supply needs are. It could be flower bulbs, radishes or whatever, we just need to work out what it is."