Airport to appeal over £12m claim

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Durham Tees Valley Airport is to mount an appeal after losing a £12m damages claim in the High Court against budget airline BMI Baby.

The airport near Darlington claimed the carrier flouted an agreed contract when it withdrew services in 2006, costing it millions of pounds.

But on Thursday a judge ruled against the airport, saying the terms of the contract were too vague.

Now the airport says it plans to take its case to the Court of Appeal.

The airport was facing a legal bill which could top £1m, with BMI Baby claiming its costs are £700,000.

Durham Tees Valley argued the airline breached a contract, signed in April 2003, which obliged it to fly two of its planes out of the airport for a minimum of 10 years.

Management distractions

But in 2006, Bmi Baby said it was looking at losses of more than £3m and could no longer justify operating services from the airport.

Lawyers for BMI Baby said the airport's damages claim was "exaggerated".

Hugh Lang, group director with Durham Tees Valley's parent company Peel Airports Group, said he was confident an appeal would be successful.

He said: "Whilst this decision has unfortunately not gone our way, the judge commented that he was sympathetic to our claim and we believe that this decision can be overturned through the Court of Appeal."

After Thursday's hearing a BMI Baby spokesman said: "We are disappointed that we had to go to court at all and incur the costs and management distraction that litigation involves.

"We were always confident that we had a strong case and we can hopefully now put the matter behind us."