Overview
- The agreement covers 50 acres and enables up to six new narrow- and wide-body hangars, five within the planned Aviation Village.
- Darlington Borough Council granted planning permission for the Aviation Village in 2023, streamlining delivery of the project.
- The move follows Willis’s recent £13.5 million twin-bay hangar opening to support major maintenance, repair and overhaul work.
- Airport leaders and local officials say the expansion will create hundreds of well-paid engineering roles and strengthen the region’s MRO cluster.
- Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen and Willis CEO Austin C. Willis framed the deal as a long-term vote of confidence in Teesside and the airport’s future, on land once earmarked for housing before public ownership in 2019.