IMAGINE flying on holiday from a modern airport less than a hour from your home. Not only is the flight cheap but you can shop, drink and eat to your heart's content before boarding. You have already been given discounted rail fares and a free bus service to the airport, and been spoilt for choice on activities while waiting for takeoff.

When you arrive back after a week in the sun, weary from your travels, you are greeted by friendly airport staff, who whisk you through baggage and security with minimum fuss.

Sound too good to be true? In the next few years, Teesside International will become that airport.

After three years of negotiations and planning, work has already started on creating this vision.

Thanks to a £20m investment over the next five years by Peel Airports, the people behind Liverpool's John Lennon airport, it will be transformed into a modern-day site that will cater for all your needs.

The company owns 75 per cent of the airport after taking over from six local authorities, Redcar and Cleveland, Darlington, Hartlepool, Durham, Middlesbrough and Stockton, who continue to hold shares.

For the past ten years, the airport had suffered through a lack of investment, but managing director Hugh Lang believes with the latest cash injection it will become an airport to rival its main competitor, Newcastle.

He said: "We have an airport that is very well located, in the heart of the region, but where there had been a lack of investment. Because it was owned by local authorities, they could hardly put money into an airport rather than things like social services.

"While Newcastle was spending £40m and Leeds £15m, Teesside was getting left behind.

"Now, with the new plans, people are going to see a modern airport."

One of the major changes to the airport, and one that has caused the most controversy is its renaming as Durham Tees Valley, which is due to come into effect at the end of May.

There was opposition from members of the public and councillors, but the six local authority shareholders gave the go-ahead for the historic move in December.

Mr Lang said: "I spent a long time speaking to the local community, but Teesside was not well known overseas. When we did our research, people abroad did not know where we were."

Since planning permission was granted for the re-development, construction staff have been working on alterations to the terminal front road.

A £2.5m tree-lined boulevard leading up to the airport, allowing easier access for traffic, is due to be completed by the autumn.

An interchange at Longnewton (see graphic) is also in the pipeline to improve access to the airport for those travelling by car and Southside business park, mainly geared at aviation companies, will be developed.

The baggage system has been upgraded as part of a £2.5m internal refurbishment, which has also added a new catering area.

The airport had been dogged by complaints of damage and thefts to cars, so a security fence is to be added to the list of improvements.

The car park will also be extended from 1,500 to 2,000 capacity.

Work has also started at Darlington's Bank Top station, from where a bus link will ferry passengers to the airport. The free service will run every half hour and operate between 6am and 11pm. The time of the bus will coincide with numerous trains into Darlington from Newcastle and York.

It is also hoped a passenger lounge can be introduced at the bus station, so travellers can view the airport's arrivals and departures on a television screen as they wait for a bus.

The airport is attracting 750,000 people through its doors but, with an influx in new routes, and the number of people increasing their air travel, it is hoped the figure will rise to over 1.3 million by the end of next year.

The present terminal building has a capacity for just over this figure, so an option being considered by bosses will be to build a new terminal over the next few years.

Bmi will have its first aeroplane based at the airport by the end of April and another by March next year, along with the announcement of new routes.

As staff celebrate 40 years of being in business today, many are looking forward to the changes to be made over the next few decades.

Mr Lang said: "We need to make sure the airport is friendly and attractive to people. If you go back 40 years, the industry was still in its infancy - people have only been flying aircraft for the past 100 years.

"The whole aviation industry along with Teesside airport is changing, and it's very exciting."