IT seems like only yesterday that regional economic development chiefs were consigning Teesside Airport to the back burner as far as its future as a passenger terminal was concerned

The future for Teesside was freight, we were told, before a political uproar restored the airport's passenger carrying credentials.

That uproar over what was One NorthEast's draft economic strategy may have had a silver lining. Firstly it demonstrated that Teesside would stand up to Tyneside within the new regional structures. Secondly, it prompted some hard thinking about Teesside's Airport's future.

The result of that thinking emerged this week with the proposed change in the airport's ownership. A private company - Peel Holdings - takes a majority stake with the local authorities, the present owners, remaining as partners.

It was an obvious step. The local councils would never have had the money needed to invest in the airport's future.

That investment - £20m in a new terminal building and runway improvements - is essential if Teesside is to survive as a viable passenger airport. Despite the effects of September 11, air travel is expected to grow at an astonishing rate and while Teesside is perfectly acceptable now, it has to grow to cope with expected demand. If Teesside doesn't meet that demand, passengers will go to Newcastle and Leeds/Bradford and, ultimately, Teesside would lose what services it has.

And that would be a body blow for the local economy easy to understand if hard to quantify.