Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

The Luton-based airline added that it was continuously vetting potential new hubs and felt that “any leading carrier would become interested if a Cambridge regional airport became a reality.”

Ryanair said it was also “willing to look at any proposals” involving Cambridge – especially in light of its ongoing battle to see more competition injected into the ownership of South East airports.

The airlines’ expressions of interest add a new twist to the saga of whether Marshall should stay put or move to RAF Mildenhall and leave the airport site in Cambridge to be developed for new homes.

Studies commissioned by Marshall into the viability of moving the business away from its Newmarket Road site are ongoing and there is no specific timetable.

Sources close to the company believe RAF Mildenhall is the only viable alternative site but estimates of the cost of moving the entire operation are already shifting northwards from £300m to nearer £500m.

By the time the viability of such a move is litmus tested against logistical practicalities within the company, that cost could have soared to £600m.

It would defy logic if the family-owned business failed at that time to question the point of such a move when any profit would be swallowed in an instant.

Their accountants would surely counsel that in such a scenario they would be better off selling up altogether.

As Cambridge’s largest industrial employers with around 4,000 staff in their charge, this option is unlikely to even be on the radar.

There is a further complication: Business Weekly understands the Pentagon is reviewing its global strategy on the location of its airbases.

It is distinctly possible that it will focus on Spain and the Azores and pull out of the UK.

If the Marshall Group had moved into Mildenhall by that point, it could face a messy request from the MoD to switch from tenant to site owner with attendant, massive additional cost.

While the revival of plans for a Cambridge Regional Airport would spark a planning battle and public inquiry, senior UK government officials are understood to believe that such an airport would act as a catalyst for substantial growth locally.

Ryanair, BA, easyJet and others already divert to the Marshall airfield in cases of bad weather, emergency or contingency.

Cambridge Airport has a long runway, a highly capable wide-area radar, state-of-the-art control tower and ancillary facilities capable of handling the big jets. A fairly modest terminal upgrade has already been mapped out.

The airport has seen a strong upsurge in executive jet aircraft traffic in recent months.

For easyJet and Ryanair, the possibility of establishing a bolthole from Stansted located in the technology heartland of Europe holds considerable appeal. They wouldn’t have to abandon their hubs at Stansted but would be able to divert some routes cost-effectively – especially if plans for a second runway at Stansted brings higher landing fees, which are anathema to low fares airlines.

An easyJet spokesman told me: “A Cambridge regional airport, if the plan could be agreed, would be a long way off but would certainly warrant discussion.

“At any one time we speak to 80 or 90 airports to see where we can open up new services and we like to keep an eye on what’s going on in our own back yard.

“We speak to the Marshall Group about current and future plans and have done so for several years. When we bought Go and a number of their executives joined us, they retained excellent relationships with Marshall Airport and this continues today.

“Any leading carrier would be interested if Cambridge had a regional airport.”

A Ryanair spokesman added: “We haven’t discussed anything specific but we are willing to look at any proposals.”

A Marshall Group spokesman said that while viability studies into a possible move were continuing it would be inappropriate to comment on any aspect of the situation.