The Staverton airfield is currently a loss-making site
View of Gloucestershire Airport runway
Gloucestershire Airport is going back up for sale again, its joint owners have announced. Cheltenham Borough Council and Gloucester City Council confirmed on Tuesday (June 30) the Staverton site would brought back to market, with property firm Savills appointed to lead a renewed sales process.
The news comes just three months after the sale of the loss-making transport hub fell through after months of negotiations. In March, a deal to offload the airport to preferred buyer Horizon Aero Group collapsed after the authorities said they could not accept the terms of the sale.
On Tuesday, council chiefs said they were relaunching the sale process after receiving a “number of approaches” from interested parties.
Councillor Rowena Hay, leader of Cheltenham Borough Council, said: ‘’We are hopeful this renewed sale process will attract the right partner for the airport’s future, which remains our key priority. We will work with partners and stakeholders to update as the new sale process proceeds.’’
Councillor Jeremy Hilton, leader of Gloucester City Council, said: “Gloucestershire Airport is a vital economic and aviation asset for our county and region and we must do our best for it.
“In recent weeks there has been considerable interest from potential investors in the airport and now is the right time to put the airport back on the market.
“This next phase gives us the opportunity to build on what we have learned and engage with investors who share our vision for growth and continued aviation at Staverton.”
It comes as bosses at Gloucestershire Airport refused to reveal to the public on Monday why the airfield has cost taxpayers millions of pounds in recent years.
City councillors were given an update on the situation of the 350-acre general aviation site, which sees around 66,000 aircraft movements a year. During the public meeting, civic chiefs quizzed airport management over the operational loss at the site.
A slide presented to the committee suggested an unaudited loss for the financial year, including depreciation and loan interest, of £2.1m. It also showed the situation had improved over the last three years.
Operational losses, excluding non-monetary adjustments, loans and depreciation, in 2024 was £1,333,041, falling to £738,030 in 2025 and £489,979 in 2026.
Interim managing director Brian Rawlings said it was “one of the few airfields you can walk in having never flown an aircraft and leave to go off and fly for an airline”.
“I can’t think of another airfield that offers that facility,” he said. “And that is backed up with the various tenants that we have there that offer some extensive flight training that is basically unique.”
But when asked why they can’t make it pay for the taxpayer, airport chiefs refused to answer detailed questions in public – instead they said they would tell civic chiefs away from the public eye.
During the public part of the meeting, the airport’s head of finance, Marian Bidmead, said the bottom line figure was a £2.1m loss. She explained the accounts were unaudited and it could be more or less than £2.1m because they “have fair evaluations on the market rentals to do as well and capitalised interest to take into account on top of that”.
Mr Rawlings admitted all members of the team were “fully aware” of what the situation and said they “absolutely” took it seriously.
“We’ve got people there who are very loyal to the airfield, very skilled and for us to be able to turn things around and make it the best airfield it can be, yes, absolutely we can do it. I’m sure we can,” he added.
The committee ultimately voted to exclude the press and public to further discuss airport issues behind closed doors while the chairman voted against.
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