We have take-off

In fact it's the rising star of its owners, the Manchester Airport Group.

Last year passenger numbers at the London main airports grew by seven per cent, while traffic at the UK's regional airports grew by nine per cent.

In 2002, around half of all passengers - 80 million - flew to and from British airports other than Heathrow and Gatwick. In 1990 that figure was just 37 million. The number is expected to rise to more than 200 million over the next 30 years.

And Department of Transport forecasts have pinpointed Bournemouth as one of the regional airports that could mushroom as the government seeks to relieve pressure on overloaded London airports.

Just five years ago the picture was quite different for our local airport. Put up for sale by National Express, the 900-acre site's future was clouded in uncertainty.

But since being taken over by Manchester Airports Group (MAG), the second largest airport operator in the UK, in February 2001, it has, quite literally, taken off.

In little over a year Bournemouth was named the UK's fastest-growing airport.

Terminal passenger numbers rose by an average of 46.6 per cent over the previous year, topping the UK airports league table compiled by the Civil Aviation Authority.

And this year is proving to be one of the most important in its 60-year history.

Following the launch of low fares airline Thomsonfly in March, easyJet, Air Berlin and Thomas Cook have all added Bournemouth to their route networks and existing tour operators have been expanding their ranges.

In 2004, 495,000 passengers passed through the terminal and the figure is set to double this year.

"It's the rise of the low cost carriers that's doing it for Bournemouth and for the area generally. It's good for the whole economy of the region," said the airport's managing director Peter Duffy.

He came to Bournemouth earlier this year having worked for the Manchester Airports Group for more than 25 years.

He believes the group is responsible for transforming the airport.

"It has the capacity to invest and it has a tremendous amount of experience in developing smaller airports."

He said the immediate attraction here is the long runway, suitable for bigger, heavier aircraft.

Economic growth of the region, a good customer services reputation and the growth potential of the airport follow.

It's a potential he is looking to tap - and soon, as it is predicted passenger throughput will reach around 1.2 million by 2007.

"We are going to need to expand," he said. "But really, until we get through the master planning process, until we fully identify what the needs are going to be, it's hard to put our finger on how that will take shape. We are hoping by December to have more details."

He said local companies Bath Travel and Palmair have also played a significant part in the airport's success story.

"For many years if it had not been for their business the airport would not have survived."

Palmair boss David Skillicorn knows it is major tour operators and more latterly low cost carriers that have driven the expansion, though.

Slot constraints at major airports meant airlines would struggle at certain times of the day, week and year to secure arrival and departure slots.

"They were increasingly having to look at other ways to boost capacity and that drove the push into regional airports where there are no slot restraints," he said.

"The problem is the major tour operators have absolutely no commitment whatsoever to regional airports. The minute business drops a bit, they simply cancel programmes."

And being told the flight will instead leave from Gatwick rather then a few miles down the road can make people suspicious of booking to fly from a regional airport in the future.

"If you live in deepest Dorset, Gatwick may be two-and-a-half hours away and while you can possibly stomach that on the way out, the thought of that journey on your return is not appealing.

"At Bournemouth, you can get your bags in about 15 minutes, reach your car in five and are home within half an hour. That's a hell of a draw."

But no matter how big that draw, he challenges the predicted traffic growth figures.

"The population is only so many and there are only two tangibly successful low cost carriers, although there are a lot of pretenders to the throne.

"Personally I don't believe there are enough people to buy all the seats that could be on offer. For sure, people are travelling more and more, but we are also in a recession, although that is being very carefully disguised at the moment, and the cost of aviation fuel has gone through the roof.

"Any growth in this particular airport has to be carefully measured.

"They have been very clever in what they have done to accommodate the rise in clients that has arrived, but the really big problem is access and anyone who has driven round there at four thirty or five o'clock will know."

He added: "There is a huge future for local airports. This is a developing, prosperous region. A lot of big firms are moving here and that will continue. There is a need for this airport to remain and grow. But everyone has got to be wary of the fact that it needs to grow in harmony with the environment around it and for the realistic need of the people around it, not a perceived need."

In July we reported that for the first time every one of the four big travel companies - Airtours, Thomson, Thomas Cook and First Choice - would be flying from Bournemouth.

Four months earlier figures released showed traffic at the airport rose by almost a quarter due to the launch of eight new scheduled flights and the early Easter bank holiday.

The rolling annual total number of travellers broke through the half-a-million barrier.

And last month it was announced that three of the biggest package holiday airlines in the country are ditching Southampton Airport in favour of Bournemouth. Thomson Holidays and First Choice, already operating some flights from Hurn, and Thomas Cook, which is due to start flights from Bournemouth next summer, will be expanding their schedules next year to holiday destinations in Spain, Cyprus and Turkey. A fourth airline, Air Berlin, is also switching to Bournemouth for its service to Paderborn in Germany, due to start in December.

So low cost flights are fuelling the boom.

Naturally consumers want cheaper air fares - but at what cost?

People living in Bransgore have complained about more noisy aircraft flying over their homes.

The airport stressed that the closest planes get to the village is two kilometres and said new equipment to provide 24-hour noise monitoring is currently being installed to ensure it remains well within the CAA and government guidelines.

Last month scientists warned rapid growth in air travel must be curbed if the Government's aim of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 60 per cent before 2050 is to be met.

A spokesman for Thomsonfly said: "Air travel is attributed three per cent of global manmade CO2 emissions, therefore curbing air travel alone is not going to remove the problem.

"Air travel is very important for the UK as we are an island. 50 per cent of people flew at least once last year and stopping this would cause economic and social impact," she added. "We support the industry's Sustainable Aviation Strategy and are constantly improving the efficiency of our operation."

Mr Duffy said a balance has to be struck between being an economic generator for the region and safeguarding the environment.

"There is absolutely no doubt we have a responsibility and we take it seriously. We have been very careful to manage the types of aircraft that come in to Bournemouth. We encourage the quieter, more efficient aircraft. We have lost one or two purely because of that policy."

Any development work will need to be in conjunction with traffic, air quality and noise studies, which have to be carried out regardless.

"I sense that the local community is very supportive of this airport. Bournemouth is largely dependent on the tourism industry anyway and I think there is a real understanding of the benefit this airport brings."