Gloucestershire Airport is seeking a loan facility to help the successful business continue to expand and grow.

There have been media reports that it is seeking a "bail out" of up to £750,000 from its owners Gloucester City Council and Cheltenham Borough Council.

However this appears to be a flight of fancy - just like previous reports that the Staverton site could be turned over to housing.

Gloucestershire Airport's operations director Darren Lewington told Punchline: "Gloucestershire Airport is the UK's busiest general aviation airport and handled over 83 000 flights last year. It is home to around 180 aircraft and 40 aviation-related businesses employing more than 500 people.

"Additionally, the airport's property portfolio includes Meteor Business Park, home to world-leading aerospace companies, which employ over 2000 people locally.

"The airport is considering a number of options to help deliver its business plan. One of these has been a request to its shareholders for a loan facility that will be used to help grow the business even further.

"This will be considered by Gloucester City and Cheltenham Borough Councils later this month. Since the completion of its Runway Safety Project in 2013, the airport has seen business aviation and air taxi traffic grow by 17 per cent. In 2015 it reported a profit of £159,000 which rose to £678,000 in 2016."

We at Punchline regard Gloucestershire Airport as the jewel in the crown of the county's business community and it deserves our full support - not least because of the hundreds of jobs its helps to create.

It has never been easy running an airport owned by two local authorities and requiring planning consent from a third council, Tewkesbury Borough, in whose district it sits.

But when it comes to the success of the airport the figures appear to speak for themselves.

What do you think? Email mark@moosemarketingandpr.co.uk