In a surprising move, a £35m project to revamp Carlisle Airport has been rolled back. Earlier, Stobart Air wanted to construct a new runway and enhance the freight facilities at the location. However, owing to the reason that Carlisle City Council imposed more than 50 conditions on the planning application, the project was delayed on account of lengthy negotiations. Following this, Local Government Secretary Hazel Blears wanted to call in the plans and this act prompted Stobart Air to withdraw its application.

If executed, the plans would have brought about the expansion of the available facilities with an extended runway, angars, passenger terminal, distribution warehouses, air traffic control centre and office buildings in addition to the expansion of car parking facilities at the site. Originally approved in March, the move was rendered impossible because of the high number of conditions imposed by the council. On the other hand, though the final approval was given on 25th April, the Carlisle Council referred the application to the Secretary of State, which further intensified the problem.

In a statement made recently, Chairman of Stobart Air, Andrew Tinkler noted, "At the onset we have been very clear that the development plans would not go ahead if the application was called in. We have had no choice in withdrawing the application as we are still not clear on the real reasons why the application was called in."

According to Mr Tinkler, there are still hopes that a revised proposal might be submitted later this year.