LANCASHIRE’S only commercial airport, which closed last month, has a “viable future”, its MP has told the House of Commons.

Conservative Mark Menzies said Blackpool Airport should not be subject to the “economic vandalism” of retail or housing developments.

The airport’s operating company, Blackpool Airport Ltd, which went into liquidation, is owned by the developer Balfour Beatty.

Mr Menzies said: “While many of us in this House would have liked to have seen the situation handled differently, I would like to concentrate on the next steps to secure the future of Blackpool Airport.

“As part of this, I want to see what Government assistance may be on offer for those wishing to become involved in the airport’s future.

I wrote to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Transport Secretary outlining a range of potential measures to save the airport, including a possible reduction in air passenger transport duty for regional airports.”

Mr Menzies added that connectivity and transport infrastructure were vital for the Government’s ambitions for an economic powerhouse in the north of England.

He said: “It is for this reason I feel passionately Blackpool Airport should be retained as a commercial airport and with the correct support from Government it will remain a transport infrastructure asset for Lancashire and the North West.”