Carlisle Lake District Airport may be sold by the end of next month with talks currently 'underway'. 

The aviation and renewables group, Esken, revealed in their interim report, published in November 2023, that the firm has a view of completing the transaction of the airport by the end of the group's financial year - at the end of February. 

In the company's half-year results, executive chairman David Shearer said: "Discussions are underway on the remaining non-core assets at Widnes and Carlisle Lake District Airport, with a view to completing transactions to dispose of these assets before the end of our financial year. 

"These transactions will not only generate cash to improve the groups' liquidity profile and support the wind-down of the group services, but also remove long-term lease liabilities from the balance sheet and allow a focus to be on the growth and sale of LSA (London Southend Airport)," he said. 

Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) held a panel meeting in December and placed the airport on the agenda. 

The LEP has been approached by Esken to meet potential purchasers, with details of the potential buyers also being shared amongst members at the meeting. 

The LEP has a vested interest in the airport, having invested £4.95 million which was put towards the terminal and runway. 

Sources have previously speculated that the estimated cost of the airport is around the '£15m mark', although it has not been confirmed. 

The airport has been dormant since 2020. 

In 2022, the firm, formerly known as Stobart Group Limited, said the 'short to medium' strategy was to get planes back in the air following the pandemic. 

However the following year, the group reported financial concerns with a plan to exit from 'non-core assets' to help support remaining operations, which included the airport located seven miles east of Carlisle city centre. 

In June last year, Esken also voluntarily revoked its commercial passenger licence due to it no longer being 'economically viable'. 

"The licence can be reapplied for at any time when the landscape changes to make commercial passenger flying viable," an Esken spokesperson said at the time.  

Despite the revocation of its licence for commercial flights, the airport remains open 'as a non-licensed aerodrome for general aviation and military manoeuvres', as well as for the nearby flying school. 

The first commercial flight to take off from the newly opened runway was in 2019 - a Loganair service to Dublin, with around 30 passengers.