Liverpool John Lennon Airport

Template:Airport frame Template:Airport title Template:Airport image Template:Airport infobox Template:Runway title Template:Runway Template:Airport end frame Liverpool John Lennon Airport (IATA: LPL, ICAO: EGGP) is an airport serving the English city of Liverpool. Formerly known as Speke Airport and RAF Speke, the airport is located adjacent to the estuary of the River Mersey some 7.5 miles (12 km) south-east of the centre of Liverpool.

In recent years it has been one of Europe's fastest growing airports, having increased its annual passenger numbers from 875,000 in 1998 to 4.96 million in the twelve months to December 2006, a growth rate of 12.6% compared to a much higher 31.5% in 2005. 500,000 passengers were handled in one month, for the first time, during May 2007. Parking facilities, although extended, have not kept pace with the demand, and so latest plans are for a new multi-storey car park, which will be able to hold 870 vehicles. There are also plans for a new hotel with 150 rooms.

History

Speke Airport, as the airport was originally known, started scheduled flights in 1930 (by Imperial Airways via Barton Airport, Manchester, to Croydon Airport, London. However, it was 'officially' opened in the summer of 1933. In the late 1930s, as air traffic from Liverpool was beginning to 'take-off' with increasing demand for Irish Sea crossings, a distinctive passenger terminal, control tower and two large aircraft hangars were built.

A Bristol Freighter Taxis at Liverpool Airport in 1961

The terminal building at the Liverpool John Lennon Airport

During World War II, the airport was taken over by the Royal Air Force and known as RAF Speke. Rootes Motors built many bombers here, including Bristol Blenheims and 1070 Handley Page Halifaxes. Lockheeds assembled many types including Hudsons and Mustangs, that had been shipped from the USA to Liverpool Docks. Speke was witness to what is thought to be the fastest air to air combat "kill" in the Battle of Britain and possibly of all time. Squadron Leader Denys Gillam took off in his Hawker Hurricane from Speke to be confronted by a Junkers 88 passing across him. As his undercarriage was still retracting he shot the Junkers down. The moment has been caught in a painting by Robert Taylor called "Fastest Victory".

In 1966, a new 7500 feet runway was opened on a new site to the east of the existing airfield. It enabled the airport to be open for business around the clock and is in use to this day. Control of the airport transferred to Merseyside County Council from Liverpool Corporation in the mid 1970s and 10 years later to the five Merseyside councils following the abolition of Merseyside County Council. A new modern passenger terminal, adjacent to the runway on the southern airfield site, opened in 1986, and this was followed by the closure of the original 1930s building.

The original terminal building from the 1930s, famously seen on early television footage with its terraces packed with Beatles fans, was left derelict for over a decade after being replaced in 1986. However it has recently been renovated and adapted to become the Marriott Liverpool South Hotel, preserving its Grade II listed art deco style.

In 1990 ownership of the airport was privatised, with British Aerospace taking a 76% shareholding in the new company. Subsequently the airport has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Peel Holdings Ltd. In 2000, work on a £42.5 million modern passenger terminal began, tripling the its size and passenger capacity, and this development was completed in 2002. There have since been further extensions. The airport's strategy is to cater largely for 'low cost' operators, and the terminal layout is consequently rather basic and often requires lengthy open air walks to/from passenger aircraft.

2002 saw the airport being renamed in honour of John Lennon, a founding member of Liverpudlian band The Beatles, twenty-two years after Lennon's death. A 7ft bronze statue of the local icon proudly stands overlooking the check-in hall. On the roof is painted the airport's motto, a line from Lennon's song "Imagine": "Above us, only sky".

In 2005 the Yellow Submarine, a large-scale work of art that had had various homes around the city, was installed on a traffic island at the entrance to the airport.

The airport was closed at 8.30PM on the June 30 because a suspicious car was discovered. The incident was believed to be related to the incident at Glasgow Airport. The suspicious car was taken away for forensic tests and the airport was reopened at 4.40AM on July 1.

Runway upgrades

September 2006 saw the start of the reconstruction of Liverpool's new, southern, runway. The runway was opened by the Duke of Edinburgh in 1966 and this is the first time the runway has been reconstructed (as opposed to resurfaced). In addition to runway and shoulder work is the upgrade of the 40 year old airfield group lighting with a new system, which will upgrade the runway to ILS Category III standards. Work is also underway on the taxiways, which are being strengthened and resurfaced. Taxiway Delta (the 09 loop) has been slightly reconfigured, while the holding point G is now active again.

Airlines and destinations

Liverpool Airport has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (Number P735) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers and for flying instruction.

The airport handles both scheduled and charter airline flights. It is currently served by the following airlines:

• Aer Arann (Galway)
• Air Malta (Malta)
• easyJet (Alicante, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Basel/Mulhouse, Belfast, Berlin-Schönefeld, Cologne/Bonn, Faro, Geneva, Ibiza, Krakow, Mahon, Madrid, Malaga, Nice, Palma de Mallorca, Paris-Charles de Gaulle)
• EuroManx (Isle of Man)
• First Choice Airways (seasonal) Charter Flights (Alicante, Corfu, Dalaman, Palma, Tenerife-South)
• Flybe (Belfast City, Jersey, Southampton)
• Flyglobespan (New York-JFK, Tenerife-South, Toronto-Hamilton)
• MyTravel Airways (seasonal) Charter Flights (Alicante, Arrecife, Dalaman, Faro, Las Palmas, Palma de Mallorca, Mahon, Malaga, Monastir, Reina Sofia, Reus)
• Onur Air (Dalaman)
• Ryanair (Aberdeen, Alghero, Ancona, Bergerac, Carcassonne, Cork, Derry, Dublin, Gerona, Granada, Grenoble, Inverness, Kaunas, Krakow, Limoges, Milan-Bergamo, Murcia, Nimes, Oslo-Torp, Pisa, Porto, Poznan, Reus, Riga, Rome-Ciampino, Salzburg, Santander, Santiago de Compostela, Seville, Shannon, Venice-Treviso, Wroclaw)
• Thomsonfly Charter flights (Alicante, Corfu, Faro, Ibiza, Mahon, Tenerife-South)
• Wizz Air (Bucharest-Băneasa [starts October 1, 2007], Gdansk, Katowice, Warsaw)

The cargo airline area is served by:

• TNT Airways

Access

By road, the airport is readily accessible by the M53, M56,M57 and M62 motorways. The Knowsley Expressway links Knowsley, Prescot and Huyton to Speke Boulevard for fast access.

The airport does not have its own railway station. The nearest station is at Liverpool South Parkway, from which there are regular bus shuttle services to the airport. The station provides frequent rail services to central Liverpool, Crosby, Hunts Cross and Southport, on the suburban Merseyrail network, together with longer distance direct links to Manchester and Birmingham on the National Rail network.

There are also regular bus services linking the airport with both Liverpool and Manchester city centres. Taxi services are provided at the airport though this has led to tension between taxi drivers and airport authorities as airport authorities now request that taxi drivers pay them £2,500 a year [2]

Bibliography

• Liverpool Airport - an Illustrated History. Phil Butler. Tempus Publishing, Stroud, 2004. ISBN 0-7524-3168-4.

External links

• Liverpool John Lennon Airport
• Liverpool John Lennon Airport Consultative Committee
• Friends of Liverpool Airport