Bournemouth Airport

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Bournemouth Airport
IATA: BOH - ICAO: EGHH
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Manchester Airport Group
Serves		Bournemouth
Elevation AMSL		38 ft (12 m)
Coordinates		50°46′48″N, 01°50′33″W
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
08/26	7,451	2,271	Asphalt

Bournemouth International Airport (IATA: BOH, ICAO: EGHH) is an airport about 8 km north east of Bournemouth, England. The airport is mostly used by charter airlines and sometimes it serves as an alternative to London's major airports. Flights from the airport serve Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Italy, Poland, Spain, Turkey the United States and the Gambia as well as a number of other countries.

Bournemouth International Airport has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (Number P736) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction.

1 History
2 Airport Facilities
3 Scheduled Airlines and Destinations
4 Charter airlines
5 Industrial Park
6 External links

[edit] History

Bournemouth International Airport's facilities were first built when the British Aircraft Corporation began to operate from what was then known as Hurn Airport. The company also built the airport's first runway in order to perform flight tests on their aircraft. With the creation of the BAC-111, the company's test runways had to be expanded.

Nearly all Vickers Viscounts & 1-11s were built at this site and it is to be remembered that the Viscount was so common in the 1950s that it has been described as the 'tramp steamer of the skies'. Some of the development of the ill-fated TSR-2 was also done here as well as the production of a number of parts for Concorde. The political closure of the BAC site in the 1980s saw an end to Bournemouth's role as a significant player in the aviation industry.

The site of the BAC works now form one of Dorset's largest industrial sites, including pioneers in flight-refueling, FRA (Flight Refueling Aviation).

BAC closed its doors after many years of operation at Bournemouth, leading to the local authority deciding to redevelop the facility as a commercial airport.

By 1980, the airport began to become a major site for charter airlines, as European Aviation began services from there; carrying company executives and other passengers on their newly bought BAC-111s, which had returned to the same place where they had been built.

In 1993, the airport received its first flow of regular passengers, when European Aviation changed its name to European Air Charter (EAC), and Palmair also started operations.

The airport had to undergo a runway expansion in the 1990's to enable it to handle long range flights from the airport, as well as Concorde; which officially opened the runway extension.

In 2003 EAC acquired six Boeing 747-200's from British Airways, with the intention of operating long haul holidays from the airport. However, due to financial difficulties, these aircraft were subsequently scrapped in 2005.

Bath Travel's Palmair remained the prime user of the airport

In 2005, Thomsonfly announced that it was becoming the first major low cost airline to establish a hub at Bournemouth International Airport; allocating two 737-300 aircraft, offering low-cost scheduled services to a number of European destinations.

Other airlines to commence services for the first time in 2005 include: Air Berlin, EasyJet, along with the already established Ryanair services. The airport also has daily services to the nearby Channel Islands, provided by the Alderney based Blue Island Airways.

In 2006 more expansion is expected to take place, with the majority of the large charter airlines offering summer holidays to the Mediterranean and the Canaries from the airport, as well as Ryanair’s new Madrid, Pisa and Shannon services.

Shortly after 1700 on Saturday 11th February 2006, millionaire adventurer Steve Fosset made an emergency landing at Bournemouth International Airport, after completing the longest non-stop flight in history, having covered 26,389.3 miles in 76 hours and 45 minutes. Fosset had originally planned to end his flight 144 miles even further away at Kent International Airport, but the failure of an electrical generator onboard the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer forced him to issue a Mayday call and land in limited visibility, bursting two tires as he touched down.

[edit] Airport Facilities

Bar Des Voyages
Bureau de Change
Car Hire - Budget Rent a Car, Europcar, Hertz, National Car Rental
Duty Paid Shopping
Food Village
O'Briens Sandwich Bar
WHSmith

[edit] Scheduled Airlines and Destinations

Air Berlin (Paderborn)
Blue Islands (Alderney, Guernsey, Jersey)
easyJet (Geneva [Starts December 15])
Ryanair (Dublin, Girona, Glasgow-Prestwick, Madrid, Pisa & Shannon)
Thomsonfly (Alicante, Amsterdam, Faro, Málaga, Palma, Pisa [Seasonal], Salzburg [Seasonal], Tenerife Sur, Gran Canaria [Starts Winter 2006], Grenoble [Starts Winter 2006], Prague, Valencia [Starts Summer 2007])
Wizz Air (Katowice [Starts July 14, 2007])

The airport is capable of handling lightly loaded Boeing 747 aircraft; although smaller Boeing 737s and Airbus A320s are much more common.

[edit] Charter airlines

[edit] Industrial Park

The airport has a very large industrial park attached to it, including offices and hangars. The industrial park covers an area of 200 acres of land. Companies at the airport include:-