Liverpool John Lennon Airport

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Liverpool John Lennon Airport Liverpool Airport
IATA: LPL - ICAO: EGGP
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Liverpool Airport plc (Peel Holdings)
Serves		Liverpool
Elevation AMSL		80 ft (24 m)
Coordinates		53°20′01″N, 002°50′59″W
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
09/27	7,500	2,286	Asphalt[1]

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.

It is one of Europe's fastest growing airports, having more than quintupled its annual passenger numbers from 875,000 in 1998 to over 4.4 million in 2005. The parking facilities have not kept pace with the demand, and so the latest plans are for a new multi-storey car park, which will be able to hold up to 869 vehicles. There are also plans for a new hotel with 150 rooms.

Contents 1 History 2 Airlines 3 Access 4 References 5 External links

[edit] History

Speke Airport, as the airport was originally known, started scheduled flights in 1930, 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.

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 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, following the closure of the original 1930s building.^[2]

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.^[3]

In 1990 ownership of the airport was privatized, 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 requires lengthy open air walks to/from passenger aircraft. ^[4]

2002 saw the airport being renamed in honour of the late 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".

[edit] Airlines

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) [Starts May 4, 2007]
• 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 [Starts May 25, 2007], Tenerife-South, Toronto [Starts May 7, 2007])
• MyTravel Airways (seasonal) Charter Flights (Alicante, Arrecife, Dalaman, Faro, Las Palmas, Palma de Mallorca, Mahon, Malaga, Monastir, Reina Sofia, Reus)
• Onur Air (Dalaman [Starts May 2, 2007])
• Ryanair (Aberdeen, Alghero, Ancona, Bergerac, Carcassonne, Cork, Derry, Dublin, Gerona, Granada, Grenoble, Inverness, Kaunas, Kerry [Ends 16 January, 2006], Krakow, Limoges, Milan-Bergamo, Murcia, Nimes, Oslo-Torp, Pisa, Porto, Poznan, Reus, Riga, Rome-Ciampino, Salzburg, Santander, Santiago de Compostela, Seville, Shannon, Tampere, Venice-Treviso, Wroclaw)
• Thomsonfly Charter flights (Alicante, Corfu, Faro, Ibiza, Mahon, Tenerife-South)
• VLM Airlines (Amsterdam, Antwerp, Brussels, Jersey, London-City, Luxembourg, Rotterdam)
• Wizz Air (Gdansk, Katowice, Kaunas, Warsaw)

And the cargo airline area is served by:

• TNT Airways

[edit] 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 (http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/12/358165.html)

[edit] References

1. ^ United Kingdom AIP.
2. ^ Liverpool John Lennon Airport (2004). Liverpool John Lennon Airport History. Retrieved November 15, 2005.
3. ^ Marriott International Inc. (1996-2005). Liverpool Marriott Hotel South. Retrieved November 15, 2005.
4. ^ ibid.

[edit] External links

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

Coordinates: 53°20′01″N, 002°50′59″W