| Exeter International Airport | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: EXT – ICAO: EGTE | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Operator | Exeter and Devon Airport Limited | ||
| Serves | Exeter Devon |
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| Location | East Devon | ||
| Hub for | |||
| Elevation AMSL | 102 ft / 31 m | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Website | |||
| Map | |||
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EGTE
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| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| 08/26 | 2,083 | 6,833 | Asphalt |
| Statistics (2010) | |||
| Passengers | 744,957 | ||
| Passenger change 09-10 | 6.4% | ||
| Aircraft Movements | 33,740 | ||
| Movements change 09-10 | 10.2% | ||
| Sources: UK AIP at NATS[1] Statistics from the UK Civil Aviation Authority[2] |
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Exeter International Airport (IATA: EXT, ICAO: EGTE) is an airport located at Clyst Honiton in the District of East Devon close to the city of Exeter and within the county of Devon, South West England.
The airport handled over 1 million passengers in 2007, the first time over 1 million passengers had used the airport in a single year, however passenger throughput declined to 744,957 in 2010.[2] The airport offers both scheduled and holiday charter flights within the United Kingdom and Europe.
On 5 January 2007 a majority share of the airport was sold by Devon County Council to Regional and City Airports Ltd; a consortium comprising construction firm Balfour Beatty.
Exeter has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (Number P759) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction.
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Exeter International Airport is located 4 miles (6.4 km) east of the city of Exeter and is approximately 170 miles (270 km) south west of London. To the south, it is connected by the A30 dual carriageway which can be accessed from the east and the M5 in the west, just 1.5 miles (2.4 km) away. The M5 enables good links with Bristol and the Midlands.
There is no railway station at the airport, and the closest station is Pinhoe railway station. Exeter St Davids railway station has a bus link and is therefore easier for passengers using the airport.
The airfield had originated as a grass field for club flying before being constructed in 1937 and formally opened on 30 July 1938 as Exeter Airport at a cost of about £20,000.
With the start of World War II in 1939 the landing area was increased to around 3,000 ft (914 m) north to south and 4,500 feet (1,400 m) east to west in the early months of the war. An asphalt perimeter track and several hardstands for aircraft parking followed and in 1941 hard-surfaced runways were put down. These were 4,350 ft (1,326 m) aligned 13/31, 4,070 ft (1,241 m) aligned 08/26 and 2,700 ft (823 m) at 02/20.
In 1942, the 08/26 runway was extended in length to 6,000 ft (1,829 m) in a general upgrading. In the early years, the airfield had gained 19 small, fighter-type pan hardstandings and 14 double pens. Nine concrete loops were added on the northern side of the air-field early in 1944. Hangars, gathered over the years, were one Hinaida, six Over Blisters and four Extra Over Blisters.
During World War II RAF Exeter was important RAF Fighter Command airfield during the Battle of Britain, with some two dozen different RAF fighter squadrons being stationed there for varying periods through 1944, and just about all the operational fighter types of those years had been present.
RAF Exeter was also used by the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) Ninth Air Force as a D-Day troop transport base with Douglas C-47 Skytrain transports dropping paratroops near Carentan to land on the Normandy Beachhead. It was also known as USAAF Station AAF-463.
RAF Exeter was home to the following Squadrons of No 10 Group during the Battle of Britain:
Despite extensive efforts at camouflage, including painting the runways, Exeter attracted the Luftwaffe on a number of occasions during the early years of the conflict and a few of the administrative and technical buildings were destroyed.
Exeter met the requirement of basing USAAF troop carrier groups close to where units of the 101st Airborne Division were located and within reasonable range of the expected area of operations.
The 440th Troop Carrier Group arrived on 15 April 1944 with over 70 C-47/C-53 Skytrain aircraft. There was insufficient hardstandings to accommodate all the aircraft so many had to be parked on the turf, some areas being supported by tarmac.
The 440th was a group of Ninth Air Force's 50th Troop Carrier Wing, IX Troop Carrier Command.
The group dropped paratroops near Carentan in the early hours of 6 June and the following day delivered parapacks containing fuel and ammunition to the same area. Accurate flak accounted for three C-47s on D-Day and a further three were lost on the resupply mission, one of the latter in a freak accident when struck by bombs accidentally released from a P-47 Thunderbolt.
As soon as satisfactory landing grounds were available in the Normandy beachhead, the 440th shuttled C-47s to and from France, often evacuating wounded.
As with the other groups of the 50th Troop Carrier Wing, the 440th sent three squadrons, the 95th, 96th, and 97th TCSs. to Italy on 17/18 July, where they operated from Ombronc airfield hauling supplies to Rome before taking part in the airborne invasion of southern France, Operation "Dragoon", on 18 August. The 98th TCS returned to Exeter on 23 August 1944 and the following day the other squadrons returned from the Mediterranean.
The 98th TCS remained at Exeter until 7 August when it began operating from RAF Ramsbury. Three days later it dropped parapacks to a US infantry battalion that had become encircled at Marlain when the German Army attempted to launch a counter-offensive.
On 11 September the headquarters of the 440th TCG was established at the group's new base al Reims, France (ALG A-62D), and the last of the air echelon left Exeter two days later. Nevertheless. the airfield was still used by the USAAF Ninth Air Force for the air evacuation of wounded and a station complement squadron remained until November.
Walruses of an RAF air-sea rescue flight were the next tenants and these were joined by a glider training unit early in 1945.
Post-war, Exeter was reclaimed by Fighter Command and a French Supermarine Spitfire squadron, No. 329, which came and stayed until November 1945. Meteors and Mosquitos made a brief appearance the following spring.
No. 691 Squadron's target-towing Vultee A-31 Vengeances, which had been present for more than a year, proved to be the last RAF flying unit of the Second World War period based at Exeter.
When No. 691 Squadron departed in the summer of 1946, the station was made available for civil use, being officially transferred to the Ministry of Civil Aviation on 1 January 1947 although there was still some reserve RAF activity until the 1950s.
Scheduled services to the Channel Islands began in 1952 and charter flights to various locations followed. A new terminal building was opened in the early 1980s and various other improvements, including a runway extension, were carried out over following years to establish Exeter as an important airport in the West Country.
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Air Malta | Seasonal: Malta |
| BH Air | Seasonal: Bourgas |
| Flybe | Aberdeen, Alicante, Amsterdam, Belfast-City, Bergerac, Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow-International, Guernsey, Jersey, Leeds/Bradford, Málaga, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Paris-Charles de Gaulle Seasonal: Avignon, Chambéry, Dubrovnik, Düsseldorf, Faro, Geneva, Palma de Mallorca, Rennes, Salzburg |
| Flybe operated by Loganair | Norwich [begins 25 March][3] |
| Isles of Scilly Skybus | Seasonal: Isles of Scilly |
| Nouvelair | Seasonal: Monastir |
| Thomas Cook Airlines | Seasonal: Antalya, Dalaman, Monastir, Palma de Mallorca |
| Thomson Airways | Lanzarote, Paphos, Tenerife-South Seasonal: Antalya, Bodrum, Corfu, Dalaman, Enfidha, Enontekio, Faro, Funchal, Ibiza, Larnaca, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Malta, Menorca, Palma de Mallorca, Sharm El-Sheikh |
| Rank | Airport | Passengers handled | % Change 2008 / 09 |
Airlines |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edinburgh | 61,095 | 10 | Flybe |
| 2 | Manchester | 48,526 | 7 | Flybe |
| 3 | Paris Charles de Gaulle | 48,353 | 24 | Flybe |
| 4 | Newcastle | 39,029 | 19 | Flybe |
| 5 | Palma de Mallorca | 37,802 | 10 | Flybe, Thomas Cook, Thomson |
| 6 | Malaga | 35,209 | 37 | Flybe |
| 7 | Amsterdam | 34,066 | 15 | Flybe |
| 8 | Glasgow International | 33,359 | 15 | Flybe |
| 9 | Jersey | 33,193 | 3 | Flybe |
| 10 | Alicante | 33,180 | 25 | Flybe |
| 11 | Aberdeen | 28,127 | 59 | Flybe |
| 12 | Faro | 28,094 | 30 | Flybe, Thomson |
| 13 | Tenerife South | 27,065 | 7 | Thomson |
| 14 | Dublin | 26,225 | 7 | Flybe |
| 15 | Guernsey | 24,479 | 8 | Flybe |
| 16 | Belfast City | 22,606 | 25 | Flybe |
| 17 | Lanzarote | 18,471 | 2 | Thomson |
| 18 | Funchal | 15,995 | 2 | Thomson |
| 19 | Paphos | 15,684 | 2 | Thomson |
| 20 | Leeds Bradford | 15,357 | 32 | Flybe |
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Royal Mail operated by Jet2.com | East Midlands |
| Royal Mail operated by Titan Airways | London-Stansted |
Capital Aviation[4] is based at Exeter and offers a number of commercial services. The company have a fleet of turboprop aircraft, including the Beech 200 Super King Air which offers fast and comfortable transport for up to nine passengers. These aircraft are mainly used on a private hire/charter basis. Capital also provides emergency medical transport and cargo/mail services.
There are a large number of privately based aircraft that operate out of the airport. The Hunter Flying Club are based on the Northern side of the airport, they work to restore and fly a number of Hawker Hunter aircraft.
There are two flight training organisations based at the airport:
These two FTO offer a range of training from the Privates Pilot Licence to the Commercial Pilots Licence and Instrument Rating.
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Exeter_International_Airport Exeter International Airport] at Wikimedia Commons
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