Alderney Airport

Alderney Airport
IATA: ACI – ICAO: EGJA
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	States of Guernsey
Serves	Alderney
Location	St Anne
Elevation AMSL	290 ft / 88 m
Coordinates	49°42′24″N 002°12′52″W / 49.70667°N 2.21444°W / 49.70667; -2.21444Coordinates: 49°42′24″N 002°12′52″W / 49.70667°N 2.21444°W / 49.70667; -2.21444
Website	www.alderney.gov.gg
Map
EGJA Location of airport in Channel Islands
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 08/26 877 2,877 Asphalt/grass 14/32 733 2,405 Grass 03/21 497 1,631 Grass
Statistics (2011)
Passengers handled 69,546 Movements 7,420
Sources: UK AIP at NATS[1]

Alderney Airport (IATA: ACI, ICAO: EGJA) is the only airport on the island of Alderney. Built in 1935, Alderney Airport was the first airport in the Channel Islands. Located on the Blaye (1 NM (1.9 km; 1.2 mi) southwest of St Anne), it is the closest Channel Island airport to the south coast of England and the coast of France. Its facilities include a hangar, the Airport Fire Station and low cost, duty-free and tax-free Avgas refuelling. In 2011 the airport handled 69,546 passengers and 7,420 total movements ^[2] , a significant decrease compared to 2010 figures.

Runways

Aerial view of Alderney Airport

Alderney is unique amongst Channel Islands airports in having three operational runways. The main runway, 08/26 is 880 m (2,887 ft) long and is mainly asphalt. The two secondary runways are both grass, 14/32 being 733 m (2,405 ft) long, with 03/21 having a length of 497 m (1,631 ft). The main runway is equipped with low intensity lighting, with portable lighting being available on runway 14/32. The approach and runway lights were replaced in 2006 by Ian Tugby (States of Alderney member), a local building contractor.

Operations

The terminal building, erected in 1968, contains an arrivals room and a departure lounge, with a check-in desk for the airport's only scheduled airline, Aurigny Air Services.^[3] Alderney is not a 24-hour airport; during winter, it is open Monday to Saturday from 0740 until 1830 and on Sunday from 0855 until 1830. During summer, it is open Monday - Thursday from 0640 until 1730 and Friday - Sunday from 0640 until 1830.

The airport also has its own non-directional beacon, with runways 08 and 26 utilizing this for instrument approaches during Instrument meteorological conditions. A GPS (satellite) approach is also being developed in conjunction with Eurocontrol and NATS. This will mean that aircraft can land in lower visibility.

Alderney has self-manoeuvring stands. Formal stands are not required due to the lack of space to accommodate nose-in-configured aircraft.

Airlines and destinations

The only direct scheduled links from the island are, at July 2013, Southampton and Guernsey. Routes to other destinations such as Brighton, Bournemouth, Cherbourg, Exeter, Plymouth and Jersey were abandoned over the years due to what Blue Islands for example claimed was 'lack of interest'. These routes had been operated on and off by Aurigny and Blue Islands but also Alderney Air Ferries, Air Sarnia and Air Camelot during the 1970s and 1980s. The number of air routes to the island is at its lowest since the Second World War except for a brief intermission during the 1967-8 period, when another airline (Glos Air, later to be Aurigny Air Services) was found to fill the void (see below right).

In July 2013, airline Aurigny announced that from September it will launch direct flights to Jersey on a trial basis for a period of six weeks.^[4]

Statistics

The number of air routes to and from Alderney is currently at its lowest since 1945

Future

The States of Alderney has put aside £400,000 from the £1m paid for the fort, for expansion of the airport. This will most likely be used to pay for redevelopment of the terminal, which is over 40 years old and has a leaky flat roof.^[7]

Further reading

• Pinnegar, Edward (5 August 2010). A History of Aviation in Alderney. Amberley Publishing, Stroud. p. 128. ISBN 978-1-84868-981-7. 

The book documents a previously unpublicised aspect of the island's history, was published by Amberley Publishing in summer 2010.

References

External links

• Alderney Airport (official site)
• Live Alderney Arrivals / Departures (provided by FlightStats)
• NATS AIS (NATS Aeronautical Information Service)
• CI Aviation (Channel Islands aviation website)

Airports in the United Kingdom, the British Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories England Birmingham Bournemouth Bristol Cambridge Doncaster–Sheffield Durham Tees Valley East Midlands Exeter Humberside Leeds–Bradford Liverpool London City London Gatwick London Heathrow London Luton London Southend London Stansted Manchester Newcastle Newquay Norwich Southampton Smaller Blackpool Brighton–Shoreham Carlisle Cotswold Coventry Gloucestershire Land's End Leicester London Biggin Hill London Oxford Lydd Nottingham St Mary's Wolverhampton Scotland Aberdeen Edinburgh Glasgow International Glasgow Prestwick Inverness Smaller Barra Benbecula Campbeltown Coll Colonsay Dundee Eday Fair Isle Islay Kirkwall Lerwick North Ronaldsay Oban Papa Westray Sanday Scatsta Stornoway Stronsay Sumburgh Tiree Westray Wick Wales Cardiff Smaller Aberporth Anglesey Caernarfon Cardiff Heliport Haverfordwest Hawarden Llanbedr Pembrey Swansea Welshpool Northern Ireland Belfast City Belfast International Derry Smaller Enniskillen/St Angelo Newtownards Crown Dependencies Guernsey Isle of Man Jersey Smaller Alderney Overseas Territories Anguilla RAF Ascension Bermuda Ambergris Cays Anegada Beef Island Virgin Gorda Little Cayman Cayman Brac Grand Cayman Mount Pleasant Port Stanley Gibraltar Montserrat Saint Helena (under construction) Grand Turk Middle Caicos North Caicos Pine Cay Providenciales Salt Cay South Caicos Smaller airports handle domestic, charter or private services only