Carlisle Lake District Airport

Carlisle Lake District Airport
Code	IATA: CAX, ICAO: EGNC
County	Cumberland
	Private
Owner	Stobart Airports Ltd
Operator	Stobart Air Ltd
Location	NY482606 54°56’15"N, 2°48’33"W
Runway	3,077 feet / 6,027 feet
Website	www.carlisleairport.co.uk

Carlisle Lake District Airport (IATA: CAX, ICAO: EGNC) is a small, regional airport located 5 nautical miles east-northeast of Carlisle in Cumberland. It has its origins in a Royal Airforce station, RAF Crosby-on-Eden, and is today a private airfield owned and run by the Stobart Group.

Carlisle has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (Number P855) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction, up to a maximum takeoff weight authorised (MTWA) of 12.5 tonnes.

Location and operation

The airport is located on a hill side above the River Irthing. The airport has been the location for some prehistoric excavations

Since 30 May 2009, the airport has been owned by the Stobart Group on a 150-year lease, expiring 2151.

Between 3 December 2014 and 7 September 2015, a £12 million Air Freight Distribution Centre was built on the south-eastern corner of the site, which is now leased to Eddie Stobart Logistics. Stobart Group also intend to build a further warehousing and development hub from 2017 on land adjacent to the Air Freight Distribution Centre. In addition, Brampton and Beyond Energy Ltd (BABE) in conjunction with Stobart Energy hope to build a £1.5 million anaerobic digester renewable energy plant on a piece of woodland to the west of the site by 2018.

There were also plans to commence passenger flights to Belfast, Dublin and London from April 2016, but this did not happen.

History

RAF Crosby-on-Eden

In the early 1930s, the local council opened Kingstown Municipal Airport, at the time outside the borough boundaries which later became the RAF Kingstown. With the outbreak of war in 1939, RAF Kingstown's runway was too small for bombers, so the Royal Air Force developed a new airstrip at Crosby-on-Eden. The new facility came into operation in February 1941 for training operations, designating the station 'RAF Crosby-on-Eden'.

Originally housing No.59 Operational Training Unit the station provided day training for Hawker Hurricane pilots, which was replaced by OTU17 Group Coastal Command in August 1942 for training long-range fighter crews on Bristol Beaufort and Bristol Beaufighter conversion squadrons, as well as air firing and night flying. In August 1944 the station came under the command of 109 OTU, a transport command of Douglas Dakotas.

The station was renamed 1383 TCU 1/8/45. However, the station had no post war use or need, and was closed in 1947 with the airfield returning to Carlisle City Council to continue as a municipal airport.

Purchase by the local authorities

In 1960, Cumberland County Council purchased the site and renamed it Carlisle Airport. After a short refurbishment programme it was licensed in 1961 for training purposes and civilian flights to destinations including London, the Channel Islands, Belfast and the Isle of Man. In 1968 the airport was transferred to Carlisle City Council. Most of the original RAF structures remain intact today, although a lack of investment and maintenance has restricted much of the perimeter road, as well as shortening and weight restricting the runways.

In 1997, the council agreed to extend the runway to allow Boeing 737s to land into a new air-cargo hub, but the proposal collapsed.

Sale to private operators

As the airport had lost £3.5 million on operations between 1979 and 1994, Carlisle City Council agreed to sell the airport on a 150-year lease to Haughey Airports in 2000. The company was owned by Ulster entrepreneur Edward Haughey, who owned nearby Corby Castle. Haughey invested £4 million in infrastructure improvements but, whilst promising to provide additional facilities and enhancements to the site for the Solway Aviation Museum, he sold the airfield to WA Developments in 2006 before achieving this.

On 7 April 2006, Haughey Airports was acquired by WA Developments, which had acquired Eddie Stobart Ltd., the UK's largest haulage contractor, in February 2004. Haughey Airports Ltd was renamed Stobart Air Ltd and a sub-division within WA Developments called Stobart Air was formed. The airport was then re-branded Carlisle Lake District Airport.

Following WA Developments' decision to merge Eddie Stobart with the property and ports company the Westbury Property Fund on 15 August 2007 and to list it on the London Stock Exchange as the Stobart Group, Carlisle Lake District Airport initially remained within the ownership of WA Developments, through its subsidiary Stobart Air Holdings. On 10 March 2008, the Stobart Group entered into a £50,000 option, expiring in July 2008, to acquire Carlisle Lake District Airport from Stobart Air Holdings for £15 million (£2.5 million in cash and £12.5 million in new Stobart Group shares). This option was extended in July 2008 until January 2009 for a further £50,000.

In January 2009, Stobart Group's subsidiary, Stobart Airports Ltd, exercised its option to acquire Carlisle Lake District Airport from Stobart Air Holdings for £14 million (£1 million less than originally announced). Following an independent shareholder vote, the acquisition was completed on 30 May 2009, and the purchase price was reduced to £9.9 million due to a fall in the value of Stobart Group shares.

Current operations

Carlisle Lake District Airport covers 460 acres, of which 212 acres are used for airport related activities, and the balance of 248 acres is in the process of being developed for logistics and aviation related activities.

Its main activity at present is to provide facilities for flight training and sightseeing flights. The airport is currently host to various businesses: Carlisle Flight Training and Aero Club, Border Air and Northumbria Helicopters.

The airport is also home to the Solway Aviation Museum.

A lorry driving training company, System Training, is based at Carlisle Airport Business Park, a site opposite Carlisle Lake District Airport, and was featured in Series 2, Episode 7 of the Channel 5 TV programme Eddie Stobart: Trucks & Trailers, first aired on 30 June 2011. Edd Stobart, the 20-year-old son of Stobart Group Chief Operating Officer William Stobart, passed his HGV Class 2 driving licence using that school.

Airport re-development

Since the airport's purchase by WA Developments in 2006, and its subsequent ownership by the Stobart Group since 2009, there have been major plans to re-develop the site. The first phase, the construction a £12 million Air Freight Distribution Centre to the south-east of the site, was eventually completed on 7 September 2015. The second phase, of a further warehousing and distribution hub adjacent to the first distribution centre, is being marketed as of 2017. It is hoped that the third phase, the construction of a £1.5 million anaerobic digester renewable energy plant on a piece of woodland to the west of the site, will be completed by 2018.

There were also plans to commence passenger flights to Belfast, Dublin and London by April 2016 but by 2017 these remained just plans.[1]

In popular culture

• In early 2011, BBC Radio 1 announced Carlisle Lake District Airport as the venue for their annual free music festival, Radio 1's Big Weekend. The festival took place over the weekend of 14/15 May 2011 and featured headline acts, such as Lady Gaga, My Chemical Romance and the Foo Fighters. The festival is to date the biggest free-ticketed event in Europe, attended by 40,000 fans over 2 days. The BBC assembled an assortment of 'stages' on the site, including a huge main tent, with a capacity of over 12,000.
• The airport has also been used for smaller concerts, such as bands like The Script in 2011.
• Stobart Fest was hosted at the airport in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Carlisle Lake District Airport)

• Carlisle Lake District Airport
• Stobart Group