Gloucestershire Airport
| Gloucestershire Airport | |
 | |
|---|---|
| Code | IATA: GLO, ICAO: EGBJ |
| County | Gloucestershire |
| Public/Military | |
| Operator | Gloucestershire Airport Limited |
| Location | SO86922057 51°53’1"N, 2°11’29"W |
| Runway(s) | 3,241 feet (Asphalt) 4,695 feet (Asphalt) 2,621 feet (Asphalt) |
| Website | gloucestershireairport.co.uk |
Gloucestershire Airport (IATA: GLO, ICAO: EGBJ), formerly Staverton Airport, is located at Staverton, in Gloucestershire, 3.5 nautical miles west of Cheltenham, in the narrow green gap between Cheltenham and the City of Gloucester and close to the M5 motorway. It claims to be is Gloucestershire's largest general aviation airfield.
The majority of Gloucestershire Airport's movements are operated by private aircraft.
The airport is regularly used for private charter flights to destinations such as Jersey and Guernsey. Between 2013 and 2017, Citywing operated scheduled flights from the airport, describing it as "Gloucester (M5) Airport" and marketing it as an alternative to Birmingham Airport, Bristol Airport and to a lesser extent Oxford Airport. This was due to the airport's ease of use and fast handling of passengers, compared to its larger counterparts.
History
An airfield was opened in 1931, named after the local village of Down Hatherley; the change of name to Staverton followed relocation to the present site. The airfield served as a training base for pilots during the Second World War and was known as RAF Staverton. It was later used by Alan Cobham as he developed in-flight refuelling. A pillbox that was part of the anti-invasion preparations of the Second World War can still be found opposite the main airfield entrance.
With its proximity to Cheltenham, the airport was also used extensively by the American Army, particularly the Service of Supply and its commanding general, Lt. Gen. John C. H. Lee, who was responsible for all supply and administrative functions of U. S. forces in Britain, beginning in May 1942.
After the war, what is now Smiths Group used the airport as a test site for various aircraft. At the same time the airport provided scheduled services to the Channel Islands, Dublin and Isle of Man. In the 1960s the Skyfame Museum, dedicated to Second World War aircraft, opened.
In the 1990s both the Police Aviation Services and Bond Air Services stationed helicopters and their headquarters at Staverton. In 1993 its name was changed to Gloucestershire Airport in an effort to "...reflect its increasing prominence as the business aviation centre for the county."[1]
During the 1990s, Staverton was the home of the MidWest production facility where the company manufactured the MidWest AE series of single- and twin-rotor Wankel aero-engines for light aircraft. The twin-rotor engine was first installed into two ARV Super2 aircraft. Midwest was eventually closed down, and its assets bought by Diamond Aircraft Industries of Vienna, Austria.
Recent developments
In 2009, Gloucestershire Airport was granted planning permission for expansion, first proposed in 2006, which included lengthening a runway.[2] The plans were controversial and proved divisive amongst the local community and authorities.[3]
On 14 November 2014, BBC Radio Gloucestershire and its listeners set a new world record for the longest line of cakes, to raise money for Children in Need. Volunteers around the region baked 14,392 cupcakes which were laid in a line at the airport. At about 16:45 GMT, an adjudicator from Guinness confirmed the breaking of the world record which now stands at 885.6 metres of cakes: 2,905 feet. The previous record of 606m (1,988 ft) was set in Colombia in 2013.[4]
In March 2015, Gloucestershire Airport announced that it would look to provide more flights, more hangars and more profits in the coming years as part of a new vision for the transport hub. The business plan would see £6 million invested in the airport between 2015 and 2025.[5]
Services and facilities
Many of the flights to and from the airport are for business purposes, but there are also domestic flights, recreational flights and training flights.
The airport houses several flying schools, including the Aeros club, the Staverton Flying School[6] and The Flying Shack[7] together with specialist helicopter trainers JK Helicopter Training,[8] who also provide gift/pleasure helicopter flights. Many people carry out their pilot's licence training at the airport. At Aeros, it is possible to obtain training up to the Commercial Pilot's Licence / Instrument Rating (CPL/IR) standard.
Executive Aviation Services Ltd offer type ratings on Cessna Citation business jets, as well as aircraft acquisition, management and business jet charters to a number of destinations in Europe and Scandinavia using Citation Bravos.
The airport has a Pilot Shop, and is also home to The Aviator restaurant and bar. There is also a live video cam at the Gloucestershire Airport Webcam.[9] The cam’s default direction is 255 degrees, just south of due West.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Gloucestershire Airport) |
References
- ↑ Airport history
- ↑ Tewkesbury Council – Planning Applications 06/01668/FUL, 06/01669/FUL, 06/01670/FUL and 06/01671/FUL; for others, search using Gloucestershire Airport in Applicant Name
- ↑ BBC Gloucestershire Feature on Gloucestershire Airport expansion, 2008
- ↑ "BBC Radio Gloucestershire sets longest cake line record". BBC News. 14 November 2014. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-30062417. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
- ↑ 'Gloucestershire Airport sets out new vision for more flights, more hangars and more profits]': Gloucester Citizen 17 March 2015
- ↑ Staverton Flying School website
- ↑ "The Flying Shack website". http://theflyingshack.com/.
- ↑ cheltenham, website design. "Helicopter Training Gloucestershire JK.". http://www.jkhelicoptertraining.com/.
- ↑ "Gloucestershire Airport Webcam". https://www.glosairportwebcam.com.