Lydd Airport
| Lydd International Airport | |
 | |
|---|---|
| Code | IATA: LYX, ICAO: EGMD |
| County | Kent |
| Public | |
| Operator | London Ashford Airport Ltd. |
| Location | TR06522152 50°57’22"N, 0°56’21"E |
| Runway(s) | 4,938 feet (Grooved asphalt) |
| Website | lydd-airport.co.uk |
Lydd Airport (IATA: LYX, ICAO: EGMD), one nautical mile east of the town of Lydd in Kent, is an operational general aviation and minor commercial airport.
Originally named 'Lydd Ferryfield', it now trades as London Ashford Airport. The airport is operated by London Ashford Airport Ltd, which is controlled by Saudi businessman Fahad Al Athlel.[1][2][3][4]
Lydd Airport has a CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P858) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee. The airport is currently not able to handle aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 737 or Airbus A319 but permission was granted in 2013 to extend the runway by 965 feet to allow for them. Lydd Air is based at the airport, and had regular flights to Le Touquet Airport in northern France, a service which ended in December 2018.[5][6]
The airport lies adjacent to the unique landscape of Dungeness, a cuspate foreland that is one of the largest expanses of shingle beach in Europe and which is of international conservation importance for its geomorphology, plant and invertebrate communities and birdlife, a fact that is recognised by its designations as a national nature reserve, a Special Protection Area, a Special Area of Conservation and part of the Site of Special Scientific Interest of Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay. This proximity led to strong opposition to plans to expand.
History
Lydd Airport, opened in 1954, was the first airport to be built in the United Kingdom following the end of the Second World War, and it was built for Silver City Airways as an all-weather replacement operating base to that of nearby Lympne Airport, whose grass runway was often waterlogged in rainy weather. The new Lydd Ferryfield was, like Lympne, used initially for car carrying air ferry services using Bristol Freighters, operating principally to Le Touquet in France. Within five years of opening, it was handling over 250,000 passengers annually, making it one of the busiest airports in Britain.[2][7]
Silver City Airways subsequently became part of British United Air Ferries (BUAF), under the same ownership as British United Airways (BUA). The airlines used Bristol Freighters, Superfreighters and Aviation Traders Carvair aircraft on their car-carrying routes from Lydd. However the introduction of roll-on/roll-off ferries and hovercraft on cross-channel services led to a decline of the air ferry services from Lydd.[2]
Following Skyways Coach-Air's liquidation in early 1971, Air Freight initially continued the former Skyways Air Cargo operation under its own name and, in February 1973, merged with South West Aviation.
Nearby Ashford Airport closed in 1974, and Air Freight's headquarters and operating base moved to Lydd, from where it flew combined passenger and cargo operations across the United Kingdom, Channel Islands and Europe (mainly Amsterdam and Paris). During the 1980s the airport was bought by Hards Travel from Solihull, who used the airport (along with Coventry Airport) as its base for its holiday operations to Spain, Italy and Austria and elsewhere: during this time Hards operated 14 flights a day from the airport, and used the large fields surrounding the airport for car parking.
Expansion of the airport was approved in 2014 following a legal challenge by Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Lydd Airport Action Group. This includes a runway extension of almost 1,000 feet and a new terminal building.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Lydd Airport) |
References
- ↑ "Directions". London Ashford Airport Ltd. http://www.lydd-airport.co.uk/passenger-information/directions.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "The History of Lydd Airport". London Ashford Airport Ltd. http://www.lydd-airport.co.uk/about-us/history/.
- ↑ "Lydd Airport today is operated by London Ashford Airport Ltd.", "Our Company". London Ashford Airport Ltd. http://www.lydd-airport.co.uk/about-us/our-company/.
- ↑ Bowcott, Owen (10 April 2010). "Lydd highlights battle between airport expansion and eco-concerns". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/apr/09/lydd-kent-activism-airport-environment.
- ↑ "The Future of Lydd Airport". London Ashford Airport Ltd. http://www.lydd-airport.co.uk/about-us/future/.
- ↑ "Lydd - the fastest way to France". Lydd Air. http://www.lyddair.com/.
- ↑ Ferryfield. 2 July 1954. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1954/1954%20-%201950.html. Retrieved 24 December 2014.