Liverpool John Lennon Airport
Liverpool John Lennon Airport | |||||||||||
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Focus city for | |||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 81 ft / 25 m | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 53°20′01″N 2°50′59″W / 53.33361°N 2.84972°W | ||||||||||
Website | www | ||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||
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Statistics (2022) | |||||||||||
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Sources: UK |
Liverpool John Lennon Airport (IATA: LPL, ICAO: EGGP) is an international airport in Liverpool, England, on the estuary of the River Mersey 6.5 nautical miles (12.0 km; 7.5 mi) south-east of Liverpool city centre.[2] Scheduled domestic, European, North African and Middle Eastern[4] services are operated from the airport. The airport comprises a single passenger terminal, three general use hangars, a FedEx Express courier service centre as well as a single runway measuring 7,500 ft (2,286 m) in length, with the control tower south of the runway.
Originally called Speke Airport, it was operated by the Royal Air Force as RAF Speke in World War II. Between 1997 and 2007, the facility was one of Europe's fastest-growing commercial airports, as annual passenger numbers increased from 689,468 to 5.47 million. It was renamed after Liverpudlian musician John Lennon of The Beatles in 2001.[3] The airport handled 3.49 million passengers in 2022, making it the 12th-busiest airport in the UK.[5]
History
Imperial Airways
Built in part of the grounds of
Second World War
At the beginning of 1937
During the
On 8 October 1940 (one day before John Lennon's birth), Speke was witness to what is thought to be the fastest air-to-air combat "kill" in the
Civil airport
Normal civil airline operations resumed after VE-day and passengers increased from 50,000 in 1945 to 75,000 in 1948, remaining ahead of Manchester Airport. Ownership by the Ministry of Aviation proved to be a drag on the airport's progress thereafter and Manchester gained the lead from 1949, resulting in Liverpool's loss of the only ground-controlled radar approach unit available to North West airports, further hampering operation. [citation needed]
During the post-war years, Speke Airport hosted an annual air display in aid of the
New runway
The city took over control of the airport on 1 January 1961 and prepared development plans. In 1966, a new 7,500 ft (2,286 m) runway was opened by
Old Terminal (1989)
A modern passenger terminal adjacent to the new runway opened in 1986 followed by the closure of the original 1930s building.[12]
The original terminal building dating from the late 1930s, famously seen on early television footage with its terraces packed with
In 1990 the airport was privatised, with
New Terminal and renaming (2000)
In 2000, work on a £42.5 million passenger terminal began, tripling its size and passenger capacity, completed in 2002 and opened by Queen Elizabeth II. There have since been further extensions to the airport terminal and airside.
In 2001, 21 years after his death, the airport was renamed in honour of The Beatles' John Lennon, becoming the first airport in the UK to be named after an individual.[17] A 7 ft (2.1 m) tall bronze statue stands overlooking the check-in hall. On the roof is painted the airport's motto, "Above us, only sky"; a line from Lennon's song "
In 2005 the
2005 also saw the construction of a brand-new apron, exclusively for EasyJet, to the east of the terminal with six stands and a pier with six boarding gates.
In September 2006 reconstruction started on the main runway and taxiways. This was the first time the runway had been reconstructed (as opposed to resurfaced) since it was opened in 1966. This work was completed in 2007.
In May 2007, Flyglobespan commenced a seasonal flight to Hamilton, 50 miles (80 km) from Toronto. This was the Liverpool airport's first transatlantic air service.[21][22] Later that month, the carrier launched a route to New York City using a Boeing 757. Four of the seven weekly flights were nonstop, while the other three operated via Knock, Ireland. Yoko Ono, the widow of John Lennon, attended the inauguration ceremony.[23][24] Several problems beset the service, including technical issues with the aircraft, lengthy delays and low passenger numbers.[25] Flyglobespan ended up replacing the Boeing 757 with a smaller 737 due to the poor patronage.[26] The company ended flights to both New York and Hamilton in October 2007.[27]
In 2007 construction of a multi-level car park
April 2014 saw Peel repurchase the 65% stake it had sold in the airport giving it 100% ownership once more.[32] In March 2016, Peel sold a 20% stake in the airport to Liverpool City Council for a reported £12m. This valued the airport at £60m.[33] From 2019 to early 2020, the airport completed some renovation works which made it even easier to get around and also more aesthetically pleasing.[34] This included changing the gate numbers from Gates 30–43 to Gates 11–17, in order to make the gates larger and more spacious, which also involved removing two by merging gates together. In addition, the departure hall, security hall and the entire experience throughout the airport has been altered massively by new decorations and images promoting the surrounding region.[35]
On 16 May 2023, Liverpool gained a new focus airline from Jet2.com who announced they would be opening their 11th UK base at Liverpool Airport.[36] The airline will operate a total of 25 destinations across Europe, 7 of which will be new destinations to Liverpool.[37]
Future expansion
Future developments include the potential estimated £100 million investments in the airport infrastructure - this includes a
Terminal
The single terminal at Liverpool John Lennon Airport has a capacity of 7 million passengers a year[42] and consists of an arrivals and departures hall, both connected within short walking distance of each other. There are no jetbridges or travelators at Liverpool, requiring passengers to walk to/from the departure/arrival halls and gates.
There are a number of retail and food outlets located within the airport such as Boots, Burger King, Frankie & Benny's, Starbucks, WHSmith and a number of bars and cafe's. There is also a World Duty Free retail section for departing passengers.
Airport directors
Captain Harold James Andrews was appointed as the first Airport Manager in July 1932, and he was effectively the first full-time professional co-ordinator for the whole project. Jack Chadwick took over many of the management functions post-war until 1961. That year there was a traffic increase of 42%, attributed to the first airport marketing campaign initiated by the new Airport Director, Wing Commander H.W.G.Andrews.[43]
In the late 1960s, Brian Trunkfield MBE was a much-respected Assistant Director, and Keith Porter took over as Airport Director in the days when The Beatles were regular passengers.[44] Chris Preece, a former executive of British Aerospace, was Airport Director during much of the British Aerospace years of ownership, replaced by Rod Rufus and then Rod Hill, who brought in Direct Holidays, part of the MyTravel Group on a commercial deal which was to prove the market for easyJet. Neil Pakey took over as managing director in 2002, taking the airport through its major passenger growth years.
On selling the airport to Vancouver Airport Services in 2010, the former Operations Director for Vancouver Airport, Craig Richmond, took over, and on 1 March 2013, Matthew Thomas, also from Vancouver Airport Services (by then renamed Vantage Airport Group), was appointed to the role.[45] Andrew Cornish held the CEO position from September 2014 until the end of June 2017.[46] John Irving became the new CEO with effect from 12 March 2018.[47]
Airlines and destinations
The following airlines operate regular scheduled flights to and from Liverpool:[48]
Statistics
Passengers and aircraft movements
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Year | Passenger numbers | Aircraft movements | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Total | % change (year on year) |
Total | % change (year on year) | |
1997 | 689,468 | – | 83,354 | – |
1998 | 873,172 | 26.6 | 86,871 | 4.2 |
1999 | 1,304,959 | 49.5 | 75,489 | 13.1 |
2000 | 1,982,711 | 51.9 | 76,257 | 1.0 |
2001 | 2,253,398 | 13.7 | 74,659 | 2.1 |
2002 | 2,835,871 | 25.8 | 74,313 | 0.5 |
2003 | 3,177,009 | 12.0 | 84,405 | 13.6 |
2004 | 3,353,350 | 5.6 | 85,393 | 1.2 |
2005 | 4,411,243 | 31.5 | 92,970 | 8.9 |
2006 | 4,963,886 | 12.5 | 91,263 | 1.8 |
2007 | 5,468,510 | 10.2 | 86,668 | 5.0 |
2008 | 5,334,152 | 2.5 | 84,890 | 2.1 |
2009 | 4,884,494 | 8.4 | 79,298 | 6.6 |
2010 | 5,013,940 | 2.7 | 68,164 | 14.0 |
2011 | 5,251,161 | 4.7 | 69,055 | 1.3 |
2012 | 4,463,257 | 15.0 | 60,270 | 12.7 |
2013 | 4,187,439 | 6.2 | 55,839 | 7.4 |
2014 | 3,986,654 | 4.8 | 52,249 | 6.4 |
2015 | 4,301,495 | 7.9 | 55,905 | 7.0 |
2016 | 4,778,939 | 11.1 | 62,441 | 11.7 |
2017 | 4,901,157 | 3.0 | 56,643 | 9.0 |
2018 | 5,042,312 | 3.0 | 59,320 | 5.0 |
2019 | 5,043,975 | 0.0 | 58,968 | 1.0 |
2020 | 1,338,000 | 73.5 | 13,300 | 77.5 |
2021 | 1,165,508 | 1.1 | 13,233 | 1.0 |
2022 | 3,490,844 | 199.5 | 26,766 | 102.2 |
Route statistics
Rank | Airport | Total passengers |
Change 2021–22 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Belfast–International | 412,179 | 56.1% |
2 | Dublin | 338,156 | 369.3% |
3 | Alicante |
192,050 | 163.6% |
4 | Málaga | 190,534 | 164.2% |
5 | Palma de Mallorca | 156,364 | 196.7% |
6 | Isle of Man | 154,439 | 149.1% |
7 | Amsterdam | 143,256 | 1,237.7% |
8 | Faro | 141,824 | 151.3% |
9 | Barcelona | 117,838 | 466.5% |
10 | Jersey | 99,937 | 108.4% |
11 | Knock |
83,846 | 180.7% |
12 | Kraków |
73,898 | 216.4% |
13 | Tenerife–South | 71,690 | 510.4% |
14 | Geneva | 58,743 | 3,147.3% |
15 | Cork | 56,486 | 477.5% |
16 | Bucharest |
52,704 | 477.5% |
17 | Rome–Fiumicino | 47,261 | 842.6% |
18 | Warsaw–Modlin | 46,869 | 152.1% |
19 | Lanzarote | 46,378 | 266.6% |
20 | Nice | 41,833 | 924.1% |
Ground transport
Liverpool John Lennon Airport is within
Road
The airport is accessible from the A533 / Runcorn Widnes Bridge and Mersey Gateway Bridge to the South and from the M57 and Knowsley Expressway to the north.[71]
Rail
The nearest
Bus and coach
Regular bus services link the airport with surrounding urban areas,operated by Arriva North West and Merseytravel.
Facilities
Hotels
The original terminal building dating from the late 1930s, famously seen on 1960s television footage with its terraces packed with Beatles fans, was part of the Marriott chain of hotels. It became the Crowne Plaza Liverpool John Lennon Airport Hotel after a renovation in August 2008.
The Hampton by Hilton Liverpool/John Lennon Airport is one of four
There is also a
Accidents and incidents
- On 20 July 1965 Vickers Viscount G-AMOL of Cambrian Airways crashed on approach from Isle of Man Airport, killing the two crew members onboard as well as two people on the ground.[73]
- On 10 May 2001 McDonnell Douglas MD-83 EC-FXI) was substantially damaged when the starboard undercarriage collapsed on landing from Palma de Mallorca Airport. All 51 people on board evacuated via the escape slides. It was repaired and returned to service 5 months later.[74]
See also
- The Yellow Submarine sculpture, previously displayed in Liverpool's Albert Dock, is now outside the airport entrance.
Bibliography
- Phil Butler Liverpool Airport - an Illustrated History. Tempus Publishing, Stroud, 2004. ISBN 0-7524-3168-4.
- ISBN 2-85822-328-9, S. 32–61.
- Bob Hawkins (ed.): Historic airports. Proceedings of the international "L'Europe de l'Air" conferences on Aviation Architecture Liverpool (1999), Berlin (2000), Paris (2001). English Heritage, London 2005, ISBN 1-873592-83-3.
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External links
Media related to Liverpool (Speke) Airport at Wikimedia Commons
Media related to Liverpool John Lennon Airport at Wikimedia Commons