Liverpool John Lennon Airport
Liverpool John Lennon Airport is one of
Europe's fastest growing airports, having more than
quintupled its annual passenger numbers from 875,000 in 1998 to over 4.4 million in 2005.
The airport is located 7 miles south east of the centre of
Liverpool,
England, adjacent to the Mersey Estuary.
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A Bristol Freighter Taxis at Liverpool Airport in 1961 |
Liverpool John Lennon Airport is one of the UK's oldest operational airports.
Speke Airport - its original name (pronounced
Speak) - started scheduled flights in
1930, however was 'officially' opened in the summer of
1933. In the
thirties, as air traffic from Liverpool was beginning to 'take-off' with high demand for
Irish Sea crossings, a passenger terminal and aircraft storage facilities were built. During
World War II, the airport was taken over by the
Royal Air Force and known as
RAF SpekeSpeke was witness to what is thought to be the fastest air to air combat "kill" in the
Battle of Britain and possibly of all time. Squadron Leader Denys Gillam took off in his
Hawker Hurricane from Speke to be confronted by a
Junkers 88 passing across him. As his undercarriage was still retracting he shot the Junkers down. The moment has been caught in a painting by Robert Taylor called "Fastest Victory".
In
1966, a new runway was opened on a new site to the south of the existing airfield. It enabled the airport to be open for business around the clock and is in use to this day. Control of the airport transferred to
Merseyside County Council from
Liverpool Corporation in the mid
1970s and 10 years later to the five Merseyside councils following the abolition of Merseyside County Council. A new modern passenger terminal, adjacent to the runway on the southern airfield site, opened in
1986, following the closure of the original
1930s building.
[Liverpool John Lennon Airport (2004). Liverpool John Lennon Airport History. Retrieved November 15, 2005.]In
1990 ownership of the airport was privatised, with
British Aerospace taking a 76% shareholding in the new company. Subsequently the airport has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Peel Holdings Ltd. In
2000, work on a £42.5 million modern passenger terminal began, tripling the size and increasing capacity, and this development was completed in
2002.
[ibid.] |
The terminal building at John Lennon Airport Liverpool |
2002 saw the airport being renamed in honour of the late
John Lennon, a founding member of
Liverpudlian band
The Beatles, twenty-two years after Lennon's death. A 7ft bronze statue of the local icon proudly stands overlooking the check-in hall. On the roof is painted the airport's motto, a line from Lennon's song "
Imagine": "Above us, only sky".
The original terminal building from the
1930s, famously seen on early television footage with its terraces packed with Beatles fans, was left derelict for over a decade after being replaced in
1986. However it has recently been renovated and expanded to become the Marriott Liverpool South Hotel, preserving its
Grade II listed art deco style.
[Marriott International Inc. (1996-2005). Liverpool Marriott Hotel South. Retrieved November 15, 2005.]The airport handles both
chartered and scheduled flights. It is currently served by the following
airlines:
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Aer Arann (Galway)
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easyJet (Alicante, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Basel-Mulhouse, Belfast-International, Berlin-Schönefeld, Cologne/Bonn, Faro, Geneva, Ibiza, Krakow, Mahon, Madrid, Malaga, Nice, Palma de Mallorca, Paris-Charles de Gaulle)
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Euromanx (Isle of Man)
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Flybe (Belfast City, Jersey, Southampton)
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Flyglobespan (Prague [Starts November], Newark [Starts 25 May, 2007], Tenerife [Starts November])
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MyTravel Airways Charter Flights (Alicante, Arrecife, Dalaman, Faro, Las Palmas, Palma (Majorca), Mahon, Malaga, Monastir, Reina Sofia, Reus)
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Ryanair (Bergerac, Brescia, Carcassonne, Cork, Dublin, Gerona, Granada, Inverness, Kerry, Limoges, Milan-Bergamo, Murcia, Nimes, Oslo-Torp, Pisa, Porto, Reus, Riga, Rome-Ciampino, Shannon, Treviso)
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VLM Airlines (Amsterdam, Antwerp, Brussels, Jersey, LondonCity, Luxembourg, Rotterdam)
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Wizz Air (Gdansk, Katowice, Kaunas, Warsaw)
And the
cargo airline area is served by:
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TNT AirwaysBy road, the airport is made accessible by the
M53,
M56,
M57 and
M62 motorways. The
Knowsley Expressway links Knowsley, Prescot and Huyton to
Speke Boulevard for fast access.
The airport does not have its own railway station. The nearest station is at
Liverpool South Parkway, from which there are regular bus shuttle services to the airport and direct rail links from Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham. There are also fast and frequent rail connections to Hunts Cross, Liverpool, Crosby and Southport, using the Northern Line on the Merseyrail network.
There are regular bus services linking the airport with both Liverpool and
Manchester city centres.
There is a taxi rank outside the terminal which uses London-style black cabs. Alternatives are bus services or use the Internet to hire a chauffeur-driven car for long-distance travel.
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Liverpool John Lennon Airport*
History of Speke Airport*
Liverpool John Lennon Airport Consultative Committee
