Anglesey Airport

Anglesey Airport
Maes Awyr Môn
RAF Valley
Summary
Airport type Military/Public
Operator Operon
Serves Anglesey
Gwynedd
Location Llanfair yn Neubwll, Isle of Anglesey
Elevation AMSL 37 ft / 11 m
Coordinates 53°14′53″N 004°32′07″W / 53.24806°N 4.53528°W / 53.24806; -4.53528Coordinates: 53°14′53″N 004°32′07″W / 53.24806°N 4.53528°W / 53.24806; -4.53528
Website Anglesey Airport
Map
EGOV
Location of airport in Anglesey
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
01/19 1,639 5,377 Asphalt
08/26 1,280 4,200 Asphalt
14/32 2,290 7,513 Asphalt
Source: DAFIF[1][2]

Anglesey Airport (Maes Awyr Môn) (IATA: VLY, ICAO: EGOV) is an airport owned by the Isle of Anglesey County Council on land leased from the Defence Infrastructure Organisation. The airport is situated at Llanfair yn Neubwll on the Isle of Anglesey, Wales. The leased site is part of RAF Valley, an RAF station teaching RAF pilots using BAE Hawks.

History

Plans put forward in early 2006 by the National Assembly for Wales have led to a subsidised weekday air service between the airport and Cardiff Airport, 12 miles west of the Welsh capital in the hope of improving the economy of Anglesey and North Wales in general. The twice daily service began in May 2007.

For residents of Anglesey, the air service is significantly quicker than surface transport. Gate-to-gate travel time to Cardiff is around 1 hour. However passenger usage is very low. Holyhead railway station had 237,000 passengers in 2012-2013, and even the small station near the airport Valley railway station with 17,968 annual passengers far surpassed the usage of the airport.

The passenger terminal is a single storey building consisting of a check-in desk, departure lounge and baggage handling areas as well as other visitor information areas. The terminal, completed in 2007, was designed by MAP architects and cost £1,000,000.[3] The publicly funded building contract was given to the construction company Yorkon. The building was built off site and brought to the airport when finished.

The airport's principal stakeholders are RAF Valley, The Senedd, the Isle of Anglesey County Council and Cardiff Airport.

In March 2018, flights between Anglesey Airport and Cardiff Airport were suspended due to a Hawk aircraft from the Red Arrows crashing onto the runway. Domestic flights were being diverted to Hawarden Airport in Flintshire with coaches transporting passengers between Valley and Hawarden.[4]

Airline and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
Flybe Cardiff

On 13 March 2017 the service was taken over by Eastern Airways using a Jetstream 41 operating under the Flybe franchise.[5]

The previous service between Anglesey Cardiff was operated by Links Air. On 21 October 2015 the CAA suspended Links Air's operating certificate[6] over safety concerns, stating that, "Safety is always our first priority and we will always take action when necessary to protect the travelling public."

Statistics

Passenger numbers for flights to Cardiff from Anglesey Airport
YearDestinationPassengers handledPercentage Change
2007Cardiff Airport8,553Steady Airport Opens
2008Cardiff Airport13,471Increase 58%
2009Cardiff Airport11,846Decrease 12%
2010Cardiff Airport7,816Decrease 34%
2011Cardiff Airport9,605Increase 13%
2012Cardiff Airport8,594Decrease 11%
2013Cardiff Airport8,540Decrease <1%
2014Cardiff Airport8,786Increase 3%
2015Cardiff Airport10,860Increase 24%
2016Cardiff Airport9,187Decrease 15%
2017Cardiff Airport13,045Increase 42%

Source: UK Civil Aviation Authority 2008 2009 2010 201120122013 2014 2015 2016

References

  1. ↑ Airport information for EGOV at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.Source: DAFIF.
  2. ↑ Airport information for EGOV at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective October 2006).
  3. ↑ "Yorkon Completes £1m Off-Site Contract to Build Terminal for First Civilian Airport on Anglsey" (PDF). Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  4. ↑ "Fatal Red Arrows crash inquiry continues". BBC News. 21 March 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  5. ↑ "Eastern Airways Flybe Franchise". Eastern Airways website.
  6. ↑ "Official Record Series 2 Number 2176" (PDF). United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.