Newquay Cornwall Airport
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| Newquay Cornwall Airport RAF St. Mawgan |
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| IATA: NQY – ICAO: EGDG | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Military | ||
| Operator | Cornwall Airport Ltd. | ||
| Serves | Newquay | ||
| Location | Cornwall, United Kingdom | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 390 ft / 119 m | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 12/30 | 9,006 | 2,745 | Asphalt |
Newquay Cornwall Airport (IATA: NQY, ICAO: EGDG) is the main commercial airport for Cornwall, South West England, 7 kilometres northeast of Newquay on Cornwall's north coast. It is based at RAF St Mawgan, utilising the RAF's runway and fire service. The airport is conveniently located close to attractions such as The Eden Project, National Maritime Museum Cornwall and Tate St Ives.
The runway is able to take the very largest and fastest of civil and military aircraft, having been built and maintained for decades as a USAAF strategic nuclear bomber base[citation needed]. With the end of the Cold war and changes in American political priorities, the Americans will be pulling out of all involvement with the base by the end of 2012. British government policies and resources alone could no longer sustain the RAF involvement, but Cornwall has been left with a well-equipped facility, with the runway capable of handling aircraft such as the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747.
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[edit] Future expansion of the airport
The new terminal extension has increased the terminal size by 20%, and was opened in 2006. This means the airport can handle as many as 450,000 passengers a year. The airport is continuing to grow, due to popularity and increased flights, now known to be one of the fastest growing regional facilities in the UK. In January 2008, Cornwall County Council approved plans for an expanded arrivals hall and departure lounge; a new retail outlet; a business lounge and a new CAA approved fire station pending Cornwall County Council approval. The expansion of the airport has been criticised by a number of environmental groups. This opposition is based not only on environmental concerns (given that the majority of flights are short-haul and to destinations that could be served by rail), but also socio-economic concerns that airport expansion will lead to a greater demand for second homes in Cornwall, adding to already inflated local house prices.[1]
On the 23rd May 2008, the new arrivals and baggage reclaim area was opened; now allowing both domestic and international flights to simultaneously be processed unlike the old arrivals hall.
[edit] History of the airfield
The airfield was originally opened in 1933 as a civilian facility, but was requisitioned at the outbreak of World War II and named RAF Trebelzue to support other bases in the Cornwall area. The base was then renamed RAF St Mawgan 1943, after expansion. The facility was then handed to the USAAF where a number of improvements took place, including the building of a new control tower and expansion of the current runway. The airfield was then put under maintenance in 1947, and reopened as a Coastal Command base in 1951. Since 1951, the base has seen various squadrons based; including 220 SQN (later renamed 201), 228 SQN (later renamed 206), 42 SQN, 7 SQN, 2625 SQN and 1 SQN- the latter two have since been disbanded, with the others relocated or closed. In 2005, RAF St Mawgan was one of the bases shortlisted to house the new Joint Combat Aircraft (JCA) in 2013, but in November 2005, it was announced by Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram, that the operation would be based from Scotland. Helicopter maintenance (HMF) also ceased here in late 2006.
[edit] Passenger fee
In 2006 the airport introduced a £5 per passenger airport development fee, payable by all departing passengers via an ATM type machine prior to passing security. This resulted in Monarch Airlines axing its only route from the airport (to Malaga) and Ryanair reducing the amount of flights from two to just one per day, although Ryanair have recently announced increased frequency on their London Stansted service for 2008.
[edit] Withdrawal of the RAF
The flying operations at the RAF Base on the opposite side of the runway RAF St. Mawgan will cease in August of 2008. The Fire and Rescue Service at St Mawgan is run by the MOD but is not RAF operated. The firefighters at the base stand to lose their jobs along with many other locally employed staff. As the airfield is manned for Cat3a all flights coming in to the airport that are above Cat3a (737 and other large aircraft) will have to be covered by firefighters working overtime as they have been doing for the Ryanair and British Airways aircraft thus far. The civil airport is having to take over the running of the airfield that is presently being run by the RAF.
[edit] Recent route expansion announcements
Winter 2007 has seen a variety of new route announcements from Newquay Cornwall Airport, both from existing carriers and also new airlines; including bmibaby starting services to Manchester at the end of March and German carrier Lufthansa commencing services to Düsseldorf from June.
Air Southwest have also announced major expansion for 2008 with new routes from Newquay to Grenoble, Newcastle and Glasgow, along with the resumption of its Cork services.
Exeter-based Flybe have confirmed new routes to Birmingham, Southampton, Glasgow, Isle of Man and Jersey. Rumours on the PPRuNe message board have also speculated on Flybe starting their own flights to London Gatwick.
On the 19th March 2008 Flybe also added Jersey to the Newquay schedule with a once weekly service to operate on Saturdays from 24th May until 27th September 2008.
Local airline Skybus have taken up a route previously operated by Air Southwest to fly from Newquay Cornwall Airport to Cardiff and a totally new route to St Brieuc in Brittany. A surprise announcement was also made by Ryanair on the 18th December 2007 regarding their operation at Newquay. London Stansted will return to twice daily in 2008 and new routes will be added from Newquay to Girona and Alicante.
[edit] Airlines and destinations
- Air Malta (One off flight to Malta on 11 November)
- Air Southwest (Bristol, Cork, Dublin, Glasgow-International, Grenoble [begins 20 December, seasonal], Leeds/Bradford, London-Gatwick, Manchester, Newcastle, Plymouth)
- bmibaby (Manchester)
- British Airways (London-Gatwick)
- Flybe (Belfast-City, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow-International [ends 2 August], Isle of Man [seasonal])
- Isles of Scilly Skybus (Isles of Scilly, Cardiff, St. Brieuc)
- Lufthansa (Düsseldorf) [begins 21 June]
- Ryanair (Alicante, Girona, London-Stansted)
[edit] References
- ^ Groundswell Cornwall, Newquay Airport The Case Examined, revised October 2007. Accessed February 9, 2008.
[edit] External links
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