Liverpool John Lennon Airport

Liverpool John Lennon Airport
Characteristics
ICAO code	EGGP
IATA code	LPL
Coordinates	53 ° 20 '1 "  N , 2 ° 50' 59"  W Coordinates: 53 ° 20 '1 "  N , 2 ° 50' 59"  W
Height above MSL	24 m (79  ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center	12 km southeast of Liverpool
Street	10 km to and 5 km to and
Local transport	bus
Basic data
opening	1933
operator	Liverpool Airport plc.
Passengers	4,778,939 (2016)
Air freight	270 t (2016)
Flight movements	62,441 (2016)
Start-and runway
09/27	2286 m × 46 m asphalt

The Liverpool John Lennon Airport ( IATA : LPL , ICAO : EGGP ) is the international passenger airport of the English city Liverpool .

history

Exterior view

Check-in hall of the airport

Foundation and first years

Scheduled flights started from this airport as early as 1930 under its first name Speke Airport , although it was not officially opened until the summer of 1933. In the late 1930s, when the demand for flights from Liverpool increased ( e.g. for flights to Ireland ), a passenger terminal, a control tower and two large aircraft hangars were built .

During the Second World War , the airport was taken over by the Royal Air Force as RAF Speke . Rootes Motors built many bombers there; American Lockheeds sent to Liverpool from the United States were assembled.

In 1966, Speke received a new runway, 2,286 meters (7,500 feet ) east of the old runway . This allowed the airport to operate 24 hours a day and is still in use today. In 1986 a modern passenger terminal replaced the old terminal from the 1930s.

Development since the 1990s

In 1990 the airport was privatized. The largest shareholder was British Aerospace with 76%. The airport is now fully owned by Peel Holdings Ltd. The construction of a 42.5 million pound (approx. 63 million euros ) new terminal, which began in 2000 , has tripled the size and passenger capacity. The construction work was completed in 2002. Nevertheless, the equipment at the airport, which is mainly used for 'low-cost' flights, is still quite simple, which often requires long walks to and from the passenger planes.

In honor of Beatles founding member John Lennon , the airport was given its current name in 2002, 22 years after Lennon's murder. A larger than life bronze statue of the musician adorns the stairway from the check-in hall; also is the slogan of the airport - a line from Lennon's song Imagine  - seen on the roof: Above us only sky (ger .: About us only the sky ). In the terminal building there are various text passages from songs by the Beatles on the walls; in front of the same, the Yellow Submarine from the film of the same name awaits John and his comrades in proper style.

In September 2006, the reconstruction and renovation of the new southern runway, which was originally opened in 1966, began. In addition, the runway lighting was replaced by a new system to connect the airport to the ILS Cat. III standards. In addition, an unusual source of income has been found at the security checks: instead of making the entire security area available to all passengers as usual, a separate area called Fast Lane has been created, which is only accessible for a fee of currently £ 3. This measure causes unusually long waiting times for passengers who are not willing to pay in the regular area, which is significantly reduced in capacity, which is intended to drive travelers without sufficient time into the arms of faster handling against payment.

Liverpool John Lennon Airport was recently one of the fastest growing airports in Europe: from 1998 to 2006, passenger numbers rose by 570% from 875,000 to 4.96 million (2006).

Location and transport links

The airport is located about twelve kilometers from the city center at the mouth of the River Mersey .

The airport can be reached quickly via the M53 , M56 , M57 and M62 motorways. The Knowsley Expressway connects Knowsley, Prescot and Huyton to Speke Boulevard. In addition, regular buses connect the airport directly with the city centers of Liverpool and Manchester, as well as with Manchester Airport . Despite conflicts with the airport management (taxi drivers are expected to give up £ 2,500 per year), a taxi service is also offered.

There is no train station directly at the airport; the closest is on Liverpool South Parkway , which has regular shuttle buses.

Airlines and Destinations

Liverpool John Lennon Airport serves as the base for the two low-cost airlines Ryanair and easyJet , which also serve most European cities and holiday destinations from here. The only other companies currently flying to the airport are Wizz Air , Flybe and Blue Air . German-speaking destinations are currently Berlin-Schönefeld Airport and, seasonally, Salzburg with easyJet.

Incidents

After the end of the war, numerous former fighter planes such as the Consolidated Liberator were used by civil airlines, mostly for cargo flights. This also resulted in accidents and total losses.

• On October 13, 1948, a Consolidated B-24 Liberator II of Scottish Airlines ( aircraft registration G-AHZP ) was approached too low at Liverpool-Speke Airport and grazed street lights outside the airport. The aircraft was irreparably damaged in the subsequent crash landing. All 4 crew members of the cargo flight survived.

literature

• Phil Butler: Liverpool Airport - an Illustrated History . Tempus Publishing, ISBN 0-7524-3168-4 .
• Gabi Dolff-Bonekämper : Berlin-Tempelhof. In: Berlin-Tempelhof , Liverpool-Speke, Paris-Le Bourget . Années 30 Architecture des aéroports, Airport Architecture of the Thierties, airport architecture of the thirties. Éditions du patrimoine, Paris 2000, ISBN 2-85822-328-9 , pp. 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 .

Web links

Commons : Liverpool John Lennon Airport  - collection of images

• Website of Liverpool John Lennon Airport (english)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Passenger numbers at all airports in the United Kingdom. (PDF; 79 KB) In: caa.co.uk. Civil Aviation Authority , accessed May 13, 2017 .  
2. ↑ Freight figures from all UK airports. (PDF; 12 KB) In: caa.co.uk. Civil Aviation Authority , accessed May 13, 2017 .  
3. ↑ Aircraft movements at all UK airports. (PDF; 157 KB) In: caa.co.uk. Civil Aviation Authority , accessed May 13, 2017 .  
4. ^ Accident report B-24 Liberator G-AHZP , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on October 27, 2019.