Post by yerblues1968 on Aug 18, 2008 1:24:39 GMT -5
LIVERPOOL JOHN LENNON AIRPORT
HISTORY
Liverpool John Lennon Airport is an airport serving the English city of Liverpool. Formerly known as Speke Airport and RAF Speke, the airport is located adjacent to the estuary of the River Mersey some 7.5 miles (12 km) south-east of the centre of Liverpool.
Rare color photo of Brian Epstein at Liverpool Airport
in mid-1967, provided by Eppylover.
Liverpool is one of the UK's oldest operational Airport's, first thought of as an idea in 1928 and in July 2008 the Airport is due to celebrate its 75th Anniversary with the 'official' opening ceremony having taken place on 1 July 1933.
Aerial view of the partially built terminal in 1938. An Aerial view of the old North airfield site of Liverpool John Lennon Airport and another aerial view of Liverpool John Lennon Airport apron area.
Situated some seven miles South East of Liverpool City Centre and adjacent to the River Mersey, the Airport location was chosen for three reasons which are still important benefits for the Airport today.
• Close proximity to the City of Liverpool and surrounding community.
• Ideal geography of the site for aircraft movements.
• Excellent year round weather record (fog is rare).
In recent years it has been one of Europe's fastest growing airports, having increased its annual passenger numbers from 875,000 in 1998 to 5.47 million in 2007. The growth rate was 10.2% in 2007. 500,000 passengers were handled in one month, for the first time, during May 2007.
Liverpool Airport as seen in 1984 before terminal renovation in 1986.
Evening photograph of the Marriott Liverpool South Hotel and a view of the interior.
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 adapted to become the Marriott Liverpool South Hotel, preserving its Grade II listed art deco style. Some segments of the aprons and taxiways adjacent to the terminal remain, used primarily for car parking, but also home to the bodyshell of a retired passenger airliner. Much of the rest of the site is allocated for redevelopment as of 2008.
Control Tower Marriott Liverpool South Hotel.
In 1966, a new 7,500-foot (2,300 m) runway was opened on a new site to the south-east 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 then, ten 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, and this was followed by the closure of the original 1930s building.
OWNERSHIP
In 1990 ownership of the airport was privatized, 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 its size and passenger capacity, and this development was completed in 2002. There have since been further extensions. The airport's strategy is to cater largely for 'low cost' operators, and consequently the layout of the terminal and gates requires passengers to walk unprotected from the weather to and from passenger aircraft. Destinations served are located throughout Europe, the 2007 scheduled services to USA and Canada having been withdrawn.
Today Liverpool John Lennon Airport is a wholly owned subsidiary of Peel Holdings p.l.c., the North West based property and transport company. Peel acquired a 76% majority shareholding in 1997 from British Aerospace with the remaining shares held by the five Merseyside Local Authorities. On 9 May 2001 Peel Airports (Liverpool) Limited acquired the remaining 24% shareholding.
AIRPORT REBRANDING
Yoko Ono at Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
n July 2001 Yoko Ono visited the Airport to announce a renaming and rebranding to Liverpool John Lennon Airport. This coincided with the construction and subsequent future completion of the new look Airport and in honour of her late husband as a fitting, lasting tribute to the former Beatle who originated from Liverpool. The Airport became the first in the UK to be named after an individual.
The new logo for the Airport included the famous self portrait drawing by John Lennon and the strapline above us only sky, taken from the lyrics of Lennon's Imagine, one of the most popular songs of all time.
The John Lennon Statue
The renaming and rebranding was completed in March 2002 when Yoko Ono returned to the Airport to jointly unveil a 7ft. bronze statue of John Lennon by well known local sculptor Tom Murphy. The imposing statue is sited on the main passenger walkway overlooking the check-in hall and is clearly visible to all Airport users.
The Yellow Submarine
A short video of the Yellow Submarine at Liverpool JLA (0:51 minutes)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aAxWt9OUdI
Continuing with the Beatles theme, in July 2005 Liverpool John Lennon Airport and Liverpool City Council 'launched' the famous giant Yellow Submarine at its new home at the front of the Airport terminal building. Visible to all passengers and visitors arriving at the airport the Yellow Submarine is expected to become another focal point and photo opportunity for Beatles fans and passengers alike as is the Airport's John Lennon statue.
JOHN LENNON AIRPORT'S COLLECTION 08
JLA recently launched its Collection 08 which is a unique collection of photography, art and other exhibits which are on display in and around the Airport terminal.
Lennon's Lyrics by Portuguese artist, Rigo 23
Paul Saltzman's photographs of the Beatles in India.
Photographic exhibitions of Harry Goodwin.
Two of John Lennon's suits
on loan to JLA by Brian Fisher.
The collection includes Lennon's Lyrics by Portuguese artist, Rigo 23, Paul Saltzman's super-sized photographs of the Beatles in India showcased in seven giant light boxes in the Airport departure lounge, Tom Murphy's sculpture of the famous John Lennon statue, two photographic exhibitions by Harry Goodwin and two of John Lennon's suits loaned to JLA by private collector Brian Fisher. More detailed information on JLA's Collection 08 can be found on the Airport's website, www.liverpoolairport.com and by clicking on the Art at the Airport pod.
In addition to this the Airport also launched JLA's Fossil Mystery Tour guide. The guide was kindly produced in partnership with a local geologist from the Liverpool Geological Society to give passengers and visitors the opportunity to explore what creatures once shared their footsteps more than 250 million years ago. It highlights the main types of fossils which can be clearly seen in the limestone floor slabs across the terminal building and also offers a Fossil Mystery Tour around the terminal.
AIRPORT BUSINESS
Since the Peel Group took control of Liverpool John Lennon Airport, passenger numbers have increased eight fold, with 5.5 million passengers using Liverpool in 2007. The Airport continues to move up the league table of U.K. airports (12th largest in 2006) and remains one of the fastest growing regional airports (CAA passenger statistics 2006).
Regular scheduled services are currently available to 69 domestic and European destinations, whilst holiday charter flights with the UK's top tour operators serve a range of popular holiday resorts during the Summer season. Of most significance though is the fact that Liverpool is a base for Europe's two largest low cost airlines; easyJet and Ryanair.
easyJet
easyJet, the popular low cost carrier began flights from Liverpool in 1997 and now has eight aircraft based at the Airport, offering a choice of 20 routes to main city airports across Europe, carrying around 2.45 million passengers a year through JLA in 2007. By 2010, easyJet will add two more aircraft to their Liverpool base to take their total to 10 and continue to grow passenger throughput at JLA.
Ryanair
Ryanair, have operated flights from Dublin to Liverpool since the late 1980's and Europe's largest low cost airline signed a 10 year agreement with the Airport early in 2002 for route expansion. The Irish carrier has seven 189 seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft based at Liverpool and as from spring the carrier will serve 42 destinations in total. At the end of 2007 Ryanair carried 2.36 passengers through JLA.
Wizz Air, Euromax and Flybe Airlines
A number of other UK and European airlines also operate a range of scheduled services both domestically and into Europe. These include low cost airlines such as Wizz Air, Euromanx and Flybe.
EXPANSION OF JOHN LENNON AIRPORT - FROM 2001 TO PRESENT DAY
During Peel's ownership of the Airport, they have invested around £100m in a range of infrastructure works including a new terminal building, control tower, hangars, apron extensions, runway refurbishing and upgrading and other ancillary projects. Many of these projects have also received support through the European Objective One programme.
Expansion design of Liverpool John Lennon Airport as of 2006.
Work on the new look terminal started in late 2000 paving the way for the future development of business at Liverpool John Lennon Airport, with an increased commitment to airlines, tour operators, and passengers.
The new passenger terminal building now handles the growing volumes of passengers in a modern, spacious environment, offering the highest levels of customer service. Work not only increased the number of terminal check-in desks to 46, but also saw the improvement of baggage handling facilities as well as the arrivals and departures process.
Major improvements were also made with the opening of a wide range of branded retail and catering facilities resulting in added passenger comfort and importantly the creation of further new jobs. Car parking capacity was also increased to accommodate the growing number of passengers. In July 2002 Her Majesty The Queen officially opened the new building.
In 2005, additional developments included a new bus-lounge used to transfer passengers to aircraft, additional arrivals baggage carousels, three additional aircraft stands and operational accommodation.
More recently, work to construct a 157 bedroom three star plus hotel and an 869 space multi-storey car has begun. A short stay multi-storey car park with parking over 5 levels with a 6 story hotel on top is being built on the site of the existing car park directly opposite the terminal. The £25 million development is expected to take around 18 months to complete and to be open by Spring 2009.
AWARD WINNING AIRPORT
In recent years, the importance and success of the Airport has been recognised both locally and within the travel industry with the Airport receiving a number of awards.
Last year, Liverpool John Lennon Airport (JLA) achieved the accolade of UK Airport of the Year 2007 for the first time, at the prestigious annual Travel Trade Gazette (TTG) awards night. JLA fought of stiff competition to win the UK Airport of the Year Award 2007 having been short listed against Manchester, Birmingham, East Midlands, London Luton and Bristol Airports.
During 2006 JLA was awarded a special commendation at the International Route Development Forum - Routes. The Airport was nominated by airlines at the OAG Airport Marketing Awards in the category Airports handling under 5 million passengers annually.
Routes is the annual event for airlines and airports to explore new route opportunities and the awards are some of the most prestigious within the aviation industry. The world's top airlines and airports attended the event which was held in the Danish capital Copenhagen.
In May 2005 Liverpool John Lennon Airport became the runner-up in the category Best Marketing Campaign 2005 at the 23rd OAG Airline of the Year Awards. The Airport was nominated for this award following the introduction of this category the previous year enabling both airlines and airports to enter. The winner of this category was Emirates, with Liverpool John Lennon Airport taking second place.
The awards are some of the most prestigious within the aviation industry and some of the world's top airlines and airports attended the awards evening in London, with awards in other categories going to the likes of Singapore Airlines, Continental Airlines and Singapore Changi Airport.
In 2004 JLA received the International Business of the Year Award at the prestigious Liverpool Daily Post Regional Business Awards 2004, in recognition of its role in linking Merseyside with the continent of Europe. Undoubtedly a factor in the City's successful bid to become European Capital of Culture in 2008, the tourism benefits for Merseyside of having its own high quality, expanding airport are clear as more Europeans look to visit the region.
During 2002 the Airport won the prestigious Fred Camenisch Award for its outstanding contribution towards tourism on Merseyside at the 2002 Mersey Tourism Awards held in early 2003. The award was presented in recognition of the role that the Airport has played in bringing a growing number of visitors, particularly from Europe to the region.
Yoko Ono Accepts Honor In Renaming Airpot in John Lennon's Memory
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/yoko-lands-in-liverpool-to-help-john-join-an-elite-band-676440.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_John_Lennon_Airport
www.liverpoolairport.com/page.php?p=5