Aviation News incorporating Jets June 2018M
erely mentioning the name Biggin
Hill is enough to conjure up
nostalgic mental images of Spit res
and Hurricanes scrambling to
attack waves of German bombers. Today,
it is one of the principal business aviation
airports for London – although the roar of
Merlin engines is still a regular occurrence with
Spit res leaping off the runway.
The city has more business aircraft traffic
than any other European destination and it
is still growing. The research organisation
WingX Advance reported that in November
2017, for example, there was a 23% increase
in business aircraft departures from London
Biggin Hill Airport compared with the same
period a year before. It also found that it is one
among the fastest growing airports in Europe
with a 16% increase in departures over the
whole year. Aircraft left Biggin Hill for more
than 750 destinations in 70-plus countries.
The operator, Biggin Hill Airport Ltd, has
created a thriving business aviation hub out
of a general aviation air eld, managed by ateam headed by Chairman Andrew Walters,
along with Managing Director Will Curtis
and Business Development Director Robert
Walters (son of Andrew).
Biggin Hill is open from 0630 to 2300hrs,
Monday to Friday, and 0800 to 2200hrs at the
weekends and on public holidays. There are
no airline services and so no slot restrictions.
Robert Walters outlined to Aviation News
what the airport has to offer aircraft operators:
“We can handle all major business aircraft up
to Boeing BBJs and Airbus ACJs and we are
a designated UK Port of Entry with customs
and immigration and UK Special Branch on
hand. There is full security screening for
passengers and baggage and we provide
all ground handling and fully staffed facilities
for weather information and ight planning,
together with meeting rooms and crew
facilities in our terminal building.”
The facility has an expanding customer
base and a partnership with New York’s
Teterboro Airport with the facilities promoting
each other.”Nearer home, Robert pointed out the
plethora of convenient city links: “ Biggin Hill
is just 12 miles from the centre of London
and is no more than 50 minutes by taxi.
However, many of our customers take
advantage of the London Heli-Shuttle service
[an on-demand service] which primarily uses
Castle Air Agusta AW109s for a six-minute
transfer to The London Heliport at Battersea
from where there is a complimentary
limousine service to the nal London
destination. Alternatively, they can y to the
Falcon London Heliport [on the Isle of Dogs]
which gives rapid access to Canary Wharf,
the O2 and the ExCeL exhibition centre”.
He goes on to explain that “passengers on
a business jet arriving from Washington
or Dubai can be cleared through arrival
formalities in a matter of minutes on board
their aircraft, then climb aboard the shuttle
helicopter and be at their London hotel or
office in an amazingly short time.”
The air eld now has a single
(5,932ft/1,808m) runway (03/21). TheBIGGIN HILL
ON THE RISE
London Biggin Hill Airport has been growing its business aviation
facilities in recent years, Rod Simpson reports on the developments.
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