enplaning of passengers; ultimately helping
complete 30-minute turnarounds.
It was also designed to maximise revenue
opportunities to help create a win-win position
between the airport operator and the airlines.
Low-cost airlines need to keep costs to a
minimum, including airport charges, which
makes it vital for the airport to gain revenue
from passengers.
This is, in effect, the ‘contract’ that airlines
and airports enter into: Charge us very little to
bring our airliners to your airport and we will
bring you thousands of potential customersto the duty-free shops, car parks and other
concessions.
Liverpool’s strategy to become a hub
for low-cost airlines seems to be paying off.
Following the easyJet deal, Hungarian carrier
Wizz Air started flights to Budapest, Warsaw
and Katowice with a based Airbus A320 in- Ryanair, which had been operating from
LJLA since 1988, also made Liverpool one
of its bases in 2005. Four aircraft served 13
destinations, with Italy and Spain the focus.
Neil Pakey, the airport’s managing director
at the time, said: “Ryanair’s commitment is
a clear coming of age for Liverpool John
Lennon Airport, bringing around a further 1m
passengers through the airport next year.”
In 2014 the airport attracted the Romanian
airline, Blue Air. In March last year the carrier
opened a base with a single 737-800 adding
services to Milan, Hamburg, Rome and
Alicante in addition to its original flights to and
from Romania. From June 2, the company will
operate twice weekly departures to Palma.FREIGHT
Cargo throughput, however, is not such a
success. In the past, Liverpool airport had
strong national newspaper and postal traffic,
peaking at nearly 47,000 tons at the turn of
the millennium, of which just in excess of
17,000 tons was mail. This was an era when
the big Fleet Street newspapers had a few
major printing presses strategically placed
around the country. Papers were shipped
out, many by air, to ensure they were on sale
first thing in the morning in remoter areas.
News International had a large site at
Knowsley, about ten miles from the airport,
and Emerald Airways/Reed Aviation BAe 748s
were used in the first stage of distribution.
Reed even named one of the aircraft The
Paper Plane and it sported a folded paper
airplane logo on the tail.
Print technologies changed and smaller
printing plants around the UK took over, leading
to a reduction in the need for air transport.
During 2006/2007 cargo traffic from
LJLA was almost annihilated. TNT had
terminated its operation, all newspaper
traffic disappeared, and Royal Mail switched
to roads and railways. This, and the move
towards specialising in low-cost operators,
which do not want hold cargo, led to just
270 tonnes of freight being handled in 2016,
dropping further to 130 tonnes last year.PASSENGER NUMBERS
The new airlines and the expansion of
existing operators from 2000 helped LJLA to
consistently increase passenger numbers to
nearly 5.4m by the end of 2008.
However, numbers then began to fluctuate
around the 5m mark, and in 2012-2014, due to
the economic recession and competition from
other UK airports, Liverpool went into decline.
More airlines and more destinations have,
however, driven a recovery and in 2016 4.83m
passengers passed through its doors, rising
to just shy of 5m in 2017 – a 3% year-on-year
increase. It is now the 12th busiest airport in
the UK, up from 20th in the mid-1990s.
The airport now covers 579,000 acres
(2,343km²) with the three-storey terminal
around 430,000sq ft (40,000m²).
Given the type of operations, passengers
travel almost exclusively to European
destinations and a large percentage on
aircraft based at LJLA. This generates daily
movements in three waves. Aircraft leave in
the early morning and then return to create the
next surge of departures at around lunchtime.
They’re back again in the late afternoon/early
evening for the next outbound wave.
During the downtime, easyJet makes use
of its line maintenance facility to carry out
work on its based aircraft.
Ryanair has four 737-800s year-round,
and five in summer, Blue Air has one 737-800
with Wizz Air’s single A320 now flying to six
destinations in Poland, Latvia and Hungary.
Other operators are flybe, serving the
Isle of Man – one of the oldest routes out of
Liverpool – and, during the summer season,
TUI offers holiday charters to Palma on
Majorca and Ibiza.http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 23The departure lounge has a range of food and retail outlets. Martyn
Cartledge/aspphotography.netFlybe operates to the Isle of Man, one of the oldest routes from Liverpool. Martyn Cartledge/aspphotography.netThe check-in area is dominated by the colour schemes of the major
operators. Key-Andy MartinBEATLES REMEMBERED
There is a very Beatles feel to the airport. In
addition to the statue and photographs of John
Lennon, there are quotes from his songs on many
of the internal terminal walls. There is also a
model of a vivid yellow submarine situated just
before the drop-off area, a nod to the band’s 1966
hit and film of the same name.20-24_liverpoolDC.mfDC.mfDC.indd 23 02/03/2018 14:01