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Post by Biggles on Oct 14, 2014 19:39:17 GMT 1
NW News tonight Tuesday did a piece on the proposed closure of Bpl. Seems the blame throwing and slang matches are only just getting started. Looks to me like Balfour Beatty are blaming Jet 2 for putting profit above agreed investment and the Council he have been stagnant on the sidelines but now seem to think they have interest that may mean the airport remains an airport  ?? Such a waste if it does become another housing estate or worse still a cheap out of town shopping centre. |
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Post by supertramp on Oct 15, 2014 0:31:53 GMT 1
The back of the Marriot for the emerald,maybe.
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Post by marquis on Oct 15, 2014 9:13:59 GMT 1
I understand that (sadly) G-JEMA was scrapped in April ?
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Post by buspilot on Oct 15, 2014 13:22:12 GMT 1
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Post by 737tony1 on Oct 15, 2014 18:16:28 GMT 1
Well that's a sad day for blackpool, good luck to all the staff. Below is whats now on the airport website.
Commercial operations at Blackpool Airport will cease from 18:00 on Wednesday 15th October 2014 and the airport will no longer be open to members of the public.
Passengers who parked in the car parks prior to 15 October 2014 and returning to Blackpool after this date will have access to the site to collect their vehicles however the terminal will be closed and no new car parking will be permitted on site from 15th October 2014.
Work is currently underway with the independent aviation businesses and tenants at the airport to understand if their operations can continue in the future. Working in partnership with the local authorities, regeneration plans are also being developed which will be designed to create future employment and sustainable economic development opportunities for Blackpool and the Fylde Coast.
Thank you to all staff, tenants, passengers and customers for your support.
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Post by Samba on Oct 15, 2014 18:26:03 GMT 1
Good luck to all. My favourite airport to visit when gaining my licence.
Still remember the Lasa 60 RZG taking us around the tower early in the 60s.
Bob
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Post by acklington on Oct 16, 2014 14:28:12 GMT 1
I've just returned home after travelling for over 3 weeks, so I haven't had the opportunity to add to this thread yet.
But I do have some facts to add, which might help to understand the overall situation. I worked there for two years 1983-85, in airport management. During this time I was finishing my MBA degree, and chose the subject of Blackpool Airport, its Structure & Strategy, for my final thesis. Pity that no one took any notice of my conclusions, as things might be different now! But I think that the (then) owners didn't like my frank comments about how they were going about it.
First, some ancient history, for the record. Blackpool racecourse (the present terminal site) was the venue for the second ever British aviation meet, in 1909. Pipped by just a few days by Doncaster. Blackpool's early start was entirely due to their then Town Clerk, who was married to a French lady who had aviation connections in France. They attended early French aviation meets, and the Town Clerk was struck by the bug. Also, around this time Blackpool built it's famous Tower, copied from the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Blackpool Airport's claim to fame is that unlike Doncaster, it remained in use as an aerodrome more or less ever since, so was the first commercial airport in Britain to celebrate its 75th Anniversary, a modest event organised by your's truly.
In amongst the history files at the Airport, I found an amazing proposal, dating from 1946. There were drawings for a massive international airport to serve the North West of England, with two very long runways, and a seaplane base & terminal on the adjacent Fylde Estuary. There was plenty of flat open farmland available then. If it had gone ahead there would have been no Manchester International Airport, nor a Warton Aerodrome. But presumably funding was never available and/or the then Ministry of Aviation didn't like it.
Blackpool Council's motto is "Progress", and they certainly were progressive in their heyday, with plenty of money flowing in to the town's coffers. They built the Tower & Ballroom, created the Illuminations, built a new Aerodrome at Stanley Park (now their Zoo, hangar still there), built seaside Piers, built a Tramway system along the seafront, hosted major annual political party conferences, and transferred their Airport to Squires Gate. But the money grew short in the 1960's when holiday makers started flying to Spain, etc, and they were left with day trippers and low-income holiday makers.
The then UK Governments very tightly controlled local authority expenditure, and grant-assisted only certain council functions. Anything above that grant-aid the local councils had to fund from their own resources, and Blackpool Council has a long list of 'sacred cows' to fund, starting with the Illuminations, and the list ends with Blackpool Airport at the bottom. So eventually (following the UK Airports Act 1986, which took municipal airports out of direct council management), the operation of the airport was transferred to an operating company. I am unclear as to whether or not Blackpool Council retained ownership of the airport land and leased the site to the airport company. That is a major consideration in the current debate about its future.
The Planning situation is interesting. Blackpool Town Council owned (owns?) the airport site, but it isn't within the Town boundary. It is actually with the St.Annes municipal area, and they were (are still?) the Planning Authority. You might think that most councils wouldn't want someone else's noisy airport on their patch, but not St.Annes. They considered the open area of the airport to be an important 'green belt' that kept 'orrible brash Blackpool at arms length from their gentile residents. Also they got all of the Rates income from the airport.
The airport very rarely made a financial surplus for Blackpool Council, but it was an important asset for the town. As a seaside resort it attracted top name showbiz stars, and they often used exec aircraft to fit in as many venues as possible, before flying home to bed. With Squires Gate just 3 miles from the theatre venues, it was ideal. There was also some, but not much, incoming tourism to the resort. This was my major criticism of the Council's use of the airport. It should have been strongly promoted as an 'incoming destination' resort/fun attraction, but instead the Council was content to see the day-trippers turn up by car each weekend. As an example, the (then) rich Arabs loved the resort (no accounting for taste!), and would fly in in their private jets. That was a major clue as to how the airport should have been used. It is also convenient for incoming tourism to the Lake District.
My own market researches showed that there were enough already-travelling punters in the Blackpool Airport catchment area, to sustain a Liverpool sized airport. But most of these were already using Manchester Airport. Why? The main travel agency company in the Blackpool area also owned the main Taxi / Mini-Cab firm in the Blackpool area. And what were their most lucrative out-of-town fares - to Manchester Airport of course.
As other forum members have noted, the decline of Blackpool Airport is closely linked to the decline of Blackpool Town as an attractive destination. The airport's sole use by Jet 2 is also very expensive for the airport, as the Airport Fire Service needs to operate at Category 7 or higher for 737 jets, and ATC also has to be well-staffed. Instrument systems such as the ILS need to be of good performance and reliable, if bad-weather diversions and disruption are to be avoided. In contrast, smaller scheduled airliners such as the Let 410s could operate at Fire Category 4 (i.e. about half the fire crew and vehicles needed for a 737). Further down the scale, flight training and private exec aircraft could operate with Fire Category 2, and limited ATC staffing/qualifications. So there are a range of operating scenarios available, including even 'un-licensed' where aircraft owners and their insurance company stand their own risk. Airfields like Lasham operate on this basis, handling large empty airliners.
So I think that a Blackpool Airfield of some description might well survive. I hope so, as it truly is an historic aviation site. I have two years worth of comprehensive slide photos for 1983-85, showing it during one of its 'heyday' periods. I also have my memories of those interesting years - including the opening of the Morecambe Bay Helicopter Terminal, not by Margaret Thatcher as intended, but rather by her hastily drafted-in husband Dennis, as the Cecil Parkinson resignation scandal broke that day during the Conservative Party Conference, and Maggie became 'otherwise engaged'. I fetched several g & t's for Dennis that morning. The Blackpool Borough Engineer apparently ended up with the 'opening ceremony plaque', referring to Prime Minister Thatcher, but which stayed firmly behind closed curtains! Those were daft days!
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Post by buspilot on Oct 17, 2014 15:50:29 GMT 1
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Post by Cityflyer on Oct 18, 2014 21:03:20 GMT 1
A Possible solution and the way forward is for Blackpool Airport is to return to basics, have a small terminal and fire cover to a level that can take up to a 50 seat aircraft. The firemen then will do the Ramp Handling duties further cutting down on costs. (The fire men doing the ramp duties was used at Prestwick when the airport first became independent) This will enable the GA activities, Morecombe Bay Gas Helicopter traffic and the Scheduled flights to the IOM & Dublin to continue and give the opportunity to operate further services, all be it with small aircraft to airfields within 1000 miles
Just my thoughts on the subject, & hoping to see the Airport back in business (Without the £10.00 Terminal Development "Incompetent Operator" Fee) Yes we all remember the Pan Am $5.00 Security Levy
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Post by acklington on Oct 19, 2014 0:01:08 GMT 1
Well said Cityflyer!
The problem with anything higher than Category 6 Fire Cover, is that the rules don't allow those firemen to do other tasks. They have to be dedicated fire cover only. Which means also employing baggage handlers / ramp staff.
This wasn't always the rule, and it changed in the 1990s. Before then, at Bristol Airport, if we had a 737 arriving at night, the Firemen would be ready with their fire engines, and marshall the aircraft on to stand. But as soon as the 737 shut down its engines, the firemen would start moving bags. The CAA eventually changed the rules because there were still passengers on the 737, even though the 'flight' had officially ended with engine shutdown. There could have been a hot-brakes fire, or a refuelling incident.
So a smaller operation was indeed much more economic, allowing the combined duty crew / firecrew system to greatly reduce the number of staff required. But such a system also means that the staff have to have just one employer, which would normally be the airport. In contrast, at most 'large' airports these days the airport provides the Fire Crews (and ATC, airfield / equipment maintenance, etc), while the 'handling agent' does the passenger check-in, passenger escort, bags handling, and aircraft turn-arounds. Sometimes the 'handling agent' is an independent company, and sometimes it is part of the airline concerned.
Regarding this so-called "airport closure" at Blackpool, it is worth remembering that the same thing happened at Coventry Airport a couple of years ago, when Thompson stopped charter jets operations. Despite the "closure", the airfield continued to operate on an 'un-licensed' basis, and ATPs continued to come and go for maintenance. It was only 'hire & reward' flight operations that couldn't continue until a license was restored. It since has been, and Coventry Airport is active once again.
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Post by buspilot on Oct 20, 2014 14:53:31 GMT 1
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Post by buspilot on Oct 25, 2014 10:12:10 GMT 1
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Post by bulldog on Oct 25, 2014 14:59:51 GMT 1
Judging by the apparent rapid rate of appointing liquidators and now moving the assets off the balance sheet, it makes you wonder how long before all the GA has to close up as well. Are the flying clubs continuing to operate at present?
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Post by Sabreliner on Oct 25, 2014 16:06:04 GMT 1
With only 8 movements a day allowed I believe, It would be hard to keep a school running for long, especially as there are 3 at the Airport.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2014 16:17:39 GMT 1
Interesting article and comments therein. Judging from some of them and the worst is realised, FoLA may wish to take the road show there and enlighten some locals to another airport that is almost as easy as Manchester to reach. Or perhaps they may just wish to reply to this comment; tommyw3
5:02 PM on 24/10/2014
i hope blackpool 1975 is wrong, but sadly i think he or she is spot on. i went around blackpool airport on my bike yesterday and felt like crying - all the units in darkness - all the decent people who have lost their jobs. we came back from lanzarote on wednesday to that cesspit, manchester airport, on jet2 - i had forgotten what a horrible place it is, and that we will have to use it in future. we flew four times a year from blackpool. i am sure anyone reading this agrees with me that all MPs are selfish, greedy, lying, corrupt, expense-fiddling, toxic, hopeless lowlifes but for once in their pointless life i hope they can manage one useful thing and keep blackpool airport open ------- i wont hold my breath.
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