Post by viscount on Aug 7, 2016 10:34:33 GMT 1
This article’s origins can be traced back to ‘09/27’ in 2009 and more recently totally rewritten and appeared in newsletter No.135-Winter 2015/16. Updated again to reflect recent changes and appears here with full acknowledgement to FoLA for whom it was compiled.
PRE-WAR
The air route connection between Liverpool and Holland commenced in 1934 – just a year after the official opening of the new aerodrome at Speke. Despite what we today would consider primitive facilities, the K.L.M. operated Speke to Schiphol service is of considerable historical note, being Britain’s very first provincial Continental air service link. Operating off a grass airfield, with only minimum navigational aids, initially the flights operated for the summer season only. While Liverpool remained the terminus destination, the pre-war link routed via Hull, then Doncaster and finally Ringway, as K.L.M. considered Barton inadequate as an airfield. The service commenced on 1st June flown by a Fokker F.XII (PH-AFV) operating via Hull, and continued using the tri-motor Fokker F.XIIs every weekday until 6th October. Right from the start Amsterdam was viewed as a hub, with onward connections offered to Hamburg, Berlin, Copenhagen, Malmo and Rotterdam. Not just passengers were carried, but also mail from 13th August 1934. In 1935 the K.L.M. link commenced on 30th April, again via Hull, only to terminate prematurely on 26th July due to a shortage of pilots. On 25th May K.L.M. demonstrated their new Douglas DC-2 (PH-AKH) at Speke, a very modern and capable airliner and a sign of the future, although they continued to use various marks of Fokkers on the Speke flights. For 1936 Doncaster was selected as the intermediate stop and the service was operated in conjunction with British Continental Airways. K.L.M. operated via Doncaster again in summer 1937, however with Manchester’s new airfield at Ringway now open, in 1938 the intermediate stop changed again and the route flown by Douglas DC-2s along with Lockheed 14s, the first one appearing on 11th July (PH-APE). In 1939 the new, larger, Douglas DC-3 was used at times, the first being on 2nd July (PH-ASR). The service was operated on week days, departing Speke at 8:00 am and after a short call at Ringway landed at Schiphol 11:30am local, then continued on to Oslo/Christiansund arriving 2:00pm. The return flight departed Oslo at 10:00am, departed Amsterdam 3:50pm and via Manchester arrived at Liverpool 7:00pm. However with the clouds of war gathering over Europe, all civilian air services over Britain ceased at the very end of August 1939. Post War, K.L.M. looked to Manchester as the terminus of its North of England scheduled passenger flights rather than Liverpool when civil air services resumed.
DAN AIR
On Tuesday 9th January 1962 British independent airline, Dan Air commenced operating between Liverpool and Rotterdam, the first service being operated by a DH Dove (G-AIWF), but also using Dakota aircraft. The service was operated several times weekly, with Ambassadors taking over from 1st June 1965 (when G-ALZY was used) and from Monday 4th October 1965 the Dutch terminus was transferred from Rotterdam to Amsterdam. From Amsterdam, Dan Air offered onward connections with KLM, Finnair, Lufthansa, Alitalia and Swissair all around Europe. With the venerable, but comfortable Ambassador heading for retirement, the route was considerably uprated to the DH.106 Comet 4 from 3rd November 1970 (using G-APDB), and operated a new 3 times weekly schedule on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays, out as DA900 in the morning, back as DA901 in the evening. The last Comet operation to Amsterdam was right at the end of October 1971, with the HS.748 taking over from the start of November, operating on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. However faced with fuel supply crisis, inflation, falling demand and an uncertain future for the airport, Amsterdam was the last route operated out of Liverpool by Dan Air, from which they finally withdrew at the end of March 1975 by which time the service operated only on Tuesday and Thursday and vis Newcastle both ways. After 13 years of operation the loss of this important Continental link was a blow to the Airport and Merseyside businesses.
Also from the 1950s, through the 1960s and 1970s, indeed into the early 1980s there were numerous day and weekend inclusive holiday charters each year to Holland from Liverpool, flying into Rotterdam or Amsterdam, especially during the weeks when the tulips were in flower. Over a period of time operator/aircraft combinations included Silver City/British United Dakotas, British Midland Dakotas, Schreiner Airways Friendships, Britannia Airways Britannias and finally Dan Air HS.748s, by which time the British were looking further afield for week-end break excitement abroad, than Holland.
British Eagle International (based at Liverpool 1964-1968) probably didn’t consider Amsterdam as a potential destination from Liverpool as Dan Air already operated the route. However when British Midland moved into Liverpool with based aircraft in late 1978 they did apply to the ATLB (Air Transport Licencing Board) for the Liverpool to Amsterdam route, a move followed by competitor, Air UK. British Airways and Manchester Airport both opposed the applications, which were not granted by the ATLB.
COMMUTER SERVICE
A new Liverpool based airline, with big, fresh ideas and a commuter style of operation, Genair, was formed in 1981 and commenced flying between Liverpool and Gatwick. Encouraged by the Airport Management and the Chamber of Commerce, they applied for the route licence and were awarded it, likely as their commuter aircraft posed little direct threat to existing services from Manchester. The service commenced on Monday 5th April 1982 with a twice daily frequency between Liverpool and Amsterdam using Embraer Bandeirante aircraft in 14 leather seat configuration and the slogan “All our passengers are VIPs”. With fares of £79 single, Advanced Purchase Return £110, initially they appeared to do well, despite being in competition with KLM’s well established all-jet operation from Manchester. Once Genair and Eastern Airlines merged late summer 1982, it was clear that the Liverpool-Amsterdam link did not fit into their route network as a British Caledonian partner, and from the end of October flights reduced to once daily, six days a week with a far from ideal mid-afternoon timing. By March 1983 many flights were being cancelled and sadly the last service operated on 25th March 1985.
For a while during the second half of the 1980s a Dutch operator, Netherlines, a Jetstream 31 operator was ‘courted’ as an operator to link Liverpool and Holland, however this never progressed further than the talking stage. It is thought that Air UK, NLM Cityhopper and Air Europe Express were also approached at various times to operate the Liverpool-Amsterdam link, but to no avail. Certainly, after the need for a London link, the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce lobbied strongly on behalf of its members for an Amsterdam link from the City.
EASYJET ARRIVES
A decade later and the ‘low cost – no frills’ style of airline operation had replaced the ‘commuter’ model as the way-in to start a new airline. In 1995 Stelios Haji-Ioannou had formed EasyJet and commenced flights from Luton to Glasgow and Edinburgh and the following year added Luton to Amsterdam and to Nice. Liverpool was selected for their first routes away from Luton, with Nice and Amsterdam to Liverpool. Amazing to think that at that time EasyJet had a fleet of just 6 second-hand Boeing 737-300s all in 148 seat configuration and a standard fare of £29 single. Amsterdam was the first Liverpool route (by a day), launched by EasyJet, with a daily service on 26th October 1997. With discounted fares promoted through newspaper offers and innovative advertising, the route very quickly became a success, which encouraged EasyJet to expand further from Liverpool and eventually become their second base. With over-night based aircraft at Liverpool, so the frequency of Amsterdam flights grew, until after only 5 years there were 5 daily flights each weekday and not many less at weekends. The annual passenger growth was dramatic; from 10,698 in 2 months of 1997; to 68,123 in 1998; up again to 115,359 in 1999; then more than doubling to 245,395 in 2000; rising again to 350,025 in 2001 and then to a record high of 410,257 in 2002; with a small reduction to a fairly similar 393,186 in 2003. With competition from Manchester not only from KLM and BA, but also ‘no frills’ airlines such as BMI Baby and later Jet 2 and EasyJet itself, so passenger numbers began to fall, as they did, so did the frequency; as flight choice fell, so did the numbers of passengers. A downwards spiral to 361,681 passengers in 2004; through 304,503 in 2005; to 293,512 in 2006 and near the same at 293,553 in 2007; with a further fall in 2008 to 256,795.
Between early 2004 and mid 2007 VLM had offered through bookings to Antwerp, Brussels, Jersey, Luxembourg and Rotterdam as an extension of their Liverpool to London City Fokker 50 service. It is thought that the number of passengers using VLM between Liverpool and Rotterdam were relatively insignificant, possibly lower than a hundred a year.
COMPETITION, NOT ONCE BUT TWICE
It was clear that a fall of 150,000 passengers a year in 5 years was not due solely to Manchester competition and that EasyJet were under-serving the route which had the potential to generate far more passengers. This did not go unobserved by K.L.M., who boldly launched a 3 times daily service with Fokker 70 aircraft in direct competition with EasyJet, the first time that an established operator faced competition on the Dutch link from Liverpool. They launched the new service on Sunday 29th March 2009 (op by PH-KZG) and operated it for three years during which time EasyJet annual loads continued to reduce, but the total route carryings increased. In 2009 EasyJet carried 229,405 passengers, and in 9 months KLM 61,641, a total of 291,046. The total for 2010 was even better with EasyJet 216,811 and KLM 128,560, a total of 345,371 for the year (and the best year in recent times), with very similar numbers and market share for 2011. KLM had a considerable advantage in that many passengers were transferring to other flights at Amsterdam, and they had good day-return timings. Publicly K.L.M. always seemed pleased with passenger loads, however towards the end of 2011, they announced rather lamely that they felt their aircraft could be employed better elsewhere on their network, and they withdrew from Liverpool services 24th March 2012. Disappointingly KLM carried around only 22,000 in their final 3 months as frequency was cut-back. While over the whole 12 months of 2012 EasyJet carried 224,000 passengers – their first (and only) real annual increase since their peak year of 2002, the joint annual total of 246,000 (rounded out figs) was around 100,000 passengers less than the combined figure for the previous year - showing just how much the power of competition stimulates business. In the following two years, EasyJet’s annual loads have decreased again to 207,269 in 2013 and 204,163 in 2014. The first 9 months of 2015 EasyJet carried 168,259 passengers on the route (so likely a projected annual total of around 205,000 ie no growth), but with aircraft running at a 95%+ load factor for much of the year, likely many potential passengers were put off by high prices as the aircraft filled so sought alternative routes. Likely profitable business for EasyJet, but they left the door open as the route operates below its full potential.
During the first half of summer 2015, in an unexpected move, Flybe announced that as expansion of their own established Manchester-Amsterdam service they would offering 19 rotations a week (3 daily, 2 Saturday and Sundays) from Liverpool using Dash 8- Q400 aircraft (around 11,000 seats per month), with the aircraft overnighting at John Lennon. The service started on Monday 7th September (op by G-JECE) and even in the first month achieved reasonable loads. EasyJet responded to the ‘kick-up-the-backside’ provided by competition and from the start of November provided a couple more flights each week and use of their larger Airbus A.320 aircraft on some rotations providing around 6,000 additional seats per month. Flybe should have had an advantage in being able to offer ‘code-share’ through bookings with partner airlines to destinations worldwide however their availability was only very limited and fell well short of Flybe’s promises, while EasyJet only offer point to point fares. Without doubt competition and choice was great for the passenger and has been proven to stimulate many more passengers through the Airport as monthly and annual route totals have shown, not just simply split the existing market. The route total for 2015 was 227,383 passengers. However the increase in passengers did not match the increase in capacity – the average route load factor falling from 90+% summer 2015 to around 70% winter 2015/16. Even so 95,595 passengers used the route in the first 4 months of 2016, so an annual total in excess of 300,000 should easily have been achievable. The best month for total passengers was, as it turned out, the final month of competition with 25,392 passengers.
However Flybe ended their AMS service evening of Monday 28th March 2016 (operated by G-ECOA), quoting poor average loads. However with only a single winter season the route was not really given time to develop, the withdrawal being as much to do with a shortfall of aircraft and crews across the whole network as projected loads. Without competition EasyJet for summer ’16 dropped capacity in April ’16 by around 4,000 seats for the month, which only emphasises the power of competition.
LIVERPOOL-HOLLAND SCHEDULED SERVICES (served Amsterdam, unless stated otherwise)
CREDITS
This account compiled by Brian Jones, with my many thanks to: Phil Butler’s Airport History ‘Liverpool John Lennon Airport-An Illustrated History’ Tempus 2008 providing the pre-War route information; Paul Ellison, 8miles27, FoLA’s ‘09/27’ editors and contributors over the years; to the ‘nostalgia’ section of nwan forum; to the CAA monthly and annual digest of airport passenger figures.
Note Airport figures and those of the CAA do differ very slightly, both sources have been used interchangeably.
LIVERPOOL TO HOLLAND AIR ROUTES, A HISTORY
PRE-WAR
The air route connection between Liverpool and Holland commenced in 1934 – just a year after the official opening of the new aerodrome at Speke. Despite what we today would consider primitive facilities, the K.L.M. operated Speke to Schiphol service is of considerable historical note, being Britain’s very first provincial Continental air service link. Operating off a grass airfield, with only minimum navigational aids, initially the flights operated for the summer season only. While Liverpool remained the terminus destination, the pre-war link routed via Hull, then Doncaster and finally Ringway, as K.L.M. considered Barton inadequate as an airfield. The service commenced on 1st June flown by a Fokker F.XII (PH-AFV) operating via Hull, and continued using the tri-motor Fokker F.XIIs every weekday until 6th October. Right from the start Amsterdam was viewed as a hub, with onward connections offered to Hamburg, Berlin, Copenhagen, Malmo and Rotterdam. Not just passengers were carried, but also mail from 13th August 1934. In 1935 the K.L.M. link commenced on 30th April, again via Hull, only to terminate prematurely on 26th July due to a shortage of pilots. On 25th May K.L.M. demonstrated their new Douglas DC-2 (PH-AKH) at Speke, a very modern and capable airliner and a sign of the future, although they continued to use various marks of Fokkers on the Speke flights. For 1936 Doncaster was selected as the intermediate stop and the service was operated in conjunction with British Continental Airways. K.L.M. operated via Doncaster again in summer 1937, however with Manchester’s new airfield at Ringway now open, in 1938 the intermediate stop changed again and the route flown by Douglas DC-2s along with Lockheed 14s, the first one appearing on 11th July (PH-APE). In 1939 the new, larger, Douglas DC-3 was used at times, the first being on 2nd July (PH-ASR). The service was operated on week days, departing Speke at 8:00 am and after a short call at Ringway landed at Schiphol 11:30am local, then continued on to Oslo/Christiansund arriving 2:00pm. The return flight departed Oslo at 10:00am, departed Amsterdam 3:50pm and via Manchester arrived at Liverpool 7:00pm. However with the clouds of war gathering over Europe, all civilian air services over Britain ceased at the very end of August 1939. Post War, K.L.M. looked to Manchester as the terminus of its North of England scheduled passenger flights rather than Liverpool when civil air services resumed.
DAN AIR
On Tuesday 9th January 1962 British independent airline, Dan Air commenced operating between Liverpool and Rotterdam, the first service being operated by a DH Dove (G-AIWF), but also using Dakota aircraft. The service was operated several times weekly, with Ambassadors taking over from 1st June 1965 (when G-ALZY was used) and from Monday 4th October 1965 the Dutch terminus was transferred from Rotterdam to Amsterdam. From Amsterdam, Dan Air offered onward connections with KLM, Finnair, Lufthansa, Alitalia and Swissair all around Europe. With the venerable, but comfortable Ambassador heading for retirement, the route was considerably uprated to the DH.106 Comet 4 from 3rd November 1970 (using G-APDB), and operated a new 3 times weekly schedule on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays, out as DA900 in the morning, back as DA901 in the evening. The last Comet operation to Amsterdam was right at the end of October 1971, with the HS.748 taking over from the start of November, operating on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. However faced with fuel supply crisis, inflation, falling demand and an uncertain future for the airport, Amsterdam was the last route operated out of Liverpool by Dan Air, from which they finally withdrew at the end of March 1975 by which time the service operated only on Tuesday and Thursday and vis Newcastle both ways. After 13 years of operation the loss of this important Continental link was a blow to the Airport and Merseyside businesses.
Also from the 1950s, through the 1960s and 1970s, indeed into the early 1980s there were numerous day and weekend inclusive holiday charters each year to Holland from Liverpool, flying into Rotterdam or Amsterdam, especially during the weeks when the tulips were in flower. Over a period of time operator/aircraft combinations included Silver City/British United Dakotas, British Midland Dakotas, Schreiner Airways Friendships, Britannia Airways Britannias and finally Dan Air HS.748s, by which time the British were looking further afield for week-end break excitement abroad, than Holland.
British Eagle International (based at Liverpool 1964-1968) probably didn’t consider Amsterdam as a potential destination from Liverpool as Dan Air already operated the route. However when British Midland moved into Liverpool with based aircraft in late 1978 they did apply to the ATLB (Air Transport Licencing Board) for the Liverpool to Amsterdam route, a move followed by competitor, Air UK. British Airways and Manchester Airport both opposed the applications, which were not granted by the ATLB.
COMMUTER SERVICE
A new Liverpool based airline, with big, fresh ideas and a commuter style of operation, Genair, was formed in 1981 and commenced flying between Liverpool and Gatwick. Encouraged by the Airport Management and the Chamber of Commerce, they applied for the route licence and were awarded it, likely as their commuter aircraft posed little direct threat to existing services from Manchester. The service commenced on Monday 5th April 1982 with a twice daily frequency between Liverpool and Amsterdam using Embraer Bandeirante aircraft in 14 leather seat configuration and the slogan “All our passengers are VIPs”. With fares of £79 single, Advanced Purchase Return £110, initially they appeared to do well, despite being in competition with KLM’s well established all-jet operation from Manchester. Once Genair and Eastern Airlines merged late summer 1982, it was clear that the Liverpool-Amsterdam link did not fit into their route network as a British Caledonian partner, and from the end of October flights reduced to once daily, six days a week with a far from ideal mid-afternoon timing. By March 1983 many flights were being cancelled and sadly the last service operated on 25th March 1985.
For a while during the second half of the 1980s a Dutch operator, Netherlines, a Jetstream 31 operator was ‘courted’ as an operator to link Liverpool and Holland, however this never progressed further than the talking stage. It is thought that Air UK, NLM Cityhopper and Air Europe Express were also approached at various times to operate the Liverpool-Amsterdam link, but to no avail. Certainly, after the need for a London link, the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce lobbied strongly on behalf of its members for an Amsterdam link from the City.
EASYJET ARRIVES
A decade later and the ‘low cost – no frills’ style of airline operation had replaced the ‘commuter’ model as the way-in to start a new airline. In 1995 Stelios Haji-Ioannou had formed EasyJet and commenced flights from Luton to Glasgow and Edinburgh and the following year added Luton to Amsterdam and to Nice. Liverpool was selected for their first routes away from Luton, with Nice and Amsterdam to Liverpool. Amazing to think that at that time EasyJet had a fleet of just 6 second-hand Boeing 737-300s all in 148 seat configuration and a standard fare of £29 single. Amsterdam was the first Liverpool route (by a day), launched by EasyJet, with a daily service on 26th October 1997. With discounted fares promoted through newspaper offers and innovative advertising, the route very quickly became a success, which encouraged EasyJet to expand further from Liverpool and eventually become their second base. With over-night based aircraft at Liverpool, so the frequency of Amsterdam flights grew, until after only 5 years there were 5 daily flights each weekday and not many less at weekends. The annual passenger growth was dramatic; from 10,698 in 2 months of 1997; to 68,123 in 1998; up again to 115,359 in 1999; then more than doubling to 245,395 in 2000; rising again to 350,025 in 2001 and then to a record high of 410,257 in 2002; with a small reduction to a fairly similar 393,186 in 2003. With competition from Manchester not only from KLM and BA, but also ‘no frills’ airlines such as BMI Baby and later Jet 2 and EasyJet itself, so passenger numbers began to fall, as they did, so did the frequency; as flight choice fell, so did the numbers of passengers. A downwards spiral to 361,681 passengers in 2004; through 304,503 in 2005; to 293,512 in 2006 and near the same at 293,553 in 2007; with a further fall in 2008 to 256,795.
Between early 2004 and mid 2007 VLM had offered through bookings to Antwerp, Brussels, Jersey, Luxembourg and Rotterdam as an extension of their Liverpool to London City Fokker 50 service. It is thought that the number of passengers using VLM between Liverpool and Rotterdam were relatively insignificant, possibly lower than a hundred a year.
COMPETITION, NOT ONCE BUT TWICE
It was clear that a fall of 150,000 passengers a year in 5 years was not due solely to Manchester competition and that EasyJet were under-serving the route which had the potential to generate far more passengers. This did not go unobserved by K.L.M., who boldly launched a 3 times daily service with Fokker 70 aircraft in direct competition with EasyJet, the first time that an established operator faced competition on the Dutch link from Liverpool. They launched the new service on Sunday 29th March 2009 (op by PH-KZG) and operated it for three years during which time EasyJet annual loads continued to reduce, but the total route carryings increased. In 2009 EasyJet carried 229,405 passengers, and in 9 months KLM 61,641, a total of 291,046. The total for 2010 was even better with EasyJet 216,811 and KLM 128,560, a total of 345,371 for the year (and the best year in recent times), with very similar numbers and market share for 2011. KLM had a considerable advantage in that many passengers were transferring to other flights at Amsterdam, and they had good day-return timings. Publicly K.L.M. always seemed pleased with passenger loads, however towards the end of 2011, they announced rather lamely that they felt their aircraft could be employed better elsewhere on their network, and they withdrew from Liverpool services 24th March 2012. Disappointingly KLM carried around only 22,000 in their final 3 months as frequency was cut-back. While over the whole 12 months of 2012 EasyJet carried 224,000 passengers – their first (and only) real annual increase since their peak year of 2002, the joint annual total of 246,000 (rounded out figs) was around 100,000 passengers less than the combined figure for the previous year - showing just how much the power of competition stimulates business. In the following two years, EasyJet’s annual loads have decreased again to 207,269 in 2013 and 204,163 in 2014. The first 9 months of 2015 EasyJet carried 168,259 passengers on the route (so likely a projected annual total of around 205,000 ie no growth), but with aircraft running at a 95%+ load factor for much of the year, likely many potential passengers were put off by high prices as the aircraft filled so sought alternative routes. Likely profitable business for EasyJet, but they left the door open as the route operates below its full potential.
During the first half of summer 2015, in an unexpected move, Flybe announced that as expansion of their own established Manchester-Amsterdam service they would offering 19 rotations a week (3 daily, 2 Saturday and Sundays) from Liverpool using Dash 8- Q400 aircraft (around 11,000 seats per month), with the aircraft overnighting at John Lennon. The service started on Monday 7th September (op by G-JECE) and even in the first month achieved reasonable loads. EasyJet responded to the ‘kick-up-the-backside’ provided by competition and from the start of November provided a couple more flights each week and use of their larger Airbus A.320 aircraft on some rotations providing around 6,000 additional seats per month. Flybe should have had an advantage in being able to offer ‘code-share’ through bookings with partner airlines to destinations worldwide however their availability was only very limited and fell well short of Flybe’s promises, while EasyJet only offer point to point fares. Without doubt competition and choice was great for the passenger and has been proven to stimulate many more passengers through the Airport as monthly and annual route totals have shown, not just simply split the existing market. The route total for 2015 was 227,383 passengers. However the increase in passengers did not match the increase in capacity – the average route load factor falling from 90+% summer 2015 to around 70% winter 2015/16. Even so 95,595 passengers used the route in the first 4 months of 2016, so an annual total in excess of 300,000 should easily have been achievable. The best month for total passengers was, as it turned out, the final month of competition with 25,392 passengers.
However Flybe ended their AMS service evening of Monday 28th March 2016 (operated by G-ECOA), quoting poor average loads. However with only a single winter season the route was not really given time to develop, the withdrawal being as much to do with a shortfall of aircraft and crews across the whole network as projected loads. Without competition EasyJet for summer ’16 dropped capacity in April ’16 by around 4,000 seats for the month, which only emphasises the power of competition.
LIVERPOOL-HOLLAND SCHEDULED SERVICES (served Amsterdam, unless stated otherwise)
Commenced Ended Operated by Aircraft types Notes and comments
01.06.34 06.10.34 K.L.M. Fokker F.XII. via Hull. Mail carried from 13.08.34
30.04.35 26.07.35 K.L.M. Fokkers via Hull. Short season due pilot shortage
01.07.36 03.10.36 K.L.M. & B.C.A. Fokkers via Doncaster. Op with British Continental Airways
01.07.37 26.10.37 K.L.M. Fokkers & 1st use of the DC-2. via Doncaster
27.06.38 ??.10.38 K.L.M. Lockheed 14 and DC-2 via Ringway
16.04.39 31.08.39 K.L.M. DC-2s, Lockheed 14, 1st use of DC-3 via Ringway. Ceased due to outbreak of War in Europe
09.01.62 30.09.65 Dan Air Dove, DC-3, Ambassador operated to Rotterdam until end of September '65
04.10.65 27.03.75 Dan Air Ambassador, Comet, HS.748 operated to Amsterdam from start of October '65
05.04.82 25.03.83 Genair Bandeirante
26.10.97 current easyJet Boeing 737-300/700, Airbus A.319/320
23.02.04 29.07.07 V.L.M. Fokker 50 connections to Rotterdam, via London City
29.03.09 24.03.12 K.L.M. Fokker 70, Fokker 100
07.09.15 28.03.16 Flybe DHC-8-Q400 Dash Eight
CREDITS
This account compiled by Brian Jones, with my many thanks to: Phil Butler’s Airport History ‘Liverpool John Lennon Airport-An Illustrated History’ Tempus 2008 providing the pre-War route information; Paul Ellison, 8miles27, FoLA’s ‘09/27’ editors and contributors over the years; to the ‘nostalgia’ section of nwan forum; to the CAA monthly and annual digest of airport passenger figures.
Note Airport figures and those of the CAA do differ very slightly, both sources have been used interchangeably.