Caernarfon Airport ( cy, Maes Awyr Caernarfon) , formerly
RAF Llandwrog
Royal Air Force Llandwrog or, more simply, RAF Llandwrog is a former Royal Air Force station located at Llandwrog, southwest of Caernarfon, Gwynedd, Wales. The site opened in January 1941 as a RAF Bomber Command airfield for training gunners, ra ...
, is located southwest of
Caernarfon
Caernarfon (; ) is a royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the eastern shore of the Menai Strait, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is ...
,
Gwynedd
Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...
,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
.
Operations
Caernarfon Aerodrome has a
CAA
CAA may refer to:
Law
* Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 of India
** Citizenship Amendment Act protests, Protests regarding the Citizenship (Amendment) Act
* Copyright transfer agreement, Copyright assignment agreement, to transfer copyright to ...
Ordinary Licence (Number P866) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee (Air Caernarfon Limited). The aerodrome is not licensed for night use. The airport has a licensed runway: 07/25, an unlicensed one: 02/20 and a disused runway which formed a
triangle
A triangle is a polygon with three Edge (geometry), edges and three Vertex (geometry), vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC.
In Euclidean geometry, an ...
layout commonly used during the Second World War.
The airport is mainly used by small fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and microlights. Several companies based at the airport offer flight training. North Wales Flight Academy offers fixed-wing training for the issue of a
PPL (A) and other fixed-wing qualifications. Microlight traffic forms a considerable part of the local aerodrome traffic and flight training is provided by The Microlight School. Helicopter training is also undertaken at the airport by Geo Helicopters. It is also possible to have pleasure flights and charters from the airport. There is also a helicopter simulator located inside the Airworld Aviation Museum.
The airport is also home to one of the three
Wales Air Ambulance
The Wales Air Ambulance Charitable Trust ( cy, Ymddiriedolaeth Elusennol Ambiwlans Awyr Cymru), known as Wales Air Ambulance Charity (WAAC) or ( cy, Elusen Ambiwlans Awyr Cymru (EAAC)), is a charity air ambulance service providing a free, life- ...
helicopters.
Facilities
During the 2000s, the airport underwent significant re-development and expansion. At the aerodrome, there is a large café, a maintenance and storage hangar, and a visitor centre and shop which are part of the Aviation Museum at the site.
SAR
In 2013, the UK government handed out the contract to manage
search and rescue
Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...
for the next ten years to
Bristow Helicopters
Bristow Helicopters Limited is a British civil helicopter operator originally based at Aberdeen Airport, Scotland, which is currently a part of the U.S.-based Bristow Group (, S&P 600 component) which in turn has its corporate headquarters in ...
, using two
Sikorsky S-92
The Sikorsky S-92 is an American twin-engine medium-lift helicopter built by Sikorsky Aircraft
Sikorsky Aircraft is an American aircraft manufacturer based in Stratford, Connecticut. It was established by aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky in 1 ...
helicopters.
Bristow Group to take over UK search and rescue from RAF
/ref> Since 1 July 2015, search and rescue operations have commenced at Caernarfon Airport.
See also
* RAF Llandwrog
Royal Air Force Llandwrog or, more simply, RAF Llandwrog is a former Royal Air Force station located at Llandwrog, southwest of Caernarfon, Gwynedd, Wales. The site opened in January 1941 as a RAF Bomber Command airfield for training gunners, ra ...
* Search and rescue
Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Airports in Wales
Buildings and structures in Gwynedd
Caernarfon