London Ashford Airport is east of the town of

Lydd Lydd is a town and electoral ward in Kent, England, lying on Romney Marsh. It is one of the larger settlements on the marsh, and the most southerly town in Kent. Lydd reached the height of its prosperity during the 13th century, when it was a co ...

and south of Ashford in the district of Folkestone and Hythe, in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, England. Originally named Lydd Ferryfield, it is now also known as London Ashford Airport, despite being from London and actually closer to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The airport is operated by London Ashford Airport Ltd, controlled by Saudi businessman Sheikh Fahad al-Athel."Lydd Airport today is operated by London Ashford Airport Ltd.", Lydd Airport 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 P858) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee (London Ashford Airport Limited). The airport is currently able to handle aircraft up to the size of a

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two un ...

Airbus A319 The Airbus A319 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short- to medium-range, Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body, commercial passenger Twinjet, twin-engine jet airliners manufactured by Airbus. The A319 carries 124 to 156 passengers and has a ...

, but the runway length means that such aircraft can only take off with a restricted payload. Lydd Air is based at the airport, and had regular flights to Le Touquet Airport in northern France, a service which ended in December 2018. The airport lies adjacent to the unique landscape of

Dungeness Dungeness () is a headland on the coast of Kent, England, formed largely of a shingle beach in the form of a cuspate foreland. It shelters a large area of low-lying land, Romney Marsh. Dungeness spans Dungeness Nuclear Power Station, the hamlet ...

, a

cuspate foreland Cuspate forelands, also known as cuspate barriers or nesses in Britain, are geographical features found on coastlines and lakeshores that are created primarily by longshore drift.Craig-Smith, S. J., Cuspate Forelands. In: M. L. Schwartz, ed. 2005. ...

that is one of the largest expanses of

shingle beach A shingle beach (also referred to as rocky beach or pebble beach) is a beach which is armoured with pebbles or small- to medium-sized cobbles (as opposed to fine sand). Typically, the stone composition may grade from characteristic sizes ranging ...

in Europe and which is of international conservation importance for its

geomorphology Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek: , ', "earth"; , ', "form"; and , ', "study") is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or n ...

, plant and invertebrate communities and birdlife, a fact that is recognised by its designations as a national nature reserve, a

Special Protection Area A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and cert ...

, a

Special Area of Conservation A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...

and part of the

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay is a biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest which stretches from New Romney in Kent to Winchelsea in East Sussex. An area of is a Special Protection Area, an area of is a Special Area ...

. This proximity led to strong opposition to plans to expand. The local planning authority granted permission with conditions to build a runway extension and a new terminal building in 2012. This will allow it to handle fully loaded Boeing 737 or Airbus A319 aircraft.

History

Planes at Lydd Airport (geograph 1978358)

Lydd Airport, opened in 1954, was the first airport to be built in the UK following the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and it was built for

Silver City Airways Silver City Airways was an airline, based in the United Kingdom, that operated mainly in Europe, between 1946 and 1962. Unlike many airlines at the time, it was independent of government-owned corporations; its parent company was Zinc Corpo ...

as an all-weather replacement operating base to that of nearby

Lympne Airport Lympne Airport , was a military and later civil airfield , at Lympne, Kent, United Kingdom, which operated from 1916 to 1984. During the First World War RFC Lympne was originally an acceptance point for aircraft being delivered to, and returni ...

, whose grass runway was often waterlogged in rainy weather. The new Lydd Ferryfield was, like Lympne, used initially for car carrying

air ferry An air ferry is a ferry service in which cars and passengers are transported by aircraft. Use of air ferries peaked in the 1950s, but the advent of more economical alternative modes of transport in the 1960s resulted in the demise of these servic ...

services using

Bristol Freighter The Bristol Type 170 Freighter is a British twin-engine aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company as both a freighter and airliner. Its best known use was as an air ferry to carry cars and their passengers over relatively sh ...

s, operating principally to

Le Touquet Le Touquet-Paris-Plage (; pcd, Ech Toutchet-Paris-Plache; vls, 't Oekske, older nl, Het Hoekske), commonly referred to as Le Touquet (), is a commune near Étaples, in the Pas-de-Calais department, northern France. It has a population of 4, ...

in France. Within five years of opening, it was handling over 250,000 passengers annually, making it one of the busiest airports in the UK. Silver City Airways subsequently became part of

British United Air Ferries British United Air Ferries (BUAF) was a wholly private, British independentindependent from government-owned corporations car and passenger ferry airline based in the United Kingdom during the 1960s. It specialised in cross- Channel ferry flig ...

(BUAF), under the same ownership as

British United Airways British United Airways (BUA) was a private, independentindependent from government-owned corporations British airline formed as a result of the merger of Airwork Services and Hunting-Clan Air Transport in July 1960, making it the largest whol ...

(BUA). The airlines used

s, Superfreighters and

Aviation Traders Carvair The Aviation Traders ATL-98 Carvair is a retired large transport aircraft powered by four radial engines. It was a Douglas DC-4-based air ferry conversion developed by Freddie Laker's Aviation Traders (Engineering) Limited (ATL), with a capac ...

aircraft on their car-carrying routes from Lydd. However the introduction of

roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...

ferries A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...

and

hovercraft A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious Craft (vehicle), craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull ...

on cross-channel services led to a decline of the air ferry services from Lydd. The Skyways cargo operation (that survived Dan-Air's takeover of Skyways International's passenger operations in February 1972) used three DC-3s from Air Freight Ltd which it had acquired from Skyways Air Cargo, the defunct airline's cargo subsidiary, in 1970. Following Skyways Coach-Air's liquidation in early 1971, Air Freight initially continued the former Skyways Air Cargo operation under its own name and, in February 1973, merged with South West Aviation. The closure of Ashford Airport in 1974 resulted in the relocation of Air Freight's headquarters and operating base to nearby Lydd Airport, where it operated using both DC-3s for cargo and Fairchild Hiller FH-227 turboprops for combined passenger and cargo operations across the UK, Channel Islands and Europe (mainly Amsterdam and Paris). During the 1980s the airport was bought by Hards Travel from

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe i ...

, who used the airport (along with

Coventry Airport Coventry Airport is located south-southeast of Coventry city centre, in the village of Baginton, Warwickshire, England. The airport is operated and licensed by Coventry Airport Limited. Its CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P902) allows flights ...

) as its base for its holiday operations to Spain, Italy and Austria, using Dart Herald and

Viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

aircraft flying to

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

in Belgium and

Beauvais Beauvais ( , ; pcd, Bieuvais) is a city and commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise département, in the Hauts-de-France region, north of Paris. The commune of Beauvais had a population of 56,020 , making it the most populous ...

in France, where customers were transferred to coaches for the remainder of the journey. During this time Hards operated 14 flights a day from the airport, and used the large fields surrounding the airport for car parking. The main brand Hards traded under was Summer-Plan, and in the winter Ski-Plan, as well as HTS Holidays. Expansion of the airport was approved in 2014 following a legal challenge by

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a charitable organisation registered in England and Wales and in Scotland. It was founded in 1889. It works to promote conservation and protection of birds and the wider environment throug ...

(RSPB) and the Lydd Airport Action (LAAG) Group. This includes a runway extension of almost and a new terminal building. Including measures to offset environmental detriment, it is costed at £25 million. On 9 July 2015, the

Airbus E-Fan The Airbus E-Fan is a prototype two-seater electric aircraft that was under development by Airbus. It was flown in front of the world press at the Farnborough Airshow in the United Kingdom in July 2014. The target market was intended to be pil ...

took off from Lydd Airport for a flight to Calais-Dunkerque Airport. Initially this was claimed as the first electric aircraft to cross the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

, but it has since been pointed out that there were previous such flights, including one as long ago as 1981. The airport features at the end of the 1961 Hammer film ''A Weekend with Lulu'', starring Bob Monkhouse, Leslie Phillips, Irene Handl and Shirley Eaton. The Airport is featured on 007's Aston Martin DB5's radar screen as he tracks Goldfinger arriving in the UK aboard an Aviation Traders ATL.98 Carvair, a 1960s British cargo transport aircraft. The actual scene was filmed at London Southend Airport but the mapping on the DB5's screen shows Lydd Airport Between June 1997 and November 2018 the airport's only scheduled flights were operated by LyddAir. However, in November 2018 the airline altered operations to charter only.

Current use

As of November 2018, following LyddAir ceasing its sole route to

Le Touquet – Côte d'Opale Airport Le Touquet – Côte d'Opale Airport (french: Aéroport de Le Touquet - Côte d'Opale) is east-southeast of Le Touquet, a Communes of the Pas-de-Calais department, commune of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department on the coast of nor ...

, there are no scheduled services. LyddAir now only operate a charter service from the airport. As of 2015

HM Coastguard His Majesty's Coastguard (HMCG) is a section of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency responsible, through the Secretary of State for Transport to Parliament, for the initiation and co-ordination of all maritime search and rescue (SAR) within the ...

have used the airport as a base for search and rescue helicopters using

AgustaWestland AW189 The AgustaWestland AW189 is a twin-engined, super-medium-lift helicopter manufactured by Leonardo S.p.A. It is derived from the AW149, and shares similarities with the AW139 and AW169. Development On 20 June 2011, development of the eight-tonn ...

aircraft.

Statistics

Accidents and incidents

*On 15 January 1958,

de Havilland Dove The de Havilland DH.104 Dove is a British short-haul airliner developed and manufactured by de Havilland. The design, which was a monoplane successor to the pre-war Dragon Rapide biplane, came about from the Brabazon Committee report whic ...

G-AOCE of

Channel Airways Channel Airways was a private airline formed in the United Kingdom in 1946 as East Anglian Flying Services. The newly formed airline initially operated aerial joy rides with a single, three-seater aircraft from an airstrip on the Kent coast. Sc ...

crashed at Dungeness whilst attempting to land at Ferryfield. The accident was due to a double engine failure caused by mismanagement of the aircraft's fuel system by the pilot. All seven people on board survived. *On 17 August 1978,

Douglas C-47B The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft A military transport aircraft, military cargo aircraft or airlifter is a military-owned transport aircraft used to su ...

G-AMSM of Skyways Cargo Airline was damaged beyond economic repair in a take-off accident.

References

External links