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Liverpool John Lennon Airport
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Liverpool John Lennon Airport
Liverpool John Lennon Airport (IATA: LPL, ICAO: EGGP) is an international airport serving Liverpool, England, on the estuary of the River Mersey 6.5 nautical miles (12.0 km; 7.5 mi) south-east of Liverpool city centre. Scheduled domestic, European, North African and Middle Eastern services are operated from the airport. The airport comprises a single passenger terminal, three general use hangars, a FedEx Express courier service centre as well as a single runway measuring 7,500 ft (2,286 m) in length, with the control tower south of the runway.
Originally called Speke Airport, it was operated by the Royal Air Force as RAF Speke in World War II. Between 1997 and 2007, annual passenger numbers increased from 689,468 to 5.47 million. It was renamed after Liverpudlian musician John Lennon of The Beatles in 2001. The airport handled 4.19 million passengers in 2023, making it the 12th-busiest airport in the UK.
Built in part of the grounds of Speke Hall, Liverpool (Speke) Airport, as the airport was originally known, started scheduled flights in 1930 with a service by Imperial Airways via Barton Aerodrome near Eccles, Salford and Castle Bromwich Aerodrome, Birmingham to Croydon Airport near London. The airport was officially opened on 1 July 1933. By the late 1930s, air traffic from Liverpool was beginning to take off with increasing demand for Irish Sea crossings, and a distinctive passenger terminal, control tower and two large aircraft hangars were built.
At the beginning of 1937, Liverpool City Council leased between 70 and 110 acres (28 and 45 hectares) of their Speke Estate on a 999-year lease to the Air Ministry. The price included at all times the use of Speke Airport next to the shadow factory site. The LMS Railway provided a siding. Erection of the building was planned to take 30 weeks and when complete it would provide employment for more than 5,000 people. It was to be managed by Rootes Securities on behalf of the Air Ministry. Work started Monday 15 February 1937.
During the Second World War, Speke was requisitioned by the Royal Air Force and known as RAF Speke. Rootes built in a "shadow factory" by the airport to produce Bristol Blenheims and 1,070 Handley Page Halifax bombers. Lockheed Aircraft Corporation assembled many types of planes at the airport, including Hudsons and Mustang fighters, that had been shipped from the United States in parts to Liverpool Docks. The airport was also home to the Merchant Ship Fighter Unit.
On 8 October 1940, Speke was witness to what is thought to be the fastest air-to-air combat "kilo" in the Battle of Britain and possibly of all time. Flight Lieutenant Denys Gillam took off in his Hawker Hurricane from Speke to be confronted by a Junkers Ju 88 passing across him. He shot the Junkers down while his undercarriage was still retracting, and, along with Alois Vašátko and Josef Stehlík, all of 312 Squadron, was credited with the kill. The moment has been caught in a painting by Robert Taylor called Fastest Victory.
Normal civil airline operations resumed after VE Day and passengers increased from 50,000 in 1945 to 75,000 in 1948, remaining ahead of Manchester Airport. Ownership by the Ministry of Aviation proved to be a drag on the airport's progress thereafter, and Manchester gained the lead from 1949, resulting in Liverpool's loss of the only ground-controlled radar approach unit available to North West airports, further hampering operation.[citation needed]
During the post-war years, Speke Airport hosted an annual air display in aid of the Soldiers, Sailors, and Air Force Association, a charity for veterans. The displays were immensely popular and attracted a huge crowd. On one such occasion on 21 May 1956, tragedy struck with the death of Léon Alfred Nicolas "Léo" Valentin, billed as the Birdman, when his balsa wood wings struck the opening of the aircraft from which he was exiting and he was hurtled into an uncontrollable spin. He attempted to deploy his emergency parachute, but it became entangled and 'Roman candled', leaving Leo to fall to his death. The local newspaper headlined the story with "The world has been robbed of a daring personality." Ironically, a few years earlier Valentin had been attributed with discovering the free-fall stable position still used by sports parachutists today for safe deployment.[citation needed]
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Liverpool John Lennon Airport
Liverpool John Lennon Airport (IATA: LPL, ICAO: EGGP) is an international airport serving Liverpool, England, on the estuary of the River Mersey 6.5 nautical miles (12.0 km; 7.5 mi) south-east of Liverpool city centre. Scheduled domestic, European, North African and Middle Eastern services are operated from the airport. The airport comprises a single passenger terminal, three general use hangars, a FedEx Express courier service centre as well as a single runway measuring 7,500 ft (2,286 m) in length, with the control tower south of the runway.
Originally called Speke Airport, it was operated by the Royal Air Force as RAF Speke in World War II. Between 1997 and 2007, annual passenger numbers increased from 689,468 to 5.47 million. It was renamed after Liverpudlian musician John Lennon of The Beatles in 2001. The airport handled 4.19 million passengers in 2023, making it the 12th-busiest airport in the UK.
Built in part of the grounds of Speke Hall, Liverpool (Speke) Airport, as the airport was originally known, started scheduled flights in 1930 with a service by Imperial Airways via Barton Aerodrome near Eccles, Salford and Castle Bromwich Aerodrome, Birmingham to Croydon Airport near London. The airport was officially opened on 1 July 1933. By the late 1930s, air traffic from Liverpool was beginning to take off with increasing demand for Irish Sea crossings, and a distinctive passenger terminal, control tower and two large aircraft hangars were built.
At the beginning of 1937, Liverpool City Council leased between 70 and 110 acres (28 and 45 hectares) of their Speke Estate on a 999-year lease to the Air Ministry. The price included at all times the use of Speke Airport next to the shadow factory site. The LMS Railway provided a siding. Erection of the building was planned to take 30 weeks and when complete it would provide employment for more than 5,000 people. It was to be managed by Rootes Securities on behalf of the Air Ministry. Work started Monday 15 February 1937.
During the Second World War, Speke was requisitioned by the Royal Air Force and known as RAF Speke. Rootes built in a "shadow factory" by the airport to produce Bristol Blenheims and 1,070 Handley Page Halifax bombers. Lockheed Aircraft Corporation assembled many types of planes at the airport, including Hudsons and Mustang fighters, that had been shipped from the United States in parts to Liverpool Docks. The airport was also home to the Merchant Ship Fighter Unit.
On 8 October 1940, Speke was witness to what is thought to be the fastest air-to-air combat "kilo" in the Battle of Britain and possibly of all time. Flight Lieutenant Denys Gillam took off in his Hawker Hurricane from Speke to be confronted by a Junkers Ju 88 passing across him. He shot the Junkers down while his undercarriage was still retracting, and, along with Alois Vašátko and Josef Stehlík, all of 312 Squadron, was credited with the kill. The moment has been caught in a painting by Robert Taylor called Fastest Victory.
Normal civil airline operations resumed after VE Day and passengers increased from 50,000 in 1945 to 75,000 in 1948, remaining ahead of Manchester Airport. Ownership by the Ministry of Aviation proved to be a drag on the airport's progress thereafter, and Manchester gained the lead from 1949, resulting in Liverpool's loss of the only ground-controlled radar approach unit available to North West airports, further hampering operation.[citation needed]
During the post-war years, Speke Airport hosted an annual air display in aid of the Soldiers, Sailors, and Air Force Association, a charity for veterans. The displays were immensely popular and attracted a huge crowd. On one such occasion on 21 May 1956, tragedy struck with the death of Léon Alfred Nicolas "Léo" Valentin, billed as the Birdman, when his balsa wood wings struck the opening of the aircraft from which he was exiting and he was hurtled into an uncontrollable spin. He attempted to deploy his emergency parachute, but it became entangled and 'Roman candled', leaving Leo to fall to his death. The local newspaper headlined the story with "The world has been robbed of a daring personality." Ironically, a few years earlier Valentin had been attributed with discovering the free-fall stable position still used by sports parachutists today for safe deployment.[citation needed]
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