Liverpool Airport Parking

Liverpool airport history

Liverpool John Lennon Airport is one of the UK's oldest operational airports. Speke Airport - its original name (pronounced Speak) - started scheduled flights in 1930, however was 'officially' opened in the summer of 1933. In the thirties, as air traffic from Liverpool was beginning to 'take-off' with high demand for Irish Sea crossings, a passenger terminal and aircraft storage facilities were built. During World War II, the airport was taken over by the Royal Air Force and known as RAF Speke

Speke was witness to what is thought to be the fastest air to air combat "kill" in the Battle of Britain and possibly of all time. Squadron Leader Denys Gillam took off in his Hawker Hurricane from Speke to be confronted by a Junkers 88 passing across him. As his undercarriage was still retracting he shot the Junkers down. The moment has been caught in a painting by Robert Taylor called "Fastest Victory".

In 1966, a new runway was opened on a new site to the south of the existing airfield. It enabled the airport to be open for business around the clock and is in use to this day. Control of the airport transferred to Merseyside County Council from Liverpool Corporation in the mid 1970s and 10 years later to the five Merseyside councils following the abolition of Merseyside County Council. A new modern passenger terminal, adjacent to the runway on the southern airfield site, opened in 1986, following the closure of the original 1930s building.[2]

The original terminal building from the 1930s, famously seen on early television footage with its terraces packed with Beatles fans, was left derelict for over a decade after being replaced in 1986. However it has recently been renovated and expanded to become the Marriott Liverpool South Hotel, preserving its Grade II listed art deco style.[3]

In 1990 ownership of the airport was privatized, with British Aerospace taking a 76% shareholding in the new company. Subsequently the airport has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Peel Holdings Ltd. In 2000, work on a £42.5 million modern passenger terminal began, tripling the size and increasing capacity, and this development was completed in 2002.[4]

2002 saw the airport being renamed in honour of the late John Lennon, a founding member of Liverpudlian band The Beatles, twenty-two years after Lennon's death. A 7ft bronze statue of the local icon proudly stands overlooking the check-in hall. On the roof is painted the airport's motto, a line from Lennon's song "Imagine": "Above us, only sky".

Liverpool John Lennon Airport was one of three airports featured on the ITV 1 documentary, Airline, but since the transformation of the airport it has not been seen on television.

This history article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article " Liverpool John Lennon Airport".