Last days of Plymouth City Airport

Sad demise of Plymouth City Airport – reasons??

Aviation is booming all over the world, airports are making great profits, airlines are flying with high capacity passenger loads, and the future of aviation is startlingly brilliant and financially sound.
So, why is Plymouth Roborough Airport closing?
One reason is this.
In May last year (2011) I needed to travel to Plymouth for a business meeting during the day. I rang THREE travel agents, who all informed me there were “No scheduled services to Plymouth” from Gatwick or London City.
So I went by train, making a very long day.
While in Plymouth enquiries led me to discover there WERE regular scheduled flights to Plymouth with Air Southwest to a good choice of destinations, including Gatwick and London City – both convenient for me. So why weren’t travel agents aware? It sounds like gross incompetence on the part of Airport Managers.
In the past year I’ve stopped doing business in Plymouth and now travel – by air – to Newquay, Exeter and St. Mary’s on the Scilly Islands with no problems and all provided with many services from municipal airports in the UK. So Plymouth has lost my business, and financial input to the coffers of the airport. If other businesses divert away from Plymouth due to the lack of an airport, that will harm Plymouth even more – there’s enough unemployment in the city as it is!
Plymouth was my birth city, and I am ashamed that those running the airport, close to major industries and a major hospital and accident centre are now looking to fatten their wallets by selling the land for housing development.
I also wonder how transplant organs will reach Plymouth’s Derriford hospital expeditiously if flights cannot land at Plymouth? Has anyone thought about that and considered the risk to life that this poses?
My heart goes out to all those made redundant because of lousy managers at Plymouth City Airport. I suggest you get out of Plymouth and move to where your hard work and love of aviation will help to reap you excellent rewards.
God bless you all.
Controller

Another uploaded Plymouth Airport vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdmfvWpkQ-4

Baz

Nice series of PLH films that you have there – brings back lots of good memories.
Thanks for sharing.
Ed

Re: Spitfireman’s post 16 – Hercules video

Baz, thank you for the small credit you gave me at the end of your very fine Hercules video – it was a nice surprise. I was so pleased to see the video as it brought back instant memories of that evening way back in 2000.

As I mentioned on a different thread, I had just arrived at the airport as the aircraft was approaching and didn’t have a camera to record this rather unusual Plymouth event. It was therefore great to actually see it again in your video after all these years. Many thanks for bringing back a very pleasant memory.

Regards……Paul

What a sad story!

Plymouth’s my home town although I haven’t been there in years.
Many happy memories of Roborough from the 1950’s. Took my first ever flight from there as an ATC cadet (335 Sqn) on 3rd June, 1956 in Anson VM341.
Last flight (in & out) was in 1999 in a BA Dash 8

No reason to come back for a visit now.

Thanks for the video Baz. Do you have a pic of the ‘City of Plymouth’ Gemini?

Regards
Bill

Nice video 🙂

Taken awhile to sort out.

First of many Plymouth Airport videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBt20xHGJ1Q

Baz

Good luck to them. The ATC there are a real nice bunch and I wish them and the rest of the airport staff all the very best of luck in finding new employment.

Its ashame that these workers and the city of plymouth must suffer a loss like this thanks to poor management, a property developer with an agenda and poor council decision making.

Last day today

The boys in the tower told me that at 5pm, they’ll simply shut everything off, then walk down to the pub for a drink.

End of an era

Good luck to all the staff at PCA in finding new employment.

Baz

Does this mean trains with more carriages,more people standing for three hours?Maybe a faster coach service from heathrow that can do it under five hours?

Argh i’ve done that coach route (infact, I got on at Redruth) to visit family in London. I am glad I live in MK now and that family are only 1hr away.

Plymouth council seem to be out of touch with reality. In this day and age of tree huggers and NIMBY’s getting their way the chances are Plymouth will never ever get another airport in the future even if they ever realise that they need one.

Never went to this airport would be nice to see some photos of it in it’s heyday if anyone has any. Perhaps s a tribute?

I took over a 1,000 photos and a load of video when I worked there. I will post up some of it when I dont feel so low about it.

Baz

“Planning future transport links”

Does this mean trains with more carriages,more people standing for three hours?Maybe a faster coach service from heathrow that can do it under five hours?This is REAL plymouth city council at work,all with thier heads in the 1960s!!!!!!!!!Mind you they did build a by-pas so people could get to Cornwall quicker!!!

This from todays local ‘Herald’ newspaper.

‘…..the battle to keep it open and operational has been hard fought; not least by protest groups like VIABLE, which put forward well-intentioned but ultimately fruitless arguments in favour of retaining the facility.

Those in favour of hanging on to what many viewed as a vital, essential link might mourn its passing – but the reality is that from Friday it will cease to be a distraction in planning our city’s future transport links. That much has been made clear by the decision to transfer helicopters used by Flag Officer Sea Training from Roborough to Newquay, following Plymouth Flying School to Cornwall, and the end of air ambulances landing at the site.’

‘Yokel’ Council strikes again.

Regards…….Paul

Ahh nice video!
I did my qualifying cross country in to there in April 2007 in G-BGIU. A lovely bunch in the tower and very helpful.

It is ashame that the airport is closing. Has there been no progress in saving it? I suppose not as I think SHH wanted to turn it into housing from day 1.
Nice way to turn away business to the likes of Exeter and allow Plymouth to continue to fall behind.

Never went to this airport would be nice to see some photos of it in it’s heyday if anyone has any. Perhaps s a tribute?

missed chances

Says a lot when a little town like Newquay can have an airport but a “city”like Plymouth cannot.Shame on all concerned with its downfall,now not even a second rate city.

This was a picture I drew a few years ago and was turned into a print.

My tribute to a great little Airport.

Baz

Major businesses said some years ago if the Airport went, they would up sticks and relocate to Exeter. They required the airlink to Heathrow. Shortly after that B.A. (who took over Brymon a couple of years prior) stripped out the profit making Heathrow slots for larger aircraft (the main reason for buying Brymon in the first place) and foisted Plymouth with Gatwick. Then B.A. pulled out of Plymouth and Airsouthwest took the reins under Sutton Harbour Holdings (who also ran the Airport), it now became a one trick pony.

Unloved by the Council and severely mis-managed, the Airport bumped along the bottom, losing key personnel to other Airports up and down the Country.

Airsouthwest started to expand their routes and was making Gatwick profitable, however, Flybe (and Ryanair) spotted this and in competition, opened routes to Gatwick (from Nqy) and immediately passenger numbers dropped. ASW never recovered from this and the despair was evident with nobody knowing what to do.

Some say the writing was on the wall the moment a property developer took over the real estate.
“Its was like putting the Fox in charge of the Chicken run” a saying I heard only yesterday when I went and said goodbye to my friends and the Airport.

I worked there for 11 years and loved it to bits, it should have been Plymouths shining star, a great piece of infrastructure, the gateway to the world.

Shame on all the people involved in its downfall.

On Friday, it will be gone.

Baz:(

A fine tribute with some familiar faces and excellent photo’s.

i agree but there was never any competition so never any really cheap fares