For the World War II use of this facility, see RAF Hurn

Bournemouth Airport (previously known as Hurn Airport and Bournemouth International Airport) is an airport located north northeast of Bournemouth, in southern England. Historically, charter services were dominated primarily by locally based Palmair which made up the majority of commercial movements. In 2003, low cost carrier Buzz (now Ryanair) began scheduled services, and today scheduled flights from the airport frequently serve Western and Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean with occasional charter and seasonal services serving Northern Africa, North America and the Caribbean. Passengers handled in 2007 rose by 13% to 1,086,900 which was the first time passenger numbers passed the 1 million mark. Passenger numbers remained relatively static in 2008 at 1,083,446.

On 25 November 2008, Bournemouth Airport was ranked best airport in the United Kingdom and 3rd best in the world, after Singapore Changi Airport and Hong Kong International Airport, by the Daily Telegraph Travel Awards.

Bournemouth Airport has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (number P736) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction. As of November 2009, Ryanair and Thomson Airways remain the primary users of the airport.

Location

Bournemouth Airport is situated on the edge of Hurn village in the Borough of Christchurch, north of Bournemouth, west of the A338 and approximately south west of London. The airport is accessible via the A31 from the M27 and M3 motorway to the east, and via the A35 to the west.

Every hour, seven days a week, the Bournemouth Airport Shuttle bus serves the airport, linking the town centre to the airport. Operational between 7am and 7pm, the shuttle also provides transportation for employees. The nearest other airports serving the area are Exeter International Airport and Southampton Airport.

History

1940s

Bournemouth Airport began as RAF Hurn on 1 August 1941, during World War II. It was used for paratroop training and as a glider base before the North African Landings in 1943. Prior to D-Day, it was the base of 570 Squadron, who landed agents and dropped supplies to the French Resistance. The hardened runways of the airfield saw extensive use by United States Army Air Forces in the preparations for D-Day and the subsequent Battle of Normandy. It was also the home base of 84 Group, RAF Second Tactical Air Force, comprising nine squadrons of Typhoons, who flew daily to France supporting ground forces.

From November 1944 the airfield took over from Bristol's Whitchurch airport as the main operating base for British Overseas Airways Corporation until Heathrow fully opened in 1948. It was the starting point of the first England-Australia service, which took three days in Avro Lancastrians (modified Lancaster bombers). The airport served Accra, Cairo, Calcutta, Johannesburg, New York, Sydney and Washington D.C.

1950s

1958 saw the first Palmair flight from the airport, using a single 36 seat Viking aircraft destined for Palma de Mallorca. The service was one of the first charter flights in the United Kingdom.

Aircraft manufacture

Vickers-Armstrongs took over some ex-BOAC hangars at Hurn in 1951 and started production of Varsities, then Viscounts and eventually, as the British Aircraft Corporation, the BAC One-Eleven.

Nearly all Vickers Viscounts & BAC 1-11s were built at this site. Some of the development of the ill-fated TSR-2 was also done here (but assembly and testing was at Warton, Lancs), as well as the production of a number of parts for Concorde. The closure of the BAC site in the 1980s saw an end to Bournemouth's role as a significant player in the aircraft construction industry. The site of the BAC works now forms one of Dorset's largest industrial sites, including a base for Cobham plc.

1960s

In 1969 the airport was purchased jointly by the Bournemouth Corporation and Dorset County Council and renamed as "Bournemouth Airport" (later to become Bournemouth International Airport). The new owners decided to redevelop the facility as a commercial airport and, by 1980, the airport became used by charter airlines, when European Aviation began services.

1990s - 2000s

In 1993, the airport received its first regular passengers when European Aviation Air Charter (EAC) and Palmair started operations. In 1995, the airport was sold to National Express Group and then, in March 2001, was acquired by the Manchester Airports Group, the largest UK-owned airport group.

In 1996, a new extension to the main runway was officially opened by the arrival of Concorde. Bath Travel chartered Concorde for supersonic champagne lunches across the Bay of Biscay. Ryanair also began services from Bournemouth to Dublin with one of its Boeing 737-200.

Since 2001, a Boeing 747SP has been based at the airport which is used by the Royal Family of Qatar and other VIP government staff from the Middle East. The aircraft is often stored in the former BASCO building (Hangar 12) and is a regular visitor to Zürich Airport and London Heathrow Airport.

In 2003, EAC acquired six Boeing 747-200s from British Airways, with the intention of operating long haul holidays from the airport. Due to financial difficulties, these aircraft were scrapped in 2005.

Bath Travel's Palmair remained the prime user of the airport, with a 737-200 permanently based there. In 2005 Thomsonfly became the first major low cost airline to establish a hub at Bournemouth; allocating two Boeing 737-300 aircraft for low-cost scheduled services to Europe and in 2008 to the Caribbean. Also in 2005, Air Berlin and EasyJet began services by announcing routes to Paderborn and Geneva respectively. Air Berlin have now ceased operations at the airport. The airport previously had a daily service to the Channel Islands provided by the Jersey-based Blue Islands airline, which withdrew from Bournemouth in April 2009. Polish-based Wizzair also ran routes to Gdansk, Katowice and Krakow during 2006 and 2007.

Current routes

In 2007, Ryanair began to rapidly increase the number of services from the airport, initially starting routes to Marseille, Alicante, and Milan which brought the total to 8. In December, 2007, EasyJet announced a new seasonal route to Grenoble, bring the number of routes to 2. The route ceased at the end of the 2008 winter season. In 2008, Palmair introduced a new series of charter flights to Tunisia, Fuerteventura, Naples, Amalfi Coast and Rhodes. Olympic Holidays also launched new charter flights to Corfu and Zakynthos in Greece and Larnaca in Cyprus.On 9 January 2008, Ryanair announced that they would base one of their Boeing 737-800s at Bournemouth from April 2008. During the first quarter, the airline announced routes to Málaga, Murcia, Palma de Mallorca, Wroclaw and the re-introduction of the Nantes route. An additional flight each day was added to the Glasgow Prestwick route, with the addition of a twice-daily flight to Edinburgh. In May, Milan and Paris routes were announced to commence in October plus a new weekly ski flight to Turin for the winter season.Increasing from 14 routes, after the discontinuation of the Nantes route, to 18 - Carcassonne, Faro, Limoges and Reus were added to the route network in February 2009. In July 2009 Glasgow Prestwick - the airport's busiest route - will be discontinued, reducing the number of routes from Ryanair to 17.

Following the closure of European Aviation Air Charter, Palmair chartered various aircraft types from Jet2, Viking, Blue Line, Tor Air and Astraeus, before unveiling their new Astraeus-leased Boeing 737-500 on 13th May 2009.

Expansion

In 2007, the airport's owners, Manchester Airports Group, announced a £32 million investment in the redevelopment of the airport which mainly focuses on creating new car parking spaces in two separate car parks and building a new International Arrivals terminal. Part of these plans include screening off the current arrivals terminal with a three metre screen, with plans to ultimately phase out use of the building. On 21 June 2007, planning permission was granted to the scheme by Christchurch Council Planning Committee, despite public objections and protests. This was conditional, however, on a maximum of three million air passengers per annum, and required contributions to road systems, bus routes, and to use quieter aircraft.

With the budget increased to £45 million in July 2008, the upgrade will replace the arrivals terminal and upgrade the check-in and departure lounge areas. The number of aircraft stands will rise from 4 to 12. Christchurch Council and central government backed plans for the re-building of the airport terminal, increasing its size by 62%; work started in August 2007.

The development re-started in August 2008 with the runway being resurfaced, and a new Thales Cat IIIa ILS on Runway 26 with associated aerodrome ground lighting and IRVR were installed during December 2008. The main apron has been expanded to a total of 11 stands for aircraft of Boeing 737-800 size, including provision for aircraft of Boeing 767-300 size, and construction of a car park towards the south boundary is underway. Work on the terminal itself is now in progress, where the check-in areas, security control and departure lounges will be upgraded. Improvements to the infrastructure around the airport include more frequent bus services to Bournemouth Interchange and traffic lights at the entrance to the airport are planned. Hurn village roundabout will also be revised. The new departures building is expected to be completed by spring 2010..

Steve Fossett

Shortly after 17:00 on Saturday 11 February 2006, millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett made an emergency landing at Bournemouth International Airport, after completing the longest non-stop flight in history, having covered 25,766 miles in 76 hours and 43 minutes. Fossett had planned to end his flight 144 miles further away at Kent International Airport, but the failure of an electrical generator on board the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer forced him to issue a Mayday call and land in limited visibility, bursting two tyres as he touched down.

Airlines and destinations

Scheduled services

Charter services

Most charter services that operate from Bournemouth are seasonal, including:

Cargo services

Traffic and statistics

Busiest Domestic and International Routes out of Bournemouth Airport (2008)

Rank	Airport	Passengers handled	2007-2008 % Change	Airlines that serve(d)
1	- Glasgow-Prestwick Airport	128,961	37.02	Ryanair
2	- Málaga Airport	112,870	41.32	Ryanair, Thomson Airways
3	- Girona-Costa Brava Airport	104,573	2.22	Ryanair
4	- Dublin Airport	101,345	6.29	Ryanair
5	- Palma de Mallorca Airport	78,997	9.69	Ryanair, Thomson Airways, Palmair
6	- Alicante Airport	71,739	4.83	Ryanair
7	- Murcia-San Javier Airport	45,181		Ryanair
8	- Faro Airport	44,188	22.76	Ryanair, Thomson Airways, Palmair
9	- Tenerife South Airport	33,911	5.68	Thomson Airways, Palmair, Ryanair
10	- Geneva Airport	33,388	0.86	easyJet, easyJet Switzerland
11	- Copernicus Airport Wroclaw	29,930		Ryanair
13	- Nantes Airport	18,411	84.37	Ryanair
14	- Heraklion International Airport	14,820	60.46	Thomson Airways
15	- Salzburg Airport	11,887	4.04	Thomson Airways

Bournemouth Airport saw a very small decline in the total number of passengers in 2008, with 6 of its busiest routes showing a drop in passengers. Despite this, 9 routes showed an increase in passengers flown, especially to Málaga and Glasgow-Prestwick, and two new routes to Murcia and Wrocław launched by Ryanair saw over 45,000 and almost 30,000 respectively using the service.

Accidents and incidents

On 28 January 1972, Vickers Viscount D-ANEF of Airwork Services was damaged beyond repair when the undercarriage collapsed after a heavy landing.

Industrial park

The airport has a industrial park, including offices and hangars. In early March 2009, Manchester Airport Developments Ltd completed the construction of Cirrus Court, a development of 14 industrial units which is the first part of a number of phases to redevelop the northern aviation sector.

References

1. British Airline History - London Metropolitan University
2. History of Bournemouth Airport - Airport Guides Network
3. http://www.stevefossett.com/html/main_pages/records.html

External links

• Official website
• Photos of Bournemouth Airport