Claims that Air Alderney flights from Lydd to Le Touquet…
Commercial flights from Lydd airport, by Air Alderney, may start this summer. The small specialist airline will fly from the airfield on Romney Marsh to destinations including the French airport of Le Touquet, which is a 15 minute flight from Lydd. The runway at Lydd is one of the shortest on mainland UK at 1,505m – more than 2,000m less than the two runways at Heathrow. A 300m expansion of the runway was approved 10 years ago, along with a new terminal building, but work has yet to begin on either. The airport also likes to call itself London Ashford Airport, though it is miles – and a hard journey – from London. It is controlled by Saudi businessman Sheikh Fahad Al-Athel. In 2013 the airport was given the permission to extend the airport and runway, to take larger holiday destination aircraft. The plans faced legal challenges with campaigners opposed to the expansion at a site which is close to the Dungeness nuclear plant, an RSPB nature reserve and a military range. The Lydd Airport Action Group took the expansions plans to the high court, but their bid to block them was thrown out. It is unclear whether commercial flights will actually return, or be profitable. Tweet Disused UK airport once busier than Gatwick to restart passenger flights this summer London Ashford Airport, also known as Lydd, will see Air Alderney flights take off from this summer, the first time commercial flights have operated from the Kent airport since 2018 By Josh Bolton (Mirror) 28 Mar 2023 Commercial flights are going to restart from a long disused airport which was once busier than Gatwick. London Ashford Airport, also
