Originally Posted by
shamrock7seal
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Does SOU earn any income from the land it sold off to the Royal Mail?
Time for a reality check. The airport was previously owned by entrepreneur Nat Somers, who funded the laying of the hard (concrete) runway. It was subsequently sold to a property investor Gazeley. They divided the original site into three parcels of land, the north east corner which has remained undeveloped apart from location of the "SAM" VOR/DME, the current airport site and the area adjacent to the airport main entrance which now includes the Royal Mail Building, hotel, Mercedes car dealership and other buildings.
At the time of sale Airports UK Ltd (a subsidiary of BAA Plc) were contracted by Nat Somers to run the airport. BAA Plc then purchased two of the parcels of land from Gazeley, the NE corner and the current airport site. They have never owned the third parcel of land, something that they, and subsequent airport owners, have come to regret. The ideal place the expand the apron and even build Terminal 2?