LYDD AIRPORT
 

Have you heard that lydd has upgraded to Lydd Approach and now has an ILS/DME and NDB/DME procedure !:D

any thoughts ?

Regards

is it really worth it though ? for a out of the way GA field

Yes.........why?!!

Lydd, like Manston is at the edge of the known world with
no significant catchment area. Manston has been far better equipped than
Lydd for years and still can't attract worthwhile traffic.

tilewood

You will be surprised how much traffic is going into lydd now days
it is really taking of.

since its upgrade to Tower and Approach a fair ammount of biz jets and other larger stuff are making an appearence.

it has nothing to do with equipment the fact that traffic can not be attracted, there is a lot more to it.

How about nicely situated between Dover/Folkstone and Hastings/Bexhill and convenient for cross channel flights? What do you want, re-open Lympne?(London/Ashford; '748's every 30min or so to Paris/Beauvais)
In any case, haven't you noticed the NOTAM's about the occasional non-availability of some facilities at Manston?

chevvron

The trouble is, you're about 20 minutes away from Ashford International, convenient for cross channel trains....

I'm well aware of that having done a shuttle last year, but the point is it's a very popular sunday jaunt for PPLs in SE England is to pop over the channel by air for lunch, you get such a better view than from below the waves.

surely the main problem from a commercial , is its to close to france. the object of air travel being to travel greater distances and faster, than by other transport means (car / ferry / combined). not to mention from a reasonable populated area.

Yes I often use to bimble along the coast from EGHI for the 1p per kilo gw landing fee and a good coffee and butty. used to be good practise tracking all the vor's along the way etc.

But I always had trouble spotting the bloody place, its so flat and desolate out there.

Whatever the reality, good luck London East / Ashford International or even just Lydd

A really great airfield nowadays much smartened up with a good restaurant extremely good value landing fees and a warm welcome.The airfield deserves to do well and should at least attract instrument training traffic there is a real shortage of available procedures in the south.Good luck Lydd it deserves all our support we need more not less airfields.:ok:

it has come a long way and they have spent a significant ammount of money on it ....many million!

as far as i am aware it has state of the art new equipment

also instrument training fees are cheap @ £15 for ils/ dme approach + 1 touch and go.

bonus i think.

has anyone tried the ils yet ?

NDB has new ident (LZD) 397k and is now on site.

VDF available for those of us that might be unsure of our location !

please give feedback if anyone trys Instrument approach out !
would be interested to hear , :E

helinick

Call me quizzical but it sounds like you have a vested interest in the place?? :cool:

Don't think I could afford the fuel on the long winded approaches. Let alone find the holding fix!!!

Its great to see life in the old airfield, but unless serious upgrades to infrastructure leading to the airport and the construction of several large towns. I can't see a massive future in commercial traffic.

Best of luck down there! :}

Good Old Days
 

Bring back the sixties and seventies,

When some of our out of the way airfields enjoyed the life of these times.

Every one enjoyed working hard, long hours little pay but we all had a good time,

If only we could turn back the clock.

Before security came into being

The CAA would help the small operators.

The good old word if only whese days were still here i know some of us have been in aviation a long time but seeing the ups and downs of avitions the sixities and seventies were some of the good old days.:ok: :ok:

I noticed in a national broadsheet that Eurostar have plans to halve the number of international rail services from Ashford. ....What has that got to do with Lydd airport I hear you say? Well that is my question.....Will this have an impact on the airport trying to sell itself for future growth?
Ashford as a town was looking to capitilise on the rail link for economic growth, and with that nearly doubling its population, thus increasing an already small catchment. :8

Eurostar
 

Cut to Continent but increased and improved to London.
<38 minutes from 2009
Now that really does make a difference..

Eurostar have to allow for stops at Ebbsfleet and Stratford, so something will have to give.

Lydd are talking of plans to handle upto 2m pax pa, with long term plans to go as high as 6. The blurb on their website seems to focus on turboprops and regional jets, but doesn't really explain why they'd need a runway extension for this.

It even goes into great deal about the airlines which might be interested in using it.

As a reliever to LGW, LYX has to be more promising than MSE, but I think LGW would have to get very very full before airlines really want to go so far out of the way.

I could see a scenario developing where the nimbys get there way, and capital investment on new runways at LHR or STN doesn't look likely to produce a return, and 2019 cap on LGW stays on for longer - but I think a mass defection to LYX would still be a long shot, considering how many airports London already has.

Even if high speed domestic trains make Lydd closer, do people really want a train + bus connection? LTN is bad enough as it is getting in and out of Parkway - if people are going to use public transport, there needs to be a station right underneath, or immediately outside, the terminal - and even if there are railways near to LYX, then they would need huge volumes to make the investment worthwhile.

Local market - With London Access
 

Jabird
Kent is the UK's largest county with a population of 1.3M
East Sussex poulation .5M
2001 Audit, National Statistics.
I believe that Lydd has a strong local market with London access.
Based on an assumed cost per ASK of around 5 USC I think that for many routes (around 80%) the reduced DOC based on direct track savings (both in C and $) will be attractive to those operating on industry standard low margins.
Lastly I think that colleagues in the Air Traffic sections of this BB might be able to comment on the levels/delays that LTN and STN traffic is being held down to, I guess due to Clacton??
Regards

I'm not disputing the rest of your post but Kent is only the tenth largest English county, even before Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are taken into account. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...unties_by_area

Full marks for enthusiasm though. Lydd is a nice spot and it would be good to see it work.

Kent UK's largest
 

Well, I am just interested in the potential for passengers, hence my using population rather than Sq Km,Hectares, Acres Etc.

LYX files planning application
 

After more than two and half years of environmental, traffic, economic and technical appraisal London Ashford Airport (Lydd) today filed planning applications for development. Details can be found here http://www.lydd-airport.co.uk/news.asp
And massive detail here (see links to UK planning portal, new terminal, runway, environmental statements Etc). http://www.shepway.gov.uk/content/view/200154/1652/

Good luck to them but I can't see where they will attract more passengers from than already use the airport.
The SE is well catered for by existing facilities which are far more competitive than Lydd ever could be.

Freight is an interesting proposition though, a much longer runway than that proposed is required - 2000m + to cater for the sort of freight a/c which are the realistic market - given the concentration on passengers by local competing airports freight could be Lydd's saviour, but they only have one chance to get it right.

I see on the SEN thread it was mentioned Lydd handled a number of diversions today - anyone got any details of what flights?

A steady stream of exec. jets and a euromanx LCY flight from the IOM maybe others I don,t know about.Airfield remained open till about 2100 .All reported on regional BBC news.Well done Lydd its facilities are excellent following all the investment:ok: .Weather held up very well all day .

Thank you Stampe

The new procedures worked well, the new Bravo apron still had capacity, the circulation on the ground was as planned.

Compliments of the season

WOW to LYX
 

Take a grass field (aerodrome) that fighters used in WWII and convert the mess barrack into a kind of terminal and you have a Lydd. :ok:

That's what Lydd was when I made my first ever flight in an aeroplane from there to Mulhouse back in 1957 on our way over to Austria!

An uphill, unpressurized DC3 it was and my ears hurt for two days after the flight :yuk: . Love the DC3 but you won't get me flying in one again---- no siree.

"Nostalgia aint what it used to be"

Thanks for the info to all who contributed to this thread. Don't forget Manston btw

Cheers :D
Airnuts

"There are more planes in the ocean than sumbarines in the sky"

Except Lydd was not built and opened until 1954

Lydd
 

Cor - did I divulge war secrets? Or can we let them out of the bag now? The BBC does

I DID say grass airfield (=aerodrome) and I think you'll find that the RAF operated from there in WWII. Anyhow, my DC3 DID fly from there in 1957 - I was on it :D

"Before WWI Lydd became an important artillery practice camp. Experiments with high explosives carried out on the shingle wastes around 1888 led to the invention of the explosive Lyddite. Lydd was at one time a garrison town, and the area is still an important training ground for the military.
Lydd is also the site of an airfield, the first constructed in Britain after the Second World War, Lydd Airport is now known as London Ashford Airport."

and 1940

"On October 21, a Dornier was forced to land at the Lydd aerodrome, short of fuel, having been confused in his bearings whilst attempting to return to France, by the use of recently invented equipment devised to interrupt the homing beams sent from Germany to guide such planes. The Dornier was the first example of this new type of Bomber to fall into the hands of British Intelligence.
A Wellington Bomber had the misfortune to crash-land on the 26th June on returning from a 1500-plane attack on Bremen...."
(Fm http://www.answers.com/topic/lydd)

Also http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/s...a6027833.shtml

Both sites worth reading

Airnuts

Airnuts I suspect your DC3 flight was from nearby Lympne an all grass airfield a little nearer Ashford where Skyways operated their coach air services from.It closed a long time ago late 60s early 70s.You are correct there was a wartime Advanced Landing ground at Lydd but it may not have been at the exact geographical site of the current Lydd airport.Best Regards

Lydd and Manston
 

Here a copy of my posting to KIA (Kent International Airport) thread which incorporates the Lydd data

Lemmeno if more required - drop a mail to
[email protected] but with subject starting [THC] to avoid trashing with the rest of the junk



www.answers.com/topic/lydd All about Lydd with a Link to
which tells us London Ashford Airport or Lydd Airport (IATA: LYX, ICAO: EGMD) is located 1.2 nautical miles (2.2 km) northeast of the town of Lydd and 12 nautical miles (22.2 km) south of Ashford in Kent, South East England. and lots more about the "Ferry Field" as it used to be known.
London Ashford Airport
Lydd AirportIATA: LYX - ICAO: EGMDSummaryAirport typePublicOperatorLondon Ashford Airport Ltd.ServesLyddElevation AMSL45 m (146 ft)Coordinates50°57′22″N, 000°56′21″ERunwaysDirectionLengthSurfacemft03/211,5054,938Grooved Asphalt


How to get to KIA
~~~~~~~~~~~~
By road fm London (90mls)
Kent International Airport (KIA) located on the Thanet Peninsula just 2mls W of Ramsgate and 72 miles E of London.
Follow M2 from the M25 until the A299. Then towards Ramsgate until A253 from where signs to KIA direct to B2050.
Passenger terminal on the B2050 (1mile from Manston).

By rail and bus:
Nearest train station is Ramsgate on the South Eastern train network (from Victoria - 2hr rail trip presently)
Then 10-minute taxi ride (£7) or #38 bus ride to/from the airport (only 4 trips per day).
NationalRail - Map www.nationalrail.co.uk/system/galleries/download/print_maps/LondonAndSouthEast.pdf

NationalExpress coaches www.nationalexpress.com/home/hp.cfm do not presently serve KIA but do serve London-Victoria to Ramsgate in approx 3hrs.

Map showing all airports close to London www.mlcengland.com/margate/travel.htm

Otherwise click around at
www.kentinternationalairport-manston.com/news-CosmoH.asp
re the Cosmos/Monarch flights to Norfolk, VA due to start in spring 2007 and at www.answers.com/kent%20international%20airport


Kent International Airport
Manston Airporthttp://content.answers.com/main/cont...00px-Kia22.jpg

IATA: MSE - ICAO: EGMHSummaryAirport typePublicOperatorInfratilServesKentElevation AMSL54 m (178 ft)Coordinates51°20′32″N, 001°20′46″ERunwaysDirectionLengthSurfacemft10/282,7529,029Asphalt/ConcreteKent International Airport (IATA: MSE, ICAO: EGMH) is an airport in Kent, England. It was formerly called RAF Manston (a Royal Air Force airfield) – also, previously known as London Manston Airport.

History

At the outset of the Great War, the Isle of Thanet was equipped with a small and precarious landing strip for aircraft at Westgate, above the cliffs at the foot of the sea where a seaplane had been based at the end of the promenade.
The landing grounds atop the cliff soon became the scene of several accidents, with at least one plane seen to fail to stop before the end of the cliffs and tumble into the sea, which for the fortunate pilot had been on its inward tide.........


Cheers
Airnuts

PS KIA also unfortunately means "Killed in action" :-(

Atis Now Approved At Egmd
 

The ATIS is now available for use in two ways :


1) VHF : 129.225 Mhz 45nm/20000 Ft

2) Telephone: 01797 322422

Detailed plans on UK planning portal
 

Detailed plans for the development of Lydd are now available on the UK planning portal. These include environmental and economic studies and are in two parts. The runway and new terminal.
With low cost operators achieving costs per ASK of UK Pence 4.02 the savings associated with operation from south of the LTMA may start to become attractive.

The current Lydd Airport was never an RAF station,- or grass. It was built, largely on shingle, in the early 1950s by Silver City Airways to replace the grass Lympne as the base for its 20 minute high frequency cross channel car ferry services, mainly to Le Touquet by Bristol Freighters and Superfreighters. Air Kruise (Kent) was also there with its all all passenger DC 3s and was later merged into Silver City. The simultaneous need for a Superfreighter ultra short haul replacement and the rise of the ferry companies resulted in a lingering death for Silver City and for many years the airport and its terminal were pretty moribund, a sad fate for an airport which originally was recording the highest freight tonnage of any UK airport. Geography and slow road access doesn't help it and the nearby single track link to the Rye- Ashford rail line is freight only. It will always struggle and for long haul freight Manston's USAF B-36 sized runway is a ready made much better bet and slightly better placed for access to the UK motorway system.

:oh: rumor has it that lydd is soon to to get approval for a seperate tower and approach frequency

Approach 120.7
Tower 12*.525 :E
ATIS 129.225


not bad for an airport that was Air Ground 3 years ago

Things are looking up a lot of dosh being spent.

The only real thing missing is some schedules to make this all work.

We will eatch with an open mouth it would be nice to see the traffic levels from the sixities or seventies going through.

And a missed approach procedure of less than 28NM! :} :}

Weather factor
 

With the strong weather record at Lydd these are a rare occurrence indeed.

737 for Lydd
 

BBC Southeast were reporting this morning that Lydd are chartering a 737 to prove their systems and test reactions locally.
Good move
Flush out the NIMBYs.

trumpcard

Hi all Looking in one of the kent newspapers the weekend think it was Kent on Sunday.It look like it had the airports fire truck about to push a 737-200 does the airport not have any tugs to do the job?

Regards
James

James

The airport has got tugs to carry out the job , just as they did for the Lydd Airshow.

dont know where you got the idea about a fire truck pushing a 737,

i think that being in a forum about aviation you would know that this is not possible , unless of course this is some magic trick that manston ground ops have under their sleves. :ugh:

just to add , the last 737 - 200 to visit was over a year ago

Well it was from a newspaper and you cant tell if the picture is old or recent.

James