Shoreham - A rip off
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: EuroGA.org
Posts: 13,787
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The freehold of the airport is owned by the local authority.
Erinaceous had a long lease on it, with a requirement to maintain aviation activities (don't know the exact wording) for some 25-30 years.
If Erinaceous go bust then the answer depends on the terms of the lease.
With some leases, the asset will revert to the freeholder. (which would be really funny in this case since AIUI the council got the deficit paid off in the sale and now they would get the airport back free of the deficit)
With most leases, the asset is at the disposal of the receiver or the liquidator, but they are still bound by any restrictions in the lease. Anybody who takes on the lease will also be bound by the same restrictions.
In the short term (years) I don't see Shoreham closing. In the long term, the property sharks will get all possible land and that will be the effective end of UK GA... another 20-30 years I reckon. Only farm strips, and expensive places like Bournemouth & Norwich etc will survive. Unless planning law is changed to create a development presumption enabling the development of airfields in open countryside.
Erinaceous had a long lease on it, with a requirement to maintain aviation activities (don't know the exact wording) for some 25-30 years.
If Erinaceous go bust then the answer depends on the terms of the lease.
With some leases, the asset will revert to the freeholder. (which would be really funny in this case since AIUI the council got the deficit paid off in the sale and now they would get the airport back free of the deficit)
With most leases, the asset is at the disposal of the receiver or the liquidator, but they are still bound by any restrictions in the lease. Anybody who takes on the lease will also be bound by the same restrictions.
In the short term (years) I don't see Shoreham closing. In the long term, the property sharks will get all possible land and that will be the effective end of UK GA... another 20-30 years I reckon. Only farm strips, and expensive places like Bournemouth & Norwich etc will survive. Unless planning law is changed to create a development presumption enabling the development of airfields in open countryside.
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Under the clag EGKA
Posts: 1,026
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
If the leaseholder goes down and they cannot find a new leaseholder to take it on, then the property reverts to the freeholder. I am fairly sure that the freeholder doesn't want the responsibility nor does it have the expertise to run it anymore. They will seek a new tennant as soon as possible, probably too hastily.
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: UK
Posts: 342
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
To be fair,
IMHO Erinaceous already (based on their previous performances, or lack of them) lack the expertise to manage the airfield properly.
As I recall their 'one stop shop' plan was to develop all the land South of the airfield into a business and retail park and then provide the airport with its own train station. When just about all those pipe dreams disappeared interest also seemed to disappear. They didn't buy the lease to run Shoreham as a charity, so hardly a surprise that they'll find everyway possible to raise any revenue
Call me a cynic but that may well explain why the airport belongs to Erinaceous (a company quite possibly in its death throes), but the aviation companies (flying schools and engineering) belong to the Erinaceous owners other company Longmint
Smoke and mirrors? You bet!
IMHO Erinaceous already (based on their previous performances, or lack of them) lack the expertise to manage the airfield properly.
As I recall their 'one stop shop' plan was to develop all the land South of the airfield into a business and retail park and then provide the airport with its own train station. When just about all those pipe dreams disappeared interest also seemed to disappear. They didn't buy the lease to run Shoreham as a charity, so hardly a surprise that they'll find everyway possible to raise any revenue
Call me a cynic but that may well explain why the airport belongs to Erinaceous (a company quite possibly in its death throes), but the aviation companies (flying schools and engineering) belong to the Erinaceous owners other company Longmint
Smoke and mirrors? You bet!
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: UK
Posts: 342
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Al,
No jest
Web search Erinaceous
In brief they are/were a 'one stop' property services company, primarily owned by a brother and sister-in-law team.
The same brother and sister-in-law, created a second non listed company called Longmint. In simple terms Erinaceous own the leasehold on both Shoreham and Fairoaks airport, and Longmint own, amongst others, Sterling Helicopters (Norwich), TAMS (Sheffield), FAST (Shoreham/Thruxton), and Alan Mann Helicopters (Fairoaks).
For fear of getting this thread removed as per a couple that have previosly appeared on Rotorheads I'll say no more ( a web search will answer all
)
But a property company own the airport lease ( Well at the moment anyhow)
FW
No jest
Web search Erinaceous
In brief they are/were a 'one stop' property services company, primarily owned by a brother and sister-in-law team.
The same brother and sister-in-law, created a second non listed company called Longmint. In simple terms Erinaceous own the leasehold on both Shoreham and Fairoaks airport, and Longmint own, amongst others, Sterling Helicopters (Norwich), TAMS (Sheffield), FAST (Shoreham/Thruxton), and Alan Mann Helicopters (Fairoaks).
For fear of getting this thread removed as per a couple that have previosly appeared on Rotorheads I'll say no more ( a web search will answer all
) But a property company own the airport lease ( Well at the moment anyhow)
FW
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: UK
Posts: 33
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Car Parking Charges
Barnaby
Ah! you must be talking about that jewel in the crown, Barton, or should that read City Airport Manchester. Kirstey is correct, when the car parking ticket barriers [not pay 'n' display, but swinging one arm type] went up, the franchised clubhouse cafe is now mostly empty on weekdays, with little to no visitors by way of passing trade and they often pull the cafe's shutters down and go home around 4pm, claiming there are no customers. City Airport management keep asking the cafe staff to remain open, especially in the evenings, but where are the customers? Get rid of the barriers! Flying club members now patronise the nearby golf club, which is open all day, 'til late evening, with spacious free car parking and you do not even have to be a golfing member.
Barriers (pay for car parking) are a deterrent to many. During their first week of operation at Barton, a student turned up in his humvee for his helicopter lesson, saw the barrier, got on his mobile to his flying instructor ..... end of short story is he turned around and departed, for good. As an aside: the problem with the barriers at Barton is you then have to go to the Tower to pay and get an exit code ticket. By the time you walk to the Tower, form a queue when busy, hand your cash over and walk back to the car park, you could have wasted 30mins, maybe in the dark and pouring rain. The best one though was that the Tower reception at weekends is also staffed by the multi-tasking fire crew. All well and good, 'til the crash alarm goes off. Fine chaps as they are, they rush off, locking the reception. So if you want to pay and exchange your car parking ticket for an exit one, or for that matter pay for fuel and anything else, you have to wait until the emergency is over and they return. No good if you have just refuelled your helicopter with Jet A1, and are in a rush to leave. Just one of the problems when 'management' has lost the plot. Sounds like Shoreham is going the same way. Shame!
In the nearby town of Eccles car parking was always free in the town centre to encourage shopping. Some bright council employee recently decided that they would now have to pay at meters. The end result is that people now drive the extra miles to the out of town mega shopping complex, The Trafford Centre, where parking is free, and the shops in Eccles are wondering where their customers have gone, and if they will be able to pay the council rates!
As to 'Hospitals might do it soon if you are not careful... ' some already do, and its costing and arm and a leg (excuse the pun) if you are an Out Patient. You're spot on when you say ' If they dislike it so much... Don't fly into there'. As noted above, people vote with their feet. So trade falls still further down the black hole. Sorry for the geographical thread drift!
... grass that becomes boggy in the winter and a mud splattered aircraft.... Might save you a bob or two!
Barriers (pay for car parking) are a deterrent to many. During their first week of operation at Barton, a student turned up in his humvee for his helicopter lesson, saw the barrier, got on his mobile to his flying instructor ..... end of short story is he turned around and departed, for good. As an aside: the problem with the barriers at Barton is you then have to go to the Tower to pay and get an exit code ticket. By the time you walk to the Tower, form a queue when busy, hand your cash over and walk back to the car park, you could have wasted 30mins, maybe in the dark and pouring rain. The best one though was that the Tower reception at weekends is also staffed by the multi-tasking fire crew. All well and good, 'til the crash alarm goes off. Fine chaps as they are, they rush off, locking the reception. So if you want to pay and exchange your car parking ticket for an exit one, or for that matter pay for fuel and anything else, you have to wait until the emergency is over and they return. No good if you have just refuelled your helicopter with Jet A1, and are in a rush to leave. Just one of the problems when 'management' has lost the plot. Sounds like Shoreham is going the same way. Shame!
In the nearby town of Eccles car parking was always free in the town centre to encourage shopping. Some bright council employee recently decided that they would now have to pay at meters. The end result is that people now drive the extra miles to the out of town mega shopping complex, The Trafford Centre, where parking is free, and the shops in Eccles are wondering where their customers have gone, and if they will be able to pay the council rates!
As to 'Hospitals might do it soon if you are not careful... ' some already do, and its costing and arm and a leg (excuse the pun) if you are an Out Patient. You're spot on when you say ' If they dislike it so much... Don't fly into there'. As noted above, people vote with their feet. So trade falls still further down the black hole. Sorry for the geographical thread drift!
