Lack of GA facilities in Manchester
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Lack of GA facilities in Manchester
I see in the news today that the population of Greater Manchester has reached 2,500,000 and has had a faster growth rate than the West Midlands over the past 10 years.
To service the aviation needs of this population there are only 2 assets - Manchester EGCC and Barton EGCB (where I learnt to fly). The former Avro/BAe site at Woodford EGCD is closed and will be developed for housing.
The only true GA aircraft based at MAN is a single PA-28 and there is a brisk trade at RSS jet centre with mainly "heavy" biz jets such as Gulfstreams, Falcons, Citations etc.
Barton - or City Airport as it known - caters well for rotary operations. The Police helicopter is based there and there are 2 Northwest air ambulances together with numerous transits of S-76s etc and pipeline inspection flights.
The light aircraft scene there is little changed since the peaks of the '80s and 90's with the usual collection of spam cans, vintage and home builts. The runway remains a grass strip prone to sogginess..
If a locally based successful company wanted to base the current plane du jour such as a PC-12 or Cirrus where should they look?
To service the aviation needs of this population there are only 2 assets - Manchester EGCC and Barton EGCB (where I learnt to fly). The former Avro/BAe site at Woodford EGCD is closed and will be developed for housing.
The only true GA aircraft based at MAN is a single PA-28 and there is a brisk trade at RSS jet centre with mainly "heavy" biz jets such as Gulfstreams, Falcons, Citations etc.
Barton - or City Airport as it known - caters well for rotary operations. The Police helicopter is based there and there are 2 Northwest air ambulances together with numerous transits of S-76s etc and pipeline inspection flights.
The light aircraft scene there is little changed since the peaks of the '80s and 90's with the usual collection of spam cans, vintage and home builts. The runway remains a grass strip prone to sogginess..
If a locally based successful company wanted to base the current plane du jour such as a PC-12 or Cirrus where should they look?
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If a locally based successful company wanted to base the current plane du jour such as a PC-12 or Cirrus where should they look?
Agreed, it's a pretty poor state of affairs.
Usual scenario applies......suitable flat land is usually more valuable for housing, or is farmland....in the case of farms, greenbelt,NIMBYs.and geography all make it difficult.....Barton is nearly an hour away from me......Crosland Moor is probably the nearest in the opposite direction (east) Woodford would have been nearest to South and I suppose Wharton to North...... Rochdale, Bury and all around that area ,fall into the same trap,though at least, they are "outside" the M60/62 line of Manchester Ringway's airspace.
In realistic terms, anyone living around Oldham/ Rochdale /Ashton / Stockport, has Barton's grass, or expensive Liverpool or Blackpool to choose from.
I discount Crosland Moor, as i've heard it's not the easiest, terrain-wise.
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Agreed. I really hoped something would come of Woodford but no chance.
Hawarden seems to have picked up a couple of GA aircraft, probably due to available hangarage. But it's not the most hassle free airport to operate from and hangarage isn't cheap.
Hawarden seems to have picked up a couple of GA aircraft, probably due to available hangarage. But it's not the most hassle free airport to operate from and hangarage isn't cheap.
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Woodford was a predictable lost opportunity. It could so easily have become Manchester's 'Biggin Hill', but that would have taken a bit of vision instead of the easy and profitable route of selling it to developers. How much would it cost to provide all that infrastructure elsewhere?
There's a perfectly good runway at Stretton, well placed to serve the GA requirements of Manchester and Liverpool. Why is that lying disused?
There's a perfectly good runway at Stretton, well placed to serve the GA requirements of Manchester and Liverpool. Why is that lying disused?
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Everything said in the thread so far is completely true. An alternative to RSS at Manchester EGCC is Premiere Handling. They will accept all types of G.A. aircraft but are again restricted by what they can offer as a price.
The airport has very set time periods where ATC/Landing fees and parking are very high yet other times when they are very favourable indeed. Premiere Handling charge a handling fee which again is driven by costs and is obviously far more expensive then Barton EGCB. It does however compare favourable with the other so called expensive airports in the UK such as EDI/GLA/ABZ/BHX/LTN/STN/LGW/FAB etc etc. In addition it is sad to say that the G.A. pilot must also face the challenge that the airport has removed all AVGAS from the airport and only has JET A1 on site. So the bottom line is that Manchester is poorly served and if for any reason Barton is unuseable due waterlogging etc, (although I personally think Barton is superb otherwise as an option), and if your journey is important or urgent you may think about Premiere Handling as an "emergency" alternative solution.
The airport has very set time periods where ATC/Landing fees and parking are very high yet other times when they are very favourable indeed. Premiere Handling charge a handling fee which again is driven by costs and is obviously far more expensive then Barton EGCB. It does however compare favourable with the other so called expensive airports in the UK such as EDI/GLA/ABZ/BHX/LTN/STN/LGW/FAB etc etc. In addition it is sad to say that the G.A. pilot must also face the challenge that the airport has removed all AVGAS from the airport and only has JET A1 on site. So the bottom line is that Manchester is poorly served and if for any reason Barton is unuseable due waterlogging etc, (although I personally think Barton is superb otherwise as an option), and if your journey is important or urgent you may think about Premiere Handling as an "emergency" alternative solution.
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Barton
I am just glad that Barton has not been built over by now. Peel holdings had serious plans which fell through.
The only other place around I could think of for your question is Blackpool.
The only other place around I could think of for your question is Blackpool.
