Shoreham Airport

Infobox Airport
name = Shoreham Airport
nativename = Shoreham (Brighton City) Airport
nativename-a =
nativename-r =

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image-width =
caption =
IATA = ESH
ICAO = EGKA
type = Public
owner =
operator = Eurica! Services Limited
city-served = Shoreham-by-Sea; Brighton & Hove; Worthing
location = Lancing, West Sussex
elevation-f = 7
elevation-m = 2
coordinates = Coord|50|50|08|N|000|17|50|W|type:airport
website = [http://www.shorehamairport.co.uk/ www.shorehamairport.co.uk]
metric-rwy = Yes
r1-number = 02/20
r1-length-f = 3,399
r1-length-m = 1,036
r1-surface = Asphalt
r2-number = 07/25
r2-length-f = 2,877
r2-length-m = 877
r2-surface = Grass
r3-number = 13/31
r3-length-f = 1,339
r3-length-m = 408
r3-surface = Grass
r4-number = 02/20
Unlicensed
r4-length-f = 2,297
r4-length-m = 700
r4-surface = Grass
stat-year =
stat1-header =
stat1-data =
stat2-header =
stat2-data =
footnotes = Source: UK AIP at NATS [ [http://www.ais.org.uk/ UK Aeronautical Information Service] ]

Shoreham Airport Airport codes|ESH|EGKA, also known as Shoreham (Brighton City) Airport, owned by Albemarle Shoreham Airport Limited [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/7348883.stm BBC News - Flights resume after airport sale] ] following the sale of the airport by Brighton & Hove City Council and Worthing Borough Council in July 2006, is an airport located 1 nautical mile (1.9 km) west of Shoreham-by-Sea and just east of Lancing, West Sussex, near Brighton. Founded in 1910, it is the oldest licensed airfield in the UK. It is situated immediately to the south of the A27 road, between Brighton and Worthing. Ordnance Survey maps show the airport to be within the boundary of Lancing.

Shoreham has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (Number P884) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction.

History

The aerodrome was first used in 1910 and was officially opened on 20 June 1911. The first flying school opened in 1913. During World War I the aerodrome was used by the Royal Flying Corps.

The aerodrome became an airport for the adjacent towns of Brighton, Hove, and Worthing in the 1930s. A new terminal building was opened on 13 June 1936. The terminal building is still in use and is now a Grade II listed building.

During World War II the airfield operated a variety of military aircraft including Westland Lysanders that were later replaced by Supermarine Spitfires, Hawker Hurricanes, Boulton Paul Defiants and a pair of Bristol Beaufighters. It was an air-sea-rescue base with Supermarine Walrus aircraft joining other wartime activities in the nearby harbour.

The airfield was bombed several times and a Messerschmitt Bf 109 was shot down by ground fire during one such attack, crash-landing near the terminal building.

A B-17 Flying Fortress crash-landed at the airfield after being damaged during a raid on Germany. The consequent damage to the old guardhouse on the north side of the airfield can still be seen.

The landing area was entirely grass until a tarmac runway was built in 1981.

In 2006 due to mounting debts the airport was sold by the local authority to a property company on a 150-year lease. It is intended that the airport will provide increasing commercial flight activity for the conurbation on the coast nearby, particularly the city of Brighton & Hove.

On April 14 2008, it was announced that the parent company had gone into liquidation, and airfield managers blocked all flights amid fears that the required insurance cover had been cancelled. [cite web | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/7346625.stm | title= Financial crisis grounds flights | date=2008-04-14 | accessdate=2008-04-15 | Publisher=BBC News | format=html]

The airport is used by privately owned light aeroplanes, flying schools, and for light aircraft and helicopter maintenance and sales. A number of operators provide sight-seeing and pleasure flights, including the experience of flying in two T-6 Harvard World War II training aircraft. Commercial scheduled flights are available via local operators to Alderney in the Channel Islands and Le Havre and Le Touquet-Paris-Plage in France.

RAFA Shoreham Airshow

Once every year in the late summer, the airport is host to the Royal Air Forces Association (RAFA) Shoreham Airshow. The airshow has flying and static displays by a variety of aircraft such as fast jets, military helicopters, aerobatic aircraft, and historic aircraft. A variety of ground displays by local organisations including the local flying clubs, the armed forces, and classic cars and vehicles. The show has raised over £1 million pounds for the Royal Air Forces Association over 17 years. [cite web | url=http://www.shorehamairshow.com/ | title=Shoreham Airshow 2007 Official Website | accessdate=2007-09-16 | format=html]

On 15 September 2007 a World War II-vintage Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft involved in the RAFA Air Display crashed near Lancing College. The pilot of the aircraft was killed in the crash. This is the first fatality in the history of the Airshow. [cite web | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6996734.stm | title=WWII aircraft pilot dies in crash | date=2007-09-15 | accessdate=2007-09-16 | Publisher=BBC News | format=html]

The airshow will be held again on 30 and 31 August 2008 and will feature a special tribute to Brian Brown who lost his life at the show in 2007. The 2007 show raised in excess of £150,000 for the Royal Air Forces Association, a record achievement.

Facilities

There is a central reception and information desk, together with flight indicator boards announcing all arrivals and departures. Articles on sale in the main terminal include airport souvenirs. The airport has two licensed restaurants; the cafeteria in the main terminal building is open to the public (including those not otherwise involved with the airport or any flight), and sells local real ales, whilst the other restaurant is frequented largely by students and employees at the educational and commercial premises on site. The airport houses Northbrook College's engineering department — a Centre of Vocational Excellence (CoVE) in Aerospace and Aviation. A number of aerospace and aviation commercial businesses have offices and workshops on the airport site and along the perimeter road.

Airlines and destinations

*Skysouth (Caen, Deauville, Le Touquet, Paris-Pontoise Cormeilles)

Sussex Police Air Operations Unit

The Sussex Police Air Operations Unit is headquartered at Shoreham Airport. The unit is equipped with a single helicopter, callsign "Hotel 900", and is headed by a Police Inspector, assisted by a Police Sergeant and two Police Constables, together with pilots, paramedics, and ground support staff. The aircraft always flies with a crew of three (one pilot, one police officer, and one paramedic) and can reach any part of Sussex (around 1,500 square miles) within 20 minutes. [ [http://www.sussex.police.uk/features/specialistUnits/h900.asp SPAOU] ]

Shoreham Airport RFFS

The Shoreham Airport Rescue and Firefighting Service provides a professional fire-fighting capability at the airport during operating hours. Headed by a Senior Airport Fire Officer, the service's two watches (Blue Watch and Red Watch) man four fire appliances. The service has operated at the airport continuously for over 90 years. [ [http://www.sarffs.co.uk/ SARFFS website] ]

Shoreham Airport's aircraft fuelling service is operated as a department of the Rescue and Firefighting Service. There are three large mobile fuel bowsers for delivering both Avgas and jet fuel to aircraft, including a service (accompanied by fire applicances) for fast delivery of fuel to police and coastguard emergency helicopters without disengaging their engines. Fuel technicians are attached to the firefighting Watches (Red Watch and Blue Watch) and work the same shift pattern, although they have their own Fuel Services Manager. [ [http://www.sarffs.co.uk/fuel/fuel.html Airport fuelling team webpage] ]

Film appearances

Due to its listed period buildings and facilities, Shoreham Airport is regularly used by film-makers seeking to portray a small town airport, or even for historical reconstructions of scenes from the 1930s onwards. The airport has appeared in Agatha Christie's Poirot, starring David Suchet. External shots of the airport were also used in the film "The Da Vinci Code", however the name of the airport was changed. [cite web | url=http://archive.theargus.co.uk/2006/1/9/206742.html | title=Secret Da Vinci Code airport set revealed | date=2006-01-09 | Publisher=The Argus | accessdate=2007-09-16 | format=html]

External links

* [http://www.shorehamairport.co.uk/ Shoreham Airport (official website)]
* [http://www.thearchiveshoreham.co.uk/ Shoreham Airport Historical Society (official website)]
* [http://www.shorehamairshow.com/ Shoreham Airshow (Official Website)]

References

*United Kingdom Aeronautical Information Publication