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East Midlands Airport Information
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Cheap East Midlands Airport Parking » Airport Information>History History of East Midlands AirportThe airport standing at this location has had three names to date. It began as a satellite airport for the larger Wymeswold. On January 1, 1943, it began with the name of Castle Donington and was an operational training unit for the RAF. Its Wellingtons were used to train pilots and other aircrew. A few other planes, namely the Lysanders and Martinets were used for pulling targets. The first trained crews were passed out in June of 1943.
In October, 1944, Castle Donington began hosting a different operational training. Its goal was to turn out 24 trained crews every three weeks. The training classes were of 12 week duration. Thus, there was a lot of flying done at this location, flying of a military nature.
When the war ended, the unit changed from its training duties to ferrying supplies and personnel to the Far East and Middle East. By September of 1946, with the war ended, the airfield was closed since there was a reduced need of trained aircrew.
In the 1950s it was realised that the airport at Burneston needed to be replaced. Serious consideration was given to the old Castle Donington airfield and facilities. However, the runway and facilities at the old RAF airfield were not in good condition. Still, work began toward refurbishing what could be used and building that which needed to be replaced.
The first new municipal airport to be constructed in Britain since the end of the war was opened April 2, 1965, and renamed East Midlands, a name which would be modified later. Prince Philip was on hand for the opening of this replacement of Burneston Airport, which had a grass runway and was becoming rather outdated. East Midlands sported a new hangar and aprons as well as room for parking for 850 cars. Its new runway was 5850 feet long with a 60 foot taxiway.
It took a while for the new airport to become successful. By 1970, more and more traffic was seen. British Midland became the first resident airline, followed by Air Bridge Carriers. In 1972, Alidair, a charter airline, began serving the East Midlands Airport. They continued to serve this airport until 1983. In the meantime, Orion Airways began its commercial services. In time, many other air carriers joined and served East Midlands as well.
In 1986 Princess Anne was present for the opening of a three million pound extension of the terminal. Doubtless, this was due to the great increase of passenger traffic at the airport. In fact, in 1985 for the first time a million passengers passed through East Midlands.
The airport became a public limited company in 1987, due to legislation. Thus, local ownership brought new problems to those in charge of the airport. Proposed improvements became more difficult to pay for. By 1992 a proposed major extension to the terminal had to be cancelled because the local officials could not raise the funds to pay for the work.
One year later, East Midlands Airport was sold to National Express Group for 24.3 million pounds. They owned the airport for the next eight years, making extensive improvements including 77 million pounds for infrastructure on the airfield itself plus improvements in passenger facilities. The new traffic control tower became the second tallest one in the country. They added 600 metres to the length of the runway.
Businesses noticed the airport, and many of them decided to invest there. A joint venture with Wilson Bowden produced a business park which included the regional headquarters of Powergen, a Regis office block and hotels by both Holiday Inn and Radisson. DHL soon opened a 35 million pound facility at the airport.
The airport was again sold in 2001. This time the buyer was Manchester Airport Group, which also bought the Bournemouth International Airport. They paid 241 million pounds for the two airports combined.
Quickly, some ‘no-frills’ airlines began using the airport, causing the passenger load to soar.
The new owners decided that a name change would help foreigners, in particular, to be able to locate the airport. The new name was Nottingham East Midlands Airport. Whether this new name was helpful is open to debate. We still identify the airport as East Midlands.
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