Back in December 2006 two planning applications from LAA (London Ashford Airport) were lodged with Shepway District Council (as they were know then) ref YO6/1647/SH and YO6/1648/SH. They were for an extension to the existing runway and to construct a new terminal building. During the planning process Shepway District Council was renamed Folkestone and Hythe District Council and in March 2009, LAA’s planning consultants, Indigo Planning compiled an 85 page document with supplementary information and supplementary environmental information as requested. Due to the complicated nature of the applications they were both referred to the Secretary of State in June 2010.
In April 2013 the Department for Transport recommended permission should be granted for both applications, subject to various conditions.
There has been a lot of controversy and opposition to the applications, mainly as the airport is very close to a national nature reserve at Dungeness, a special area of conservation which has held back expansion of the well-placed facility.
When it originally opened in 1954, it offered daily flights to Le Touquet, Cherbourg and Calais in France and Ostend in Belgium and may soon be offering trips to the continent.
At its height, 223,000 passengers flew from the airport but competition from the ferry companies with easier travel from Dover and Folkestone affected passenger numbers and interest in flying from Lydd dwindled as a result. However with planning now granted the expansion can now start and when completed will allow it to accommodate bigger aircraft like the Boeing 737 and Airbus 319, although capacity is restricted to short flights. Since 2018, Lydd has only been used for private charter flights and pilot training.
The billionaire owner of London Ashford Airport (and Lydd Golf Club next door), Saudi businessman Sheikh Fahad Al-Athel needed to invest £17million in 2013 for the expansion which included a 150m runway however, the actual expansion has yet to materialise but when I visited the airport last week it is not as I remembered a few years ago. New buildings have been erected, the ‘Biggles Bar’ has gone, replaced with a café and lounge area but very much smarter than before and the reception area looks very much like many much larger airports. Things are definitely happening.
The airport said: "We want to offer local people the chance to go on holiday or business from their local airport without the hassle and expense of flying from the London airports which are becoming increasingly congested along with the roads that serve them." This could well attract low cost airlines wanting a base closer to Europe
