Airport growth plans gather pace

Initial plans would be for three round trips a day to London

A campaign for a major expansion of Carlisle Airport is at a crucial stage.

Haughey Airports, which runs the site, wants to start operating commercial scheduled services from the airport, initially to London.

It says ideally it would need £18m to do all the work but estimates it could start the first phase with £8 to £10m.

It says it can provide half of the funding but has applied to the Northwest Development Agency (NWDA) for the rest it needs to go ahead.

At the moment, the airport is used by private, executive and military aircraft and for flying training.

Richard Gordon, who is responsible for the airport's marketing, said: "Basically the campaign is to get the airport up to the standard that we can then have commercial scheduled services from Carlisle."

Possible destinations

He said in order to do that, money would need to be spent to meet the Civil Aviation Authority's requirements including strengthening the runway, new lights and a new instrument landing system, as well as for a terminal building.

Mr Gordon said the initial plans would be for three round trips a day to London. Subsequent plans would be for a Dublin service and beyond that Paris and Amsterdam as possible destinations.

He said the plans had won support from businesses and tourism operators as well as from MPs and councils because of the boost they would bring to Cumbria's economy.

He said if it won the NWDA's financial backing, the commercial flights could be operating from Carlisle by the end of the year.

NWDA chief executive Steve Broomhead said: "The NWDA is currently undertaking an appraisal of any potential economic benefits that might arise from the growth of Carlisle Airport and improved air services to Cumbria.

"This research will set out clear criteria for evaluating any airline and airport approaches to the Agency for financial assistance. The Agency will consider any applications for financial support in the light of this study."