Holiday flights could soon return to tiny UK airport with short-lived history of hosting passengers

A SMALL UK airport that only previously hosted passengers for a handful of years could soon see the relaunch of commercial flights.

Carlisle Lake District Airport offered links for passengers between 2019 and 2020, when it served routes to London, Dublin and Belfast with Loganair.

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Carlisle Lake District Airport could soon get new flight routes[/caption]

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The airport is currently operating as a public use aerodrome[/caption]

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The airport used to host flights to London, Belfast and Dublin[/caption]

PA:Press Association

Lady Gaga performed at the airport back in 2011 as part of Radio One’s Big Weekend[/caption]

However, those flights were abandoned during the pandemic and never resumed.

Since then, it has operated as a public use aerodrome, but conversations have recently taken place about the potential for commercial aviation to return.

Its website currently clearly states: “Carlisle Lake District Airport does not operate commercial passenger aircraft.”

But that could be set to change, after new owners AW Jenkinson took over the site in May this year.

It promised both to invest £5million in new jobs and to provide it with “long-term economic purpose”.

The leader of Cumberland Council Mark Fryer has now said there is “significant interest” from at least two parties in bringing back flights.

Mr Fryer made the comments in response to a question during a full council meeting last week.

According to the BBC, Lib Dem councillor Tim Pickstone asked: “What discussions have been with the new owners of Carlisle Lake District Airport about maintaining the potential for a return of commercial aviation?”

Mr Fryer said: “There was some significant interest in it, not just one set of buyers, but at least two. We have been talking to all parties during that time.”

When asked again if he would “use every opportunity” to bring back flights to the city, Mr Fryer said: “Absolutely.”

Should the flights return, it would open up a hugely popular area of the UK to travellers and make holidays in the Lake District more accessible.

It currently receives around 41.5 million visitors per year, and became an official UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2017.

Despite the region’s popularity, the airport has rarely been used as a location for people to travel in and out of the area, although plenty of attempts have been made over the years.

Prior to its 2019 Loganair routes, a handful of companies tried to use the airport for flights during the 90s, including Belgian airline VLM, who wanted four flights per day to London City Airport.

However, it failed to secure funding for the routes from Cumbria County Council.

In 1993 New Air launched a route to London Stansted, but that collapsed just two months later.

After that, companies called Geordie Air Travel and Lewis Holidays attempted to use the airport for flights to London and Jersey respectively, neither of which were able to launch.

Carlisle Lake District was used to host Radio 1’s Big Weekend in 2011, when My Chemical Romance, the Foo Fighters and Lady Gaga performed on stages assembled around the aerodrome.

Meanwhile, this UK airport could soon host TUI flights after being forced to close back in 2022.

And this abandoned UK airport that was once the biggest in the world opens once a month to offer tours.

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Conversations are taking place over the return of commercial aviation to the site[/caption]