Jersey Airport

Jersey Airport represents an international facility located in the parish of Saint Peter, approximately 4.6 miles (7.4 km) west-northwest of Saint Helier in Jersey, in the Channel Islands.

Jersey Airport

Jersey Airport represents an international facility located in the parish of Saint Peter, approximately 4.6 miles (7.4 km) west-northwest of Saint Helier in Jersey, in the Channel Islands.

History

Air service to Jersey before 1937 included biplane airliners and some seaplanes that landed on the beach at Saint Aubin’s bay. Imperial Airways and Jersey Airways were among those who managed to the Island before the Second World War, but situations were challenging as tides governed timetables. It was also hard to prevent members of the public from moving across the landing area, and any aircraft which had mechanical difficulties had to be dragged up the slipways until the tide receded.

The States of Jersey determined to build an airport which opened on 10 March 1937 and included four grass runways, the most extensive being 2,940 ft (896 m) that includes a concrete centreline. Concrete taxiways were added during the Second World War occupation by the Luftwaffe.Several hangars were built, one of which, the Jersey Airlines hangar, still exists even though it is no longer used. A 4,200 ft tarmac runway was opened in 1952, and the grass strips were closed. A feature of the facility in the 1950s represented the traffic control system. The runway was extended a few times over the years before it reached its current length of 5,560 ft. in 1976. The current runway is 150 ft (46 m) wide. Several years later, additional taxiways were added to develop access to the one end of the runway. In 2012, led by a Group Chief Executive, the successful finish of an integration program with Jersey Harbours saw the creation of Ports of Jersey. The States of Jersey passed a business case in early 2015, and the organizations were joined on 1 October 2015.

There were about 47,000 aircraft movements and approximately 1.6 million passengers at the airport during 2016