Product Code Database
Cornwall Airport Newquay is the main commercial airport for Cornwall located at St Mawgan, northeast of the town of Newquay on Cornwall's north coast. Its runway was operated by RAF St Mawgan before 2008, and is now owned by Cornwall Council and operated by Cornwall Airport Ltd.
The airport handled 461,300 passengers in 2017, a 24.2% increase over the previous year. Newquay has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction. The Cornwall Air Ambulance is based at the airport. Since 2012, the airport has hosted the Aerohub enterprise zone. The 2,744 metre (9,003 ft) runway can take the largest and fastest of civil and military aircraft, having been built and maintained for decades as an RAF maritime operations base. The US Navy were present with the USN AWD storage facility and Joint Maritime Facility. With the end of the Cold War and changes in American political priorities, the Americans pulled out of all involvement with the base by the end of 2009. The last RAF flying squadron based at St Mawgan was 203(R) Squadron which moved out in 2008, while part of the site continues to be used by the RAF.
The airport is also the location of Spaceport Cornwall. The facility has the capability to launch small space satellites into low Earth orbit using an air-launch-to-orbit type system.
Since 1951, aircraft squadron which have operated at the station have included 7 Sqn., 22 Sqn., 203 Sqn. (Sea King OCU, 1996–2008); 220 Sqn (later renamed 201); 228 Sqn. (later renamed 206), both Long Range Reconnaissance Squadrons; No. 42 Squadron RAF (BAe Nimrod) (disbanded 1992), No. 236 Operational Conversion Unit RAF, the Nimrod front-line conversion-to-type unit (1970-1992). In addition, Royal Air Force Regiment squadrons No. 1 Squadron RAF Regiment and 2625 Sqn (Royal Auxiliary Air Force) were present. 2625 Sqn was disbanded on 1 November 2006, whilst 1 Sqn RAF Regt relocated to RAF Honington. The others relocated or closed. In 2005, RAF St Mawgan was one of the bases shortlisted to house the new Joint Combat Aircraft (JCA) in 2013, but in November 2005, it was announced by Minister of State for the Armed Forces Adam Ingram that the operation would be based from Scotland. Helicopter maintenance (HMF) also ceased here in late 2006.
Flying operations at RAF St Mawgan (on the opposite side of the runway to the civil terminal) ceased in December 2008.
By virtue of a statutory instrument issued on 22 September 2009, Newquay Airport is subject to current airport bylaws, per section 63 of the Airports Act 1986.
An extension opened in 2006 increased the Airport terminal's size by 20%, allowing the airport to handle up to 450,000 passengers a year. In January 2008, Cornwall County Council approved plans for an expanded arrivals hall and departure lounge; a new retail outlet; a business lounge; and new airfield structures. In May 2008, the new arrivals and Baggage claim area was opened; unlike the old arrivals hall, this allowed domestic and international flights to be processed simultaneously. It also added a gate to the departure lounge. The expansion of the airport was criticised in 2007 by a number of environmental groups. This opposition was based not only on environmental concerns (given that the majority of flights are Flight length and to destinations that could be served by rail), but also Socioeconomics concerns that airport expansion would lead to a greater demand for second homes in Cornwall, adding to already inflated local house prices.
In May 2013, Flybe announced it would cease flying to Gatwick Airport, leaving Newquay with year-round flights to just the Isles of Scilly and Manchester. On 2 December 2013, Flybe announced they had agreed a deal with Newquay which would secure the future of the Gatwick route until the end of October 2014, so that a public service obligation (PSO) subsidy could be finalised. Under the new deal Flybe was to operate two daily flights, with the afternoon service being dropped. Ryanair returned to the airport in April 2016, after the £5 development fee was scrapped.
On 5 March 2020, Flybe ceased trading, leaving Cornwall with no year-round direct flights to London once again. British Airways announced a six-flight-per-week summer schedule to London, commencing initially in Easter 2020. However, the COVID-19 pandemic's impacts on aviation resulted in the service launch being postponed. The service was eventually launched on 24 July 2020, albeit as a year-round service under a Public Service Obligation Emergency Order which lasts until February 2021. During this period, Department for Transport will run the tender process for the four-year contract which will begin in March 2021.
From 29 March 2013, Classic Air Force has operated from the airport using a variety of aircraft, including the world's oldest flying British jet aircraft and the only flying Gloster Meteor T7. From April 2013 until 2017, it has also operated a museum in the Hangar 404, which was previously used to service the Hawker Siddeley Nimrods of RAF St Mawgan. Some of the now-closed museum's exhibits remain elsewhere on the airfield under different ownership. Since 2015, a new venture known as 'Cornwall Aviation Heritage Centre' (CAHC), was opened at the Aerohub.
Testing of Bloodhound SSC at speeds of over was performed on the runway in 2017, in preparation for a test run on its new specially created race track at Hakskeen Pan, South Africa in 2019, leading to an attempt on the land speed record in the future. Plans have been submitted to build the world's deepest artificial pool in Cornwall to train astronauts and help advance undersea robotics.
A cycle-hub is due to be built near Newquay Aerohub Business Park on council-owned land and is the result of a partnership between British Cycling, Cornwall Council and Sport England.
In July 2014, Newquay was one of eight airports shortlisted by the Civil Aviation Authority as a possible site for a British commercial spaceport. The shortlist was reduced to six airports in March 2015, with Newquay still a candidate. The selection process was abandoned in May 2016 after the Department for Transport announced it would be creating regulatory conditions allowing any suitable location wishing to become a spaceport.
| + Cornwall Airport Newquay passenger totals 2015–2024 (thousands) |
Colors = id:gray value:gray(0.5)
id:line1 value:gray(0.9)
id:line2 value:gray(0.7)
ScaleMajor = start:0 increment:100 gridcolor:line2 ScaleMinor = start:0 increment:50 gridcolor:line1 PlotData= color:blue width:20
bar:2015 from:start till:251.987
bar:2016 from:start till:371.500
bar:2017 from:start till:461.300
bar:2018 from:start till:456.888
bar:2019 from:start till:461.478
bar:2020 from:start till:67.877
bar:2021 from:start till:105.554
bar:2022 from:start till:244.675
bar:2023 from:start till:408.870
color:darkblue
bar:2024 from:start till:415.989
|
| +Traffic statistics at Cornwall Airport Newquay !rowspan=2 | Year !colspan=2 | Passengers !colspan=2 | Aircraft ! colspan=2 | Freight |
| nm | ||||
| 500.0 | ||||
| 75.0 | ||||
| 33.3 | ||||
| 100.0 | ||||
| nm | ||||
| + Busiest routes to and from Newquay (2023) |
| 30.1% |
| 24.3% |
| 247.5% |
| 75.0% |
| 12.4% |
| New Route |
| New Route |
| 62.7% |
| New Route |
| 47.3% |
On 30 September 2022, Spaceport Cornwall was officially launched, with the opening of their Space Systems Integration Facility (SSIF). The spaceport will also be home to the Centre for Space Technologies consisting of the SSIF and the Space Systems Operation Facility, an adjacent R&D work and office space. The spaceport, working with new businesses in the local area and the University of Exeter aim to be the first to reach Net Zero globally.
On 16 November 2022, it was announced that Spaceport Cornwall had been granted an operating licence by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), allowing it to send satellites into space.
As of December 2023, Spaceport Cornwall are working on system development and UK return missions with launch operators Sierra Space and Space Engine Systems. In addition, the spaceport is in discussions with an established horizontal launch provider with a view to support UK launches from mid-2025.
After failing to secure new investment, Virgin Orbit halted operations in March 2023 and filed for bankruptcy in the US in April 2023. They later agreed to sell key assets to other aerospace companies and ceasing operations.
! rowspan="2" | 1 | 9 January 2023 23:11 | LauncherOne (Flight no.6) | AMAN, CIRCE A & B, DOVER, ForgeStar-0, IOD-3 Amber, Prometheus 2A & 2B, STORK-6 | Low Earth | ETCO, Dstl / NRL, RHEA Group, Space Forge, Satellite Applications Catapult, UK Ministry of Defence / NRO, SatRevolution | |
| Start Me Up mission. First mission from Spaceport Cornwall. The rocket suffered an anomaly and failed to achieve orbit, falling back to Earth. Loss of payload. | |||||||
|
|
