Cambridge Airport
Encyclopedia
Cambridge Airport is a small regional airport in South Cambridgeshire
South Cambridgeshire
South Cambridgeshire is a mostly rural local government district of Cambridgeshire, England. It was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of Chesterton Rural District and South Cambridgeshire Rural District. It surrounds the city of Cambridge, which is administered separately from the district by...

, England. It is located on the eastern outskirts of Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...

, south of Newmarket Road
Newmarket Road, Cambridge
Newmarket Road is an arterial road in the east of Cambridge, England. It is designated the A1134 at the western end, linked by a roundabout forming a junction with Barnwell Road to the south. The eastern end links with the city's inner ring road at another roundabout, with Elizabeth Way to the...

 and west of the village of Teversham
Teversham
Teversham is a small village in Cambridgeshire located roughly from Fulbourn, and is roughly from the centre of Cambridge. It is a small village compared to neighbouring ones...

, 1.5 NM from the centre of Cambridge and approximately 50 mi (80.5 km) from London.

Opened in 1938, when it replaced the old airfield at Fen Ditton
Fen Ditton
Fen Ditton is a village on the northeast edge of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire, England. The parish covers an area of Fen Ditton lies on the east bank of the River Cam, on the road from Cambridge to Clayhithe, and close to junction 34 of the A14...

, the airport is owned and operated by Marshall Aerospace
Marshall Aerospace
The Marshall companies have been internationally associated with aerospace engineering for nearly a century. The company employs over 1,800 people and is based on an site with of covered hangar space...

, a Cambridge-based company with many years' history servicing civilian
Civilian
A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...

 and military contracts. The main building was designed by the architect Harold Tomlinson
Harold Tomlinson
Harold Tomlinson was a 20th century British architect.Tomlinson was based at the University of Cambridge School of Architecture. There he supervised the Scottish architect Frank James Connell....

 of the University of Cambridge and constructed in 1936–37. For many years it was the base for the Cambridge University Air Squadron
Cambridge University Air Squadron
Cambridge University Air Squadron, abbreviated CUAS, formed in 1925, is the training unit of the Royal Air Force at the University of Cambridge and forms part of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. It is the oldest of 14 University Air Squadrons in the UK...

.

Marshall of Cambridge Aerospace Limited has a CAA
United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority
The Civil Aviation Authority is the public corporation which oversees and regulates all aspects of aviation in the United Kingdom. The CAA head office is located in the CAA House on Kingsway in Holborn, London Borough of Camden...

 Public Use Aerodrome Licence (Number P433) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction. Although the airport does not offer regular passenger services it is available for corporate and private use, and is home to four flying schools.

In October 2008, to coincide with the opening of the new Marshall Business Aviation Centre, the airport's name was changed from Cambridge City Airport to Marshall Airport Cambridge UK.

In 2008, total aircraft movements increased 9.07% over 2007, from 38,983 to 42,520.

In 2011 Cambridge Airport officially broke off from Marshalls, appointed a new director and changed its name back to Cambridge Airport. Its aim is to become a "hub for the east of England". The Passenger Terminal will be completely refurbished.

Future

There has been a great deal of speculation over the past five years regarding the future of Cambridge Airport. Land available for building in Cambridge is at a premium, but the city is surrounded by large areas of green belt
Green belt
A green belt or greenbelt is a policy and land use designation used in land use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighbouring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges which have a linear character and may run through an...

 land on which building new housing is prohibited. In 2000, a proposal was created to relocate the airport to a new site away from the city, which would have freed up 500 acre (202.3 ha) of land for the building of several thousand new homes. A study for a new airport was undertaken by Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...

 County Council and planning permission
Planning permission
Planning permission or planning consent is the permission required in the United Kingdom in order to be allowed to build on land, or change the use of land or buildings. Within the UK the occupier of any land or building will need title to that land or building , but will also need "planning...

 was requested but subsequently withdrawn.

Despite speculation regarding the airport's future, Marshall Aerospace has continued to develop the site. In Autumn 2008 new business aviation facilities were opened, including a new 20000 sq ft (1,858.1 m²) hangar adding to the 1200000 sq ft (111,483.6 m²) of hangar space already on the site.

In April 2010 Marshall Aerospace announced it would not be moving from Cambridge Airport to make way for new housing. RAF Mildenhall, Waterbeach Barracks and RAF Wyton were considered as alternative sites but Marshall concluded there were "no suitable relocation options".

In January 2011, Cambridge Airport broke off from Marshall, and released plans for the airports future. Its plans are to field international flights for the London 2012 Olympic Games
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the "London 2012 Olympic Games", are scheduled to take place in London, England, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...

.

External links

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