The UK's oldest Passenger Airport Closes
This was one of the first aircraft to take to the skies over Blackpool, flown by Henri Farman

After 105 years Blackpool Airport finally closes its doors to passenger flights. Just a few years after the first powered flight in the States, passengers were being flow over the skies of the Fylde coast. Maximum speed then was just over 40mph and a 30 mile flight was considered long distance but this was the first place in the UK where non-aviators could take to the air as passengers.

What Happened?

Fewer destinations and dramatically falling passenger numbers led to the closure of this popular airport. Passenger numbers over the last 7 years had halved, with only 200 thousand people passing through in 2014 , sadly the inevitable happened. Modern airports now have very high fixed costs, any airport with less than 1 million passengers a year does need an owner with a very deep pockets. This is the forth UK airport to close in the last few years, Plymouth, Coventry and Manston have all gone the way of Blackpool. The main airline using the airport was Jet2 they had been a popular choice with passengers. Most reviews of Jet2 are positive, this airline has a good reputation amongst its mostly northern passengers and seems well liked, our feedback from users also shows high levels of satisfaction.

The last aircraft leaves Blackpool, flown by an unknown Jet2 pilot

This was also confirmed by a "Best Airline" award from Which? magazine survey during 2012. This is good news because we sometimes despair at the diabolical level of customer service provided by some airlines. Jet2 did try very hard to market Blackpool as a departure point for flights to the sun. They added routes to Lanzarote, Dalaman in Turkey and Ibiza in 2013/2014. These destinations are now available from Manchester or Leeds.

About Blackpool Airport

It was a conveniently located airport just a couple miles of dual carriageway (A5230) from the M55 motorway link to the towns and cities of Lancashire. The airport was just 5 minutes from Blackpool town centre. The airport was mainly used by holidaymakers living either on the Fylde coast or in the towns of Fleetwood, Preston, Morecambe and Lancaster.

Our Opinion

In short, the airport had a good location, close to town and motorway, it was a quiet, small and easy to use, it was a hassel free airport but with not many facilties.

Quick Facts

Oldest airport in the UK. Just 6 years after the first ever powered flight by the Wright Brothers, the first aviation meeting in the UK was held in at Squires Gate the current location of the Blackpool airport, over 200,000 people came to watch.
Blackpool was the 30th largest airport in the UK when it closed by number of passenger, behind Scatsta (Shetland) and Humberside, but was larger than Newquay and Durham. It had the best "on time" performance of any airport in North West England (2nd highest percentage in England).

Airports near Blackpool

Liverpool is the closest airport to Blackpool, good for Eastern Europe destinations.
Manchester has unrivaled choice of destinations across Europe.
Leeds Bradford has 40 destinations from Jet2 and 20 from Ryanair.