Oxford Airport
Encyclopedia
Expansion
The airport is currently looking to establish new routes out of the airport to help grow the airport and grow more into the comercial avaition market. The routes they are looking at are EdinburghEdinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Dublin, Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
. These markets are key targets for the airport, all these routes are targeted at business travelers who currently have to use London Heathrow which is far less convenient.
Technical information
The main runway is 1552 m (5,092 ft). In 2007 the airport re-surfaced, strengthened and widened the main runway, taxiwayTaxiway
A taxiway is a path on an airport connecting runways with ramps, hangars, terminals and other facilities. They mostly have hard surface such as asphalt or concrete, although smaller airports sometimes use gravel or grass....
s and aprons
Airport ramp
The airport ramp or apron is part of an airport. It is usually the area where aircraft are parked, unloaded or loaded, refueled or boarded. Although the use of the apron is covered by regulations, such as lighting on vehicles, it is typically more accessible to users than the runway or taxiway...
, and installed new airfield ground lighting and a CAT 1 instrument landing system
Instrument Landing System
An instrument landing system is a ground-based instrument approach system that provides precision guidance to an aircraft approaching and landing on a runway, using a combination of radio signals and, in many cases, high-intensity lighting arrays to enable a safe landing during instrument...
(ILS). In 2008 a new £2.5m business aviation terminal
Airport terminal
An airport terminal is a building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from aircraft....
was completed and is operated by Oxfordjet. For the business aviation operator, the airport lies approximately one hour drive time from the west end of London but offers helicopter shuttles in 20 minutes.
Accidents and incidents
- In 1941, pioneer aviatrixAviatorAn aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
Amy JohnsonAmy JohnsonAmy Johnson CBE, was a pioneering English aviator. Flying solo or with her husband, Jim Mollison, Johnson set numerous long-distance records during the 1930s...
crashed in the Thames EstuaryThames EstuaryThe Thames Mouth is the estuary in which the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea.It is not easy to define the limits of the estuary, although physically the head of Sea Reach, near Canvey Island on the Essex shore is probably the western boundary...
while on a flight en-route to Oxford Airport from Blackpool. - On 6 December 2003, three people were killed at Oxford Airport when a Socata TBMSocata TBM|-See also:-References:* Jackson, Paul. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 2003–2004. Coulsdon, UK: Jane's Information Group, 2003. ISBN 0 7106 2537 5....
700 crashed while on approachFinal approach (aviation)A final approach is the last leg in an aircraft's approach to landing. In aviation radio terminology, it is often shortened to "final".In a standard airport landing pattern, which is usually used under visual meteorological conditions , aircraft turn from base leg to final within one to two miles...
. The Air Accidents Investigation BranchAir Accidents Investigation BranchThe Air Accidents Investigation Branch investigates air accidents in the United Kingdom. It is a branch of the Department for Transport and is based on the grounds of Farnborough Airport near Aldershot, Rushmoor, Hampshire.-History:...
could find no cause for the crash. There were no technical problems with the plane, and they could only speculate that the pilot of the plane was distracted by a bird as he tried to land. The plane went into an uncontrolled roll, killing Paul-Louis Halley, a FrenchFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
billionaire, his wife and the pilot. - An Oxford Aviation Training aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff in August 2006. The PA28 Piper CherokeePiper CherokeeThe Piper PA-28 Cherokee is a family of light aircraft designed for flight training, air taxi, and personal use. It is built by Piper Aircraft....
breached the airport’s perimeter fence, and came to a stop upside down on the adjoining public road. Despite significant aircraft damage and fuel leakage, no fire ensued, and no-one was hurt in the incident. - On 15 January 2010, at about 1400GMT, a Piper PA-31 NavajoPiper PA-31 NavajoThe Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of cabin-class, twin-engine aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for the general aviation market, most using Lycoming engines. It was also licence-built in a number of Latin American countries. Targeted at small-scale cargo and feeder liner operations and...
crashed by the A4095 (near the airport), killing two people. Four crews from Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, and the South Central Ambulance Service, attended, but the fire was not put out for 1 hour and 40 minutes due to the icy conditions and remote location making laying hoses difficult. The UK's AAIB will investigate.
See also
- List of airports in the United Kingdom
- List of RAF stations
- Oxford-Cambridge ArcOxford-Cambridge ArcThe Oxford-Cambridge Arc is a notional arc of agricultural and urban land at about 75km radius of London, southern England. It runs between the two English university towns of Oxford and Cambridge via Milton Keynes and other important settlements in Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire...
- RAF Brize NortonRAF Brize NortonRAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, about west north-west of London, is the largest station of the Royal Air Force. It is close to the settlements of Brize Norton, Carterton and Witney....
- London Airport (disambiguation)