NEWS & EVENTS

Regional airports are major economic drivers; the connectivity they provide improving both the prosperity and competitiveness of a region. Airports are particularly important in peripheral sub-regions like Cornwall, where transport infrastructure and distances from key markets can be a real business constraint, affecting growth, productivity and competitiveness.

Newquay Cornwall Airport has the capacity to bridge that infrastructure gap, opening up Cornwall to wider opportunity and helping the County realise its full economic potential. The links its supports to wider UK, European and International business centres and markets are vital for the wider business community in Cornwall. The airport has space and capacity to grow and offers some Unique Selling Points (USPs), which include a runway in excess of 2700 metres at the centre of a 325 hectare estate. It has the ability to deliver projects that are transformational in nature.  

Newquay Airport, with its extensive opportunities for renewable energy sources, has the potential to become carbon neutral. Furthermore, it is working closely with partners through the Airport Environment Steering Group, to achieve high standards of environmental sustainability.

The airport is a significant Council owned asset, delivering not only improved connectivity but a huge opportunity for Cornwall to grow an embryonic aeronautical cluster and other airport related business activity. Major opportunities exist to develop and grow the airport in a sustainable manner both in terms of its passenger market but also what will become the focal point of the Airport's future business development, in associated aviation related activities e.g. aircraft maintenance, engineering and training.

Over the next three years, there is the opportunity to increase sustainable passenger numbers from the existing level of c350,000 passengers per annum.  The current economic climate is a major challenge for the airport, therefore the priority is to work to sustain these current passenger levels and then prepare for modest future passenger growth. 

More importantly, there is considerable scope to develop major aviation related activities to make use of the capacity of the whole aerodrome site. There is the opportunity for delivering significant numbers of quality, high value and highly skilled jobs many of which will be within the Knowledge Economy.  It is envisaged that both a fixed and rotary wing aeronautical cluster will be delivered at the airport using both existing and new buildings. This cluster would be supported by an industry led training academy, which will address the skill gap that exists within the industry both nationally and locally.

Such "airport" activities will be further supported and grown in the medium term through the delivery of an airport business "Sky" park on land adjacent to the airport. This, together with the possible delivery of other business infrastructure such as hotels and conference/meeting facilities, needs to be looked at dependant upon demand and existing supply.