Inside abandoned UK airport left empty for decade after being closed for good
EERIE photos reveal the UK airport that has been left abandoned for a decade after it was shut for good.
There had been grand plans for Plymouth City Airport but it has been neglected since work on it was halted in 2011.
The leaseholder Sutton Harbour Group (SHG) pulled the plug on the project when it triggered a so-called “Armageddon clause” enabling it to stop flights if the aerodrome was deemed uneconomic.
Now, the site at Derriford lies empty and neglected.
Various proposals to regenerate the area have been scuppered.
SHG had wanted to turn the 113-acre site mixed-use housing-led “garden suburb” estate called Plym Vale, reports Plymouth Live.
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Planning inspectors though stalled development of the site until 2024 via the Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan.
At one point the airport’s runway had been used to store giant concrete bridge beams to be used on the Forder Valley link road but this was only a temporary measure that lasted nine months.
The airport had been in operation for a while, and locals still remember using it.
Sue Berry said it “felt more like catching a bus than taking a flight”.
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Freelance aircraft engineer Andrew Walke, who worked at the site, also has fond memories of the airport but said it was “doomed”.
He said the site was a “real local airport” but “was always doomed due to it’s location with no possible way to expand.”
He added: “The runways were too short to operate any jet aircraft commercially.”
Mr Walke also said there was a fierce rivalry between the Exeter and Plymouth airports.
He said: “At this time Brymon Airways operated out of Plymouth and there was always a rivalry between the two airports.
“But to be fair, Exeter had so much more to offer; huge long runways, good access and a decent terminal.
“During the start of the university term, it was quite common to receive students flown in from all over the world on private jets or chartered flights at Exeter. Plymouth at the time never really had these trappings.”
NEW HOPE
Campaigners supporting the airport though were given a new hope in May this year when FlyPlymouth revealed it had tabled a bid to buy the site.
The group, which has been campaigning for a return to operations at the mothballed facility, claimed it had offered an above the market value for the land.
FlyPlymouth chief executive Raoul Witherall said there was still a good economic case for bringing back flights to and from the city.
He said: “Commercial aviation opportunities at Plymouth have never been as strong as they are now.”
Mr Witherall added: “There are so many good opportunities right now around electric aviation, UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) operations, skills and training in emergent industries for a city that has been granted freeport status.
“We have held many meetings with the various parties; made funded offers to acquire the airport at multiples of the market value in an attempt to get the thing done.
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“Yet nothing happens. Council officers press on with their ‘airport options’ paying little heed to external influences.”
In 2021, the disused airport site was valued at £13million but SHG thought the land was worth at least double that.