Exeter Airport
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Exeter Airport , formerly ''Exeter International Airport'', is an
international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...
located at Clyst Honiton in
East Devon East Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in the town of Honiton, although Exmouth is the largest town. The district also contains the towns of Axminster, Budleigh Salterton, Cranbrook, Ottery St M ...
, close to the city of
Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...
and within the county of
Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
,
South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of the nine official regions of England, regions of England in the United Kingdom. Additionally, it is one of four regions that altogether make up Southern England. South West England con ...
. Exeter has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (Number P759) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction. The airport offers both scheduled and holiday charter flights within
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
. In 2007, the airport handled over 1 million passengers per year for the first time, although passenger throughput subsequently declined, recovering to 931,000 passengers in 2018. In 2019, passenger numbers once again passed the 1 million mark, due in part to Ryanair operating several new flights to/from the airport. Prior to its collapse in 2020, the airline Flybe accounted for over 80% of the airport's passenger numbers. Passenger numbers declined sharply to 148,000 in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Exeter Airport's passenger numbers have recovered to approximately 500,000 per year (as of 2024).


Location

Exeter Airport is located east of the city of Exeter and is approximately west south west of London. To the south, it is connected by the A30 dual carriageway which can be accessed from the east and the M5 in the west, just away. The M5 enables links to Bristol and the Midlands. There is no railway station at the airport. The closest, Cranbrook, is miles away by road. There is also a bus link to
Exeter St Davids railway station Exeter St Davids railway station is the principal and largest railway station in Exeter, also the second-busiest station in Devon. It is from the zero point at , from where trains travel through Exeter to and . The station is also served by ...
.


History

Exeter Airport was situated on land acquired by Exeter Corporation by compulsory purchase. It was leased and operated by
Straight Corporation The Straight Corporation Ltd was a significant operator of British airlines, airports and flying clubs from 1935 until the mid 1970s. Its major unit, Western Airways, expanded to become an important parts manufacturer, a maintenance, repair and ...
who also set up the Exeter Aero Club. The airfield officially opened on 31 May 1937 and operated from a "tented" terminal before the permanent buildings were complete. Jersey Airways immediately inaugurated a summer service of eight flights per week from Jersey in de Havilland DH.84 Dragons. Railway Air Services ran connecting flights on to Plymouth and Bristol.


Wartime use

In World War II, RAF Exeter was an important
RAF Fighter Command RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It operated throughout the Second World War, winning fame during the Battle of Britain in 1940. The ...
airfield during the
Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain () was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force ...
. RAF Exeter was used by the
United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
(USAAF)
Ninth Air Force The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint D ...
as a
D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
troop transport base with
Douglas C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II. During the war the C-47 was used for tro ...
transports dropping paratroops near
Carentan Carentan () is a small rural town near the north-eastern base of the French Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy in north-western France, with a population of about 6,000. It is a former commune in the Manche department. On 1 January 2016, it was m ...
to land on the Normandy Beachhead. It was known as USAAF Station AAF-463. Two brass plaques on the wall near the airport's observation lounge commemorate the activities of 3 squadrons of the Polish Air Forces in France and Great Britain that were based at Exeter during World War II, and commend their actions in defence of the city of Exeter.


Battle of Britain

RAF Exeter was home to the following Squadrons of No 10 Group during the Battle of Britain: * No. 213 Squadron from 18 June 1940 * No. 87 Squadron from 5 July 1940 * No. 601 Squadron from 7 September 1940 Despite efforts at camouflage, including painting the runways, Exeter attracted the
Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
and administrative and technical buildings were destroyed.


USAAF use

Exeter met the requirement of basing USAAF troop carrier groups close to where units of the
101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division (military), division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault military operation, operations. The 101st is designed to plan, coordinat ...
were located and within reasonable range of the expected area of operations.


=440th Troop Carrier Group

= The 440th Troop Carrier Group arrived on 15 April 1944 which consisted of the: 95th Troop Carrier Squadron (TCS), 96th TCS, 97th TCS & 98th TCS, with over 70
Douglas C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II. During the war the C-47 was used for tro ...
/ Douglas C-53 Skytrooper aircraft. There were insufficient hardstandings to accommodate all the aircraft so many had to be parked on the turf, some areas being supported by tarmac. The 440th was a group of Ninth Air Force's 50th Troop Carrier Wing, IX Troop Carrier Command. The 98th TCS remained at Exeter until 7 August, when it began operating from RAF Ramsbury. On 11 September, the headquarters of the 440th TCG was established at the group's new base at
Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...
, France (ALG A-62D), and the last of the air echelon left Exeter two days later.


Postwar use

Walruses of an RAF air-sea rescue flight were the next tenants, and these were joined by a glider training unit early in 1945. Post-war, Exeter was reclaimed by Fighter Command and a French
Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced conti ...
squadron, No. 329, which came and stayed until November 1945.
Meteors A meteor, known colloquially as a shooting star, is a glowing streak of a small body (usually meteoroid) going through Earth's atmosphere, after being heated to incandescence by collisions with air molecules in the upper atmosphere, creating a ...
and Mosquitos made a brief appearance the following spring. No. 691 Squadron's target-towing Vultee A-31 Vengeances, which had been present for more than a year, proved to be the last RAF flying unit of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
period based at Exeter. When No. 691 Squadron departed in the summer of 1946, the station was made available for civil use, being officially transferred to the Ministry of Civil Aviation on 1 January 1947, although there was still some reserve RAF activity until the 1950s. Scheduled services to the
Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...
began in 1952, and charter flights to various locations followed. A new terminal building was opened in the early 1980s, and various other improvements, including a runway extension, were carried out over the following years to establish Exeter as an important airport in the
West Country The West Country is a loosely defined area within southwest England, usually taken to include the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol, with some considering it to extend to all or parts of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and ...
. Exeter was a joint RAF/civil airfield in the 1960s. On 5 January 2007, a majority share of the airport was sold by
Devon County Council Devon County Council is the county council administering the English county of Devon. The council is based at Devon County Hall in the city of Exeter. The area administered by the county council is termed the non-metropolitan county, which is ...
to Regional and City Airports Ltd, a consortium led by construction firm
Balfour Beatty Balfour Beatty plc () is an international infrastructure group based in the United Kingdom with capabilities in construction services, support services and infrastructure investments. A constituent of the FTSE 250 Index, the company is active ac ...
. On 26 June 2013, the airport was bought by the Patriot Aerospace division of Rigby Group, which also owns Coventry Airport. In August 2016, Exeter Airport recorded their highest passenger throughput in a single month since September 2008, with 100,374 passengers passing through its terminal. New services to Glasgow and the first route to be supported by the new Government Regional Air Connectivity fund to Norwich, contributed to a 19% increase in passenger numbers during the month of August. During 2018, the runway was resurfaced and energy-efficient LED lighting (including runway centreline lights) was installed. In 2019, the airport was ranked fourth in the UK by ''
Which? ''Which?'' is a United Kingdom brand name that promotes informed consumer choice in the purchase of goods and services by testing products, highlighting inferior products or services, raising awareness of consumer rights, and offering indepen ...
'' magazine of 30 airports for customer satisfaction, with a score of 73%.


Royal Air Force Units

The following squadrons were also here at some point: The following units were also here at some point:


Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled flights to and from Exeter:


Other tenants

* Corporate aviation services including a private lounge are provided by XLR Executive Jet Centre *There is one flight training organisation based at the airport: Aviation South West, which offers a range of training from the Private Pilot Licence to the Commercial Pilots Licence and Instrument Rating. *Dublin Aerospace operates the Exeter Aerospace hangar which provides base maintenance services on multiple aircraft, such as: ATR 42 family; Bombardier DHC - 8 Family; & Embraer ERJ 170 & 190 Series aircraft. * Iscavia Ltd is based in Hangar 49, on the North-Side of Exeter Airport and provides aircraft maintenance, avionics, airworthiness certification, hangarage, aircraft parts, help and advice. * Devon Air Ambulance and National Police Air Service (NPAS) share a purpose-built facility on the northern side of the airfield, having vacated the police headquarters at Middlemoor, Exeter in 2014.


Statistics

The ten busiest routes by air passenger numbers are listed below.


Accidents and incidents

*On 19 January 2021, a West Atlantic Boeing 737-400 freighter having just performed flight NPT05L from East Midlands Airport made a very
hard landing A hard landing occurs when an aircraft or spacecraft hits the ground with a greater vertical speed and force than in a normal landing. The terms ''hard landing'' and ''firm landing'' are often confused though are inherently different. A hard la ...
at Exeter Airport, causing multiple creases in the
fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...
. The aircraft was written off.


See also

*
List of Royal Air Force stations This list of Royal Air Force stations is an overview of all current stations of the Royal Air Force (RAF) throughout the United Kingdom and overseas. This includes front-line and training airbases, support, administrative and training station ...
*
List of former Royal Air Force stations This list of former RAF stations includes most of the stations, airfields and administrative headquarters previously used by the Royal Air Force. They are listed under any former county or country name which was appropriate for the duration of ...
* South West Aviation


References


Citations


Bibliography

* Freeman, Roger A. (1978) Airfields of the Eighth: Then and Now. After the Battle * Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. . *


External links

* {{USAAF 9th Air Force UK Airports in Devon Buildings and structures in Exeter Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces Air Transport Command in the European Theater Airfields of the IX Troop Carrier Command in the United Kingdom Transport in Exeter