History
The airport was previously a Royal Air Force base, RAF Kirmington, opened in 1941 during World War II, from which No. 166 Squadron RAF operated the Avro Lancaster. The site was abandoned after the war in 1945, and lay unused until 1974 when the local council re-opened the site as Kirmington Airport. When the local area was renamed Humberside following local government re-organisation in England, the name was changed to Humberside Airport. The main runway, designated 03/21 (now 02/20) was extended to its current length in 1992, allowing operation of much larger aircraft.
In 2008, MAG announced that it was conducting a review of their strategy for Humberside Airport, and all options including disposal were under consideration. In December 2008, MAG announced they intend to retain Humberside Airport, due to a number of investments, such as the new £1.6 million perishables hub. There has also been the recent development of a new hotel for the use by the gas and oil rig workers. However, this operation is not designed or licensed to operate as accommodation for normal passengers. This is a temporary structure run by Nightel, a locally based niche business, there will be a permanent structure built in the next five years once demand for the facility has been confirmed.
The airport is also used to service the offshore gas storage and drilling operations for BP and Centrica Storage with over 8,000 air transport helicopter movements in 2011, the fourth highest in the UK. CHC & Bristow are the only two commercial helicopter operations at the airport.
Humberside has one of the highest NEQ approval levels of any airport in Europe, and has seen significant growth in cargo throughput from 144 tonnes in 2007 to 1,132 tonnes in 2011.
Humberside airport has a very high amount of general aviation activity, with 5 resident flying clubs and organisations offering fixed wing and rotary training. Weston Aviation opened in May 2011 a fixed based operation (FBO) at Humberside International airport. This will be the first dedicated FBO at the airport and the company has also opened a regional charter sales office at the airport to promote and develop the use of business and private aviation in the local Humberside region.
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