History
The airport was originally established in 1935 by Oxford City Council to act as municipal airport, but following RAF use (as RAF Kidlington) during World War II, it became established as a centre for aviation education, charter and maintenance facilities. By 1968, it had become the second busiest airfield in the UK, with 223,270 movements - just 10% fewer movements than Heathrow.
In 1981, the airport freehold was sold by the council and later owned by BBA Aviation plc. In July 2007 the airport was sold to property entrepreneurs David and Simon Reuben.
A new "Saturday only" summer service to Jersey, operated by Air Southwest, ran from July to September 2009. The summer service came back in 2010, operated by Cityjet.
In August 2009 the airport was rebranded as London Oxford Airport. The move attracted much press comment, and criticism from Oxford Civic Society, which described the new name as misleading; the airport is 59 miles (95 km) from Marble Arch. However, it was argued that highlighting proximity to London would make the airport more attractive to the overseas business aviation community.
In October 2009, London Oxford Airport was approved as a UK entry point for pets, under the Pet Travel Scheme (PETS). It is one of only two UK business aviation centres to offer this service.
In November 2009, Great Experience Travel was designated the Official Travel Partner for London Oxford Airport, concentrating on flights to Geneva and Jersey.
Swiss airline Baboo's weekly Saturday service, from Oxford to Geneva, commenced in December 2009. The service is augmented by a link to Rome through Alitalia Airlines: passengers were thus able to travel from Oxford to Rome, via Geneva.
In January 2010 the airport announced the launch of daily flights to Edinburgh to be operated by new start-up, Varsity Express. However, flights were suspended within a week of commencement, and the airline ceased operations on 8 March 2010. A spokesman for Oxford Airport later confirmed that talks were under way with other operators, with a view to re-establishing the Oxford-Edinburgh route. It was emphasised, however, that only well-established operators would be invited to service the route.
Plans for a 17,800 m2 (192,000 sq ft) sq metre expansion of high-strength apron and a new 4,400 m2 (47,000 sq ft) hangar were outlined at the end of July 2010. The intention was to create capacity for up to 40 medium to large executive jets, in order to cater for major public events such as the Olympics.
In February 2011, plans to begin direct flights from Oxford to Palma were revealed by Oxford Airport Travel.
In October 2011, it was announced that a one-off route from Oxford to New York via Dublin would take place on 7-12 December of the same year with Cityjet. The airport announced it is also trying to open a permanent route to Dublin in 2012 with Aer Lingus.
In January 2012, Manx2 announced the start of a scheduled service from Oxford to the Isle of Man, beginning in May 2012.
Manx2 operate daily services to Jersey and the Isle of Man with a four times weekly Belfast service.
Read more about this topic: London Oxford Airport
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