Norwich Airport invites comment on masterplan
Norwich Airport has published a draft masterplan setting out a vision for the airport’s continued growth over the next 30 years.
It explains how the airport can increase its significant contribution to the local economy while improving the experience of passengers and boosting East Anglia’s connectivity for business and leisure at home and abroad.
Passenger numbers exceeded 500,000 for the first time last year since 2008, and could rise to 1.4 million by 2045. Norwich Airport is worth some £70 million to the local economy and this could increase to £170 million in the same period.
The draft masterplan outlines options for how the airport could grow in a sustainable way, and is now available for comment at local council offices and via www.norwichairport.co.uk/masterplan
Richard Pace, Managing Director of Norwich Airport, said: “The masterplan sets out the vision for the future development of Norwich Airport and its continued vital role in supporting our region’s economy.
“As well as projected passenger growth, the aim is to continue to be the transport hub for the offshore oil, gas and renewable industries for the Southern North Sea, and a centre of excellence for the maintenance, repair and overhaul of aircraft, closely linked to the International Aviation Academy Norwich in which we are a founding partner.
“We also address the implications for growth and the need to ensure that it is delivered in an incremental and sustainable way. By continuing to engage with the community we look forward to the airport further enhancing the connectivity and the social and economic fortunes of our region.”
The draft masterplan is open to consultation until 17th August 2017.
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Notes to Editors
About Norwich Airport
Norwich Airport is part of Regional & City Airports, the airport management division of Rigby Group plc having been acquired in June 2014. The airport employs 250 people.
The Airport offers direct scheduled flights to Amsterdam (with connections to over 600 destinations worldwide), Aberdeen, Alicante, Edinburgh, Exeter, Guernsey, Jersey, Malaga and Manchester. Connections through Manchester enable passengers to reach Belfast, Glasgow, Isle of Man, Inverness and many more.
Holiday flights operate to the Balearic and Canary Islands, Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria, Italy, Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Lapland.
The scheduled airlines and charter operators currently active from the Airport are:
- KLM, Eastern Airways, bmi regional, Flybe and Loganair
- Thomson, Balkan Holidays, Newmarket Holidays and Omega Holidays
The airport is a key hub for the southern North Sea offshore oil and gas industry. Four major offshore helicopter operators are based at the airport. These are Bristow, Bond, CHC and NHV. Last year 100,000 passengers travelled offshore from the Airport.
About Rigby Group plc
Rigby Group plc is the parent company for a portfolio of family-owned and highly successful businesses operating across Europe and the Middle East. Diversifying from its origins as a principally technology-led business, Rigby Group plc has evolved over four decades- through smart, strategic acquisitions – into a £2bn British success story employing over 7,500 people.
Rigby Group comprises six key divisions: Technology (SCC – Europe’s largest independent IT services business), Airports (Regional & City Airports, Norwich Airport, Exeter Airport and Coventry Airport), Hotels (the Eden Hotel Collection), Real Estate (Rigby & Rigby superprime property development, Rigby Group Real Estate including Imperial Park, Coventry), Aviation (British International Helicopters and Capital Air Ambulance), and Finance (Rigby Private Equity, Rigby Investments and Rigby Capital).
About Regional & City Airports (RCA)
Regional & City Airports (RCA) is Rigby Group’s highly-innovative airport management company. RCA owns and operates Norwich Airport, Exeter Airport and Coventry Airport, holds management contracts for Blackpool International Airport, City of Derry Airport and Lee on Solent airfield, and is actively building its portfolio of owned or managed airport assets across the next five years.
Regional airports are vitally important to the economic development of regions, not just in the UK but across the world. To survive and prosper, smaller regional airports need to cooperate and collaborate – enabling them to benefit from the economies of scale and sharing of best practice traditionally enjoyed by larger hub airports. This is the vision behind RCA.
RCA has built a reputation as an efficient, safe and commercially-savvy airport operator, driving improvements to route development, commercial revenues, operating costs and capital investment in order to deliver a consistently sound commercial return. As RCA grows it is increasingly able to leverage significant buying power and shared expertise. Already employing more than 650 people, RCA is on its way to becoming a leading player in the regional airport sector and is taking advantage of the lack of capacity at major hub airports in the UK to demonstrate how regional airports can ease the strain.
