Airport

A PILOT whose plane was stranded at Plymouth airport for more than three weeks has spoken out about the saga, claiming he was “intimidated” and made to feel like a “Trojan Horse”.

Martin Ferid was forced to land his Jodel G-ASXU on the disused airstrip in difficult weather conditions back in August.

Leaseholder Sutton Harbour Holdings (SHH) refused to allow him to fly off, saying he would have to take the plane by road due to lack of air traffic control and other safety constraints.

The situation was finally resolved after a campaign involving aviation chiefs, councillors, an MP and thousands of supporters on social media.

Now Mr Ferid has written an article for Pilot magazine describing the moment he realised he had “landed in hot water”.

He says: “My hosts seemed to see not a troubled pilot in a little Jodel, but a Trojan Horse with a conspiratorial agenda, that I was about to trigger an international outcry among pilots, and that ultimately my plight might just have made an important contribution to a campaign to save Plymouth airport from property developers.”

Mr Ferid, who had been attempting to fly from Cornwall to Kent on the day in question, claims to have been “interrogated” by a supervisor at the airport and “unwittingly stumbled into a commercial and political row” concerning the airport’s future.

SHH insists the plane was detained purely on safety grounds, and has declined to comment further.

The plane was held at the airport for three weeks as a social media campaign, under the hashtag #freethejodel, gained popularity.

Mr Ferid says he was “bewildered” by SHH’s attitude, describing the situation as “traumatic and stressful".

“I felt like I’d fallen into the hands of eastern bloc communists,” he said.

“SHH seemed desperate to ensure nothing would fly out of Plymouth airport.

“I knew I was dealing with a company that forcefully ensured its objectives and seemed to be reliant on the fact that one lone pilot could not match the spending power of a multi-million pound corporation.”

A spokesman for Sutton Harbour Holdings said: “We made clear at the time that this was always an issue of safety and therefore the pilot being able to demonstrate that there was acceptable insurance in place.

“We regard this matter as closed.”

A MINISTER has said the findings of a Government study into the future of the former Plymouth City Airport site will be published in the New Year.

Aviation Minister Robert Goodwill has written a letter to long-lease holder Sutton Harbour Holdings plc's chief executive Jason Schofield revealing the timing.

Mr Goodwill said he had instructed Department for Transport officials to undertake a detailed review of previous studies into the viability of the airport.

Once complete, the review's findings will be peer-reviewed by an independent external assessor, with the final review published in the new year.

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Council accused of 'stifling debate' as Plymouth airport row rumbles on

A DRAFT plan for the city’s future is “fatally flawed”, according to a company which wants to build homes and shops on the former airport.

The Plymouth Plan, which sets out how the city’s land should develop over the next 15 years, provides the disused airport with legal protection for future aviation use.

On Friday, the final consultation day for part two of the plan, airport leaseholder Sutton Harbour Holdings (SHH) said Plymouth City Council can “no longer afford to ignore” the mothballed site’s potential to create jobs and homes.

SHH claims the council has attempted to “stifle any constructive debate” about alternative uses for the Roborough airfield – but PCC says all representations will be considered as part of a “democratic, open and transparent” process.
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Independent studies have concluded the land will never again be viable as an airport; but members of the rival FlyPlymouth group believe they can reintroduce passenger planes by 2018.

SHH chief executive Jason Schofield said: “Our argument is two-fold. Firstly, the council’s desire to safeguard the former airport site for a handful of wealthy aviation hobbyists is misguided because it would stifle growth and make no strategic contribution to the city.

“Secondly, that by doing so the council has pre-judged its own process and prevented a proper assessment of alternative uses, which flies in the face of what the previous inspector said should happen.

“These shortcomings fatally undermine the Plymouth Plan and in order for it to be found sound it is essential these deficiencies are addressed as a matter of urgency.”

SHH wants to develop the site as a new suburban community, with 1,600 homes, a primary school, doctors’ surgery, shops, offices and a velodrome.

A study by economic research consultancy Regeneris found developing the site would deliver 360 permanent jobs, 340 construction jobs and a windfalls of millions of pounds for the city.

But the plan is competing against several others in the north of the city, which are expected to come before the council’s planning committee later this year.

Mr Schofield added: “The ongoing Plymouth Plan process is the time for the future of the former airport site to be resolved once and for all.

“We have demonstrated how this previously developed and now totally defunct former aviation site can make a huge economic contribution to our city.

“By facing up to this fact we can all move on and start accommodating much needed alternative uses for the undoubted benefit of Plymouth as a whole, rather than keep it as an exclusive preserve for the wealthy few. It can no longer be ignored.”

A council spokeswoman said: “We will need to consider this response in full as we have only just received it, as with all Plymouth planning representations they need to be duly considered.

“We have said all along that the future of the airport site is so crucial to the city that it is a strategic issue which needs to be considered through the democratic, open and transparent Plymouth plan process.

“Sutton Harbour Holdings’ latest representations on the future of the airport differ from their previous proposals, which focused on a major out of town retail development.

“The future designation of the airport site will ultimately be decided by an independent inspector when the plan is submitted to a public examination next year.

Council is saving Plymouth airport for 'a handful of wealthy aviation hobbyists' says leaseholder

This headline made me laugh

How much has they pocketed by selling the old runway land,what should have been spent on the airport.

didnt know De Liar was wealthy !!!

Tgwu wrote:

Council is saving Plymouth airport for 'a handful of wealthy aviation hobbyists' says leaseholder

Oh yeah ? As opposed to a handful of wealthy property speculators who don't even own the land, and have scant regard to a city's planning strategy, or anyone apart from themselves.
I'm not an aviation hobbyist, but I might well become one. I could get a drone.

You say they don't own it but they bought a long lease on it, is it the council who owns the freehold of the ground?

Amsterdamage wrote:

You say they don't own it but they bought a long lease on it, is it the council who owns the freehold of the ground?

yes

PLYMOUTH’S closed airport could become an international centre for aviation industry training under a new proposal from the company that wants to reopen it.

FlyPlymouth envisage the airstrip as the centrepiece for increased business development and, crucially, becoming a “centre of excellence” for education in aviation skills.

It sees a re-opened airport as an ideal site to offer engineering and other apprenticeships, in fields such as management, hospitality and security, to students from the city and worldwide.

The social enterprise has submitted its outline, dubbed Get Plymouth Flying, to Plymouth City Council as part of the Plymouth Plan tool kit consultation.

The plan, which sets out how the city will develop during the next 15 years, is likely to provide the disused airport with legal protection from having housing placed on it.

The site’s leaseholder Sutton Harbour Holdings has, however, stressed the site would be better used as a wealth-generating opportunity to create jobs and homes.

FlyPlymouth was set up in 2015 with the aim of acquiring the lease, reopening the facility and reintroducing passenger services by 2018.

But directors envisaged a low volume of business-led flights, specifically to London, and have been looking at other ways of making a reanimated airport sustainable.

They say the airport could earn Plymouth a slice of the UK’s £3billion general aviation economy, spinning off benefits to the factories already in the north of the city, and new arrivals.

And with 25 per cent of people in northern Plymouth having no qualifications, FlyPlymouth director Richard Crocker said turning the airport into a learning centre could address that – and put the city on an international map.

“We want a skills cluster for aerospace and aviation in the north of the city,” he told The Herald. “That would mirror the marine cluster around the south of the city.

“We want to bring existing businesses together and tie them to skills in the way the marine industry has been doing, so the city can become a worldwide centre for aviation skills development. A centre of excellence.

“The proposal is about more than just an airport, but about changing the way things are done in the city, so we can fulfil our full aspirations.

“This will give Plymouth its USP (unique selling point) and will attract investment as well as people coming here to develop their skills.”

He said Boeing had forecast a worldwide demand for 558,000 new commercial airline pilots and 609,000 new commercial airline maintenance technicians between now and 2034.

“Worldwide there is huge growth in air travel,” Mr Crocker said. “Aviation requires a number of different skill sets. Pilot training will only be a small part of what we will do at Plymouth, engineering and other support skills will be a major target.

“And there are overlaps between marine and aviation.

“We need to increase the level of skill in the city and stop being a low-skill, low-wage city.”

Mr Crocker said the airport, which closed in 2011, was ideally situated, being close to the Estover manufacturing area, University of St Mark and St John, Plymouth Science Park and other business areas.

“It’s unusual to get an airfield in close proximity to a city,” he said.

“We envisage links with schools,” he said.

“That could be anything from work experience as cabin crew to engineering apprenticeships, and even taking children flying to boost aspiration.

“And it would introduce them to different aviation professions, such as security and air traffic control.

“These skills are in demand worldwide and we haven’t been able to find anywhere else doing this. The most exciting element is what the airport could do for the future of people in Plymouth, it’s not just about reopening an airport but about turning lives around.”