Lydd Airport - The Gateway To Southern England for GA pilots

Lydd Airport is a popular choice for private pilots entering the UK due to its convenient location close to the French coast and the fact that it's a fully licensed port of entry.

Despite its relatively small size, Lydd plays an important role in supporting the local economy and providing vital links to the rest of the UK and Europe. Lydd Airport is located on the Romney Marsh 1 NM east of the town Lydd and 12 NM south of Ashford in Kent, England. Although it's also named London Ashford Airport, it's closer to France than it is to London by over 60 miles. Le Touquet Airport is about 37 nm from Lydd.

Unlike many other airports and airfields throughout England, it does not gave any wartime heritage or history. It was built in 1954 when it was known as Lydd Ferryfield, and it was used by Silver City Airways who needed a hard runway in order to operate their Bristol B170 Freighters in all types of weather as their operating base at nearby Lympne Airport's grass runways were waterlogged in wet weather.

In 2014 the airfield was expanded. A terminal building was constructed and the runway was extended by almost 300m (980ft) to the 1,500 tarmac runway we see there today. The only scheduled flights at that time were operated by LyddAir but these ceased in 2018 and they have since reverted to charter flights only.

The airport is the home of Lydd Aero Club which offers trial lessons and PPL training. It’s also the home of LyddAir, a subsidiary of Atlantic Bridge Aviation Limited (ABA). They have been flying scheduled and chartered flights to the popular resort of Le Touquet since 1997 and provide on-demand charter flights into Europe and around the UK.

Lydd Airport Facilities

The airport can cater to most types of GA operations, including light aircraft, helicopters, bizjets and private jets, and cargo. There is some secure hangar space, ample parking and dedicated VIP stands. Services also include ground handling, maintenance, and aircraft cleaning. The opening times are 08:00hrs to 19:00hrs Local (PPR), with extensions available on request.

Film & TV Location

Lydd has also been used many times for location shots for TV and film work, and the operators are keen to accommodate more bookings of this type. You may recognise Lydd in such well-known programs and films as Silent Witness, Top Gear, and James Bond. In the 1960s film Goldfinger, Bond follows Auric Goldfinger as he loads this car into a Bristol B170 Freighter bound for Switzerland. This scene was filmed at Lydd Airport.

Nearby Landmarks

Lydd is easy to find due to its location on the promontory that sticks out into the English Channel. However, pilots need to be aware of the Danger Zones to the south the southeast. The southern zone covers the Dungeness B Nuclear power station.

A few miles to the west of the airfield there is a wind farm, and out to sea off the coast of Winchelsea is a much bigger offshore wind farm. From these two landmarks, flying west is easy with clear airspace all the way to Shoreham in West Sussex.

Pleasure Flight

A flight in VMC along this coastal route is a real pleasure. As well as the many seaside towns and other landmarks you'll see the airliners in their descent into the TMA for Gatwick, and other GA craft flying along the coast.

During a flight out of Lydd back to Solent Airport earlier in the year I had the pleasure of flying in a PA-28R. The weather was CAVOK so the views of Beach Head and the sandy coast beneath us were interrupted. A good lookout was essential as other aviators had the same idea but we flew comparatively high so the aircraft we saw were well below us.

The Future of Lydd Airport

There are plans to expand the airport again, adding new terminal buildings and other improvements and additional facilities to accommodate passenger aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 737. It's not clear where these plans have reached, nor if this vision will ever be realised. It would certainly be a huge boost to the region and would take some of the load off Gatwick, but as we've seen at other airports like Southampton, this type of change can lead to a loss of GA traffic.

So, for the time being, Lydd will remain a GA and charter flight airport with ample room and much to attract visitors from the continent.