London Oxford airport recorded a 12% rise in its movements in 2011 to 6,000 take-off and landings and says it now ranks fifth in the UK for business aviation activity at civil airports, ahead of rival London Stansted airport.
"This continued growth in our business aviation traffic is great news," said London Oxford's business development director, James Dillon-Godfray. "It proves the attraction of our airport to business and VIP travellers and justifies the ongoing investment by the owners and the outstanding commitment of the airport and oxfordjet fixed base operator team."
Over the past 12 months, the Reuben Brothers-owned airport installed a primary and secondary (Mode-S, MSSR) surveillance radar system, which is expected to be fully operational ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games. It has completed work on 17,800m2 (191,600ft2) of new high strength apron, resurfaced 5,000m2 of established surfaces, increased the licensed runway length by more than 20% and strengthened the surface area to allow heavier aircraft, including the Embraer E-Jet series and the A318/319 family, to operate from the site. "The airport is now routinely visited by larger jet types, including the EMB-190 and Avro RJ with seating capacity of 100 plus," said the airport. "London Oxford is also prepared for the next generation of regional jets including the Sukhoi Superjet and the Bombardier C-Series - covering destinations as far as Sharm El Sheikh. The larger 135-seat CS300 will be able to cover most of Europe from Oxford. The new runway length enables longer range private jets such as the Global family and Gulfstream G550 to undertake transatlantic flights on a commercial basis."
Further improvement projects are planned for 2012 including the construction of new hangars to house the next generation of regional jets and top-of-the-range business jets.
Source: Flight International
