Carlisle Lake District Airport update

Whilst the region is the centre of a very popular tourist region, it is cut-off air transport wise.  The chances of Carlisle Airport (CAX) reopening in terms of commercial flights look grim.

In May 2024 a local company, A. W. Jenkinson Group, forestry experts, took over the airport and noted it would invest £5m to create “quality sustainable jobs”.

Suzanne Caldwell, Managing Director, Cumbria Chamber of Commerce, said that it was important to have “realistic expectations” of what the new owners would bring.

There have been no commercial flights to and from Carlisle airport since 2019, when Loganair operated services from Carlisle to Belfast, Dublin and Southend.  All previous attempts have failed. If you want to visit the Lake District and Scottish borders the nearest airports are Newcastle 60 miles away, Glasgow 100 miles, and Manchester even further at 125 miles.

Caldwell told BBC Radio Cumbria: “There’s no immediate prospect of commercial flights, and I think that has to be a longer-term goal, but the good news is that Jenkinson’s have bought the airport, the airport is going to be there, it’s going to be invested in and that does leave the door open for the future”.

She described A. W. Jenkinson as a “longstanding and well-regarded Cumbrian business”.

The airport hosts the Solway Aviation Museum, run by volunteers, and the home of an Avro Vulcan and the sole remaining Blackburn Beverley which arrived in April 2024.  The main runway is 06/24 1837m, and 01/19 at 938m is also available.  The airport is open daily on a telephone prior permission required (PPR) basis.

www.carlisleairport.co.uk

www.solway-aviation-museum.co.uk

www.awjenkinson.co.uk

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