Imagine a world where you can swap Britain’s grey skies and fish fingers for sipping Merlot in the scenic French resort of Le Touquet, all in just 15 minutes. Sounds nice, huh? Well, commercial flights will soon resume at a long-disused airport in Kent, so your dreams are about to become a reality.
London Ashford Airport, also known as Lydd, hasn’t launched any commercial flights since 2018, despite once being busier than London Gatwick. However, this is about to change, with the recent announcement by Air Alderney that it will now be flying to several destinations, including the French seaside town of Le Touquet.
It will become one of the quickest ways to travel between France and the UK, as the journey between Le Touquet and Lydd will only take 15 minutes.
The return of commercial flights is expected to provide a boost for the area, which was once serviced by a bustling airport. Lydd first opened in 1954 and was the first airport to be built in the UK after WWII. At its peak, it was one of the busiest airports in the UK, with more than 220,000 passengers travelling through it each year – 37,000 more than Gatwick at the time.
Now there are controversial plans to expand both the airport and its runway, which is one of the shortest on the British mainland. The airport’s expansion would involve the creation of new terminal building, capable of handling up to 500,000 passengers a year.
The Lydd Airport Action Group has strongly opposed these measures on the grounds of its impact on the local community, as well as its proximity to Dungeness nuclear plant and army firing ranges. The planned expansion has not yet gone ahead.
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