Techniques d'Avant-Garde (TAG) Group to is to convert the UK's Farnborough Aerodrome into a dedicated business-aviation airport following the decision by the UK Ministry of Defence to award the Luxembourg-based holding company a 99-year lease.
The aerodrome, which will continue to be the venue for the biennial Farnborough air show, will become a dedicated business-aviation airport. "We are keen to develop Farnborough as a top quality, state-of-the-art, business-aviation centre," TAG says.
The news has been welcomed by the European Business Aircraft Association and the UK General Aviation Manufacturers and Traders Association (GAMTA), which have been calling for the UK Government to take a more active role in promoting this increasingly neglected sector of aviation. "It is a vital step to recognising the importance of business aviation to the UK economy," says GAMTA chief executive Graham Forbes.
TAG says that it will start work on the airfield "-once two major steps have been climbed". The company must satisfy UK Civil Aviation Authority licensing requirements and resolve planning and environmental issues set by the local authority. "These two big events are crucial to the way things will pan out at Farnborough," says TAG. "We and the local community will have to agree an appropriate balance between the economy and the preservation of the environment." Consultation is scheduled to begin in April 1998.
TAG will not be drawn on specific plans for the airfield, but admits that the company is looking at the possibility of developing a business aviation terminal and a maintenance hangar. "Farnborough will become a globally renowned business airfield, and it is perfectly situated near to London's Gatwick and Heathrow airports." TAG anticipates that some operators will divert their business to Farnborough, as the two major London airports continue to restrict access to business and general-aviation aircraft.
The company says that British Aerospace subsidiary Farnborough Business Aviation Services will continue to operate the resident business-aviation centre. TAG, which acquired Swiss executive charter operator Aeroleasing in July, is "actively pursuing" a similar acquisition in the USA.
Source: Flight International
