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Exeter Airport , formerly Exeter International Airport, is an international airport located at Clyst Honiton in East Devon, close to the city of Exeter and within the county of Devon, South West England. Exeter has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (Number P759) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction. The airport offers both scheduled and holiday charter flights within Europe.
In 2007, the airport handled over 1 million passengers per year for the first time, although passenger throughput subsequently declined, recovering to 931,000 passengers in 2018. In 2019, passenger numbers once again passed the 1 million mark, due in part to Ryanair operating several new flights to/from the airport. Prior to its collapse in 2020, the airline Flybe accounted for over 80% of the airport's passenger numbers. Passenger numbers declined sharply to 148,000 in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Exeter Airport's passenger numbers have recovered to approximately 500,000 per year (as of 2024).
Location
Exeter Airport is located east of the city of Exeter and is approximately west south west of London. To the south, it is connected by the A30 dual carriageway which can be accessed from the east and the M5 in the west, just away. The M5 enables links to Bristol and the Midlands. There is no railway station at the airport. The closest, Cranbrook, is miles away by road. There is also a bus link to Exeter St Davids railway station.
History
Exeter Airport was situated on land acquired by Exeter Corporation by compulsory purchase. It was leased and operated by Straight Corporation who also set up the Exeter Aero Club. The airfield officially opened on 31 May 1937 and operated from a "tented" terminal before the permanent buildings were complete. Jersey Airways immediately inaugurated a summer service of eight flights per week from Jersey in de Havilland DH.84 Dragons. Railway Air Services ran connecting flights on to Plymouth and Bristol.
Wartime use
thumb|Aerial photograph of RAF Exeter, 20 March 1944. The long runway is 08/26, the other two being 02/20 and 13/31. The latter two were closed at undisclosed dates.
In the Second World War, RAF Exeter was an important RAF Fighter Command airfield during the Battle of Britain. RAF Exeter was used by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Ninth Air Force as a D-Day troop transport base with Douglas C-47 Skytrain transports dropping paratroops near Carentan to land on the Normandy Beachhead. It was known as USAAF Station AAF-463.
Two brass plaques on the wall near the airport's observation lounge commemorate the activities of 3 squadrons of the Polish Air Forces in France and Great Britain that were based at Exeter during World War II, and commend their actions in defence of the city of Exeter.
Battle of Britain
RAF Exeter was home to the following Squadrons of No 10 Group during the Battle of Britain:
- No. 213 (Ceylon) Squadron from 18 June 1940
- No. 87 (United Provinces) Squadron from 5 July 1940
- No. 601 (County of London) Squadron AAF from 7 September 1940
Despite efforts at camouflage, including painting the runways, Exeter attracted the Luftwaffe and administrative and technical buildings were destroyed.
In August 2016, Exeter Airport recorded their highest passenger throughput in a single month since September 2008, with 100,374 passengers passing through its terminal. New services to Glasgow and the first route to be supported by the new Government Regional Air Connectivity fund to Norwich, contributed to a 19% increase in passenger numbers during the month of August. During 2018, the runway was resurfaced and energy-efficient LED lighting (including runway centreline lights) was installed.
In 2019, the airport was ranked fourth in the UK by Which? magazine of 30 airports for customer satisfaction, with a score of 73%.
Royal Air Force Units
The following squadrons were also here at some point:
Airlines and destinations
The following airlines operate regular scheduled flights to and from Exeter:
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Other tenants
- Corporate aviation services including a private lounge are provided by XLR Executive Jet Centre
- There is one flight training organisation based at the airport: Aviation South West, which offers a range of training from the Private Pilot Licence to the Commercial Pilots Licence and Instrument Rating.
- Dublin Aerospace operates the Exeter Aerospace hangar which provides base maintenance services on multiple aircraft, such as: ATR 42 family; Bombardier DHC - 8 Family; & Embraer ERJ 170 & 190 Series aircraft.
- Iscavia Ltd is based in Hangar 49, on the North-Side of Exeter Airport and provides aircraft maintenance, avionics, airworthiness certification, hangarage, aircraft parts, help and advice.
- Devon Air Ambulance and National Police Air Service (NPAS) share a purpose-built facility on the northern side of the airfield, having vacated the police headquarters at Middlemoor, Exeter in 2014.
Statistics
thumb|Terminal interior
thumb|Aerial view
<!---->
The ten busiest routes by air passenger numbers are listed below.
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Busiest routes to or from Exeter (2024)
|-
! Rank || Airport || Total <br />passengers || Change<br />2023 / 24
|-
|1|| Palma de Mallorca||align='right'|52,943|| 46.3%
|-
|2|| Alicante||align='right'|39,504|| 36.7%
|-
|3|| Belfast–City||align='right'|39,828|| 2.4%
|-
|4|| Málaga||align='right'|27,778|| 3.0%
|-
|5|| Dublin||align='right'|27,762|| 10.0%
|-
|6|| Jersey||align='right'|27,477|| 2.6%
|-
|7|| Edinburgh||align='right'|27,405|| 14.2%
|-
|8|| Tenerife–South||align='right'|21,122|| 0.0%
|-
|9|| Lanzarote||align='right'|20,627|| 21.6%
|-
|10|| Faro||align='right'|20,417|| 39.3%
|}
Accidents and incidents
- On 19 January 2021, a West Atlantic Boeing 737-400 freighter having just performed flight NPT05L from East Midlands Airport made a very hard landing at Exeter Airport, causing multiple creases in the fuselage. The aircraft was written off.
See also
- List of Royal Air Force stations
- List of former Royal Air Force stations
- South West Aviation
References
Citations
Bibliography
- Freeman, Roger A. (1978) Airfields of the Eighth: Then and Now. After the Battle
- Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. .