London Oxford Airport shows at NBAA

For the first time, London Oxford
Airport and oxfordjet will
be participating at NBAA from 10-12 October. The airport’s senior management
team will be in attendance and showcasing the airport ahead of London hosting the Olympics in July 2012.

“London
Oxford Airport
has many benefits over other London
airports,” said business development director James Dillon-Godfray. “With
the Olympics in summer 2012 fast approaching these benefits will put us in a
great position.  Being located to the north west
of London, with access to the capital via the
fastest motorway, with the least congestion of any London arterial route, is a notable
advantage.”

London Oxford
Airport is outside the 2012 London ‘Restricted Zone’,
so there will currently be no flight plan constraints, particularly for VFR
flights.  The airport is also outside the congested London Terminal
Manoeuvring Area (LTMA) which is usually the busiest airspace in Europe and will be even busier during the
Olympics.  London Oxford Airport
has lower costs than most other London
regional airports and provides on-site service support for most common business
aircraft types. The airport also has full-time, on-site police/special branch
support for assistance with VVIP, Head-of-State, close protection and all other
security necessities. In addition, Thames Valley Police HQ is based at the
airport, complete with an armoury.

With most international visitors opting to stay in London’s West End, Oxford
Airport is ideally located, just 40
miles from Greater London and within an hour’s drive into London’s
West End via the UK’s
motorway network. In addition, a new rail timetable has dramatically
improved journey times from the Oxford area to London. Bicester North
station, a 15 minute taxi ride from Oxford Airport, has had journey times to
London reduced to as little as 41 minutes following extensive improvements and
investment by the rail network. On schedule for 2012, a new rail station
between north Oxford city and the airport, will
connect to London’s
Marylebone station for the first time in just 55 minutes with regular services
every 30 minutes. A bus link from that new station to Oxford Airport
will take around five minutes once established.   

Oxford is also an ideal base for international
visitors. It boasts several thousand hotel rooms, up to 5-star standard, within
15 minutes drive of the airport and offers considerably better value than the
central-London alternatives. There is crew accommodation within just five
minutes of the airport and the region is renowned for its tourist attractions,
being the third most visited city in England
outside of London.
It is also perfectly located for other major UK
tourist attractions, including Bath, Windsor, Stratford upon
Avon, Warwick Castle,
the Cotswolds and Henley.

In
addition, the airport has recently added bedroom facilities in the terminal
building. This complements the on-site overnight bed and breakfast
facilities and sports and fitness centre which is unique to any GA/business
aviation airport in the UK.

The airport
recently took the decision to install the latest generation radar system at the
airport, which will be fully operational in time for the 2012 Olympic
Games.  The primary and secondary (Mode-S, MSSR) surveillance radar
system, supplied by Thales with project management by NATS, will enable more
efficient transits through local airspace as well as increase the throughput of
IFR flight activity. 

During
the last 12-months, London
Oxford Airport’s
runway has had its weight bearing strength verified at PCN38, sufficient for
the largest mainstream regional jets and liners, such as the Airbus A320 and
Boeing BBJ family. Oxford based, Hangar 8
plc’s Lineage (EMB-190), the longest charterable business jet on the UK register,
has been the largest type based at the airport to date.  

London Oxford
Airport is the only general aviation/business aviation airport for the north or west of London region with full DEFRA (Department for Environment Food and
Rural Affairs).  With
a dedicated team trained to process the paperwork and to meet and greet pets
and their owners/handlers on arrival to undertake necessary pre-disembarkation
checks, London Oxford Airport
provides a hassle-free option for anyone wishing to travel with their
pets.  From 01 January 2012, it will become cheaper and easier to travel
abroad with pets when new rules are introduced.  The UK will harmonise its pet movement rules with
the rest of the EU, bringing the UK’s Pet Travel Scheme (PETS) into
line with the most recent European-wide pet importation regulations.

London Oxford
Airport hosts some seven AOC charter companies
and five MRO engineering support businesses with more than 25 companies. Last
year Oxford’s business aviation traffic
increased by 18%, of which jet traffic was up 31%) whilst Europe as a whole
only saw an increase of 5.3% and the UK alone just a 1.6%
increase. The airport is the fifth busiest commercial airport in the UK for business aviation, just behind London City
Airport.

Originally offered at last year’s NBAA
Convention, London Oxford Airport will continue to extend its unique ‘150 Deal’
to first-time, international, transatlantic visitors through to April
2012. The deal consists of very low, first time visitor costs fixed at
US$150 (£100) for either landing fees, daily parking costs or handling costs
along with nightly costs for crew accommodation in a 5-star hotel in Oxford and chauffeur-driven transport to or from London.