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Liverpool Airport Information

For comprehensive info you may wish to check out the official Liverpool Airport website

Getting around the Airport, Transit and Stopover Facilities, Who flies Where, Food and Drink Outlets, Retail Stores and more...

Liverpool Airport or, to give it its proper title, Liverpool John Lennon Airport, is close to the River Mersey, just to the south-east of the city of Liverpool, near Speke. The airport as we know it today dates from only 2002. The earlier terminal buildings on the site, from 1986, were completely absorbed by the new building as they were re-modelled and modernised alongside the new buildings. It increased the terminal's footprint threefold. In 1986 the airport's new terminal buildings had the facilities and capacity for 650,000 passengers each year but a steady growth in use meant this figure was reached just 10 years later. A dramatic leap in demand for flights in 1999, brought about by EasyJet making Liverpool its northern base, made newer and more extensive facilities imperative, leading to the 2002 opening. It was also at this time that the aiport included John Lennon's name in the title, in tribute to the murdered member of the Beatles. Inside the airport is a bronze statue of the pop star and, outside, is the famous Yellow Submarine, commemorating the Beatles pop song of that title. It made its home at the airport in 2005 but was actually built in 1984 by apprentices at the (now closed) Cammell Laird Shipbuilding yard in Birkenhead, for the International Garden Festival hosted by Liverpool in 1984. The airport's offical logo is a simple, self-portrait by John Lennon along with the words, "above us only sky", which was taken from taken from his massively succesful song , 'Imagine'. The airport now caters for almost 6 million passengers each year and extensions and improvements are on-going.

The nearby, old terminal building, dating back to the 1930s, had been abandoned and left to decay in 1986 when it was replaced by the first, modern terminal building. Together with the aiport's apron, at the rear, it had been designated a grade 2 listed building. In 2001 it found a new lease of life as the Liverpool Marriott Hotel South, subsequently re-named the Crowne Plaza, Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Hotel which had been restored to its former glory retaining its 1930s Art Deco style. On the old apron at the back several old aircraft can now be seen on display, there.

Scheduled flights started from the then Speke Airport, in 1930, to London and within ten years were also flying to Ireland. During the Second World War the airport was used by the RAF. Bomber planes were built here and many others, sent from America, were assembled at Speke. In 1945, after the cessation of hostilities, the airport resumed its civilian status and passenger numbers jumped by 50% in just three years, from 50,000 in 1945 to 75,000 in 1948. At this stage Speke airport supported more air traffic than did Manchester airport. However, the airport was still in the hands of the Ministry of Aviation and remained so until 1961 when control was handed over into local government hands. Ownership of the aiport passed into private, commercial hands in 1990. Destinations served by the aiport are European.