Carlisle Lake District airport finally cleared for take-off

The long-awaited airfield revival is seen as vital for boosting the Cumbrian economy
The airport will allow tourists to fly in directly from Dublin and the South East of England
The airport will allow tourists to fly in directly from Dublin and the South East of England
ALAMY

In 1993 on a windy airfield in the far northwest of England, propellers quietened and that was it, the end of scheduled passenger services from Carlisle airport. Euroair — motto: “We take the high road” — couldn’t make daily Monday-to-Friday services to Heathrow work commercially and stopped trading, just as previous services operated by Air Ecosse — motto: “Your friendly Scottish airline” — had failed. No one stepped in and once the landing and take-off slots at Heathrow are gone, they’re gone.

In time people forgot that Carlisle had an airfield, apart from those who occasionally landed their private jets there or the military, which used what was once RAF Crosby-on-Eden for training exercises.

In five weeks’ time, however, Britain’s newest old airport reopens for