Hundreds of jobs created at Biggin Hill airport
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by business editor Trevor Sturgess
Around 300 new jobs are poised to take off at Biggin Hill
Airport.
Middle East firm Rizon is investing £10m in a 70,000 sq ft
hangar, maintenance and passenger processing facility, creating 90
jobs, with a further 160 expected over the next few years.
Thirty jobs will be created at a new £8m 150-bedroom hotel. An
apron extension, another hangar and new fire station are also in
the pipeline.
These projects are welcome news for the executive aviation hub
that was hit by the downturn in the second half of last year.
"People just stopped travelling," said airport director Peter
Lonergan, pointing out that it was not just a Biggin Hill problem.
Business activity dropped by around 30 per cent across all London
airports.
But Mr Lonergan says that since December, business has picked up
for an airport used to handling celebrities like Sir Elton John,
Barbra Streisand, Michael Schumacher and Nigel Mansell.
Rizon, based in Doha, needs the new terminal for major overhaul
projects. The hangar will have an engine turbine facility, a prayer
room and entry point for passengers arriving from the Middle East
in private aircraft.
Biggin Hill, an £11 million-a-year business, used to employ
around 1,200 people but that number declined to 800 in recent
years. Some 400 jobs were lost with the demise of the motor racing
television service run by Formula One, although Bernie Ecclestone,
the head of F1, keeps his operation - and private jet - at Biggin
Hill.
But the Rizon and hotel projects should take the workforce back
to around 1,000.
Mr Lonergan would like to extend flying hours, especially during
the Olympic Games in 2012, but is conscious of residents' concerns
over noise. He says a new generation of private jets such as the
Gulfstream are quieter than ever before, and at 2,000 ft, almost
impossible to hear.
Meanwhile, the SkyPets Executive Pet Handling Service at Biggin
Hill - run by Bee Ames - is continuing to grow as more passengers
are accompanied by their dogs and cats to destinations in Europe,
the Middle East and the United States. More travellers are using
the Pets Passport system that replaces lengthy quarantine
arrangements.
Monday, March 15 2010
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