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AIRPORT
Feature!
Happy Birthday,
Jersey Airport!
Those forward-looking Islanders who thought building an Aviation in Jersey could be
airport in St Peter was a good idea, faced some stiff said to have started in 1912
opposition. when Jean Benoist landed
his Sanchez-Besa biplane in
Even as the Bailiff’s wife opened the airport 70 years ago, on St. Aubin's Bay. He was in a
March 10, 1937, the Jersey Evening Post complained about race against three other
the cost (which came out at less than £130,000). aircraft between St. Malo
and Jersey. It wasn't long
The first airport was therefore not very sophisticated. It before regular passenger
consisted of four grass runways, a control tower and two services started to the Island
buildings, one for arrivals and one for departures. from the UK, France and the
It was nevertheless a considerable improvement on what went other Channel Islands.
before. Alderney became the first
Channel Island to have a
Opening of Jersey airport in 1937 by Bailiff Alexander purpose-built airport, and
Coutanche, people gathered around Jersey Airways Ltd plane flights to Jersey had to land
'The Ouaine (sic) Bay' (G-ACZO) & 'La Saline Bay' (G-ACZR)
on the sand at St Aubin (at
low tide, of course).
Jersey Airways and Imperial
Airways were the first
across the landing area on
airlines to operate from the
the sands.
beach but it wasn’t easy.
Apart from only being able
Jersey was also becoming a
to land and take off when
popular holiday destination
the tide was right, people
and the Island needed more
used to unwittingly trample
than a short landing strip on
sand to cope with the
demand.
Opening of new airport
in 1937, bird's eye view
of de Havilland 86
aeroplane, with G - A C
Z N on wings, parked
20/20 four
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