Touching Bases: Cornwall Airport expects more business aviation traffic

Although it may not seem like a lot of traffic compared to a metropolitan U.S. airport, business jet movements at Britain’s Newquay Cornwall Airport were up 7 percent last year over the previous year and are expected to climb 10 percent, to more than 1,000 per year, this year. Newquay FBO Midwest Executive Aviation sees plenty of traffic making technical stops, thanks to the airport’s 9,000-foot nearly sea level elevation runway. “Fuel prices are competitive, too,” said Midwest managing director Nick Weston, “and we had a 28-percent increase in fuel sales last year.”

Midwest Executive Aviation is a growing European chain and owns FBOs at Birmingham International and Durham Tees Valley airports. At Newquay Cornwall, the airport is transitioning from a military airfield to all-civil airport later this year, after which plans call for construction of a dedicated business aviation center and ramp, according to Weston.