Attracting more airlines and offering more routes is Liverpool Airport's aim for the new year after making a recovery in 2022.
The past 12 months have seen the airport make substantive progress in its aims to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. After the outbreak put pay to international travel for much for 2020 and 2021, last year was the airport's first chance to recover properly.
JLA has managed to do this. In the financial year to the end of March 2023, Liverpool John Lennon Airport (JLA) will have served around four million customers, which is around 80% of the capacity it served in 2019.
READ MORE: All the routes gained and lost by Liverpool John Lennon Airport for summer 2023
Airport bosses have told the ECHO the recovery was down to planning before the Easter holidays and was assisted by the arrival of new airlines Lufthansa and PLAY, which offer international connectivity from Liverpool. CEO John Irving wants to build on that in 2023.
Mr Irving told the ECHO : "Our core priorities for the next year will be to bring back more capacity to our partners and find some new ones hopefully. Ryanair and easyJet announced further capacity coming into Liverpool for the summer, so that’s great and that’ll get us closer to the five million passenger mark.
"We want to keep growing and keep doing that and recover that, but it’s about supporting Lufthansa, we’re delighted they’re our connecting partner and to try and grow that and to promote that is a big ticket item for us and for the region.
"Next year is about getting more flights back into the airport. We’ll have more destinations back that we lost through covid and then trying to build on Lufthansa and PLAY.
"Hopefully we’ll be able to find some other partners to come in and take advantage of what we do here - the customer service, the approach of faster, easier, friendlier. Coming out of the pandemic, I think that’s what people are looking for. Airlines are no different, they want to operate in an airport which is efficient.
"We’ll be building connectivity back up and building routes up. But we’re always out there looking for new options and new products that people from the region want."
Mr Irving hopes to make further progress towards pre-pandemic level of passenger numbers in 2023, but thinks the airport will have to wait until 2024 to reach the 5 million figure and progress from it.
He added: " I think in 2023 we’ll probably be at around 90% of pre-pandemic levels. We would be looking at around 4.5 million for the year, which is a good recovery.
"I think 2024 will be the year when we hit and potentially go past the pre-pandemic levels. We’ve got to work with our airline partners to bring aircraft back into service at Liverpool.
"Getting to five million and beyond is the aim, as it always has been, but it isn’t going to happen in the next 12 months. We’re still happy that easyJet and Ryanair are backing Liverpool to grow again. It’s going to take us a bit of time, but won’t be far behind."
New routes for 2023 announced by Ryanair and easyJet have been good news for the airport. Additionally, easyJet will be using the seventh plane at Liverpool in 2023, creating 40 routes, while Lufthansa will be increasing to six services a week from Liverpool in 2023.
As well as building capacity and expanding its routes, Mr Irving says another key concern for the airport in 2023 is sustainability. The airport plans to release its plans for making its ground operations (not including flights) carbon net zero at some point in January or February.
The CEO said: " Our net zero plan is a big priority for us. Outside of airlines and getting capacity back in, our net zero approach is something that dials up in the next couple of months.
"We will be launching our decarbonisation programme in the new year, which will fall in line with the city region’s timescale, but also ideations. We haven’t launched it yet, but we’ve put a lot of work in, we’ve worked with partners to get a proper, science-based approach of how we get there. We will launch that probably in late January, early February."
A key part of the airport's plans is the construction of a solar farm on the land bounded by Dungeon Lane, Hale Road and Bailey's Lane on the approach into Hale, which it plans to use as a green source for 25% of its energy. In January 2022, the airport applied to Halton Borough Council to build the solar farm over more than 13 acres of land. The plans included over 5,000 solar panels, which JLA said would be an "integral piece in creating a sustainable airport and moving towards decarbonisation by 2040".
However, Halton Council rejected the plans in July. Its notice of refusal said the airport did not provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the site formed part of its operational land. The airport insists that it is and will be appealing against the decision, taking it to the planning inspectorate.
The airport is confident in its appeal and is considering the solar farm as part of its net zero plan. Mr Irving explained: "The solar farm is obviously a big part of that.
"As an airport, for net zero, we’ll need a solar farm and we certainly want to put one on our land. So we will, in the next few weeks, be appealing that planning decision.
"This is a net zero, green project. It’s on operational land - our confidence in our appeal is high because of what we’re trying to do, not just because it’s a net-zero project.
"We were confident in our application because it’s our land, it’s operational, it’s a solar farm. The appeal goes national rather than locally and we hope and we expect it to go through.
"To have a net zero plan for an airport is absolutely vital, but it can only really happen with the backing of a solar farm and other green technology that we’ll need to invest in over the next ten years.
"We’ll be launching the carbon plan irrespective of where the appeal is up to, because we want to set our statement out, we want to talk to people about what we want to do. The solar farm is integral but there are so many other parts of it.
"Our decarbonisation plan would 100% consider a solar farm in it. It’s not just a PR plan, it’s a science-based approach of how we get there. It needs to be heard, it needs to be listened to - and in some cases challenged - so we’re launching that with as many people around it as possible. The solar farm is obviously integral to that plan."
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