Pilot reviews of Pembrey Airport

“was there a couple of weeks ago, i agree the charges are high for parking 14 pounds outside ,at my local wellesbourne they charge 5 pounds. in fact if you go a bit further to aberporth you get a hanger for 15pounds. there never seems to be anyone on the radio and the ndb and ils are allways off. cafe was great . charged a fiver to put my tent up which sounds cheap but bearing in mind there no water or loos when the cafe shuts at 3 .some bikes to hire would go down well as its a good mile and a half to the amazing beach and a good two mile to pembrey which doesnt have a lot there ...or burry port which is a little further”

“very nice but the overnight parking is expensive.14 pounds .at west wales you get a hangar for that and there actualy someone maning the radio. it seems the ils and ndb are allways turned off . its a long walk to anywhere ,about a mile and half to beach which realy is something else .about two miles to the nearest town . bike rental would go down well here i think”

“On Saturday I flew into Pembrey. I wanted to stay overnight. I had e-mailed them during the week to see what the landing and parking charges were. The e-mail was read but I received no reply. I phoned, spoke to the guys in the tower and was told that the landing fee was £12 but they were unsure what the overnight parking fee was. Now at most places, the overnight parking fee is somewhere around £5-£9, so I was expecting to pay somwhere around this figure. I wanted to have a second landing on Sunday and was hoping for a deal on that but wasn't expecting one. When I turned up on Saturday, I went to pay the airfield owner the landing and parking fee. He said it was £28! I said "How much?!" He said it included overnight parking. I asked how much that was and how much was the landing. He mumbled something about £14 for the landing, £14 for overnight parking. I asked if I could then get a deal on the landing the following day...he said yes at the time. The following day I had to arrange an out of hours landing for getting back to Pembrey which was a trial in itself. I got fuel. When I went to pay, the landing fee for later was also added on, the full £12. When I said he'd agreed on a deal for this, he said "How else do we make our money?".

So. £40 for two landings and overnight parking at Pembrey. I'm not some rich git, I'm just someone trying to run a plane and fly on a budget. This in my opinion was just greedy and somewhat arbitrary and plucked out of thin air. It's just taking advantage of someone perceived to be able to pay.

The crazy thing is, if I hadn't been ripped off or maybe even if I was offered some sort of deal for the weekend, I could have been a regular visitor there, and what with buying fuel and whatever would have been reasonable for landing and parking, they'd probably have made quite a lot from me over the summer. Now they've ensured I never go back there and that the £40 and whatever they made on the fuel is all they ever get from me.

It's annoying, as it's a lovely part of the world and I'd love to spend more time there, but I think I'll either fly to Swansea or drive up in future.

”

“Reasonable cafe but it does shut a bit early -- I keep missing the hot food! No self briefing area as such, but the flying club will generally have the days weather and notams and are a friendly bunch.”

“Went to Pembrey on Saturday 19th November 2005. A lovely flight down from Blackpool at FL100 and back at a lower level via the beautiful Cambrian coast and a tour of the top of Snowdon on a beautiful clear day.

The airfield itself was easy to find and no problems with the Danger Area (shut on Saturday.) Runway in super condition - interesting to watch the race cars which are right under you on approach/takeoff as the track is on a disused part of the runway. As "petrol-heads" they clearly don't have a problem with aircraft!

Friendly has to be the word here. We wanted fuel and the airfield manager suggested we had our lunch whilst he arranged refuelling (all day breakfast - GREAT!) He finished the fuelling and brought the invoice to us in the cafe - no need to even go and find the office.

The scenery round about was stunning and the flight back up the coast will be remembered for a long time.

Highly recommended to anyone.

”

“Lovely little airfield, very friendly chap took us to the local village and we looked at the castle, climbed to the top and had a good view of the airfield from the tower...bought a few souvenirs and got a lift back to the airfield

Meal in town really was a taste of (last of the summer wine) yesteryear but very good sunday lunch and cheap prices heard a good joke there "why are pirates called pirates ... because theyaaarrgh" well it is Wales! recommended!

”

“Managed to sample the new cafe a few weeks ago. Cracking thick bacon on the breakfasts. Definitely recommended. Already seemed to have attracted a few more visitors than usual which was very nice to see.

And no one seemed to mind my little nephew bounding around the grass in the café patio area, shouting "UP!" at every aeroplane which passed.

”

“Over the last seven years the average usage of D118 by the military is .45 minutes a day and decreasing, the chances of a refusal to visit Pembrey Airport is very minimal, but you do have to call the day prevously to be assignd a slot number.

The airport is leasing the restaurant to a catering establishment and they will be serving hot meals and saturday and sunday lunches

”

“Being from Swansea, Pembrey is the closest field to us but has the same runway 04/22 and therefore not a good cross wind option as a diversion nice place to fly over. and the airport is now rather small due to the race track in the lower half. Large campsite near by with massive beach. Horse riding, carting, and racing cars and lorries and bikes not far a way.

Be aware fuel not always avalible and credit cards not accepted so check and take cash also as mentionned before in danger area. That is closed from mid day friday to monday morning but check first.

Worth a visit if you want to see the motor racing etc.

”

“Quiet, remote and surrounded by some of the most gorgeous scenery. Of course I'm biased, this being my home field!

For the automotively-minded, the motor racing circuit is just the other side of the boundary fence from the airfield and there's usually plenty going on there too.

The preferred local is the Butchers Arms in Pembrey village--make sure you find the pilot's comfy corner with the aeroplane pictures on the wall...

One for the weekend though--weekdays it's besieged by fast jets blowing things up on the beach.

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