Pilot reviews of Humberside Airport

Flew into Humberside Airport on Thursday 25 July inbound from Sturgate and outbound to Blackpool and home. Decent landing fee for this type of airfield (£19.96+VAT, DR400-140B, 1,000kg MAUW). As I was only stopping for a quick ‘pit-stop’, I was parked on the hard-standing adjacent to Eastern Airways ramp and arranged refuelling by bowser. (£1.53+VAT).

Due to Blackpool’s ongoing 45-minute closures, (due to a shortage of ATC staff), the stay at Humberside was a little longer than originally planned. The walk to the terminal is only a short distance, but the café was a bit of a disappointment. I only wanted a cup of tea and a ‘bun’, but it was either a full meal or chocolate. I just had the tea (which, to be fair, was very good and reasonably priced and the staff were very friendly), but I had expected a bit more selection.

As you would expect, the ATC, runways, taxiways and parking were top condition and the fees (landing fee only, free parking for the first two hours) were great value.

Tower were very helpful in directing us to parking. I think it was Rad/App that had an interesting character at the helm that day...

It's not clearly marked but you pay at the general information desk in the terminal which is a bit of a trek from the plane. Similar to Blackpool in that respect. On payment, they give you a security slip (piece of paper) and this is your ticket back air-side. None of the metal detector/X-Ray checks that you usually get at other bigger airports.

The wind had swung since landing and Tower kindly offered Runway 08. If possible, backtrack on the hard tarmac. I decided to taxi on the grass which was neither comfortable or quick!

Have flown many hours out of EGNJ as a member of a flying school their. The bonus here is that the airport is international, so can be very busy with commercial airline traffic. As a GA pilot this give you great experiance in R/T, Departure techneques and Re-join procedures.

The airport facility and personnel who work their are generally very friendly and patiant especially if you do happen to make the wrong R/T call......

Visited North Moor today.... its a single runway grass strip (575M) running 09 /27. The runway is checked daily for Rabbit damage (curse of the "Wear Rabbit") by the ever helpful and friendly proprietor "Eric". The approach on 27 is interesting due to the Pylons only 275M or so from the threshold, good for those who like a challenge tho. Eric does not charge any landing fee and just asks that if you make yourself a coffee then consider a donation to help with his running costs. The field is mainly used by the residents at weekends which is when the A/G radio tends to be manned. Its a friendly place and nice to visit if your touring the area. It has a website http://www.northmoor.flyer.co.uk which has the info you need.

All round, fantastic airport, landing fee only £16.50 for my Robin 200. Good day overall.

The only downside was the landing fee - £32.95 for an Arrow, that's without handling. Ouch!

Humberside is a small International Airport with a high amount of GA activity, mainly due to the large amount of resident flying schools.

There is a small amount of scheduled airlines operating here, just KLM Cityhopper to Amsterdam, and Eastern Airways to Aberdeen. Humberside is Eastern Airways' main HQ, so therefore is quite a major presence at the airport. Eastern Airways is very popular with the flying schools, as they are forever supporting their movements. The airline has also donated a large amount of money to the "Glen Stewart Flying Scholarship" currently in operation at Soloflight.

The airport also has many Charter carriers to many destinations across Europe.

Handling capabilities, in my opinion, cannot be matched. They have handled many aircraft ranging from a Cessna 150 to Concorde. Jet Provosts to 747s. Scotia Helicopters to Citations.

For all you Aviation Enthusiasts, plane spotting at the airport, again, in my opinion, cannot be matched (apart from SXM). You can watch aircraft on finals from the short stay car park, which offers and excellent view of R/W 21 approach. You can watch aircraft movements on the apron from a road approaching the terminal building, which is an area very popular with people seeing off relatives. There is a side road which goes along the eastern perimeter, which is excellent for approaches on both 21 & 03. Also along this road you can stop at the threshold of R/W 27, which nearly has aircraft undercarriages on your roof! There is also a public footpath at the threshold of R/W 03, which is again like having an undercarriage on your head.

The Terminal Building is small, but does the job. It has an excellent restaurant inside, which sells very cheap food, excellent after a long flight! But if you don't fancy food, there is an excellent café in the check-in area, this is a little more expensive than the restaurant, but sells good coffee.

The nearby village of Kirmington (just off the eastern perimeter) has a great restaurant/hotel which also sells great food for a good price. I have never needed to try the hotel, so have no comment on that.

Unfortunately, I have no comment on landing fees either as I pay less because I use resident aircraft. ATC at the airport is also very friendly, and are always happy to help if you need it.

The airport has quite a few confusing taxiway markings, but you just need to concentrate on what you are doing if you are new to the airfield.

Hope to see you soon !