Oxford Airport is unique amongst GA (General Aviation) airports in the UK. No other GA airfield in Europe has been as busy as Oxford was in the past, nearly 250,000 movements a year at one time – second only to London’s Heathrow. Much of the ethos and environment has revolved around the training of pilots, both private and professional, for 70 years – well over 15,000 to date for over 80 different airlines. It has also been one of the primary UK hubs for general and business aviation aircraft sales and support activities for both fixed wing and helicopter manufacturers.

Today the airport provides a place of work for nearly 800 people involved in training, operations, engineering, design, sales and all facets of aviation support. Over 200 full time student pilots also live on site and as such the place has the feel of a college campus with many refurbished or new amenities now open 7 days a week for both those residents and of course visitors to the airfield.

As a hub of aviation expertise and resources, no other UK GA airfield can match the thousands of man-years of experience here in the fields of flying and engineering. There are hundreds of engineers and professional pilots employed at Oxford, many of whom are respected industry ‘gurus’ in their particular fields of expertise.

As a resident of Oxford airport one joins a community of over twenty businesses where opportunities routinely arise to trade, collaborate and network amongst those other service providers. As a source of personnel and skills required within aviation, Oxford has a constant flow of expertise readily at hand allowing for ease of growth and the evolution of a business.

For individual aircraft owners, Oxford represents one of the best value bases for their aircraft. It costs less to park a piston single for a month here (with free landings) than it does to park your car at the local train station each weekday. For the non-resident piston GA sector landing fees are still amongst the lowest in the industry and either free with a fuel uplift, or just £5 at the weekends.

Turbine business aircraft also enjoy residential costs at least 50% below those typically found at airfields surrounding London, yet with added benefits including fewer constraints on operating hours, no capacity limitations and in several cases better services and amenities. Considering logistics and geography, it is a routinely proven fact that the driving time to the west end of London is often no longer from Oxford via the relatively uncongested M40, than it is from ‘London’ airports using alternative arterial routes such as the M1, M11 and M3.

With the pilot training school traffic down by over 50% over the last two years as a consequence of establishing VFR operations in Arizona and the use of several new state-of-the-art flight simulators, the skies above Oxford see far fewer aircraft than we saw in the past. However, the ATC infrastructure remains one of the most comprehensive services at any GA airfield in Europe with Approach, Tower and Ground frequencies, used to catering for packed airspace in the past with many foreign, trainee pilots.

Oxford enjoys the benefits of being just outside the much busier London airspace further enhancing access. Future European airspace charging policies are destined to relate airspace area control costs directly with en-route charges and as such, Oxford may benefit from its geographical advantage in this respect.

Oxford offers a thriving and expanding aviation community with very comprehensive amenities along with distinct advantages in terms of ease of access compared with most other GA airfields. Yet such advantages are available at costs that make residency here particularly good value for money.

Finally, ‘Oxford’ is a globally recognised brand and as such provides a significant draw, kudos and credibility for companies adopting an Oxford address.  With its strong links to academia, alumni and industry, an Oxford address represents an ideal location with instant recognition internationally.  Equidistant between both London and the industrial centre of the UK, namely Birmingham and the Midlands region, as a base, it is right in the middle of the two most significant business zones in the UK.

For a more comprehensive overview on why you should consider living at Oxford, many of the sections herein expand on all the services available to either individual aircraft owners or businesses looking to relocate to the area.

For further information, please contact James Dillon-Godfray, Head of development & Marketing at:

Tel: +44(0)1865 290 710
Fax: +44(0)1865 290 605
e-mail: jdg@oxfordairport.co.uk