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Liverpool John Lennon Airport is an international airport serving North West England. On the outbreak of World War II the airport was operated by the RAF and known as RAF Speke. The airport is within the City of Liverpool on the banks of the estuary of the River Mersey some 〔(【引用サイトリンク】 url = http://www.nats-uk.ead-it.com/public/index.php%3Foption=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=91&Itemid=140.html )〕 south east of the city centre. The airport is named after Liverpudlian musician John Lennon of The Beatles. Scheduled domestic and European services are operated from the airport. Between 1997 and 2007 the facility was one of Europe's fastest growing airports, increasing annual passenger numbers from 689,468 in 1997 to 5.47 million in 2007.〔 Passenger numbers have since fallen with around 4 million passengers passing through the airport in 2014, making it the 13th busiest airport in the United Kingdom. The CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence Number is P735, that allows flights for the public transport of passengers and flying instruction. ==History== Built in part of the grounds of Speke Hall, Liverpool (Speke) Airport, as the airport was originally known, started scheduled flights in 1930 with a service by Imperial Airways via Barton Aerodrome near Eccles, Salford and Castle Bromwich Aerodrome, Birmingham to Croydon Airport near London. The airport was officially opened in mid-1933. By the late 1930s, air traffic from Liverpool was beginning to take off with increasing demand for Irish Sea crossings, and a distinctive passenger terminal, control tower and two large aircraft hangars were built. During the World War II, Speke was requisitioned by the Royal Air Force and known as RAF Speke. Rootes built in a "shadow factory Bristol Blenheims and 1,070 Handley Page Halifax bombers at the airport. Lockheed Aircraft Corporation assembled many types of planes at the airport, including Hudsons and Mustang fighters, that had been shipped from the United States in parts to Liverpool Docks. The airport was also home to the Merchant Ship Fighter Unit. On 8 October 1940 (one day before John Lennon's birth), Speke was witness to what is thought to be the fastest air-to-air combat "kill" in the Battle of Britain and possibly of all time. Flight Lieutenant Denys Gillam took off in his Hawker Hurricane from Speke to be confronted by a Junkers 88 passing across him. He shot the Junkers down while his undercarriage was still retracting, and, along with Alois Vašátko and Josef Stehlík, all of 312 Squadron, was credited with the kill. The moment has been caught in a painting by Robert Taylor called "Fastest Victory".〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Shooting down of a Ju88 by No 312 Squadron )〕 Normal civil airline operations resumed after VE-day and passengers increased from 50,000 in 1945 to 75,000 in 1948, remaining ahead of Manchester Airport. Ownership by the Ministry of Aviation proved to be a drag on the airport's progress thereafter and Manchester gained the lead from 1949, resulting in Liverpool's loss of the only ground-controlled radar approach unit available to North West airports, further hampering operation. During the post war years Speke Airport hosted an annual Air Display in aid of the Soldiers, Sailors, and Air Force Association, a charity for veterans. The displays were immensely popular and attracted a huge crowd. On one such occasion on 21 May 1956 sadly tragedy struck with the death of Léon Alfred Nicolas "Léo" Valentin billed as the Birdman when his balsa wood wings struck the opening of the aircraft from which he was exiting and he was hurtled into an uncontrollable spin. He attempted to deploy his emergency parachute but it became entangled and 'roman candled' leaving Leo to fall to his death. The local newspaper headlined the story with "The world has been robbed of a daring personality". Ironically, a few years earlier Valentin had been attributed with discovering the free-fall stable position still used by sports parachutists today for safe deployment. The city took over control of the airport on 1 January 1961 and prepared development plans. In 1966, a new runway was opened by Prince Philip on a new site to the southeast of the existing airfield. It enabled the airport to be open for business around the clock and is in use to this day. Control of the airport transferred to Merseyside County Council from Liverpool Corporation in the mid 1970s and then, ten years later, to the five Merseyside councils following the abolition of Merseyside County Council. In 1982, Pope John Paul II visited and met crowds at the old Liverpool airport. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Liverpool John Lennon Airport」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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