It currently supports scheduled flights to Jersey on summer Saturdays but is insignificant for public air travel. The airfield is primarily used for recreational flying, pilot training in both light aircraft and helicopters, and for the maintenance and modification of airliners, and consequently is important in the local economy. Management would certainly wish to revive its status as a passenger airport but many neighbouring residents feel otherwise.
At present the airfield is primarily used for recreational flying, pilot training in both light aircraft and helicopters, and for the maintenance and modification of airliners. This maintenance work is relatively major in scale and ranges from professional re-painting through the renewal of seating, upgrades to avionics, the installation of hush-kits on engines, to the conversion of passenger airplanes into cargo carriers. The jobs involved are clearly skilled trades within an internationally competitive industry and important to the local economy.
During the early years of the 21st century a fierce debate centres on the idea of relocating an ancient protected church further from the end of the main runway so that heavier aircraft (including passenger carrying airliners) could use that runway without compromising modern safety rules even during conditions of low visibility. Aircraft arriving for maintenance can be contrived to arrive and depart lightly loaded and in good weather, so a tall obstacle near the runway threshold is less of a safety issue. Some such engineering work has recently been attracted from Lasham in Hampshire.
The simple modern terminal sometimes comes to life when weather or other incidents cause aircraft to divert in quantity from either Stansted or London City Airports over a limited period. It is also popular with film-makers who want the building to represent the air terminal of somewhere less inclined to interrupt actual travellers during daylight hours. Generally it functions as a cafe/lounge for spectators and private pilots. Some busy pubs and retail warehouses front the road between the air terminal and the traditional town centre. A preserved Avro Vulcan may be seen from that road. There is no longer a museum at this airport which was once reverborated to flying car ferries such as the piston-engined Bristol Freighter.
Military History
The airfield was originally established by the Royal Flying Corps during World War I. In World War II it became an important fighter base for the RAF. Many of the 50 pillboxes, that were design to protect the airport from paratroop landings, still survive, as does the underground defence control room. A further 20 or so pillboxes also remain in the surrounding countryside.
Of related interest, Canewdon, a couple of miles to the north east of the airport, was the location of one of the World War II Chain Home radar stations. One of the 360 foot high transmitter towers can now be found near Great Baddow (2003).