please empty your brain below

Funnily enough, Octopussy was on ITV4 last night. That was filmed at RAF Northolt - the Latin American air base in the pre-title sequence.

I understand that the runway at Northolt is being resurfaced in readiness for the VIP traffic at the Olympics this summer.

An easy way to provide a ready built extra runway for Heathrow. I would suggest simply divert all internal domestic flights to Northolt, as then you do not need all the immigration staff and facilities..
However I think that Northolt is now the last RAF base in London, since nearby RAF Uxbridge has closed. So maybe the military would object to it being turned into a civilian airport.
It has been used before as a civilian airport in the past, and wealthy business people still fly there in their private jets.
A civilian Boeing 707 with passengers landed there once by mistake, and two large gasholders in nearby Southall had large letters painted on them, NO on one, and LH on the other to assist pilots on approaching!.
Converting Northolt airport would be a relatively inexpensive solution to London's runway shortage.
It would also provide some improved public transport links for local people. With so much infrastructure already in place around Heathrow for aircraft maintenance, cargo handling etc. building a new airport on an island in the Thames seems an expensive dream, but if Boris gets re-elected he will oppose a Third runway at Heathrow, (but Northolt is already there).
As we moved, at great expense, a perfectly good international railway terminal from Waterloo to St Pancras, because some politicians wanted an International train station at Stratford (where the international trains do not stop!)Probably one day for a politicians whim we shall move Heathrow.


Not a new idea. RAF Northolt arguably was London Airport immediately after the war before Heathrow came into service - although people will argue that title still rightly belonged to Croydon Airport.

If you ever see the film "The October Man" set in this period you will see the dramatic climax take place at Northolt Airport as the murderer tries to catch a plane out of the country.

As over a third of all passengers coming to Heathrow are transfer, is there any thought to using another airport for this type of traffic?



An accident in August 1996 involved an executive jet landing on a Ford Transit that was going along the A40, amazingly without any serious injuries. The accident report pointed out that 'the proximity of the A40 to the end of the runway contributed to the severity of the accident' [Indy, 25 July 1997].

I'm surprised you didn't get any attention from security guards when taking those photos!

It's a sign of progress and if our airport is in good condition and can accommodate all the VIP who will be spending their money in United Kingdom so be it.

John@0844. Nice idea about the Domestic flights. However, many of the passengers would not thank you as they are connecting to overseas flights and would use European cities and airlines instead of making the transfer. Perceptions can often be stumbling blocks and the idea of a six mile rail journey, even if, in practice, it took no longer than trying to get from one terminal to another, would deter many travellers.

Whilst Heathrow was still being set up, in the days when most buildings were tents by the Bath Road, Northolt was a major base for BEA. My parents flew to Switzerland from there on their honeymoon in 1951.

I have landed at LHR T5 and -surprisingly - had to get a shuttle bus to the terminal. It seems like the bus drives about 6 miles to get to the arrival gate. So landing at Northolt wouldn't be much worse. Presumably there would be some sort of rail connection to LHR, possibly with segregated arrivals/departures trains/carriages. I think this could work. Much better than building another runway within the Heathrow site.

Thanks for a batch of great posts DG. I've been away somewhere hot, dusty, loud and unpleasant, and these are the perfect antidote to come back to. (I don't read your blog when I'm away, so that I can have the pleasure of sighing, 'Aah, that's better', when I return.)

John 8:44 am; but aren't a high proportion of domestic passengers transferring to international flights?

The entrance to RAF Northolt used to be off the A40 itself, access from London turning across the eastbound carriageway via a gap and nipping across it when clear. Imagine that now!
As children, we used to cycle alongside the boundary fence as a footpath used to exist along the site's full length, gawping at all the aircraft. The whole section of the A40 was revamped a number of years ago, grassing over the footpath and moving the entrance to the airfield via a longer slip road to West End Road.

They were having a phone-in about this on one of the London radio stations, the other day.
One expert believed Northolt would be a good location, based on a supposition that "... Stansted is good for people from north and east London, there's City for those in the middle, and Gatwick suits people from the south: thus Northolt would fill a need for those out over to the west of London... "
I don't know what he was an "expert" on but I don't think it can be flying.












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