About Liverpool Airport

About Us

Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LJLA) is one of the UK’s longest established operational Airports having been officially opened on 1st July 1933. LJLA is situated seven miles South East of Liverpool City Centre and adjacent to the River Mersey.

The Airport is part-owned by The Peel Group, a leading infrastructure, transport and real estate investment company in the UK, who first became involved with the airport in 1997 and who have since made significant investments in the business. Passenger numbers have increased almost ten-fold since the mid-1990′s, with the Airport moving from 20th to the 13th busiest airport in the UK.

In March 2016, Liverpool City Council acquired a stake in the airport in the form of shares with the investment used to further improve facilities for passengers and airlines and maximise the opportunity for the Airport and City Region to be a key gateway for the Northern Powerhouse.

More recently, Ancala Partners LLP, the independent infrastructure Investment Manager completed the acquisition of a 45% interest in the Airport in September 2019, with Peel and Liverpool City Council retaining 45% and 10% interests respectively.

Liverpool was the UK’s first airport to be named after an individual when it was rebranded in 2001 as a lasting tribute to the Liverpool born, former Beatle, John Lennon, with the new terminal opened by Her Majesty the Queen in 2002.

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Liverpool John Lennon Airport handled over 5 million passengers per year with flights to over 70 destinations in the UK and across Europe. It is a gateway for the City Region, the North West and North Wales and improved access to a range of passenger markets, helps the Airport continue to give the City Region the competitive edge over many rival cities.

The Airport is also one of the area’s major employers, attracting inward investment and bringing significant tourism benefits, helping to boost the region’s economy. LJLA is a significant driver of prosperity in the region and the North West and North Wales as a whole, bringing an estimated £340 million per annum in GVA and supporting 5,200 jobs across the Liverpool city region in 2019.

2018 was a milestone year for the Airport, breaking through the 5 million passenger mark for the first time since 2011 and the Airport continued to add new services and airlines during 2019, despite a challenging economic and competitive environment. Investment in terminal improvements has continued too, helping to create an industry-leading passenger experience.

Liverpool has also continued to be one of the UK’s best-performing airports operationally too and in 2019 was awarded the UK’s only 5-star airport rating by the world’s leading air travel intelligence company, OAG for flight punctuality. With an on-time performance of 84.6% of flights running on time, the 5-star ranking represents excellent performance over a rolling 12-month period. Out of 18 UK airports, Liverpool was the only one to receive a five-star rating and one of only 6 in Western Europe to achieve this highest award. Globally, Liverpool was listed in the top 10% of Airports. LJLA now has an excellent reputation across the industry for on-time performance, helping to attract new airlines, bring further growth from existing carriers and is naturally welcomed by passengers too.

Whilst passenger numbers and the choice of destinations continued to rise in recent years, this has not been at the expense of the Airport experience. Queue times for passengers to go through Airport security are amongst the lowest in the industry for an airport of this size, remaining low throughout the year, with 97% of all passengers taking 10 minutes or less to pass through security and over 80% taking less than 5 minutes in 2019. These figures demonstrate how LJLA truly is the Faster, Easier, Friendlier Airport of choice for passengers from across the region, recognised for its relaxed, hassle-free environment and best in class operational performance.

This best in class passenger experience has been recognised nationally, with the Airport winning the Best Medium-sized UK Airport award at the 2019 British Travel Awards, as voted for by the public and also the Best Airport (3-10 million passengers) at the 2019 Airport Operators Association Annual Awards. These awards highlight how well respected Liverpool John Lennon Airport is both by passengers and within the aviation industry too.