New Landscape at Oxford London Airport

London Oxford Airport is maturing into a full-blown Heathrow satellite, we were told by James Dillon-Godfray at the pre-EBACE briefing. Training, once its staple income is now down and business jets, once as rare as wisdom, are up by 2011 - 2012.
The general landscape has also changed with the demise of PremiAir, once known as Europe’s leading charter company, and the growth of Capital Air Services. Michael Hampton, MD of Capital, explained that due to CAA AOC changes Capital is no longer supporting Air Harrods under their AOC and consequently there are presently no Air Harrods charters. RotorMotion is also presently restricted, so the general face of the helicopter charter market is finding itself restructured. Interestingly, the Olympics last summer, to which aviation companies were looking with a mixture of hope and trepidation, proved to have a negligible effect for the airport.
Eurocopter, always the airport mammoth, retains its dominant position, and is now known as British Civil Helicopter Hub!
Since last year, when the owners of the London Oxford Airport, the Ruben Brothers, bought Battersea Heliport, a new and very effective helicopter service has been created to take business jet passengers into London via the heliport. Run by Capital Helicopters the trip takes 25 minutes and passengers get a discount on both landing fees, which essentially pay for the cost of the helicopter trip between.
Current improvements to the taxiways and apron have also led to an increase in larger traffic including a scheduled flight by the Greek company Minoan, which flies a Fokker 50 from Oxford to Edinburgh and Oxford to Dublin several days a week.
The airport is now open from 4.30 am and flights can take place anytime between 6.30 am and midnight. A new train station should be open by 2014, and James Dill Godfray says there has been little local opposition and instead a significant boost to the local economy.
Oxford now has 40,000 movements a year, considerably down on its training peak of 200,000 movements a year but less invasive for the local community and considerably more lucrative for the airport and its owners.