Above us, only sky: John Lennon Airport’s boundless ambition

Dear readers — last month news broke that one of Liverpool's largest developers, The Peel Group, had parted ways with Liverpool Airport, relinquishing all their shares in the company after nearly three decades involved in its operations. Snapping up those shares? Ancala Partners: an award-winning global firm with over £4bn of assets.

But what exactly does this transfer of power mean for the future of Liverpool Airport? Following skyrocketing profits and multi-million pound investments, David Lloyd chats to airport CEO John Irving to find out more about his vision for its continued ascendance.

That's today's Answers in The Post. But first, your Post briefing — including a Liverpool Waters update and strange misreporting about club night Liquidation.

Your Post briefing

An update on our story about Peel: Readers may remember Abi's story about Peel back in March, where she dug into an ongoing legal case between one of the developers involved in Liverpool Waters — Romal Capital — and Peel Holdings. According to the CEO of Romal Capital, Greg Malouf, Peel attempted to charge him nearly £700,000 to connect some of his tower blocks to utilities, when a quote for that same service from Scottish Power was just £11,000. Now, in a landmark hearing, the High Court has accepted Romal’s multi-million pound damages claim against Peel — finding that a breach of contract at its Liverpool Waters scheme significantly diminished profit for Romal Capital. Malouf told The Post the judgement will now allow his team "to move forward", adding that Romal will "continue building homes, improving infrastructure, and delivering projects that celebrate this great city’s heritage". 

And Knowsley MP Anneliese Midgley was at the centre of some confusion after it was twice reported that she was the founder of Liverpool club night Liquidation. In an interview with The Echo in July, she’s described as “launch[ing] the now iconic Liverpool club night” with her friend, Daniel Hunt. This was also reported by the New Statesman earlier this month. However, Liquidation was founded in the early nineties by Jules Bennett. The Post asked her why two publications had been given this incorrect information. In response, she told The Post she has “never claimed to be the founder of Liquidation — that isn’t the language I use or how any of us spoke”. She continued: “I’ve always said I started nights like Liquidation and Monte Carlo; there was a group of us who built those nights together. It was a scene, a collective. It was the 90s.” 

“Liverpool. Threshold to the ends of the earth.” That Michael O'Mahoney quote, etched onto the weathering steel sculpture at the end of Old Hall Street, isn’t just lyrical, it’s factual. It recalls the days when our city was a major gateway for international trade and migration, connecting us to the rest of the world.  

What would it say now? Liverpool. Threshold to a Fred Olsen cruise to the Canaries Liverpool. Threshold to a stag-do in Riga? 

Not so fast, because the news coming out of Liverpool John Lennon Airport hints at something different: the stirrings of a re-energised airport that just might win back that weathered promise on Old Hall Street.

Winning Airport of the Year at the Aviation Awards a couple of months back was the latest in a string of record-breaking achievements for our indefatigable little airport (the UK’s fastest-growing to boot). Ancala, the infrastructure investment company, bought Peel Group’s shares last month to become the new majority shareholders, leaving the council as the only remaining minority shareholder. Liverpool John Lennon Airport is on the up.

This year, the airport surpassed five million passengers annually for the first time since 2011, as well as launching new routes, expanding lounges and facilities, and securing its financial future. Maybe, soon, we won’t have to pay fifty quid to loiter for 20 minutes while we drop our parents off. Although that’s probably a tad too much to hope for.