TAG Aviation finalizes 99-year lease at F'boro

Farnborough Airport officially came under the control of TAG Aviation on February 5, when the Swiss-based group signed a 99-year lease with the UK Ministry

By Charles Alcock • Managing Editor

October 12, 2007

Farnborough Airport officially came under the control of TAG Aviation on February 5, when the Swiss-based group signed a 99-year lease with the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD). The signing ceremony marked the end of a 17-year process to transfer the historic military airfield to long-term civil aviation use, and TAG itself has invested seven years of effort, and reportedly around $112 million, to convert the site into a dedicated business aviation gateway for the London area.

In late December the company was finally awarded the necessary Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) airport license. The CAA insisted on handling the license application as if the airport had been a brand-new greenfield development, despite the fact that the airfield has been active for almost 100 years and has had a permanent civil enclave since 1989. Authority over Farnborough now rests with the CAA rather than the Royal Air Force.

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