An airfield that played an important role in the North Sea oil and gas industry looks set to reopen under new management.
North Denes Airfield in Great Yarmouth served oil and gas platforms off the East Anglian coast for more than half a century, but closed in 2015 after helicopter operator CHC started flying from Norwich Airport.
When the site was put up for sale in 2017, some thought it would never be used for flying again - but now a company calling itself Yarmouth Heliport says they are preparing to reopen the airfield as an aviation school and self-storage facility.
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A sign bearing the company's name has been put up outside the site on Caister Road and a windsock has been seen fluttering on the airfield.
Meanwhile, a website with the name Yarmouth Heliport and an accompanying Facebook page have also been set up.
The website says the company plans to develop "an aviation, technology, science and enterprise centre".
This would include "the growing market for micro-lights and drones, along with research and development, teaching and training activities".
According to the webpage, Yarmouth Heliport is "already engaging locally based trades people to maintain the site, and repair and refurbish the offices, storage, workshop and hangar buildings, in order to plan for future employment opportunity and growth".
The company has been contacted for comment.
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The heliport closed in 2015 with the loss of 30 jobs, after CHC lost a contract with Perenco following the oil company's move to Norwich.
Helicopters ferrying offshore workers had been a regular sight since 1965, with more than 5,000 passengers a month using the airfield in its early-1970s heyday.
From the turn of the century onwards, the decision of operators to relocate to Norwich Airport drew business away from the airfield, which closed in 2015.
History of North Denes Airfield
The former marshland at North Denes became the base for pleasure flights in fixed-wing aircraft from 1951.
The flights usually lasted eight to ten minutes and took in Yarmouth town centre and the seafront northwards from Wellington Pier and Caister golf course.
For a higher fare, passengers were flown over Scroby Sands to view the seal colony and to Caister Holiday Camp, Gorleston or over the nearby Broads.
Pleasure flights ended in 1983 when fixed-wing planes ceased to use the airfield. The move disappointed many holidaymakers who had anticipated flights as highlights of their stays.
There was one fatal crash during pleasure-trip era when an Auster plunged into an Elm Avenue bungalow garden in Gorleston in 1962, killing the pilot and three young passengers. Nobody in the bungalow was hurt.
During the 1980s, the airfield saw helicopters supporting the southern North Sea natural gas industry ferry personnel and supplies between mainland and rigs.
By 2009, an estimated 30,000 passengers were passing though the terminal annually.
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