ALL THE FUN OF THE AIR FOR TOWN AIRPORT BOSS
LAURA CLEMENTS meets the man who owns Pembrey Airport – and who is also the chief air traffic controller, customs officer and runway weeder...
IT’S easy to drive past Pembrey and completely miss Wales’s smallest commercial airport, despite the fact its runway is the same size as London City Airport.
If you do happen to turn off the Llanelli coast road and on to the track down to Pembrey Airport, you could be forgiven for thinking you were heading for a dead end somewhere near the never-ending Pembrey Burrows.
But, as it happens, there’s a whole lot more to Pembrey Airport than meets the eye.
On arrival outside the unassuming prefabricated building that is the main terminal, you walk into a tiny room with a softly-lit sign for South Western Airlines.
It is furnished with just two faux-leather sofas and a round glass table and also doubles as the departures lounge.
Already stood behind the check-in desk, the first thing you notice about owner Winston Thomas is the glint in his eye and a knowing smile.
Pembrey Airport is Winston’s world. He is chief air traffic controller up in the control tower, he refuels military helicopters in the dead of night and he is also the customs officer for anyone arriving from abroad.
VIPs visiting West Wales usually arrive at Pembrey by plane. When the Queen flies in, as in 2002 to open the Millennium Coastal Park in Llanelli, Winston is one of the first to greet her on the runway. But being an airport owner is not always that exciting.
When we meet on a boiling-hot June day, his plans for the weekend are to weed the 1,200m-long runway.
He’s also been known to make the teas at the airport’s restaurant, Amelia’s Tearoom – a stone’s throw from the main terminal building. Has he ever made the Queen a cup of tea, I ask?
“Of course,” he replies. “I could even walk up and give her a hug if I wanted to,” he adds. He flashes such a wicked smile I’m not sure if he is being serious or not.
Amelia’s Tearoom, named after Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly single-handedly across the Atlantic, landing just a few hundred metres away from Pembrey Airport on June 18, 1928, has also hosted royalty.
Pembrey Airport is an important military training ground and is in constant heavy use by the Ministry of Defence.
When he was training in Apache helicopters, Prince Harry dropped in “all the time”. Winston explains how once Harry was on his way to a training event in Castlemartin, Pembrokeshire, but the weather took a turn for the worse and he landed in Pembrey to wait for the storm to clear.
He popped in to the cafe for a cup of tea, Winston said, and was served by his daughter Helen, who runs the restaurant with husband Julian.
Prince William was a more frequent visitor thanks to his work on Anglesey-based rescue helicopters, which would use Pembrey to refuel. He too would invariably find a cup of tea thrust into his hand by Winston while he waited for refuelling.
The last visit by royalty was in February when Prince William arrived with his wife and travelled on to Swansea.
The military has Winston’s mobile phone number and they can call him at any time. The airport provides refuelling and support services to all military aircraft and emergency services including air sea rescue aircraft.
The airport is on call 24/7 and there are just six people working there, including Winston.
Winston said: “The airport takes up about 90% of my time. I get here at about 7am, depending on the military bookings. We often get emergencies with the air sea rescue team and they will contact me on my mobile.
“Occasionally they will be rushing people to Morriston Hospital in Swansea and, if they’ve come from Ceredigion or Pembrokeshire, they will stop here to refuel. The speed of refuelling is vital and our record is seven minutes.”
The week before our tour, Winston found himself working until 1am on three days out of seven.
He bought the airport in 1994 and has spent £4.5m transforming the former Royal Air Force airport into a thriving facility that today offers private, commercial and charter flights. But when he bought the land, the real challenge was to get the runway back in order as it was was quite literally a tip covered in rubbish.
“The place was a mess, totally neglected, and had