03/07/2009 07:37:00

Newquay Airport has received a £24.3m grant that could incur huge benefits for the development of the county Cornwall.

The grant, which needed to be approved by the European Commission, was collected by funding from Cornwall Council, South West Regional Development Agency and the European Union and means that the partial military base can be redeveloped into a completely civilian airport. The Commission has already offered up £19m towards the project.

Over the next two decades, the south west England airport is planned to receive a new terminal, an aviation training centre and proposals to build and refurbish hangars in the hopes of attracting aircraft maintenance and aircraft recycling businesses to set up shop at the airport.

Newquay Airport is also set to include a business park with a four-star hotel for travellers passing through the airport and there will also be an exhibition centre on the site.

Plans for improvements to the public transport system to provide better access to and from the airport, as well as additional car parking space and car hire services, are also underway.

According to the BBC, the redevelopment to the south west airport could mean a massive leap in the volume of passengers currently moving through the business. Following the redevelopments, which could also coax bigger airlines to begin utilising the airport to offer flights from, thus gaining more travellers for the airport, Newquay Airport is hoped to receive a passenger hike by as much as 400 per cent to 1.4 million per year.