Byline: CHRIS WEBB
Just like John Travolta, you can now bypass queues at the check-in desk by keeping your own aeroplane at the bottom of the garden. All you need for this dream lifestyle is a pilot's licence, a modest light aircraft (second-hand, they start at [pounds sterling]20,000) and a big enough bank balance to stump up [pounds sterling]405,000 for one of the villas for sale at Vendee Airpark, Europe's first residential park-and-fly airport in South-West France.
Number 11 Rue Pierre Duret is one of 52 homes that come with an adjoining aircraft hangar and a runway that doubles as your drive at the airpark in the French countryside near Talmont St Hilaire.
Vendee Airpark was so successful that its founder Pierrick Anonier started another, Atlantic Airpark, near Aiguillon-sur-Mer, where all the plots quickly sold.
At least 12 of the homes at Vendee Airpark are owned by Brits - imitating, albeit on a smaller scale, the jetset lifestyle of John Travolta. He has just become the first resident at Jumbolair in Florida, where his new home set in eight acres has a private taxiway leading to the one-and-ahalfmile runway.
The 49-year-old star of Saturday Night Fever, who gained his pilot's licence as a teenager, recently qualified as a jumbo jet pilot with Australian airline Qantas. Such is his enthusiasm for flying that he even persuaded his wife, actress Kelly Preston, to name their son, now 12, Jett. But it is reported that when he tried to name their daughter - now aged four - Qantas, Kelly protested, insisting on Ella instead.
At Jumbolair, Travolta has plenty of room to park his Boeing 707, which is furnished with a double bed, shower, leather sofas and private cabins, plus his second plane, a [pounds sterling]30million Gulfstream executive jet.
At the airpark in the Vendee, the arrangements of Robert and Val Doughton are a little more modest.
From the spring, they frequently fly out for short breaks to their house, which was built four years ago.
But rather than Travolta's sleek jets, outside the Doughton house is an American Moonie five-seater singleengine aircraft and a Tiger Moth, an old stunt biplane that Robert cannot part with.
'In summer, I fly out there on a Friday and fly back into Biggin Hill ready for work in London early on Monday,' says Robert, a stockbroker, who also commutes from Exeter as the couple own a country home near Wellington in Somerset.
Their nearest village in France is Talmont St Hilaire, with an ancient church and a castle built by Richard the Lionheart, plus some delightful little restaurants.
Seven miles away are the yacht harbour and the beautiful beaches of Sable d'Olonnes on the Atlantic coast, south of La Rochelle.
The only headache for the couple, who have three adult children, are their pets, Purdy, an alsatian, and their cat Teddy, which accompany them to France.
'They both have their passports so I can fly them over, but I can't fly them back because of rabies restrictions,' says Robert. 'Val, who stays for most of the summer, takes her car over via Poole and St Malo and brings the pets back by car.' While the major ferry and tunnel terminals are equipped to process pets through Pet Passport control, the smaller airports that Robert flies into don't have that facility, hence a return journey for their pets by car.
Robert began flying at the age of 17 and dreamed of being a pilot with British Airways. 'It was closed to students so I was told to come back in a year, but I found other things to do,' Robert says.
'I got my commercial licence and became a flying instructor, tried a bit of aerobatics - I still have the Tiger Moth - but then I became a stockbroker.
We love it over there - it's only ten minutes' drive from the beach.
'The local people are welcoming and the local authority was very keen on the airpark because the money it made from it paid for a new sports complex in the village. It's lovely being able to taxi into your own hangar. We bring back plenty of goodies - the odd bottle of wine and cheeses - and the pets have got used to it now.' Among the Doughtons' neighbours are plant nursery owners Robin Taylor and his wife Sylvia, from South Brent, Devon.
'We bought our plot and four years ago moved into a house built specially for us by the architect who designed all the homes there,' Robin says.
'Having a hangar adjoining it, with one's toy parked in it, is wonderful. I had always wanted to fly and 12 years ago I decided it was now or never. So I took flying lessons and bought a share in a plane at an airfield near Exeter.
'Later, I bought a new machine in America and flew it over via Canada, Greenland and the iceap - an enthralling experience. Now it's a commuting tool to get us to the airpark, a 90-minute flight from Exeter. We like it so much we go over a lot - I do 130 to 140 flying hours a year.' The Civil Aviation Authority says 32,000 private pilots' licences are now held in the UK. But so far, attempts at building airparks in England, including one planned at Henstridge airfield, near Sherborne, have been thwarted by local authorities.
Ian Seager, owner of Flyer Magazine, says that in Britain, flying farmers top the aeronautical list.
'There are hundreds of farm airstrips, little more than a mown strip of grass used by three or four local flyers or for their own sole use,' he said.
'One, at Marshfield, near Bath, is used a lot by jockeys heading for Bath racecourse - it's just a field with a strip of shorter grass down the middle.
'The Badminton and Chalcott Park Estates each have one. It's very sad that we don't encourage private flying in this country. People fly for convenience. I take my family from our home near Bath down to Cornwall for lunch in half-an-hour.' A major expense of private aircraft is maintenance.
They must be serviced at least once a year and require a check every 100 flying hours.
The Vendee Airpark has a paved runway 2,795ft long, a grass runway 2,295ft long, a customs facility and well maintained taxiways.
Another essential is the refuelling station. More than one plane can be stowed in the hangar at No11 - which is for sale - and there is ample storage for spare parts and tools.
The villa - one of the largest on site - is palatial, with a 450sq ft living room, large kitchen/diner, a swimming pool, three bedrooms and a double garage.
A separate guesthouse has two double bedrooms, a private garden, kitchen and reception room. It is being sold by Dutch company director Jaap Bijsterbosch. 'It was great having your plane and house so close together,' he says.
'We also bought there because, from a European perspective, you can get to many countries within two hours.' . Pierre Anonier handles resales of Atlantic Airpark properties. Contact him on 00 33 2 51 20 70 90 or by email at aapark@free.fr
PROPERTIES AT AIRPARKS
VENDEE AIRPARK, [pounds sterling]699,000 Large three-bedroom villa, with a hangar for two aircraft, living room, kitchen/dining room, swimming pool, double garage, plus separate guest house with bedroom, reception, kitchen and garden. Agent: jmbijsterbosch@ yahoo.com or 00 31 6 53 76 78 70.
VENDEE AIRPARK, [pounds sterling]405,000 Villa located on the lake shore in mature gardens with two hangars for aircraft, with a wide tarmac strip. The house, only seven years old, has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and under-floor heating.
Outside there are large terraces and a heated swimming pool. The property is only ten minutes from the beach.
Agent: jjs@worldcom.ch or 00 41 7 88 19 86 56.
