The long-running prank signposts terminals 1 and 3 of Llandegley International in Wales (Picture: Llandegley International Airport / Facebook)
A man put up a sign for a fake airport in Wales 20 years ago as a joke – and hasn’t had a single complaint in that time.
The long-running prank signposts terminals 1 and 3 of Llandegley International two-and-a-half miles away from Powys village.
But if you were to fall for it and follow the signs along the A44, you would simply find an empty field on the outskirts of the village.
Nicholas Whitehead, who has spent around £25,000 over the years maintaining the billboard, has decided to call time on his joke after two decades.
The journalist, who formerly edited the Brecon and Radnor Express, told the BBC: ‘It started off as a wild conversation with friends one evening in Llandegley.
‘We thought of renting a sign for something that wasn’t really there, possibly a project that didn’t exist, and we settled on the airport.
‘It started off as a bit of a joke, then we realised it was actually possible. It was made by Wrexham Signs, given the ok, one thing led to another and there it is.’
And there it has stayed since – but Nicholas has decided it’s time to stop maintaining it himself and put it in the hands of the establishment.
Journalist Nicholas Whitehead being interviewed about his joke by Sue Charles of the BBC (Picture: Llandegley International Airport / Facebook)
Launching a fundraiser for £8,000, he wrote: ‘The airport has become firmly established in the hearts and minds of locals and visitors alike. The sign is regarded as part of our heritage.
‘So now it’s established, it makes sense for the establishment to take it on. Until November 2022, the sign lived on an advertising billboard but now we think it’s time to go “legit” and get this thing officially recognised.’
He said he will ask Cadw, the Welsh government agency which runs heritage sites, and Powys County Council to authorise an official sign for Llandegley International.
But Nicholas has asked the public to fund it due to ‘these times of austerity and cut-backs’.
He was surprised at the popularity of the sign, because ‘as a journalist, whatever you do, someone, somewhere, is going to get upset about it’.
‘In 20 years, I haven’t had a single complaint about Llandegley International,’ he added.
‘Loads of people love it, some people might not get it. But as far as I know, nobody is upset or angry about it. That’s a first for me.’
But the joke has somewhat taken off, becoming an institution on Facebook and Twitter where people feign outrage over imagined aircraft noise and speculate about the existence of a terminal 2.
But Nicholas said even if the sign is taken down, the legend of the airport will never disappear from the Llandegley community.
‘The sign is just a sign,’ he said.
‘The sign can come down but the airport is still there. The airport exists in the same way that songs exist.
‘If you set fire to the scrap of paper on which Paul McCartney wrote Yesterday, that wouldn’t destroy the song.
‘The song exists as a shared experience; it’s indestructible. It’s the same with the airport.’
Metro.co.uk has contacted Cadw and Powys County Council.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
He hasn’t had a single complaint the whole time the sign has been up, even though the airport doesn’t actually exist.
