EVER wanted to send a postcard to a jealous loved one just before boarding the plane to somewhere exotic, from your favourite fictitious Powys airport?
Well, now you can… sort of.
The Llandegley International Airport postcards are real. The airport, not so much.
Black and white postcards from the airport have been on sale, and selling well, at Verzon Bookshop & Gallery in Llandrindod Wells since last summer. Since the start of April, colour postcards are now on sale too.
“They flew out to start, excuse the pun,” said a spokesperson for the Middleton Street store, which is celebrating 27 years open today.
Llandegley International Airport announced the news that colour airport postcards were now available for purchase at the end of March, with a post on their Facebook page saying: “Actual, real-world postcards with a colour photograph of the actual sign.
“You can stick postage stamps on them and everything.”
The problem was, it was announced on March 31, a day before April Fools Day. Then, on April 1, came the news that UNESCO had named Llandegley International Airport a World Heritage Site.
That was fake, but Verzon insists the postcards are real. “We do sell postcards, no joke,” added the shop spokesperson.
“We've had black and white ones for a while and now we've got colour. The black and white ones came in last summer, if I remember rightly. The coloured ones at the beginning of this month.
“The visitors love them, so the season is starting again now. They sell at a steady pace.”
Flight of fancy
The ‘airport’ is a prank that began over 20 years ago, when Nicholas Whitehead put a sign on the side of the A44, between Crossgates and Penybont, directing drivers to Terminals 1 and 3 at the airport.
The joke took flight and is still soaring. After disappearing from the roadside in November 2022, a new, more authentic sign reappeared last April after money was raised from a crowdfunder to erect a legit sign – the original had been costing Mr Whitehead around £1,500 a year to maintain, since 2002.
The ‘Give Us a Sign’ campaign gained national and international attention – featuring on ITV, in The Times newspaper and the Jeremy Vine Show. Actor and comedian David Mitchell even wrote a piece about it in The Observer.
The new sign was built by Cardiff-based Dragon Signs – the people who make the signs for Llandegley’s sister destination, Cardiff International Airport.
The airport’s Facebook page, which has 4,000 followers, updates ‘passengers’ about Llandegley's impressive environmental credentials, they engage in conversation about how many sheep often stray onto the runways, while frequent flyers are still waiting for the ‘top secret’ Terminal 2 to be built.
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