Bristol (Whitchurch) Airport

Bristol (Whitchurch) Airport Whitchurch Airport
Part of the former runway can be seen in what is now Hengrove Park
IATA: none ICAO: none
Summary
Airport type	Closed
Owner	Bristol Corporation
Operator	Bristol Airport Committee
Serves	Bristol West of England Gloucestershire Somerset
Location	Whitchurch, Bristol
Built	1930 (1930)
In use	1930 - 1957 (1957)
Elevation AMSL	200 ft / 61 m
Coordinates	51°24′46″N 002°35′11″W / 51.41278°N 2.58639°W / 51.41278; -2.58639Coordinates: 51°24′46″N 002°35′11″W / 51.41278°N 2.58639°W / 51.41278; -2.58639
Map
Whitchurch Location in Bristol
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 10/20 929 3,048 Originally grass, asphalt from 1941
Statistics (1936)
Movements 4,810 Passengers 6,003 Freight 2,520 lb

Bristol (Whitchurch) Airport, also known as Whitchurch Airport, was a municipal airport in Bristol, England, three miles (5 km) south of the city centre, from 1930 to 1957. It was the main airport for Bristol and area. During World War II, it was one of the few civil airports that remained operational, enabling air connections to Lisbon and Shannon and from there to the United States.

The airport closed in 1957, with services transferred to the former RAF Lulsgate Bottom. The former airfield is now occupied by a sports centre, trading estates and retail parks. The South Bristol Community Hospital opened on the site in 2012.

In 1929 the Corporation of the City of Bristol bought 298 acres (1.21 km²) of farmland to the south of the city, near Whitchurch, for a new municipal airport. On 31 May 1930, the airport was officially opened by HRH Prince George, Duke of Kent. In its first year of operation, the airport handled 915 passengers, and by 1939 it handled 4,000 passengers. The Wessex Aeroplane Club relocated from Filton Airfield, and together with Bristol Corporation, managed the facilities. The first buildings were a hangar, a club house for the flying club, and an aircraft showroom.

Early services offered by "air ferry" were to Cardiff, Torquay and Teignmouth. By 1932, two air taxi firms were based at the airport. By 1934, Bristol Air Taxis had become Western Airways, and it was soon joined by Railway Air Services, a subsidiary of Imperial Airways, offering connections to Plymouth, Birmingham, London, Southampton and Liverpool. On 18 October 1938, the Straight Corporation, headed by Whitney Straight purchased control of Norman Edgar (Western Airways), Ltd. and renamed it Western Airways, Ltd.