UK airport to shutdown after almost 90 years as date given for closure

It used to be served with passenger flights

Coventry Airport is set to cease operations after almost a century of military, commercial and private aviation.

The airport is set to be shut down to allow for the construction of a 'battery gigafactory' on the site.

The location has a storied history in the West Midlands, first opening in 1936 as Baginton Aerodrome and served as an RAF base in the Second World War.

Meanwhile, in 1982, the airport was visited by the famous Pope John Paul II who flew in via helicopter and who would later hold mass in front of 350,000 people.

The next chapter of the airport would come in the form of commercial passenger service.

In early 2004, the airport sold its lease to the German travel company TUI AG.

This led to a significant increase in commercial flight operations with flights by Thomsonfly using two Boeing 737s.

Meanwhile, further expansion came when Wizz Air started flights to Poland from the airport.

In 2007 the airport saw 5,553 flights and 1,012,281 seats, as per Simple Flying.

However, operations would be short-lived as the airport would cease flights in 2008.

These days the main operations at the airport consist of Air Ambulance Service and private charter flights.

However, with the arrival of gigafactory, the airport will be no more and the date for its closure has been confirmed as the 11 June 2026.

The site will become known as the Greenpower Park site and is a joint project from the City Council and the airport which was given planning permission in 2022.

The collaboration has seen £23m in funding from the West Midlands Combined Authority at the start of this year.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has been informed of the decision to close the airport.

A spokesperson for the CAA said: "Coventry Aerodrome has given formal notice to us of its plan to close the airport permanently with effect from 11 June 2026."

Owners of the airport, the Rigby Group, said: "This procedural submission, first envisaged when local planning approval for Green Power Park was granted in 2022, enables the next phase of infrastructure work for the site to proceed."