Baginton Airport

Coventry Airport Limited

Company type	Private
Industry	Aviation
Founded	1936
Headquarters	Baginton, Coventry , England, United Kingdom
Products	Airport operations, flight training, passenger and freight services

Coventry Airport

Coventry Airport (IATA: CVT, ICAO: EGBE) is situated approximately 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) to the south-southeast of Coventry city centre, within the village of Baginton in Warwickshire, England. The facility is managed and holds a licence under Coventry Airport Limited. Its Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Ordinary Licence (No. P902) permits operations involving public passenger transport as well as flight training activities.

Beginning in October 2017, Coventry Airport has been transitioning into a general aviation aerodrome and now provides a flight information service.

History

Originally inaugurated in 1936 under the name Baginton Aerodrome, Coventry Airport has served multiple roles including general aviation, pilot instruction, and both freight and passenger commercial flights. It also functioned as a fighter airfield during the Second World War. In 1982, Pope John Paul II conducted a Mass attended by approximately 350,000 people during his sole visit to the UK. The airport became a center for animal rights protests in 1994–95, opposing the live animal exports conducted through its freight services. Between 2004 and 2008, Thomsonfly operated scheduled jet passenger routes from provisional hub facilities at Coventry. A contentious proposal to construct permanent passenger terminals was dismissed by the High Court in 2007. After encountering financial difficulties, the airport temporarily ceased operations in 2009 but resumed commercial activity in 2010.

Establishment and Development

In 1933, Coventry City Council resolved to establish a civil airport on its land located southeast of the city, in Baginton. This led to the opening of Coventry Airport in 1936. Shortly after, aircraft manufacturer Armstrong Whitworth, situated nearby at Whitley Aerodrome, established a factory on the airport grounds.

During the Second World War, the facility operated as a fighter base known as RAF Baginton under the Royal Air Force. It sustained damage during the 1940 Coventry Blitz, when it was targeted by the Luftwaffe.

At various times, the following units were stationed here:

• A detachment of No. 6 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF (December 1940)
• No. 32 Squadron RAF
• A flight of No. 63 Operational Training Unit RAF (September – October 1943)
• No. 79 (Madras Presidency) Squadron RAF
• No. 134 Squadron RAF
• No. 135 Squadron RAF
• No. 308 Polish Fighter Squadron
• No. 403 Squadron RCAF
• No. 457 Squadron RAAF
• No. 605 (County of Warwick) Squadron AAF (1941)
• Camouflage Flight RAF (October – November 1939), which became No. 1 Camouflage Unit RAF (November 1939 – September 1940)
• Special Duties Flight RAF (1941)

The airfield operated under No. 9 Group RAF, part of RAF Fighter Command, with a pundit code NG and three grass runways. It was designated a Sector Station from September 1940 before being reclassified as a satellite station of RAF Honiley starting August 1941.

Following wartime service, the airport reverted to civilian use, handling both passengers and freight traffic. In the 1950s, Jersey Airlines flew de Havilland Heron and Douglas DC-3 aircraft on routes to the Channel Islands. During the subsequent decade, British United Airways operated flights using DC-3s, Aviation Traders Carvair aircraft—which transported passengers along with their vehicles—and Handley Page Dart Herald planes to the Channel Islands.

The airport's activity in the 1960s included gliding operations, while throughout the 1970s several Open Days took place at Baginton featuring vintage aircraft such as a de Havilland Puss Moth, a Bucker Jungmeister, and a Messerschmitt 108 alongside various commercial exhibitors.

In the 1980s, West Midlands-based travel agency Hards Travel utilized Coventry Airport with its fleet of Vickers Viscount and Dart Herald aircraft for holiday destinations including Spain, Italy, and Austria, as well as routes to Beauvais in France and Ostend Airport. These services operated under the Janus Airways brand with holiday packages marketed as Summer-Plan and HTS Holidays.

Toward the end of the 1980s, Coventry City Council transferred the airport lease to Air Atlantique. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, Marconi employed a Raytheon Hawker and a Gulfstream seating twenty passengers for executive travel between its UK headquarters in Coventry and offices in Genoa, Italy, and Pittsburgh, USA.

Papal visit

On 30 May 1982, during his six-day tour of Britain, Pope John Paul II made a visit to the airport. He arrived aboard a gold and blue British Caledonian helicopter and, shortly after 10:00 a.m., departed from the helipad in a popemobile to greet an estimated crowd of approximately 350,000 attendees. During his visit, he conducted a Mass and administered the sacrament of confirmation. A festive carnival took place as he partook in lunch. The Pope departed the site by helicopter around 3:15 p.m.

Live veal calf exports

Between 5 November 1994 and 4 May 1995, Coventry Airport served as a departure point for live veal calves being exported to Amsterdam, from where they were distributed throughout Europe. This activity attracted significant attention from animal rights activists. On 21 December 1994, Air Algérie Flight 702P, a Boeing 737 engaged in transporting calves, crashed in Willenhall Wood, Willenhall, Coventry, near residential areas while approaching the airport in poor weather conditions; all five occupants lost their lives. The aircraft was owned by Air Algerie and leased to Phoenix Aviation. Subsequently, on 1 February 1995, animal rights campaigner Jill Phipps, aged 31, tragically died after being run over by a lorry carrying live veal calves entering Coventry Airport.

Past airline services

A Wizz Air Airbus A320 during takeoff (2007)

Two Thomsonfly Boeing 737 aircraft alongside a Farnair Switzerland ATR 42F parked on the apron

In February 2004, the airport lease was acquired by TUI AG, which launched scheduled international flights from a temporary passenger terminal in March that year under the brand name Thomsonfly, utilizing two Boeing 737 aircraft. This initiative faced strong opposition from environmental groups, some local residents, and Warwick District Council, although it received backing from Coventry City Council. Warwick District Council attempted unsuccessfully to obtain an injunction to halt flights, arguing that the temporary terminal had been constructed without proper planning permission. Over subsequent years, flight operations expanded while the airport pursued approval for a permanent passenger terminal and related facilities. Thomsonfly increased its European route network and based up to six planes at Coventry Airport; meanwhile, WizzAir commenced regular services to destinations in Poland.

After Warwick District Council initially refused planning permission for a permanent passenger terminal in 2004, two public inquiries were held followed by an unsuccessful appeal to the UK government planning inspectorate and ultimately to the High Court in 2008. This prolonged planning dispute undermined airline confidence. On 1 September 2008, Wizz Air announced it would discontinue its seasonal flights between Coventry and both Gdańsk and Katowice. Then on 15 October 2008, Thomsonfly declared it would terminate its operations at Coventry Airport due to a strategic shift towards charter flights following its merger with First Choice Airways. Consequently, scheduled passenger services ceased on 9 November 2008. The airport maintained cargo operations and continued serving as a hub for executive jet travel, general aviation activities, flight training programs, and hosted the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance service.

Closure, sale and re-opening

Control tower

In May 2009, Coventry Airport was placed on the market. The management delegated security services and air traffic control responsibilities to Marshall Aerospace. On 1 December 2009, it emerged that HM Revenue & Customs had filed a petition in the High Court seeking to liquidate the company, raising concerns among local enterprises. A court hearing was scheduled for Wednesday, 9 December 2009, at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. The following day, on 8 December 2009, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) ordered the immediate closure of the airport by revoking its operating licence through a Notice to Airmen. This action halted all commercial flights and pilot training activities; however, the Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance continued to operate from the site. The airport resumed operations shortly after as an unlicensed airfield, serving private aircraft without air traffic control services.

Early in 2010, a Swiss company expressed interest in purchasing the airport but ultimately did not finalize an offer. Subsequently, ownership was transferred to Sir Peter Rigby’s Rigby Group on 28 April 2010, with full reopening occurring during the summer of that year.

Abandoned second Papal visit

During the preparations for Pope Benedict XVI's scheduled trip to the United Kingdom in September 2010, it was initially declared that the highlight of the visit—the Beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman—would be held on 19 September at the airport, building on the success of Pope John Paul II's 1982 visit. However, by June 2010, plans had shifted, and the event was relocated to the more modest setting of Cofton Park, located in Birmingham.

Potential closure threat

In February 2021, Coventry City Council entered into a joint venture with The Rigby Group to propose constructing a gigafactory dedicated to manufacturing batteries for electric vehicles on the site currently occupied by Coventry Airport. This initiative could generate approximately 4,000 employment opportunities within the factory. Should investment and governmental financial support be secured, the airport would cease operations, with the gigafactory expected to begin functioning by 2025.

Media coverage

Channel 5's television series Borderline filmed its first season between March and April 2016, transforming Coventry Airport into "Northend Airport" for the production.

Fixed-base operators

• Almat Flying Academy
• Coventry Aeroplane Club
• Midland Air Training
• The Air Ambulance Service (WNAA)
• Heritage Air Services

Accidents and incidents

• On 15 April 1969, a Douglas DC-3D registered N4296 belonging to Aviation Enterprises was destroyed by fire at Baginton Airport.
• During the annual Warwickshire Air Pageant on 30 May 1988, 38-year-old CFS RAF Flight Lieutenant Peter Stacey lost his life piloting a Gloster Meteor T7 (registration WF791) when it descended and crashed three miles away into an open area between Willenhall and Ernesford Grange housing estates; evidence suggests he sacrificed himself to prevent greater casualties.
• On 21 December 1994, Air Algérie Flight 702P, a leased Boeing 737 operated by Phoenix Aviation for Air Algérie, crashed in Willenhall Wood while approaching Coventry Airport, resulting in the deaths of all five occupants—three crew members and two passengers.
• Five fatalities occurred on 17 August 2008 when two light aircraft—a Cessna 402C and a Rand KR-2—collided during their final approach to Coventry Airport. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch concluded that the collision happened because both pilots either failed to see each other or did not have sufficient time to take evasive maneuvers. In a subsequent inquest in 2012, the jury criticized inadequate oversight and communication by Coventry Airport personnel and noted that the tower controller provided incorrect information regarding the other aircraft to the Cessna pilot.

Bibliography

• Falconer, J. (2012). RAF Airfields of World War 2. UK: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85780-349-5.
• Sturtivant, R.; Hamlin, J.; Halley, J (1997). Royal Air Force flying training and support units. UK: Air-Britain (Historians). ISBN 0-85130-252-1.

External links

Media related to Baginton Airport at Wikimedia Commons

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