Coventry Airport

Coventry Airport is located south-southeast of Coventry city centre, in the village of Baginton, Warwickshire, England. The airport is operated and licensed by Coventry Airport Limited. Its CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P902) allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction. Since October 2017, Coventry Airport has been undergoing transition to a general aviation aerodrome offering a flight information service. First opened in 1936 as Baginton Aerodrome, Coventry Airport has been used for general aviation, flight training, and commercial freight and passenger flights, as well as being a World War II fighter airfield. In 1982, Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass with a crowd of around 350,000 on his only UK visit. In 1994–5, it became a focus for animal rights campaigners who protested at the export of live animals from the airport as freight. From 2004 to 2008, Thomsonfly operated scheduled jet passenger flights from temporary hub facilities at Coventry. A controversial plan to build permanent passenger terminal facilities was rejected by the High Court in 2007. Following financial problems, the airport was briefly closed in 2009, before re-opening as a commercial airport in 2010. In 1933, Coventry City Council decided to develop a civil airport on land that it owned to the south-east of the city in Baginton. Coventry Airport was opened in 1936. Armstrong Whitworth, an aircraft manufacturer based nearby at Whitley Aerodrome, built an aircraft factory on the airport site soon afterwards. During the Second World War, the airport was used as a fighter station, RAF Baginton, by the Royal Air Force. It was damaged in the 1940 Coventry Blitz bombing raid by the Luftwaffe. The following units were here at some point: 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 Squadron RAF No. 134 Squadron RAF No. 135 Squadron RAF No. 308 Polish Fighter Squadron No. 403 Squadron RCAF No.