1/4/2024 0 Comments Link it up bristol![]() ![]() The Miles Masters, Airspeed Oxfords and Hawker Hurricanes of No. With its name changed to RAF Lulsgate Bottom, the airfield was declared operational on 15 January 1942. īy 1942, there was no longer a need for an additional fighter airfield. Returning from a raid, its crew had been deceived by the RAF electronic countermeasures radio beacon at Lympsham, which was re-radiating the signal from a Luftwaffe homing beacon at Brest, France. The first aircraft to land was a Luftwaffe Ju 88 at 06.20 on 24 July 1941. The airfield used a standard-issue three-runway layout resembling an A shape. Originally, the new airfield's name was to be RAF Broadfield Down. However, its intended use soon changed into being a satellite airfield for the fighter squadrons based at RAF Colerne. In 1941, RAF Fighter Command planned to use the airfield for an experimental unit, and after requisitioning land from several adjacent farms, contracted George Wimpey and Company to begin work on 11 June 1941. Its decoy fires attracted a large quantity of Luftwaffe high explosives and incendiaries on the nights of 16 March, 3 April and 4 April 1941 during the Bristol Blitz. In late 1940, a Starfish site was set up south of the village of Downside and just west of the airfield. Few facilities were constructed although pillboxes, defensive anti-aircraft guns and later two Blister hangars were added. However, when this occurred the alternative airfields at Filton and Cardiff were usually clear and operational and as Lulsgate was clear when the low-lying airfields were obscured by radiation fog in calm weather, the landing ground provided a useful alternative. Being high, at 600 ft (180 m), the site had a poor weather record during warm front conditions, when it was often covered in low cloud. 10 Elementary Flying Training School RAF at RAF Weston-super-Mare established a Relief Landing Ground on 14 acres (5.7 ha) at Broadfield Down by the hamlet of Lulsgate Bottom, southwest of the city and north of Redhill village. Winston Churchill even flew from Bristol. The Bristol– Lisbon route (Portugal was a neutral nation and had both British and German planes flying there) was operated by the Dutch airline KLM, under charter to BOAC. BOAC operated routes around the British Empire and to neutral nations. The newly formed British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was transferred to Whitchurch from Croydon Airport and Heston Airport. ![]() ĭuring World War II, Whitchurch was the main civil airport remaining operational. On its opening by Prince George, Duke of Kent in 1930, Bristol (Whitchurch) Airport was the third civil airport in the United Kingdom. In 1929, Bristol Corporation took up the club's proposal to develop farmland located at Whitchurch, to the south of Bristol, into a municipal airport. In 1927, a group of local businessmen raised £6,000 through public subscription to start the Bristol and Wessex Aeroplane Club, a flying club initially based at Filton Aerodrome. Main article: Bristol (Whitchurch) Airport ![]() History Cambrian Airways Vickers Viscount loads at the airport in 1963 Aviation Traders Carvair and the tail of an Airspeed Ambassador in 1965 First airport The airport has a Civil Aviation Authority Public Use Aerodrome Licence (number P432) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers and for flying instruction. Īirlines with operating bases at the airport include EasyJet and Ryanair. A passenger survey carried out in 2015 found that 32.5% of journeys using the airport started or ended in the city of Bristol, 9.6% in Gloucestershire, 24.5% in Somerset and 16.9% in Devon. In 2019, it was ranked the eighth busiest airport (overtaking Glasgow Airport from the previous year) in the United Kingdom, handling over 8.9 million passengers, a 3% increase compared with 2018. In September 2014, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan bought out Macquarie to become the sole owner. In 1997, a majority shareholding in the airport was sold to FirstGroup, and then in 2001 the airport was sold to a joint venture of Macquarie Bank and others. From 1997 to 2010, it was known as Bristol International Airport. Built on the site of a former RAF airfield, it opened in 1957 as Bristol (Lulsgate) Airport, replacing Bristol (Whitchurch) Airport as Bristol's municipal airport. It is 7 nautical miles (13 km 8.1 mi) southwest of Bristol city centre. ![]() Statistics from the UK Civil Aviation Authority īristol Airport ( IATA: BRS, ICAO: EGGD), at Lulsgate Bottom, on the northern slopes of the Mendip Hills, in North Somerset, is an international airport serving the city of Bristol, England, and the surrounding area. ![]()
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