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The origins of Manchester Airport in England, UK, date back to the 1930s. Construction started on Ringway on 28 November 1935 and it opened partly in June 1937 and completely on 25 June 1938, in Ringway parish north of Wilmslow, from which it derived its original name Manchester (Ringway) Airport. Its north border was Yewtree Lane. Its southeast border was a little northwest of Altrincham Road (Styal).
In World War II, it was the location of RAF Ringway, and was important in the production and repair of military aircraft and training parachutists.
After World War II, it gradually expanded to its present size, including massive expansion of aprons, runways and car parking areas. Among the first expansions was car parking and service buildings north of Yewtree Lane.
From 1958 to late 1962, Terminal 1 was built: this was the first of Ringway's modern large terminals and the first major public building north of Yewtree Lane.
In 1997, the second runway was planned and construction on it started, with protests about it intruding on woodland in the Styal area.
Manchester, England, has been served since 1911 by the following airfields:
In World War II, aircraft dispersal and work areas with hard standings were built outside the old airfield area: north of Yewtree Lane by Fairey's area, and southeast of Altrincham Road (Styal) by the three southeast hangars. These were linked to by "level crossings" across those two roads, which were closed to the public except to those with a local resident's pass from early 1940 to mid 1945. After the war these hard standings were removed and the land was returned to farming, and the two roads became public again.
At the end of the war the airfield had these buildings (In the pairs of hangar numbers, the first number is the hangar's original number and the second is its later renumbering.):
After World War II the airport grew massively.
Blackbushe Airport is an operational general aviation airport in the civil parish of Yateley in the north-east corner of the English county of Hampshire. Built during the Second World War, Blackbushe is north of the A30 road between Camberley and Hook. For a time, it straddled this road with traffic having to wait whilst airliners were towed across. The south side was used for aircraft maintenance, using wartime-built hangars. Today, only the part of the airfield that lay north of the A30 remains in active use. The historical name for the flat piece of land on which it is sited is Hartford Bridge Flats. The nearest towns are Yateley and Fleet.
Manchester Airport is an international airport at Ringway, Manchester, England, 7.5 nautical miles south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2019, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passenger numbers and the busiest of those not serving London. The airport comprises three passenger terminals and a cargo terminal, and is the only airport in the UK other than Heathrow Airport to operate two runways over 3,280 yd (2,999 m) in length. Manchester Airport covers an area of 560 hectares and has flights to 199 destinations, placing the airport thirteenth globally for total destinations served.
London Biggin Hill Airport is an operational general aviation airport at Biggin Hill in the London Borough of Bromley, located 12 NM south-southeast of Central London. The airport was formerly a Royal Air Force station RAF Biggin Hill, and a small enclave on the airport still retains that designation.
Royal Air Force Nutts Corner or more simply RAF Nutts Corner is a former Royal Air Force station located 2.7 miles (4.3 km) east of Crumlin, County Antrim, Northern Ireland and 9.2 miles (14.8 km) north west of Belfast.
Ringway is a civil parish on the southern border of Manchester, England. Historically in Cheshire, it is the only civil parish in the city of Manchester. The population at the 2011 census was 103. Ringway is home to Manchester Airport.
Wythenshawe is a district of the city of Manchester, England. Historically in Cheshire, Wythenshawe was transferred in 1931 to the City of Manchester, which had begun building a massive housing estate there in the 1920s. With an area of approximately 11 square miles (28 km2), Wythenshawe became the largest council estate in Europe.
Filton Airport or Filton Aerodrome was a private airport in Filton and Patchway, within South Gloucestershire, 4 NM north of Bristol, England.
Seletar Airport is a civilian international airport serving the north-east region of Singapore. It is located approximately 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) northwest from Changi Airport, the country's main airport, and about 25 kilometres (16 mi) north from the main commercial city-centre.
City Airport is an airport in Barton-upon-Irwell, Greater Manchester, England, 5 nautical miles west of Manchester. Formerly known as Barton Aerodrome and City Airport Manchester, It is known by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as Manchester/Barton.
Kallang Airport was the first purpose-built civil international airport in Singapore, opened officially on 12 June 1937 and ceased operations in 1955, when it was relocated to Paya Lebar. Situated on the eastern shore of the Kallang Basin, the Kallang Airport spanned the modern planning areas of Kallang and Geylang at its greatest extent. The conserved complex, including the airport's terminal building, is located wholly within Kallang.
Royal Air Force Ringway or more simply RAF Ringway is a former Royal Air Force satellite station in Ringway, Cheshire, England, near Manchester. It was operational from 1939 until 1957. The site of the station is now occupied by Manchester Airport.
Barrow/Walney Island Airport is located on Walney Island, 1.5 NM northwest of the centre of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. The airport is owned by BAE Systems, who operate private communication flights to locations across the United Kingdom and expanded the airport with new infrastructure and terminal buildings in 2018. The Lakes Gliding Club also operates out of the airport.
Alexandra Park Aerodrome was the second purpose-built aerodrome in the Manchester area in England. The site was chosen by the War Department in 1917 because of its open agricultural nature, and lay between the neighbouring districts of Fallowfield, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Whalley Range, Withington and West Didsbury, at the junction of Princess Road and Mauldeth Road West, three miles south of Manchester's city centre: the land was owned by the Egerton Estate. The aerodrome's brief existence is commemorated on a plaque in the sports pavilion at Hough End Playing Fields, which now occupy part of the site. A commemorative plaque was unveiled on 7 July 2007 to mark the 90th anniversary of the aerodrome and is located in the grounds of No. 184 Squadron, Air Cadets, in Hough End Crescent.
Manchester (Wythenshawe) Aerodrome was the first airfield built to serve Manchester, England.
No. 613 Squadron was an Auxiliary Air Force later Royal Auxiliary Air Force squadron formed on 1 February 1939 at the then new municipal airport at Ringway, nine miles south of Manchester. The squadron served at first in the army cooperation role, and later during the Second World War became a tactical bomber unit. After the war the squadron reformed as a fighter unit and as such flew until its last disbandment in March 1957.
The Airborne Delivery Wing is a Royal Air Force training unit that provides parachute training to all three British Armed Forces. It is based at RAF Brize Norton. in Oxfordshire.
National Aircraft Factory No. 2 was a World War I UK government owned aircraft factory located at Heaton Chapel, Stockport. It produced over 450 warplanes during 1918/19. The Heaton Chapel factory was then sold to Crossley Motors, who used it for building motor vehicles. In 1934, it was sold to the Fairey Aviation Company, with aircraft production there continuing until the late 1950s.
Royal Air Force Pengam Moors or more simply RAF Pengham Moors is a former Royal Air Force station and maintenance unit (MU), located on the Pengam Moors area of Tremorfa, 2 miles south east of Cardiff city centre in Wales from June 1938 to January 1946. It was also known as RAF Cardiff)
The Great West Aerodrome, also known as Harmondsworth Aerodrome or Heathrow Aerodrome, was a grass airfield, operational between 1930 and 1944. It was on the southeast edge of the hamlet of Heathrow, in the parish of Harmondsworth. The Fairey Aviation Company owned and operated it, for assembly and flight testing of Fairey-manufactured aircraft. The area was to later be the site of London Heathrow Airport.
In its early years what is now Heathrow Airport was the Great West Aerodrome, sometimes known as Heathrow Aerodrome.
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