RAF Ashbourne

Post-WWII military drawdown and surplus to requirements.

The airfield was sold by the Air Ministry in 1954. Today, the site has been completely redeveloped and is known as the Ashbourne Airfield Industrial Estate. It is a large and busy commercial area hosting numerous businesses, warehouses, and industrial units. While the main runways have been removed or built over, the layout of some roads within the industrial estate follows the path of the original perimeter and taxiway tracks. A few original wartime buildings may remain, repurposed for modern use, but the site bears little resemblance to its former state as an active airfield.

Royal Air Force Station Ashbourne (RAF Ashbourne) was a Class A bomber airfield constructed during World War II. It officially opened in June 1942. Its primary role was as a satellite airfield for the nearby RAF Darley Moor. The station was instrumental in the RAF's bomber crew training program. The main unit based at RAF Ashbourne was No. 42 Operational Training Unit (OTU), which was responsible for the final phase of training for night-bomber crews. These crews primarily trained on Vickers Wellington bombers, but the unit also operated aircraft such as the Douglas Boston and Douglas Havoc for various training purposes. The airfield featured three concrete runways, perimeter tracks, and numerous dispersals typical of wartime airfields. Flying operations largely ceased at the end of the war in 1945, after which the site was used by No. 28 Maintenance Unit for storage.

There are no plans or prospects for reopening RAF Ashbourne as an airport. The site has been extensively and permanently redeveloped into a major industrial estate. The original aviation infrastructure, including the runways, has been removed, and the land is now occupied by commercial buildings and roads, making any return to aviation use infeasible.