Brough Airport

Economic reasons. The closure was a direct result of BAE Systems restructuring its UK operations and ceasing aircraft manufacturing and final assembly activities at the Brough site. The primary work on the BAE Systems Hawk trainer aircraft was consolidated at other UK sites. With no aircraft being built or requiring flight testing from the facility, the airfield became surplus to the company's requirements and was sold for redevelopment.

The site has been completely redeveloped. The former airfield and surrounding land are now the location of a large, ongoing mixed-use development project known as 'Brough South'. The runway, taxiways, and other aviation infrastructure have been removed and replaced by hundreds of new homes, a new primary school (Hunsley Primary), retail outlets (including an Aldi supermarket), a pub, healthcare facilities, and commercial business parks. The transformation from an airfield to a residential suburb is complete.

Brough Aerodrome had a rich and significant history in British aviation for nearly a century. It was established in 1916 by the Blackburn Aeroplane and Motor Company to test seaplanes for the Admiralty during World War I, utilizing its strategic location on the Humber Estuary. Throughout its life, it was a private industrial airfield dedicated to aircraft production and flight testing, not a public airport. Key historical points include:

- **Blackburn Aircraft:** It was the primary home of Blackburn, which designed and built numerous aircraft here, including the Blackburn Shark, Skua, and Roc.
- **World War II:** The factory was a major production, repair, and modification center for various aircraft, including building over 1,500 Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers.
- **The Cold War Era:** Brough's most famous product, the Blackburn Buccaneer, a low-level carrier-borne strike aircraft, was designed and largely built and tested at the site. This is its most significant contribution to British military aviation.
- **BAE Systems Era:** After becoming part of Hawker Siddeley and later British Aerospace (now BAE Systems), the site was a key manufacturing center for major components of the Harrier 'jump jet' and the Hawk advanced jet trainer, which is flown by the Red Arrows.

There are zero plans or prospects for reopening. The physical infrastructure of the airport has been permanently dismantled and the land has been comprehensively redeveloped for residential and commercial use. Reopening as an airport is physically and logistically impossible.