🇬🇧 Bristol Filton Airport

Bristol Filton Airport (also known as Filton Aerodrome, RAF Filton, or USAAF Station 803) closed on December 31, 2012, after over 100 years of operation. BAE Systems Aviation Services Ltd, the last owner, decided to close the airfield due to its commercial non-viability, selling the land to property developers.

Filton Airport holds significant historical importance, having been established in 1915 and playing a crucial role in aircraft manufacturing, including thousands of Bristol Fighters during WWI, the Bristol Brabazon airliner, and components for Airbus aircraft. It was also the site of the first UK test flight of the Concorde prototype in 1969, and the final Concorde to fly landed there in 2003.

The site is currently undergoing significant redevelopment. Sections of the former airfield have been sold for housing, with construction for a new suburb called Brabazon, consisting of 2,675 new homes, beginning in 2020. Airbus continues to have a presence on the site, with new offices and development centers. A new aerospace museum, backed by BAE Systems, opened in 2017 to preserve the site's aviation heritage. While the airfield is closed, the Great Western Air Ambulance Service and police helicopters were intended to continue operating from the area.

*Sources researched: abct.org.uk, en.wikipedia.org, bbc.co.uk, itv.com, consultations.southglos.gov.uk*