History Of Blackpool Airport

Flying since 1909

  • Squires Gate hosts the first official aviation meeting 18-23rd October 1909
  • 200,000 spectators consume 500 cases of champagne, 36,000 bottles of beer and 1,000 hams
  • Frenchman Henri Farman sets the first official British flight record of 47 miles
  • By 1911 Squires Gate becomes a racecourse – the first race was the £1,000 Coronation Gold Cup
  • WW1 breaks out and the land is used for the King’s Lancashire Military Convalescent home
  • In 1919 the A.V. Roe Company offers pleasure flights from South Shore for five shillings
  • An Air Pageant is staged again at Squires Gate in 1928 with 73 aircraft from the RAF
  • Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald opens an aerodrome at a new site Stanley Park in 1931 at a cost of £39,000
  • Operators include the British Amphibious Air Company running trips to the Isle of Man for 36 shillings (£1.80)
  • By 1933 rival operators start flying again from Squires Gate including Imperial Airways
  • War breaks out in 1939 and Squires Gate and Stanley Park airfields are used by the RAF
  • 1941-45 the Vickers Company build 3,842 Wellington Bombers at Squires Gate
  • Post war Stanley Park airfield ceases to operate and the focus for development becomes Squires Gate
  • The airport is redesigned in 1949 and by 1950, 25,000 passengers go through the airport
  • More airlines are attracted including: Silver City Airways, Pegasus Airways and Jersey Airlines
  • The airport’s factory produces Hawker Hunters during the Korean War in the 1950s
  • The range of aircraft seen at Blackpool include: Rapides, Austers, Dakotas, Herons and Bristol Freighters
  • Blackpool Corporation assumes control of the airport from the Government on 1st April 1962
  • The airport continues to grow and by the 1980s there is a significant increase in air traffic movements and passenger numbers
  • Cosmos Holidays were also operating ‘Landladies Specials’ – holiday package tours from Blackpool to the Mediterranean!
  • Private and Club Flying becomes increasingly popular
  • In 1987 Blackpool Airport was recognised as a Private Limited Company with Blackpool Borough Council as 100% shareholder
  • The choice of routes rises to over 20 European destinations
  • MAR Properties Ltd purchases the airport in 2004 and invests £2m to refurbish the passenger terminal
  • Former England rugby captain Bill Beaumont OBE officially opens the new facilities including faster check-in facilities, more retail outlets and spacious seating areas
  • May 2008, Regional and City Airports Ltd, the aviation arm of Balfour Beatty acquires 95% of the newly named and rebranded ‘Blackpool International for Lancashire and The Lake District’
  • 2009, Blackpool International is named passenger favourite in a survey by Which? Holiday Magazine.
  • October 2014 – Blackpool International Airport closed for commercial traffic
  • December 2014 – Blackpool Airport reopened as a CAT 2 airfield
  • April 2015 – Citywing commenced daily flights to the Isle of Man
  • April 2016 – Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone was established with a 25 year lifespan