Gloucestershire Airport

History

An airfield was opened in 1931 and named for the village of Down Hatherley; the change of name to Staverton followed relocation to the present site. The airfield served as a training base for pilots during the Second World War and was known as RAF Staverton. It was later used by Alan Cobham as he developed in-flight refuelling.

After the war, what is now Smiths Group used the airport as a test site for various aircraft. At the same time the airport provided scheduled service to the Channel Islands, Dublin and Isle of Man. In the 1960s the Skyfame Museum, dedicated to World War II aircraft, opened.

In the 1990s both the Police Aviation Services and Bond Air Services stationed helicopters and their headquarters at Staverton. In 1993 its name was changed to Gloucestershire Airport in an effort to "...reflect its increasing prominence as the business aviation centre for the county."

During the 1990s, Staverton was the home of the MidWest production facility where the company manufactured the MidWest AE series of single- and twin-rotor Wankel aero-engines for light aircraft. The twin-rotor enngine was first installed into two ARV Super2 aircrraft. Midwest was eventually closed down, and its assets bought by Diamond Aircraft Industries, of Vienna, Austria.

In 2009, Gloucestershire Airport was granted planning permission for expansion, first proposed in 2006, which included lengthening a runway. The plans were controversial and proved divisive amongst the local community and authorities.

On 14 November 2014, BBC Radio Gloucestershire and its listeners set a new world record for the longest line of cakes, to raise money for Children in Need. Volunteers around the region baked 14,392 cupcakes which were laid in a line at the airport. At about 16:45 GMT, an adjudicator from Guinness confirmed the breaking of the world record which now stands at 885.6 metres of cakes (2,905 ft). The previous record of 606m (1,988 ft) was set in Colombia in 2013.

Future of the airport

In March 2015, Gloucestershire Airport announced that it will look to provide more flights, more hangars and more profits in the coming years as part of a new vision for the transport hub. The business plan will see £6 million invested in the airport between 2015 and 2025.

Services and facilities

Many of the flights to and from the airport are for business purposes, but there are also a large proportion of domestic flights, recreational flights and training flights.

The airport houses many flying schools, including the Aeros club, the Staverton Flying School and The Flying Shack and are specialised in helicopter and aeroplane training with JK Helicopter Training being specialist helicopter trainers, who also provide gift/ pleasure helicopter flights. Many people carry out their pilot's licence training at the airport. At Aeros, it is possible to obtain training up to the Commercial Pilot's Licence / Instrument Rating (CPL/IR) standard.

Executive Aviation Services Ltd offer type ratings on Cessna Citation business jets, as well as aircraft acquisition, management and business jet/turboprop charter to a large number of destinations in Europe and Scandinavia using Citation Bravo, Citation Excel, XLS and XLS+, and also King Air 200 and 350 aircraft.

The airport has a Pilot Shop, and is also home to The Aviator restaurant and bar.

Airlines and destinations

The majority of Gloucestershire Airport's movements are operated by private aircraft.
Citywing flew a minimum of 5x weekly to the Isle of Man during the winter months and up to 25x weekly during the summer peak season. The Jersey route was flown three times per month during the peak season between July and September, but was not operated during the winter months. This service ended in March 2017, after the airline was liquidated.