Coventry Airport to Close

[P Binnersley]

Coventry Airport to close June 2026

A spokesman for The Rigby Group, the company that owns the site, told us: "Coventry Airport has submitted an application to the CAA to remove the airspace currently surrounding the airport, together with formal notification of the intention to cease runway operations on 11 June 2026.



"As required an accompanying action plan was also provided to the CAA, setting out the operational steps to be completed as part of the process.

"This procedural submission, first envisaged when local planning approval for Green Power Park was granted in 2022, enables the next phase of infrastructure work for the site to proceed."

While plans for a major new battery site have been in the pipeline for a number of years, this is seemingly the first time it has been acknowledged it will replace the airport, rather than run alongside it.

Though news the site will close will no doubt hit some hard, The Rigby Group points to the benefits the new park will have on the wider local community.

This has been expected for some time. There is a proposal from the combined Authority to build an electric battery "Giga-Factory" on the site.

 

[birchesgreen]

Will this affect the air museum?

 

[Pegpilot]

Not a lot of airspace to be handed back when it happens, just a bog standard local ATZ up to 2000 ft. Coventry sits under Birmingham's CTA, which will remain, so it will still be quite restricted. But yes, it would be nice for the museum to stay. Same as Bruntingthorpe, which is now just a car park - I think there's still a couple of Nimrods and a Victor there but they've very much been dumped on a far flung dispersal.

 

[P Binnersley]

Will this affect the air museum?

From BBC - Coventry Airport to close in 2026 for gigafactory

Fight schools, Coventry Aeroplane Club and Nimrod Preservation group would also be impacted - as well as the Midlands Air Museum.

Barry James, chairman and curator of the museum, said the closure did not affect it since it had "a very long lease".

He added, however: "It is a loss to the region but I know the loss of jobs at the airport has been an issue for a number of years."

The Air Ambulance will also be stating for the time being.

The Air Ambulance Service is among organisations currently operating out of the airport.

A spokesperson reassured the public that the planned closure would "not impact the vital work" of charity in the area.

They said: "We have been working closely with Coventry Airport owners and the Civil Aviation Authority to ensure our missions can continue to fly from Coventry Airport after other operations cease."

The service said the situation was "temporary" and plans were underway for it to construct a new airbase.

"[It] will allow us to maintain the highest standards of care, provide appropriate facilities for our crews, and continue delivering rapid lifesaving services.

"We will share more detail as soon as we are able to in the new year and want to thank everyone for the support which makes sure we are there for those that need us every day."

 

[Ediswan]

I vsited Coventry as part of my PPL training. I was used to grass runways. They had resurfaced their tarmac about a week before my visit. The takeoff roll was much quicker than I was used to.

 

[route101]

I recall Coventry had scheduled flights at somepoint, TUI airlines. When was the last commercial passenger flight?

 

[pug1]

I recall Coventry had scheduled flights at somepoint, TUI airlines. When was the last commercial passenger flight?

Think TUI pulled out late 2000’s when the proposals to build a passenger terminal were rejected by, I seem to recall, a neighbouring council. At one point Wizzair and Hapag Lloyd Express had flights from there too, at the same time as Thomsonfly had a base.

The passenger terminal was a number of modular buildings strung together! Shame they never got the go ahead to build the passenger terminal as I suspect things might have been different now.