Coventry Airport is closing permanently on Thursday, June 11, 2026, ending 90 years of aviation activity at the site in the West Midlands. Its final booked commercial flight arrived on Saturday, June 6, carrying pop group Take That, while all remaining aviation operations stopped on Wednesday, June 10. The airport once served as a regional travel hub, with Wizz Air operating flights to European destinations such as Poland and Italy until 2008. In earlier decades, it also welcomed major historical visits, including Pope John Paul II in 1982, when he arrived by helicopter. The site began life during the Second World War as RAF Baginton Aerodrome.
In recent years, Coventry Airport had a much smaller role, mainly supporting the Air Ambulance Service and private charter flights. The closure is tied to plans for a battery gigafactory as part of the Greenpower Park development. Local authorities and the airport’s owners say the project will bring major economic benefits, create thousands of jobs, and help attract investment into the West Midlands manufacturing sector. The site is part of the wider West Midlands Investment Zone, which also includes the Birmingham Knowledge Quarter, the Coventry and Warwick Gigapark, and the Wolverhampton Green Innovation Corridor.
The closure has prompted mixed reactions. Some local residents and aviation supporters have described it as a loss of history and an opportunity missed for future commercial flights. Others see the gigafactory plans as a step toward long-term economic growth for the region. The Civil Aviation Authority said Coventry Aerodrome gave formal notice that it would close permanently from June 11, 2026, and the Rigby Group said the filing allows the next phase of infrastructure work to move ahead.
Although passenger services have already ended, the Air Ambulance Service will be affected temporarily as it prepares to move operations to a new base. The charity said the closure will not disrupt its lifesaving work and that it has been working with the airport owners and the CAA to ensure its missions can continue. It plans to build a new £14 million base in Catthorpe, Leicestershire, if planning permission is approved. The proposed facility would include helicopter hangars, critical care vehicles, training rooms, simulation spaces, and crew accommodation.
Coventry Aeroplane Club and the Nimrod Preservation Group are also expected to be impacted by the airport’s closure. However, residents will not be required to move immediately. The end of Coventry Airport marks another change in the region’s aviation landscape, following the closure of Doncaster Sheffield Airport in 2022 and ongoing efforts to reopen it by 2028.
