Farnborough Aerodrome
Location of the Royal Aircraft Establishment and the annual postwar exhibitions and flying displays by the Society of British Aircraft Constructors.
Farnborough claims to have been the UK’s first airfield.
1905 H. M. Balloon Factory was moved to Farnborough.
1908 Location of Samuel Cody's first powered and sustained flight in a British aeroplane. Cody continued his test flying at Laffan's Plain after the end of his Army contract.
Owned by the British Ministry of Defence (MOD) during two World Wars and 40 years of the Cold War,
1989 First civil aviation operations
1991 The MOD declared the airfield surplus to military requirements
1994 The government then decided the airfield should be redeveloped as a business aviation centre.
1997 TAG Aviation won the bid and took over in 1997.
2003 TAG Farnborough Airport Limited took full control under a 99 year lease as a fully compliant CAA airport for business aviation.
2007 TAG bought the airfield freehold at the end of 2007.
2019 the shareholders sold TAG Farnborough Holdings Limited (including the airport, Aviator Hotel and The Swan pub) to a long-term infrastructure fund managed by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA).
See Also
Sources of Information
- [1] Farnborough airport history