Coventry Airport (IATA: CVT, ICAO: EGBE) is located 3 NM (5.6 km; 3.5 mi) south southeast of Coventry city centre, in the village of Baginton, Warwickshire, England, and about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) outside Coventry boundaries. The airport is owned by Patriot Aviation Group, and has a CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P902) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee, Coventry Airport Limited.
First opened in 1936 as Baginton Aerodrome, Coventry Airport has been used for general aviation, flight training, and commercial freight and passenger flights, as well as being a World War II fighter base. In 1994-5, it became a focus for animal rights campaigners who protested at the export of live animals from the airport as freight. In 1982, Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass with a crowd of around 350,000 on his only UK visit. From 2004-8, Thomsonfly operated scheduled jet passenger flights from temporary hub facilities at Coventry. A controversial plan to build permanent passenger terminal facilities was rejected by the High Court in 2007. Following financial problems, the airport was briefly closed in 2009, before re-opening as a commercial airport in 2010.
Read more about Coventry Airport: Accidents and Incidents, Gallery
Famous quotes containing the word airport:
“Airplanes are invariably scheduled to depart at such times as 7:54, 9:21 or 11:37. This extreme specificity has the effect on the novice of instilling in him the twin beliefs that he will be arriving at 10:08, 1:43 or 4:22, and that he should get to the airport on time. These beliefs are not only erroneous but actually unhealthy.”
—Fran Lebowitz (b. 1950)