Farnborough Airport - History

History

Farnborough Airport has a long history of involvement with aviation in the UK, beginning at the start of the 20th century with the creation of His Majesty's Balloon Factory and the first powered flight in Britain in 1908. This subsequently became the Royal Aircraft Establishment, a connection which continues in the Farnborough Air Sciences Trust museum.

The civil enclave was operated by Farnborough Business Aviation until 2003, when the Ministry of Defence stopped operations at Farnborough. All experimental aircraft were moved to MoD Boscombe Down; the airport was taken over by TAG Aviation. Commercial defence research continues to be carried out in the adjunct Cody Technology Park by research firm QinetiQ.

Farnborough Airfield appeared in the 2008 James Bond film Quantum of Solace, as the Austrian airport Bond flies from. The airfield was also a location used in the 2010 film Inception.

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