Derby Airport (also known as Derby Municipal Airport, Burnaston Airport, and during the Second World War as RAF Burnaston) was a defunct airport located at Burnaston, Derbyshire, England. It opened in 1938 as the commercial airport serving Derby and closed in March 1990. The site is now occupied by a Toyota car factory, which began operations in December 1992.
History
The airport was created at the suggestion of Captain Roy Harben DFC, a veteran of the Royal Flying Corps, who persuaded the Air Ministry that a flying school was required. The airport served the nearby town (now city) of Derby and was initially owned by Derby Corporation, which acquired the Burnaston House estate for £21,500 in 1936.
The airport opened for training flights in 1938, with the official opening performed by the Secretary of State for Air, Kingsley Wood, in June 1939. Plans to develop the airport for commercial flights were interrupted by the Second World War, when Burnaston was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF).
RAF Units based at Burnaston included:
- No. 3 Basic Flying Training School RAF (1951–53) using Chipmunk T.10s
- No. 16 Elementary Flying Training School RAF
- No. 16 Reserve Flying School RAF
- No. 30 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School RAF
- No. 30 Elementary Flying Training School RAF
- No. 49 Gliding School RAF
In the post-war era, Derby Aviation (later Derby Airways) began operating scheduled services from Derby, the first route being to Jersey in 1953. Burnaston House served as the airport's terminal building. Commercial flights ceased in the 1960s when services were transferred to the newly opened East Midlands Airport nearby.
The airfield continued to be used by flying clubs until it closed in March 1990 to make way for the construction of the Toyota car plant. Following the closure, Derby Airfield (ICAO: EGBD), a three-runway grass airfield, opened nearby in 1992 and remains in operation as a general aviation aerodrome, home to the Derby Aero Club and Flying School.
