History of Bournemouth Airport - Airport Guides Network

Bournemouth Airport originally opened as RAF Hurn on 1st August 1941 and accommodated many RAF units between then and 1944.
The airfield was passed into USAAF hands for a short time in 1944 then in mid October it was returned shortly to RAF control before being handed over to the Minsitry of Civil Aviation on 31st October 1944.
Until 1948 Hurn was the main terminal for international airline flights into the UK but by 1949 Heathrow was open and airline operators moved there.
BOAC,who had a maintenance base at Hurn ,also departed at this time.
In 1950 Vickers Armstrong moved into the hangars vacated by BOAC and started production of Varsities, then Viscounts and eventually, as the British Aircraft Corporation, production of the BAC-111.
Some airline service continued to the Channel Islands.
In 1952 Airwork started operating the Fleet Requirements Unit at the airport.
Hurn airport continued to have economic ups and downs but managed to survice and in 1969 the airport was bought by Bournemouth Corporation and Dorset County Council.
This partnership ran the airport up until 1995 when it was sold to National Express.
The airport is today known as Bournemouth International Airport and serves the south coast with an increasing number of charter flights as well as a number of UK and European scheduled destinations.