Farnborough Airport: a history

By Charter-A · Last checked 24 October 2026 · 33 sources

At a glance

• Where: Farnborough, Hampshire, about 1 nautical mile north-north-west of Aldershot. ICAO code EGLF.¹
• First sustained powered flight in Britain: Samuel Cody, 16 October 1908.^2,3
• Air show: held at Farnborough since 1948, every second year since 1962. The latest ran from 20 to 24 July 2026.^4,5
• Business aviation: CAA licence granted on 1 January 2003, with a 99-year lease from the same year.^2,6
• Runway: 06/24, 2,440 metres by 45 metres. Take-off run available is 2,000 metres on 06 and 2,063 metres on 24.^1,7
• Published hours: Monday to Friday 07:00 to 22:00; Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays 08:00 to 20:00; closed on 25 and 26 December.^1,8

Timeline

1. End of 1905The Royal Engineers’ Balloon School moves from Aldershot to Farnborough to build airships.⁹
2. 5 Oct 1907The airship Nulli Secundus flies from Farnborough to London, about 40 miles in 3 hours 25 minutes.¹⁰
3. 16 Oct 1908Samuel Cody flies British Army Aeroplane No 1 about 1,400 feet and crashes at the end of the flight.^2,3
4. Dec 1909Mervyn O’Gorman becomes civilian superintendent of the site.⁹
5. 1911 to 1912Army Aircraft Factory (April 1911), then Royal Aircraft Factory (April 1912).⁹
6. 7 Aug 1913Cody dies when his aircraft crashes, killing him and his passenger.³
7. 1918Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) named, in April or June depending on the source.^9,11
8. 4 Apr 1935The 24-foot wind tunnel is opened.⁹
9. 1940A concrete runway is laid.⁹
10. 16 Aug 1940The RAE is bombed; three staff are killed.¹¹
11. 6 Nov 1942The high-speed wind tunnel is opened.⁹
12. 12 Jul 1947The Empire Test Pilots’ School moves to Farnborough, staying until 29 January 1968.¹²
13. Sep 1948First Society of British Aircraft Constructors show at Farnborough; the public is admitted.^4,13
14. 6 Sep 1952The prototype DH.110 breaks up at the show; 31 people die.^14,15
15. 1954After two Comet losses the RAE investigates the structure; the findings advance the understanding of metal fatigue.¹¹
16. 1956The RAE sets up the committee that leads to the Concorde programme.⁹
17. 1962Last annual show; every second year afterwards.⁴
18. 1974First fully international show.⁴
19. 1988The RAE is renamed the Royal Aerospace Establishment.¹¹
20. 1989First civil flying at the airfield.^2,6
21. 1 Apr 1991The RAE becomes part of the Defence Research Agency. The Ministry of Defence declares the airfield surplus in 1991.^6,11
22. 1994The Government decides the airfield should become a business aviation centre.^2,6
23. 1997 or 1998TAG Aviation is chosen as operator; sources give different dates.^2,6,16
24. Oct 2000Planning permission is granted for business aviation.^6,17
25. Jul 2001QinetiQ is formed from the larger part of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency.¹⁸
26. 1 Jan 2003The CAA licence is granted. In 2003 TAG also takes full control on a 99-year lease and all Ministry of Defence operations on the airfield end.^2,6,11
27. 2006The terminal is officially opened and wins a RIBA award.^19,20
28. End of 2007TAG buys the freehold.²¹
29. Mar 2008The weekend and bank holiday limit is raised from 2,500 to 5,000 movements on appeal.⁶
30. 10 Feb 2011An appeal allows the increase the airport applied for in 2009.¹⁷
31. 2019The airport is sold to a fund managed by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets.²
32. Sep 2021A memorial to the 1952 victims is unveiled.¹⁴
33. 22 Feb 2022Planning permission is varied; the movement limits are unchanged.¹⁷
34. 20 to 24 Jul 2026The latest Farnborough Air Show.⁵

Balloons, kites and an airship, 1905 to 1908

The story starts with the Army. The Royal Engineers’ Balloon School left Balloon Square in Aldershot at the end of 1905 and settled on the Swan Plateau at Farnborough, where there was room for an airship shed and a hydrogen plant.⁹ Other accounts date the move between 1904 and 1906.²² Samuel Cody, who built man-carrying kites for the Army, worked on the site.⁹ On 5 October 1907 the airship Nulli Secundus flew from the Balloon Factory to London with Colonel John Capper and Cody aboard. The trip of about 40 miles took 3 hours 25 minutes and ended at the Crystal Palace.¹⁰

Cody’s flight, 16 October 1908

On 16 October 1908 Cody took British Army Aeroplane No 1 about 1,400 feet in 27 seconds, at 30 to 40 feet, according to the airport’s own history.² A Cody biography gives 1,390 feet.³ The aircraft crashed when he turned sharply to avoid trees and the left wing struck the ground.³ Most accounts call it the first sustained powered flight in Britain,^23,24 while the airport words it as the first powered flight on UK soil.² The sources also differ on the ground: Farnborough Common in some,^3,9 Laffan’s Plain near Aldershot in the Imperial War Museums caption for the wreck photograph below.²⁴

Cody kept flying. On the last day of 1910 he stayed up for 4 hours 47 minutes and covered 185.46 miles to win the Michelin Cup, and his Cody V won the 1912 military trials. He died on 7 August 1913 when his aircraft crashed with his passenger, W H B Evans. The Royal Aero Club report blamed structural weakness, although eyewitness accounts conflicted.³ His son Vivian later headed the RAE’s fabrics division until 1950.⁹

From Factory to Establishment, 1909 to 1918

Aeroplane work passed from the Army to civilian direction, and Mervyn O’Gorman became superintendent in December 1909.^9,11 By April 1912 the site was the Royal Aircraft Factory, having been the Army Aircraft Factory from April 1911.⁹ Its engineers designed the B.E.2, which with the F.E.2 was ready for production when the First World War began.⁹ The Shuttleworth Collection credits the S.E.5 fighter to H P Folland and calls it the most celebrated aeroplane to leave those workshops; 5,205 were built.²⁵ In 1918 the name became Royal Aircraft Establishment, because “RAF” now also meant the Royal Air Force, and bulk production gave way to research.¹¹

Wind tunnels and war, 1930s to 1945

Between the wars the RAE built test plant that outlived it. The 24-foot tunnel, big enough for full-size engines and aircraft, was opened on 4 April 1935 by the Secretary of State for Air. The high-speed tunnel followed on 6 November 1942, and a concrete runway was laid in 1940.⁹ The RAE was bombed once in the war. The Science Museum Group dates the raid to 16 August 1940, when eight aircraft dropped about 20 bombs, half of them on the site, killing three staff and disrupting work for three days.¹¹ Local-history research also gives 16 August,²⁶ while Wikipedia says 13 August.²⁷ War work included the gyro gun-sight, early airborne radar trials and the fuel restrictor Beatrice Shilling devised in 1941 so that engines did not flood in negative-g manoeuvres.¹¹

Jets, the Comet and Concorde

After the war the RAE concentrated on jet propulsion and high-speed flight. The Empire Test Pilots’ School was attached to it at Farnborough from 12 July 1947 until 29 January 1968.¹² In 1954, after two Comet airliners were lost, wreckage was rebuilt at Farnborough and a complete fuselage was pressurised again and again in a water tank. The tests pointed to structural failure and advanced the understanding of metal fatigue.¹¹ In 1956 the RAE set up the committee that led to Concorde, and a full-size Concorde fatigue rig was later built at Farnborough.⁹ The RAE also developed high-strength carbon fibre in the early 1960s,^9,11 and held design authority for the Prospero satellite, launched on a Black Arrow rocket in 1971.¹¹

The Farnborough Air Show

The Society of British Aircraft Constructors had staged its shows at Hendon, Hatfield and Radlett. In September 1948 it moved to Farnborough, using the RAE’s Black Sheds as exhibition halls and admitting the public.^4,13 Farnborough International credits that first show with 70 aircraft,⁴ while the organisers’ anniversary blog counts 66 British aircraft.²⁸ The show ran every year until 1962 and every second year after that. Foreign aircraft carrying British equipment were allowed in 1966, Concorde flew in 1970 and the show became fully international in 1974.^4,28 The organisers also record 23 Hawker Hunters looping in formation in 1958.²⁸ The latest show ran from 20 to 24 July 2026.⁵

6 September 1952

On 6 September 1952 the prototype de Havilland DH.110 broke up in the air after a high-speed low pass and fell into the crowd. The pilot, John Derry, and the flight test observer, Anthony Richards, died, as did 29 people on the ground. The memorial carries 31 names.^14,15 Reports on the day gave at least 27 dead and 63 injured,²⁹ and later accounts give 60 or 63 injured.^15,30 Derry had been the first British pilot to exceed the speed of sound in Britain, in 1948.²⁹ The flight crew was not faulted, and the coroner’s jury found the deaths accidental.^15,30 The accident led to stricter safety rules for air displays.²⁹ A memorial to the victims was unveiled close to the crash site in September 2021, after local resident Mick Foreman campaigned for it.¹⁴

From research airfield to business airport, 1988 to 2003

The RAE became the Royal Aerospace Establishment in 1988, part of the Defence Research Agency on 1 April 1991 and the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency in 1995. QinetiQ was formed from the larger part of that agency in July 2001.^11,18 Meanwhile a small civil operation began in 1989, the Ministry of Defence declared the airfield surplus in 1991, and in 1994 the Government decided it should become a business aviation centre.^2,6 TAG Aviation was chosen as operator. The airport dates that to 1997, the Consultative Committee’s planning history says the Government confirmed it in February 1998, and Companies House shows the airport company incorporated on 23 October 1997 and renamed TAG Farnborough Airport Limited on 26 November 1997.^2,6,16 Planning permission for business aviation came in October 2000, and the CAA licence on 1 January 2003. TAG took full control under a 99-year lease in 2003.^2,6 Research flying under the successor bodies ended in 1994 and all Ministry of Defence operations on the airfield ceased in 2003.¹¹ The land was divided: part went to BAE Systems for the Farnborough Aerospace Centre, part stayed with DERA (now QinetiQ), and the former Factory site became Farnborough Business Park.⁶

The terminal and the planning limits

The air traffic control tower and hangars were built first. The terminal, by REID Architecture (now 3DReid) with Buro Happold as engineers, was officially opened in 2006 and won a RIBA award for the Southern Region that year.^19,20 TAG bought the freehold at the end of 2007.²¹ Planning limits then shaped the airport’s growth. A 2005 application to raise weekend and bank holiday movements from 2,500 to 5,000 a year was refused locally and allowed after a public inquiry in March 2008.⁶ In 2009 the airport applied to raise total business movements from 28,000 to a maximum of 50,000 a year, and weekend and bank holiday movements from 5,000 to 8,900. Rushmoor Borough Council refused, the airport appealed, and the Secretaries of State granted permission on 10 February 2011.^6,17 A 2022 variation made the 2011 permission the one for the whole operation and left the movement limits unchanged.¹⁷

Ownership, airspace and environment since 2019

In 2019 the shareholders sold TAG Farnborough Holdings, which included the airport, the Aviator hotel and The Swan pub, to a fund managed by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets.² Companies House records the airport company’s change of name to Farnborough Airport Limited on 11 October 2019, where Wikipedia says 10 October.^16,27 The airport says it became the first business aviation airport in the world to be carbon neutral in 2018, and the UK’s first business aviation airport to reach Level 4+ in Airport Carbon Accreditation in 2023. Those are its own statements.² A change to the controlled airspace around the airport was challenged by Lasham Gliding Society, and the High Court dismissed the challenge in 2019.³¹

The airport today

Runway 06/24 is 2,440 metres by 45 metres, with a take-off run available of 2,000 metres on 06 and 2,063 metres on 24.^1,7 Published hours are Monday to Friday 07:00 to 22:00 and Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays 08:00 to 20:00, with the airport closed on 25 and 26 December. The UK Aeronautical Information Publication adds that it may close earlier when no traffic is scheduled, and that prior permission is required.^1,8 For movement limits, treat 50,000 a year in total and 8,900 at weekends and bank holidays as the figures applied for in 2009 and allowed in 2011. The council’s page does not restate them in a single line after the decision, so check the decision notice it links to for the exact conditions.¹⁷ Actual traffic is reported in the monitoring reports published through Rushmoor and the Consultative Committee.¹⁷

Seeing the history today

The Farnborough Air Sciences Trust museum is in Trenchard House, 85 Farnborough Road, the original Balloon School building, which the Trust dates to 1905 or 1906; another site dates the building to 1911.^22,32 The Trust says it opens on Saturdays, Sundays and bank holiday Mondays from 10:00 to 16:00, so confirm before travelling.³² It was formed on 4 November 1993 to protect the RAE’s heritage, and says three of the most important wind tunnels were saved, including the 24-foot and high-speed tunnels, both Grade I listed.³² The 24-foot tunnel building has opened to visitors on Heritage Open Days.³³

Where the sources disagree

• Where Cody’s flight began: Farnborough Common, or Laffan’s Plain near Aldershot.^3,9,23,24
• Distance of the flight: 1,390 feet in one biography, about 1,400 feet in the airport’s history.^2,3
• The Balloon School’s move: the end of 1905 in the Royal Aeronautical Society paper, between 1904 and 1906 on a hobby site.^9,22
• The Factory’s names: Army Aircraft Factory in April 1911 and Royal Aircraft Factory in April 1912, although the same paper has O’Gorman installed at a “Royal Aircraft Factory” in December 1909.⁹
• The RAE’s naming in 1918: April, or June.^9,11
• The wartime raid: 16 August 1940, or 13 August in Wikipedia.^11,26,27
• The first Farnborough show: 70 aircraft, or 66 British aircraft.^4,28
• The 1952 accident: at least 27 dead on the day, 31 in later counts; 60 or 63 injured.^14,15,29,30
• When TAG was chosen: 1997 in the airport’s history, February 1998 in the planning history.^2,6
• The change of name in October 2019: 11 October at Companies House, 10 October in Wikipedia. The register is preferred.^16,27
• The age of Trenchard House: 1905 or 1906 at the museum, 1911 on a hobby site.^22,32

Not independently verified: the airport’s statements about its own carbon status, the exact wording of the 2011 movement conditions, and the current opening hours after this date. Hours and limits change; the airport and the council are the authorities.

Sources and further reading

1. UK Aeronautical Information Publication, EGLF AD 2 (edition of 3 September 2026). NATS. aurora.nats.co.uk/htmlAIP/Publications/2026-09-03-AIRAC/html/eAIP/EG-AD-2.EGLF-en-GB.html. Accessed 24 October 2026. The address changes with each AIRAC cycle.
2. About the airport (history timeline). Farnborough Airport. farnboroughairport.com/airport/about. Accessed 24 October 2026. The airport’s own account; used for its dates and its own claims.
3. S F Cody and his aeroplanes. S F Cody Archive. sfcody.org.uk/2024/06/14/s-f-cody-aeroplanes. Accessed 24 October 2026.
4. Pioneering heritage. Farnborough International. farnboroughinternational.org/about-us/pioneering-heritage. Accessed 24 October 2026.
5. Farnborough Airshow, July 2026. Rushmoor Borough Council. rushmoor.gov.uk/whats-on-in-aldershot-and-farnborough/july-2026/farnborough-airshow. Accessed 24 October 2026.
6. The planning history of Farnborough Airport. Farnborough Aerodrome Consultative Committee. facc.org.uk/the-history-of-farnborough-airport/the-planning-history-of-farnborough-airport. Accessed 24 October 2026.
7. Airfield specs. Farnborough Airport. farnboroughairport.com/airport/airfield-specs. Accessed 24 October 2026.
8. Contact (opening hours). Farnborough Airport. farnboroughairport.com/contact. Accessed 24 October 2026.
9. The Royal Aircraft Establishment Farnborough: 100 years of innovative research, development and application (Dr Graham Rood, Journal of Aeronautical History, paper 2020/04). Royal Aeronautical Society. aerosociety.com/media/13851/paper-2020-03-rood-rae-100.pdf. Accessed 24 October 2026. The most detailed single source used here.
10. 5 October 1907 (Nulli Secundus). This Day in Aviation. thisdayinaviation.com/5-october-1907. Accessed 24 October 2026.
11. Royal Aircraft Establishment (collection record and history). Science Museum Group. collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/people/ap18676/royal-aircraft-establishment. Accessed 24 October 2026.
12. Empire Test Pilots School (ETPS). RAF Heraldry Trust. rafht.co.uk/index.php/2016/06/24/empire-test-pilots-school-etps. Accessed 24 October 2026.
13. Countdown to Farnborough 1948: flying wings and new beginnings (11 May 2016). ADS Group. adsgroup.org.uk/knowledge/countdown-to-farnborough-1948-flying-wings-and-new-beginnings. Accessed 24 October 2026.
14. Farnborough 1952 air show crash victims remembered after 69 years (7 September 2021). BBC News. bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-58468613. Accessed 24 October 2026.
15. 6 September 1952 (DH.110 accident). This Day in Aviation. thisdayinaviation.com/6-september-1952. Accessed 24 October 2026. Cites Flight and Aircraft Engineer, 12 September 1952.
16. Farnborough Airport Limited, company 03454447 (previous names). Companies House. find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/03454447. Accessed 24 October 2026.
17. Farnborough airport’s planning history. Rushmoor Borough Council. rushmoor.gov.uk/planning-and-building-control/farnborough-airport/farnborough-airports-planning-history. Accessed 24 October 2026.
18. Our history. QinetiQ. qinetiq.com/en-au/who-we-are/our-history. Accessed 24 October 2026.
19. Farnborough Airport (project page). 3DReid. 3dreid.com/project/farnborough-airport. Accessed 24 October 2026. The terminal’s architects, then trading as REID Architecture.
20. Farnborough Airport Building, Hampshire (11 September 2006). e-architect. e-architect.com/london/farnborough-airport-building. Accessed 24 October 2026.
21. Airport history. Farnborough Aerodrome Consultative Committee. facc.org.uk/the-history-of-farnborough-airport. Accessed 24 October 2026.
22. RAE Farnborough. Control Towers. controltowers.co.uk/airfields/farnborough. Accessed 24 October 2026. A hobby site; used only where it shows a different date.
23. Heavier-than-air flying. Royal Air Force Museum. rafmuseum.org.uk/research/online-exhibitions/rfc_centenary/british-military-aviation-1862-1912/heavier-than-air-flying. Accessed 24 October 2026.
24. Photograph RAE-O 20, Cody’s wrecked aeroplane (Imperial War Museums caption, shown on the file page). Wikimedia Commons. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cody_Army_Aeroplane_No_1_after_first_flight_RAE-O20.jpg. Accessed 24 October 2026.
25. Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a. Shuttleworth Collection. shuttleworth.org/discover/collection/aircraft/royal-aircraft-factory-se5a. Accessed 24 October 2026.
26. The day the bombs fell on Farnborough and Bordon (22 July 2024). Alton Herald. altonherald.com/news/nostalgia-the-day-the-bombs-fell-on-farnborough-and-bordon-706790. Accessed 24 October 2026. Reports research published in the Farnborough Air Sciences Trust newsletter.
27. Farnborough Airport. Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farnborough_Airport. Accessed 24 October 2026. Secondary; used only to show where it differs from other sources.
28. FIA75 part 1: the emergence of Farnborough, 1948 to 1972. Farnborough International Airshow. farnboroughairshow.com/resources/news-blogs/blog-list/fia75-part-1-the-emergence-of-farnborough-1948-1972. Accessed 24 October 2026.
29. 1952: dozens die in air show tragedy. BBC On This Day. news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/6/newsid_2981000/2981786.stm. Accessed 24 October 2026.
30. 1952 Farnborough Airshow crash. Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1952_Farnborough_Airshow_crash. Accessed 24 October 2026. Secondary; used for the inquest verdict and to show differing counts.
31. Airspace in a crowded sky (27 August 2019). UK Human Rights Blog. ukhumanrightsblog.com/2019/08/27/airspace-in-a-crowded-sky. Accessed 24 October 2026. On the Lasham Gliding Society judicial review.
32. About FAST and the museum. Farnborough Air Sciences Trust. airsciences.org.uk/?p=141. Accessed 24 October 2026.
33. Former Royal Aircraft Establishment 24 foot wind tunnel building Q121. Heritage Open Days. heritageopendays.org.uk/submission-event/former-royal-aircraft-establishment-24-foot-wind-tunnel-building-Q121-2025.html. Accessed 24 October 2026.

Picture credits

• Nulli Secundus airship, 1907: Royal Engineers official photographer; Imperial War Museums (RAE-O 526). Public domain. File page
• Cody beside the wrecked aeroplane, 1908: Royal Engineers official photographer; Imperial War Museums (RAE-O 20). Public domain. File page
• Royal Aircraft Factory from the air, 1912: Unknown photographer; Imperial War Museums (RAE-O 293). Public domain. File page
• Decompression chamber at the RAE: Royal Air Force official photographer; Imperial War Museums (CH 7446). Public domain. File page
• Prototype DH.110 in flight: US Navy, Naval Aviation News, July 1952. Public domain. File page
• Terminal building at Farnborough Airport: Tony Wood (geograph.org.uk), 25 October 2009. CC BY-SA 2.0. File page
• Old RAE signs outside the museum: Lewis Hulbert, 22 September 2013. CC BY-SA 3.0. File page

Corrections

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About this page

Written by Charter-A. First published and last checked on 24 October 2026. Charter-A is an air charter broker. It does not run Farnborough Airport, the air show or the museum, and none of them has reviewed this page.