Bristol ( Whitchurch ) Airport Bristol ( Whitchurch ) Airport , also known as Whitchurch Airport , was a municipal airport in Bristol , England , three miles ( 5 km ) south of the city centre , from 1930 to 1957 . It was the main airport for Bristol and area . During World War II , it was one of the few civil airports that remained operational , enabling air connections to Lisbon and Shannon and from there to the United States . The airport closed in 1957 , with services transferred to the former RAF Lulsgate Bottom . The former airfield is now occupied by a sports centre , trading estates and retail parks . Part of the site is earmarked for development of the South Bristol Community Hospital . Early history . In 1929 the Corporation of the City of Bristol bought of farmland to the south of the city , near Whitchurch , for a new municipal airport . On 31 May 1930 , the airport was officially opened by HRH Prince George , Duke of Kent . In its first year of operation , the airport handled 915 passengers , and by 1939 it handled 4 , 000 passengers . The Wessex Aeroplane Club relocated from Filton Airfield , and together with Bristol Corporation , managed the facilities . The first buildings were a hangar , a club house for the flying club , and an aircraft showroom . Early services offered by " air ferry " were to Cardiff , Torquay and Teignmouth . By 1932 , two air taxi firms were based at the airport . By 1934 , Bristol Air Taxis had become Western Airways , and it was soon joined by Railway Air Services , a subsidiary of Imperial Airways , offering connections to Plymouth , Birmingham , London , Southampton and Liverpool . On 18 October 1938 , the Straight Corporation , headed by Whitney Straight purchased control of Norman Edgar ( Western Airways ) , Ltd . and renamed it Western Airways , Ltd . In July 1935 , a new terminal building was opened , and regular international services started with flights on the Cardiff - Whitchurch - Le Touquet - Paris - Le Bourget Airport route . In 1937 , Irish Sea Airways ( precursor of Aer Lingus ) , and Great Western and Southern Airlines commenced operations from Whitchurch . In July 1938 , the British Government formed a Civil Air Guard to train pilots for what was widely seen as the forthcoming war . The Bristol and Wessex Aeroplane Club was one of the training organisations enlisted in this effort , and in addition No . 33 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School was established at Whitchurch to prepare RAFVR pilots . In August 1938 , Frank Barnwell , the chief designer of the Bristol Aeroplane Company , died when an ultra light monoplane he had designed and built himself , the Barnwell B . S . W . , struck a bump when taking off and stalled , crashing onto a nearby road . World War II . In late August 1939 , the airport was requisitioned by the Air Ministry , and was declared a Restricted Area . Starting on 1 September 1939 , 59 aircraft belonging to Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd were evacuated from Croydon Airport and Heston Aerodrome to Whitchurch . The two airlines , that were in the process of merging to form British Overseas Airways Corporation ( BOAC ) , became the nucleus of National Air Communications ( NAC ) , formed to undertake wartime air transport work . Airport security was increased , with barbed wire fencing and Air Ministry police posts . During the next two years , an east - west tarmac runway and taxiways were constructed . In late 1939 , civilian flights resumed . From September 1940 , six aircraft of the Dutch airline KLM , which had escaped to Britain after the German invasion of the Netherlands , were also based at Whitchurch . These aircraft with their Dutch crews operated flights to Lisbon in neutral Portugal , under charter to BOAC . The Air Transport Auxiliary established No . 2 Ferry Pilots Pool at Whitchurch during 1940 . No . 2 FPP was mainly concerned with ferrying Blenheims , Beaufighters and Beauforts built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company at Filton ; Hurricanes built by the Gloster Aircraft Company at Brockworth , Gloucestershire and Whirlwinds and Spitfires produced by Westland Aircraft at Yeovil in Somerset . The unit was disbanded in 1945 . During 1942 – 1943 , civil services were developed to Shannon Airport and an extension of the Lisbon route to Gibraltar , with Lisbon and Shannon providing connections to the United States . Famous passengers who used these services included Bob Hope , Bing Crosby , Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and Eleanor Roosevelt . On 1 June 1943 , BOAC Flight 777 was shot down en route to Whitchurch from Lisbon , with the loss of four Dutch crew and 13 passengers , including the actor Leslie Howard . In November 1944 , BOAC moved out to Hurn Airport , Bournemouth , because the runways there were capable of accommodating larger aircraft , and the success of the Invasion of Normandy had lessened the danger from the Luftwaffe . Post war . After the war , the airport came under the control of the Ministry of Civil Aviation . A number of flying clubs used the airport , but the airport did not attract many scheduled services , although from 1953 Morton Air Services operated flights to the Channel Islands , the Isle of Wight and the Isle of Man , whilst Cambrian Airways operated both domestic and international flights to France . The airport had become too small for airline operations , with surrounding housing estates limiting runway extension , so a new site at the former RAF Lulsgate Bottom was opened in May 1957 as Bristol Airport . In 1957 , Flying ceased at Whitchurch , and in 1959 the airfield was re - opened as Whitchurch Circuit , a car racing circuit holding Formula Two and Formula Three races . Over the years , the area has been developed as housing and trading estates known as Hengrove Park , although part of the main runway still exists . In 1993 a Cessna aircraft made an emergency landing there short of fuel . In 2009 , it was announced that part of the former airfield was to be developed as South Bristol Community Hospital , a Skills Academy and Leisure Centre .