Stanley Park Aerodrome ( Blackpool ) Stanley Park Aerodrome was an airfield located in the Stanley Park area of Blackpool , Lancashire England which was in use for civil and military flying from 1929 until closure of the airfield in 1947 . The site is now used by Blackpool Zoo . Early history . Despite the existence of the Squires Gate site , now Blackpool Airport , which had been used intermittently for flying since October 1909 , Blackpool Corporation decided in 1928 to build a new airfield close to Stanley Park . The aerodrome was located east south east of North Pier at an elevation of above sea level . It occupied of a site acquired by the Corporation for aviation and sports use under the Blackpool Improvement Act 1928 . The aerodrome was completed , licensed and opened for use in August 1929 . After the erection in early 1931 of a hangar and a clubhouse and offices with an observation / control tower on top , the aerodrome was officially opened on 2 June 1931 by the Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald . The all - grass airfield ' s surface was small with the longest landing run available ( NW / SE ) being in length . Early operations . For the first few years the airfield was used aircraft owned by private individuals and flying clubs . These were housed in an art deco hangar and terminal building , parts of which still survive in use within Blackpool Zoo . On 15 June 1932 , T . Neville Stack departed from the aerodrome at the controls of Spartan Mailplane G - ABLI on the first leg of a flight to Karachi , India , carrying two passengers . After being named " Blackpool " , the aircraft was given a civic send - off and reached Drigh Road aerodrome 5 days 23 hours 50 minutes later . A public Air Pageant was held at Stanley Park on 26 June 1932 . Another public event was held on 7 September 1935 during which Alan Cobham s National Aviation Day Circus performed . Pleasure flights were available to the public , but tragedy ensued when an Avro 504 biplane of Air Travel Ltd collided over the outskirts of Blackpool , with Cobham ' s Westland Wessex monoplane . The pilot and two sisters from Blackpool were killed in the Avro , but the pilot of the Wessex skillfully brought his aircraft and four passengers to a non - fatal crash - landing . Inter - war airline operations . The first scheduled air services from Stanley Park Aerodrome were operated by the short - lived United Airways to Isle of Man Airport during the summer of 1935 using eight - seat de Havilland Dragon s . During summer 1935 , United Airways flew an ex Imperial Airways Armstrong Whitworth Argosy " G - AACJ " on pleasure flights from the airfield . This was a large three - engined 20 - seat biplane airliner , which had been built in 1929 . Railway Air Services ( RAS ) had operated schedules from Squires Gate from April 1935 , but their flights moved to Stanley Park Aerodrome on 1 June 1937 . From 26 September 1937 , RAS operations from Blackpool were transferred to Isle of Man Air Services ( IoMAS ) and these continued until the outbreak of World War II , again operated by Dragon Rapides . Some RAS / IoMAS scheduled flights from Ronaldsway Airport , Isle of Man continued from Stanley Park Aerodrome to Speke Airport , Liverpool and Manchester ' s Barton Aerodrome . The scheduled services through Stanley Park Aerodrome were not resumed after the war , the now larger Squires Gate airfield again being used . Operations in World War II . The airfield was requisitioned at the start of the war and was initially used by the Royal Air Force No . 3 School of Technical Training , which used various types of grounded aircraft , including Armstrong Whitworth Whitley s , which were dispersed around the airfield boundary . Vickers - Armstrongs ( VA ) established a major aircraft shadow factory at Squires Gate in 1940 for the production of large numbers of Vickers Wellington medium bomber s . Vickers took over most of the existing facilities at Stanley Park Aerodrome and used them , and five newly erected temporary Bellman hangar s , to house a secondary assembly line . Because of the airfield ' s short grass runways , the Wellingtons landed at the larger Squires Gate facility after their maiden flights . A total of 2 , 584 Wellingtons were completed at the two Blackpool aerodromes between September 1940 and summer 1945 . Lancashire Aircraft Corporation ( LAC ) established an aircraft repair line at Stanley Park Aerodrome which overhauled Bristol Beaufighter s for return to service with the RAF . Later , some Hawker Hurricane s were flown in and reduced to scrap metal . No . 181 Gliding School RAF used Kirby Cadet gliders at Stanley Park Aerodrome between 1943 and 1947 to train air cadets . Postwar activities . A limited amount of charter flying was performed from Stanley Park Aerodrome during early 1946 by LAC using de Havilland Dragon Rapide biplane airliners . However , the airline transferred to the better facilities at Squires Gate and flying from Stanley Park Aerodrome ceased in 1947 . However , although seemingly undocumented , the airfield was busy after that date . The 1952 Aerial Survey of the UK shows the runways still visible and numerous aircraft around the hangars waiting to be scrapped . There are at least 35 folded wing Seafires visible with 13 dispersal stains showing where aircraft have been removed for scrapping . In addition there are around 30 Spitfires / Seafires and at least 6 other aircraft to be seen in the photograph . Until 1970 , the site was used to stage the Royal Lancashire Agricultural Show . In that year , the site was acquired for the construction of Blackpool Zoo , which opened to the public in 1972 . Several extra large buildings were erected , with the pre - war aerodrome terminal building and hangar and three wartime hangars also being utilised by the zoo .