We’ve looked at the history and development of certain Boeing aircraft on this blog site but what about airports themselves? The first “airport” in the world featured nothing more than sandy beach terrain replete with shifting dunes that reached heights of one hundred feet or more. On December 17, 1903 above that very field in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, then a small isolated fishing village on a nearly-deserted strip of beach on the mid-Atlantic coast, history was made. That’s when the Wright Brothers achieved the first-ever sustained flight of a heavier-than-air machine. At that point in time, it was the only airport in the world but within the next several decades, aviation developed rapidly in the US and expanded quickly into Europe. It should come as no surprise then that many of the world’s oldest operating airports are located on both continents. Let's see where they are and learn a little more about a few of them.
College Park Airport, US
The prize for the oldest, continuously operating airport in the world goes to the College Park Airport in Maryland. It refers to itself as the “Cradle of Aviation” and was established in 1909 when Wilbur Wright arrived at the field to train US Army military officers to fly the government’s first aircraft, a Wright Model A biplane. It went on to house the United States' first military aviation school, which opened in 1911. The airport claims other aviation "firsts," including the first female aircraft passenger and the first controlled helicopter flight. Acquired by the Maryland-National Capitol Park and Planning Commission in 1973, the airport was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. It features a single runway measuring 2,600 feet long and 60 feet wide. Parking is available for more than one hundred airplanes, including tenant and transient aircraft. Fuel is available, along with weather briefings and there's also a pilot's lounge. The historic hangar on the field now houses the Special Operations Division of the Prince George County Police Department. The College Park Airport serves as one of the gateway airports between the nation’s capital in Washington, DC and Prince George’s County in nearby Maryland.
Hamburg Airport, Germany
Hamburg Airport (HAM) is the oldest airport in Germany still operating, and the second oldest in the world. It opened in 1911 as a base for Zeppelin Airships. The airport was taken over for military use during the First World War and largely destroyed, but re-emerged in 1919. It was used as a staging area during the Berlin Airlift after World War II. It then grew as a major international airport for the country. Lufthansa launched passenger services in 1955, with Hamburg as the main base before Frankfurt. And Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) launched services between New York, London, and Hamburg in 1959. HAM remains an important international airport today, although it has been overtaken in passenger volume by Frankfurt, Munich, Dusseldorf, and Berlin. Hamburg Airport was expanded under a major renovation program between 2001 and 2009. The €356 million project transformed it into one of Europe’s most modern airports. It now witnesses approximately thirteen million passengers each year serving one hundred fifteen domestic and international destinations in thirty-nine countries. The two runways and aircraft parking facilities are capable of handling an Airbus A380 and the airport is home to two hundred fifty businesses employing about fifteen thousand persons in a variety of occupations.
Shoreham Airport, United Kingdom
The UK’s oldest airport is at Shoreham, near Brighton. It opened in 1910 with a number of flying enthusiasts using it as a base for those daring early flights. The first pilot here (according to the airport’s documented history) was Harold Piffard. He was one of the first British aviators and had been experimenting with aircraft since 1909. Together with a business partner, he opened Shoreham as a base to fly his
Hummingbird Aircraft. This never flew more than a mile but was an important
starting point for UK aviation. Piffard moved on to other areas, but Shoreham remained and a flight school opened there in 1913. The airport was taken over by the military during the First World War when it was used by the Royal Flying Corps as the departure point for some of the earlier flights to join the conflict across the English Channel. In 1937, one of the local flying schools received a contract to train pilots there for the Royal Air Force. During World War II, the airfield was bombed several times and a German Messerschmitt was shot down by ground fire during one such attack, crash-landing near the terminal building. On February 11, 1944, a US Army Air Corps B-17 Flying Fortress crash-landed at the airfield after being damaged during a raid on Nazi Germany. The consequent damage to the old guardhouse on the north side of the airfield can still be seen. Today, the airport remains in use for private aircraft and flight training, and is now known as Brighton City Airport.
Bucharest Airport, Romania
Bucharest’s Aurel Vlaicu Airport saw its first flights taking place in 1909, performed by the French pilot and aviation pioneer, Louis Blériot. The airport was officially founded in 1912 when the first Romanian flight school was opened on the airfield. This makes the airport the oldest continuously operating airport in Eastern Europe and among the five oldest in the world. It was named to honor Aurel Vlaicu, a Romanian aviation pioneer who built the country’s first powered aircraft. Born in a small Transylvanian village in 1882, Aurel Vlaicu was a renowned Romanian engineer, inventor, aircraft manufacturer and early pilot, who, during an extremely short career, rose to become one of the celebrated innovators in the early decades of flight. He studied in Budapest and Munich and was at one time, a protégée of the Opel Brothers before dedicating his life to designing, building, and flying his own airplanes. Like many of the aviation pioneers, Vlaicu was killed by his passion. He died very young, at age 31, in 1913, while attempting to fly his second original-built machine over the Carpathian Mountains. Seven years later, the French – Romanian Company for Air Navigation, later to become national airline TAROM, started service at the Vlaicu Airport. The current terminal building was designed in the late 1940s and opened in 1952. It consists of a central dome with three distinct wings representing an aircraft propellor. At the time, it was considered one of the finest architectural features of Bucharest and still retains its status as a city landmark. Vlaicu served as the country’s main and only international airport until 1968 which saw the opening of the larger Henri Coandă International Airport. Today, the Vlaicu Airport is becoming an increasingly important hub for business aviation and for low-cost airlines, being the main hub for Romania’s Blue Air.
Bremen Airport, Germany
Bremen Airport, also known as Bremen City Airport (BRE) , was established in 1913, making it one of the world’s oldest. Like Hamburg, it was designed to handle airships but soon switched its focus to fixed-wing aircraft. The Bremen Airport fell under the German military’s administration during World War I and was reopened for commercial traffic in 1920. A new terminal and runway facilities were built in the 1930s which made the airport one of the most modern of its day. Civilian flights took
place between periods of military use during both world wars. After the Second World War, it was controlled by the US Air Force until 1949. Lufthansa German Airlines began operating from the airport in 1950 and established its main flight training school there. The airport’s current infrastructure consists of four terminals (1, 2, 3, and E), two runways as well as cargo and ground transportation facilities. The airport serves as a hub for Ryanair, and offers non-stop flights to twenty-three destinations in Europe and North Africa. BRE is also considered the fastest departure airport in Europe, being only eleven minutes from the city center.
All of these airports are over one hundred years old and have borne witness to the advances made in aviation over the past century. During this time, countless aviators, engineers, and architects have been honing the art and science of airport-building, dating back to the early years of the Twentieth Century. And after all, that’s when the first glider was developed by the Wright Brothers, Orville and Wilbur!
Until next time…safe travels.
Fascinating George - a great idea to cover these flight centres!
Again, great historical information!
Thanks
B