Our Story
An aviation hub, since 1930...
... The original 'Manchester Airport'
Britain's first municipal airport...
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In the inter-war years, the City of Manchester, in its quest to establish a municipal airport, chose the location of Fox hill Farm, alongside the present A57 in 1928. This choice was strongly influenced by the City’s Cleansing Department’s ownership there of 2600 acres and additional persuasion by John Leeming, who went on to lead the Lancashire Aero Club into existence at the airfield.
Building of the Airport commenced in March 1929 and to initially reduce costs, the area was limited to 80 acres east of Fox Hill Glen.
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The Airport officially opened on 29th January 1930 with a large Hangar, which was designed to house the most advanced passenger aircraft of the day, the Imperial Airways Argosy. The airport became the first municipal airfield in the UK to be licensed by the Air Ministry and the iconic Control Tower was completed shortly after. Both the Control Tower and original Hangar are now Grade II listed buildings and remain in operation today.
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The first landing was by an Avro Avian, with the first large aircraft to use the airfield being Imperial Airway’s three-engine Argosy on 23rd May 1930.
A Fairey Hendon readies for departure...
First flown in 1930 and manufactured by Fairey Aviation, the Fairey Hendon Mk.II was a British Heavy Bomber flown during the inter-war period.
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14 models of the Mk.II variant were manufactured for the Royal Air Force, produced in Fairey's Stockport factory between 1936 and 1937. The aircraft was known as the 'Fairey Night Bomber' and operated from Barton Aerodrome until it was replaced by the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley; the aircraft was retired in 1939.
Commercial air transport takes off at Barton...
On completion of the airport and construction of its tower and hangar in 1930, Imperial Airways commenced operations, eventually offering a thrice-weekly scheduled service to London's Croydon Airport via Castle Bromwich Aerodrome, Birmingham, subsidised by the councils of Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham. This service was timed to fly north from Croydon in the evening and to return south next morning, in order to provide connections to and from European airports from Croydon.
In 1937 North Eastern Airways had expanded its fleet, acquiring several De Havilland Dragon Rapide. Operating services predominantly from London to Edinburgh, the Dragon Rapide were utilised on services between Doncaster and Liverpool via Manchester Barton.
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World War II...
At the outbreak of World War II, Barton Aerodrome was commandeered by the War Office for the purposes of military training, maintenance and overhaul which was to be completed alongside the testing of 700 Percival Proctor trainer aircraft manufactured in Trafford Park.
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The airfield was predominantly used to repair F4U Corsair, Hawker Hurricane, Avro Anson and Fairey Fulmars amongst other types.
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At the conclusion of the war, Fairey Aviation used the airfield; complimenting their factory in Stockport, to break up obsolete Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers. In 1946 the airfield was handed back to Lancashire Aero Club; the oldest flying club in England.​
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In 1946, Manchester University Air Squadron called Barton their home, operating Tiger Moth and Chipmunk trainers. In 1956 MUAS relocated to RAF Woodvale, where they still fly from today.
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Cessation of airline passenger operations...
In 1937, following comments made by KLM regarding the poor surface conditions and weather at the aerodrome, Manchester City Council committed to building a second airport south west of the City Centre, eventually opening Ringway Airport (RAF Ringway), moving all commercial timetables to the new airport in 1938.
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Between 1940 and 1942 Aer Lingus maintained an irregular commercial operation at Barton, operating to and from Dublin with their Dakota DC3 fleet. Operating the only timetabled service between the UK and Ireland, their DC3 was the largest airliner to serve Barton and ultimately the last.
Manchester Heliport...
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Following acquisition in 2003 by Peel Holdings Ltd, in 2011 construction commenced on a new facility at the aerodrome.
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Taking advantage of the airfields' prime location and proximity to the city, Manchester Heliport made use of an old University of Manchester facility no longer in use.
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Today Manchester Heliport is the base of operations for the North West Air Ambulance charity. Operating two thirds of their Airbus EC35 fleet from the heliport, NWAA provide life saving critical care capability across Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire, Lancashire and Cumbria. The heliport is also home to the Manchester branch of the National Police Air Service also operating an Airbus EC35 from the based Air Support Unit.
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Manchester Heliport is the only, luxury commercial heliport in the north west of England.
Barton Aerodrome today...
Today, the airport is home to multiple fixed-wing and rotary operators, as well as a thriving GA community. Lancashire Aero Club; following a short hiatus away from the airfield, returned in 2022 to sponsor a small club lounge for pilots from the base of our historic tower. Today, spotters are likely to observe anything from Ikarus and Eurostar aircraft to PC-12 and Sikorsky S76 helicopters as well as the based North West Air Ambulance and NPAS helicopters.
It is not unusual for Barton to be host to visits from operators from the British armed forces. CH-47 Chinook, Merlin, Wildcat and Gazelle helicopters frequent the airport for fuel throughout the year. In the summer of 2022, Manchester Barton welcomed the United States Air Force with a first of type visit - CV22 Osprey.
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In recent years, many period dramas have been filmed at Barton Aerodrome including: Island At War, Cobra, Mersey Beat, World on Fire and Fool Me Once. The Aerodrome has been used for filming by the BBC, ITV and more recently Netflix.
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Swipe on the gallery to check out some of the aircraft that visit Barton Aerodrome today:
