Back in time…

Hi all,

Took a short visit to the Croydon Airport Visitor Centre today, seeings as I have lived in this area for over 15 years so far and never been before it was very interesting indeed, so I took a few pics and have included some information about this wonderful infrastructure below.

Enjoy!:D

CROYDON AIRPORT – Background

Long before the establishment of today’s airports, such as Heathrow, Gatwick and London City, Croydon Airport was considered to be London’s official airport as the gateway for all international flights to and from the capital.

It was opened on 29 March 1920, and had regular scheduled flights carrying passengers, mail and freight to a variey of European destinations, namely Paris, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, with flights to Berlin added in 1923.

During the mid 1920s, the airfield was extended, and a new complex of buildings was constructed, including the first purpose-designed air terminal in the world.

There were several operators that used Croydon Airport. These included:

Handley Page Transport Limited – 3 x Handley Page W8B’s
The Instone Air Line Limited – Vickers Vimy Commercial and 4 x de Havilland DH 34’s
The Daimler Airway – 3 x de Havilland DH 34’s
British Marine Air Navigation Company Limted – 2 x Supermarine Sea Eagle amphibian flying boats.

However, in 1923 a Government Committee reported that in order to continue the development of commercial air transport in Britain, it was recommended that the main existing aircraft companies should be merged to form just one organisation…enter Imperial Airways Limited.

Imperial Airways Limited was formed on 31st March 1924 and took over the aircraft of all four of the above aircraft companies on 1st April 1924, with the first flight departing for Paris on 26th April 1924.

Further expansion occured in terms of the routes between England and the Continent with a service from Southampton to Guernsey on 1st May, London to Brussels, Ostend and Cologne on 3rd May, and a summer service from London to Basle and Zürich (via Paris).

In the first year of operation the company flew 853,042 miles, carrying 11,395 passengers and 212,380 letters.

On 16th June 1930, a three times a week domestic service was established to link London to the cities of Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool; thus resulting in connections for European services at Croydon. However, a lack of support closed the route on 20th September.

Eventually, a chain of long-distance intercontinental air services were established with the intention of linking the countries of the British Empire with each other and with the United Kingdom. During the early 1930’s, you could of flown to South Africa for £130 one-way (20% discount for a return trip!) – the only problem being that it took up to 7 days to reach the final destination, which was Cape Town!

Besides the establishment of Imperial Airways, many famous aviators and pioneers touched down at Croydon, including:

Alan Cobham – flew from Croydon to Cape Town and back in 1925-6
Charles Lindbergh – flew into Croydon in 1927 shortly after completing the first solo trans-Atlantic flight
Bert Hinkler – made the first flight from Croydon to Darwin, Australia in 1928
Charles Kingsford Smith – beat Hinkler’s record

but probably the most famous of all was…

Amy Johnson who became the first woman to fly from Croydon to Australia; later to return to Croydon to a jubilant welcome!

Unfortunatley, due to the increase in demand for air travel, and the development of technology, post-war airliners became too big to be accomodated at Croydon; and it became clear that the use of airports serving the capital cities of the world would intensify.

It was during 1952 that the decision to close Croydon was made, and Heathrow was therefore designated as London’s airport. The last flight to depart from Croydon was a Morton Air Services flight to Rotterdam on 30 September 1959, using a De Havilland Heron; G-AOXL.

Now for some pics…

If anyone has any questions they wish to ask, then please contact me. If I do not know the answer myself, I will do my best to find the answer for you!